HBO ‘fixes it in the mix’ for 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction special

[kak125]

CLEVELAND, Ohio – They fixed it in the mix.

How fitting is it that one of the most cliched phrases in the music business applies to a show honoring the best in the music business, HBO’s production of the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

The result: a tighter, better-sounding version of the bone-wearying actual ceremony held in March in Brooklyn, New York, at the Barclays Center. The program premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 27, on the cable network, and will re-air throughout the month.


But to understand how we got there, take yourself to Brooklyn and pretend that you are the person in charge of that as-it-happens event. Consider:

This is a live show that honors seven acts, with the accompanying egos that exist despite what the press releases and online bios say. Who goes on first? Who goes on last? Who wants to go on first and who wants to go on last? Who gets the preshow sound check? Who just has to plug ‘n’ play? How much of the allotted chunk of time do you give one act over another? And how do you expedite the changeover from one act to the next, getting all the instruments set up, miked, etc?

This time around, those acts are the Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Radiohead, Roxy Music and the Zombies, the Class of 2019 for this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Now, I can get around the egos of the artists and their management just by listing them alphabetically, as I’ve done here. Good luck doing it in real life, in real time.

The first thought is that you should get everything in within the five hours or so that’s allotted for a show that begins at 7 p.m. Somebody gets paid to make the decisions, so whoever that was in New York decided that the order would be Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music, the Cure, Jackson, the Zombies and Def Leppard.


At the surface, that made pretty good sense, as Radiohead and Jackson opted against performing. That meant structuring it this way – and with a killer opening set from Nicks, the first woman to be twice inducted into the Rock Hall – it should have worked out just fine because it left plenty of time for stagehands and instrument techs to do their thing.

So what if it took a full five hours-plus, with all the inductions, performances and a final jam with Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter fronting a show-ending all-star jam to “All the Young Dudes?” It only seemed like 10 hours.

Now, let’s redo it for TV. That job fell to director-producer Alex Coletti from HBO and the editors under him, and frankly, they succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations.

The first and best move was cutting that five hours to three. Yep, three. And trust me as one who was present for those original five-plus hours, nothing worthwhile ended up on the cutting room floor.

Nicks got her 37 minutes, by far the largest chunk of time. None of the other inductees got more than 30 for their closeups, Mr. DeMille. But again, the only thing you missed (but didn’t really) was drag-on speechifying so common in awards shows.

Coletti’s other move was something you couldn’t really determine till after the fact: Putting the show in order of quality. Yes, Nicks opened the show, so yes, her position was a necessary lock. But it was also far superior to some of her latest gigs with her usual band, Fleetwood Mac, especially with an appearance by Eagle and Hall of Famer Don Henley on her hit, “Leather and Lace.”


But by far, though, the performance of the night from opening note to final round of applause came from Robert Smith and the Cure. Best music, best vocals, best best.

So Coletti re-structured the show so that the order of appearance was Nicks, the Cure, Jackson (who was probably the most boring presence onstage the entire night), Roxy Music, Radiohead, the Zombies and Def Leppard.

And it all took away from the real tedium of a pure awards show and turned it into a performance. I can’t say that the three hours flew by, but it didn’t feel like a root canal.

Ah, and that fix it in the mix thing? One of the issues many had was in the somewhat shrill tones of Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone during the 1960s’ band’s big hits “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No.”

Now in his 70s, Blunstone no longer has the voice of an 18-year-old (do any of us?). But he knows to treat his vocal chords as an athlete would treat his body, which means warming up. Sitting in an audience for four hours as he did, there was no way he’d be able to hit all those melodious notes from five decades ago.

But Coletti and his engineers were able make the right adjustments. Perfect? No. But not nearly as shrill as it was live, which turned a respectable performance into a respectful one.


Fix it in the mix, indeed.

2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

When: Premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 27.

Who: Inductees are the Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and the Zombies; executive producers Jann Wenner, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Joel Peresman; co-executive producer Frank Garritano; supervising producer Barbra Dannov; director and producer, Alex Coletti.

[kak125]

2019 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY features:
Stevie Nicks
Induction: Harry Styles
Performance: Stevie Nicks performs "Stand Back," "Leather and Lace" (with Don Henley), "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Harry Styles) and "Edge of Seventeen."


