I thought it was all because THIS guy was from Cleveland:
Posted on 08/05/2014 12:18:41 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is in Cleveland thanks in large part to Alan Freed.
But Freed is no longer welcome in the Rock Hall, according to his son, Lance Freed.
Lance Freed says he was told several months ago by Rock Hall President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Harris that he would have to "immediately" remove his father's ashes, which had been on display since 2002, from the building.
"He said, 'look Lance, there's something strange, people walk past the exhibit and your dad's ashes and they scratch their heads and can't figure out what this thing is, and we'd like you to come pick up the ashes."
Freed said he told Harris he would need some time to talk to his family and "think about where we're going to put my father. Six weeks ago I called him and said I would be up in July."
Harris, reached by cell phone as he was driving with his family in the mountains of Pennsylvania stressed that the Rock Hall still realizes the role Freed played both in rock 'n' roll and in the museum itself.
"First and foremost, not all of [Freed's artifacts] are being moved out of the museum,'' Harris said. "We are returning the ashes to his family.''
The display case which held Freed's ashes instead will include a pair of his iconic microphones, since he was, after all, a broadcaster, Harris said.
The call from Harris was a real blow to the family of the man who popularized the term "rock and roll" as a DJ in the 1950s and hosted what is considered the first rock 'n' roll concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball, in 1952 at the Cleveland Arena. His cremains were originally buried inside a wall at the Hall, but later moved to their public but low-key display at the request of the family.
Freed's remains had been brought to Cleveland from the Ferncliff Memorial Mausoleum in Hartsdale, N.Y., where they had been interred since his death at age 43 in 1965.
Following his time in Cleveland in the 1950s, Freed moved to New York, where he continued his rock 'n' roll DJ career. A payola scandal ended that career, with Freed pleading guilty to two counts of commercial bribery in 1962.
"After a lot of discussion with my family about putting the ashes on display in 2002, we thought, 'this is appropriate, my dad would gave been happy and amused by this because he's a public figure.'"
At the time, then Rock Hall CEO Terry Stewart told The Plain Dealer: "I'm sure some people will find it unusual and others might find it morbid. It's certainly appropriate in a rock 'n' roll sense to have his final resting place here."
Harris said that the original request to put the urn on view actually came from the Freed family.
"We planned on returning them all along,'' he said.
Lance Freed says he was told by Harris that the Freed exhibit, minus the urn, would be moved to the lower level Ahmet Ertegun hall as part of a chronological history of rock 'n' roll.
"It's pushing him to the side," says Freed, "It's making him part of the passing parade, rather than a place where people can say 'hey this is the guy who helped start it all.'"
But Harris said that the homage to Freed will remain as part of the museum's Pioneers of Rock exhibit. The urn, he said, is the only thing from the exhibit that will be removed.
Museums are at their best, Harris said, when the cultural story of an item can be put in context.
"Freed is incredibly important to us,'' he said. The museum continues carry the Freed name on its radio studio and displays that Moondog Coronation Ball plaque.
Harris also said that museums today are leaning away from displaying items like ashes and other things, unless there is a medical context.
Freed will pick up his father's ashes from the Rock Hall on Monday, without a ceremony like the one led by Rabbi Franklin Muller of Youngstown's Congregation Rodef Sholom that occurred when the ashes were brought to the Hall. They were taken off of display on Friday.
But Alan Freed is not leaving town again, says his son.
"We're looking for a Cleveland cemetery for his remains. Once we find one, then we'll have a public service. This is going to be my father's final resting place. I want to make sure in his death he gets the respect he deserves because he didn't in the last years of his life. I want to protect his legacy and memory."
(Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic Chuck Yarborough contributed to this story.)
They should just rename it the “Pop Music Hall of Fame.”
Maybe Alan Freed can move in with Casey Kasem.
I thought it was all because THIS guy was from Cleveland:
Well, Screamin Jay Hawkins AND Mad Daddy Pete Meyers (rock and roll DJ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po5Tsij1mbs&list=PLDeLR6OaY5J3IqYhXs0H1JFpyGipDWfG3
“Every country has one city everyone makes fun of. In the United States, you make fun of Cleveland. In the Soviet Union, we make fun of Cleveland.” - Yakov Smirnoff
The problem is that the R/R HOF removed the ashes without a stated policy about what could and could not be displayed. Another problem is that they have one of Beyonce's dresses on display but Alan Freed's ashes are unacceptable. My suggestion was that they should've had us members vote on keeping the ashes instead of their annual stupid vote. FWIW, the lady at the membership desk was a real tool, just reading from her fact sheet even when I threw a trick question or two at her.
For all that, it's worth visiting the Rock Hall at least once.
Except.....Moody Blues have not been inducted. Madonna (etc ad nauseum) have.
Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler hated Hound Dog. And they get a wing named after them because....?
Maybe he was a ‘zionist’.
It could be plain old ignorance and irreverence of the young, or, or, maybe a few burning drops of anti-Jew feelings are now bubbling just under the surface. Let’s not ever forget how a member of Pink Floyd feels about Jews or Israel. Roger Waters has been very outspoken for many years about his hatred for them. I’ve never understood that kind of hate, unless it’s bourne out of habit and environment while growing up. Never justified, but this may be how he got that way.
Did one or both of them donate money for the wing? That does seem to motivate a lot of Hall's dumber decisions.
I like their stated reason for including REM. Candadians complained they hadn't been inducted. And a lot of Canadians take short vacations in nearby Cleveland. The voting has become silly for who to induct, between bad choices and it being an in crowd voting for their buddies. JMHO
OTOH, you have a lot of young'ins, liberals, and aging hippies visiting the place, and the ashes probably remind them of their own mortality.
As a kid, we popped into the original Smithsonian building. Smithson's "coffin" (wooden box containing his bones, iirc) was on display in an iron-gated nook.
And then they charge the “winning” bands tens of thousands of dollars each to be seated at their own awards dinner.
Did they finally induct “The Monkees”?
“They should just rename it the “Pop Music Hall of Fame.””
Yeah no kidding. IIRC they already allow that rap garbage to be “inducted”.
The 1978 movie American Hot Wax was about the life of Alan Freed.
It starred Tim McIntire, as well as Fran Drescher, Laraine Newman, Melanie Chartoff, Jay Leno and Moosie Drier in supporting roles.
Cameos by Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Ford, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins
-PJ
I noted your note of Screamin Jay -
Any fan of his should definitely watch this flick “Stranger Than Paradise”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088184/?ref_=nm_knf_i4
Just sayin - you will never hear I’ve Got A Spell On You” the same way again.
I did get a huge kick out of the Lynyrd Skynyrd exhibit too...
I'd love to go back and will comment that we met the kindest man outside our hotel, who took a moment to point us in the right direction when walking around as to avoid trouble
Mad Daddy! Damn you must be an old timer from Cleveland too!!
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