Rock ’n’ Rollers Salute Their Own

By JON PARELES
NYT

Raspy voices, girl groups and ghoulish spectacle were celebrated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its 27th annual induction ceremony on Monday night at the Waldorf-Astoria’s Grand Ballroom.

It was a year of venerable rockers joining the hall: musicians in their 60s and early 70s with careers dating back as far as half a century. Video of the event will be presented on Sunday at 9 p.m. E.D.T. on the Fuse cable channel.

The raspy voices belonged to the songwriters Tom Waits, Dr. John and Neil Diamond. The girl-group catalog — with hits billed as the Crystals, Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, and under her own name — belonged to Darlene Love. And the ghoulish, black-rimmed eyes belonged to a pioneer of rock spectacle, Alice Cooper, who had a boa constrictor draped over his shoulders as he accepted his award.

“We’ve always been a hard rock band,” said Mr. Cooper, praising the Kinks, the Who and the Yardbirds as his musical forebears. “We just wanted to decorate it a little differently.”

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