The Cure
Induction: Trent Reznor
Performance: The Cure performs "Shake Dog Shake," "Lovesong," "Just Like Heaven" and "Boys Don't Cry."

Janet Jackson
Induction: Janelle Monáe

Roxy Music
Induction: Simon Le Bon and John Taylor
Performance: Roxy Music performs "Out of the Blue," "Avalon" and "Editions of You."

Radiohead
Induction: David Byrne

The Zombies
Induction: Susanna Hoffs
Performance: The Zombies perform "Time of the Season," "Tell Her No" and "She's Not There."

Def Leppard
Induction: Brian May
Performance: Def Leppard performs "Rock of Ages," "Photograph" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me," and is joined by Susanna Hoffs, Brian May, Ian Hunter and Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies for "All the Young Dudes."

[vivfox]

I'm most interested in listening how they edited Stevie's 13 minute speech into 6 minutes. Wonder if it will flow and make sense? LOL

[bombaysaffires]

Did she not perform at all then? Not even an all-star jam?

[kak125]

Originally Posted by vivfox

I'm most interested in listening how they edited Stevie's 13 minute speech into 6 minutes. Wonder if it will flow and make sense? LOL

I didn't even realize they cut the speech down. Lol it's too bad because you have to hear all 13 minutes to appreciate the hot mess that it was. I like that she got the most time though at 37 minutes.

[kak125]

I just posted the Stevie Nicks part. The link is at the bottom for the full article.

Radiohead to Stevie Nicks: Two Degrees of Separation

Both of Radiohead’s guitarists, Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien, plus drummer Phil Selway, were part of the 7 World Collide supergroup led by Crowded House frontman Neil Finn (1). Finn later joined Stevie Nicks in Fleetwood Mac to help replace Lindsey Buckingham on tour (2).

Stevie Nicks to Def Leppard: Two Degrees of Separation
Nicks was part of the all-star coterie that guested on Sheryl Crow’s 2002 album C’mon, C’mon. Stevie sang on the title track as well as “Diamond Road,” a song co-written by Crow and Marti Frederiksen (1). The rock/pop/country songwriter and producer has worked with Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe, among many others, including Def Leppard (2). He collaborated on the band’s 2002 X album, co-writing three songs and producing some of the recordings.

Roxy Music to Stevie Nicks: Two Degrees of Separation
Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry tapped Waddy Wachtel to play lead guitar on his fifth solo album, 1978’s The Bride Stripped Bare (1). Wachtel has served as a sideman with a range of superstars – including Keith Richards, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor – but his longest-running musical partnership has been with Stevie Nicks, going back to the Buckingham Nicks era (2).

Stevie Nicks to Janet Jackson: Three Degrees of Separation
icks’s 1983 hit “Stand Back” wasn’t just inspired by Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.” It also featured him in an uncredited performance on synthesizer (1). Prince had lengthy musical relationship with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). They played keyboards and bass, respectively, in the Time, a band Prince oversaw. After being fired by Prince, Jam and Lewis began a massively successful production career, which included working on nearly all of Jackson’s biggest hit singles and albums (3).

The Zombies to Stevie Nicks: Four Degrees of Separation
Zombies keyboard player Rod Argent tapped then-Genesis drummer Phil Collins (1) to play on his 1978 solo debut, Moving Home. Collins often collaborated with Eric Clapton (2) in the '80s. That included Slowhand’s 1985 album Behind the Sun, which featured rhythm guitar work from Lindsey Buckingham on one track (3). Buckingham had a lengthy, if rocky, personal and professional relationship with Stevie Nicks (4), both as members of Fleetwood Mac and as a couple.

Stevie Nicks to the Cure: Three Degrees of Separation
Session drummer extraordinaire Kenny Aronoff (1) played on Stevie Nicks’ 1994 Street Angel album. Later that decade, Billy Corgan (2) tapped Aronoff to fill in with the temporarily drummer-less Smashing Pumpkins for a tour to promote 1998’s Adore. TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan's 2005 solo debut, featured assistance from the Cure’s Robert Smith (3) on a cover of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody.”

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/six-...ock-hall-2019/

[kak125]

Watching the ceremony now and somehow hbo edited the speech in a way where it sounded coherent. Thank goodness for that. They showed Mick standing up and cheering a lot as well as Sheryl Crow. Stevie’s band really sounded really good! I can’t wait for her to tour solo again.

[SpyNote]

Originally Posted by kak125

Watching the ceremony now and somehow hbo edited the speech in a way where it sounded coherent. Thank goodness for that. They showed Mick standing up and cheering a lot as well as Sheryl Crow. Stevie’s band really sounded really good! I can’t wait for her to tour solo again.

They did a good job of cleaning it up, though I don't mind when Stevie rambles.

[kak125]

Originally Posted by SpyNote

They did a good job of cleaning it up, though I don't mind when Stevie rambles.

Lol me either! She reminds me of my mother I never know what she will say next and has no filter.

[sleepless child]

I'm glad the cut the part out where she says she wrote Leather and Lace for Merle Haggard which was wrong. Very edited speech. I'm also very disappointed in her for not acknowledging the fans.

[Storms123]

I thought her band sounded great, as did she. Controversially, I thought "Stop Draggin My Heart Around" sounded very juke box musical. Didn't like it at all. Sounded much better with Chrissie. I actually think she likes singing her solo stuff better than her FM music.

[sleepless child]

So after watching the Rock no Roll Hall of Fame show last night, what did everyone think? I'm glad Stevie was inducted, she deserves it. She has influenced so many artists and at close to 71, she is still going strong.

I think it was fitting to have her open the show. It was a great performance and I liked the choice of songs and it was especially great to see her and Don do Leather and Lace.

On the downside, I really disliked her speech. I saw the uncut version and cringed a bit. So rambling. They did cut it way down for TV, but I still feel like she really didn't thank anyone. She mentioned the Mac, and Paul, Doug, Jimmy, Danny and Irving as she should, but she should have thanked Margi Kent, Herbert Worthington, Sharon, Lori and Waddy and the fans, who stuck with her thru the good and bad times. After listening to Janet and Def Leppard and the other groups, I thought her speech came off as out of touch. My husband said she sounded arrogant. I don't agree, but he's not a fan so I guess he sees it differently than me. I know she loved the honor and was very grateful, but I wish she would have written a coherent speech and stuck to it.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by sleepless child

So after watching the Rock no Roll Hall of Fame show last night, what did everyone think? I'm glad Stevie was inducted, she deserves it. She has influenced so many artists and at close to 71, she is still going strong.

I think it was fitting to have her open the show. It was a great performance and I liked the choice of songs and it was especially great to see her and Don do Leather and Lace.

On the downside, I really disliked her speech. I saw the uncut version and cringed a bit. So rambling. They did cut it way down for TV, but I still feel like she really didn't thank anyone. She mentioned the Mac, and Paul, Doug, Jimmy, Danny and Irving as she should, but she should have thanked Margi Kent, Herbert Worthington, Sharon, Lori and Waddy and the fans, who stuck with her thru the good and bad times. After listening to Janet and Def Leppard and the other groups, I thought her speech came off as out of touch. My husband said she sounded arrogant. I don't agree, but he's not a fan so I guess he sees it differently than me. I know she loved the honor and was very grateful, but I wish she would have written a coherent speech and stuck to it.

Thank you. Could not agree more. I thought her speech was lacking passion and sincerity.

[elle]

not sure whether this was posted somewhere already, but if you want to know what parts they cut out here's a youtube link to the full Harry Styles' speech as well as Nicks' speech:



any Fritz - Lindsey Buckingham - Buckingham Nicks mentions (including audience cheers after Harry Styles mentioned Lindsey's name) were cut out of Harry's speech.

also cut is Stevie Nicks saying she doesn't want to listen to girls.

wonder why those specific cuts?

laughing so hard, watching broadcast now, and apparently Nicks' speech going 5 minutes over almost resulted in The Cure having to cut out a song. Robert Smith says before Boys Don't Cry "I think we got time for one more? goddamn stevie nicks! i'm joking."

[sleepless child]

When that first photo of a young Stevie and Lindsey pops up on screen, you can hear the audience roar. I also slow mo'd audience reactions and when Stevie is ready to start her speech, the audience gets to their feet. I noticed Trent Reznor stayed seated. I thought about Lindsey joining him for a song on the Grammy's a few years back. Maybe he's team Lindsey? LOL