Jimmy Cliff, ABBA, Genesis to be inducted tonight in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
| New York
Some musical acts that thrived in second lives — ABBA, Genesis and The Hollies — are joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
They'll be inducted Monday along with reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff and the raucous Iggy Pop and the Stooges at the annual ceremony at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Music executive David Geffen and songwriters whose work sold hundreds of millions of copies will join as non-performers.
The four-member Swedish hit machine ABBA quit in 1982 soon after the band's two couples split. They left behind a string of catchy pop songs like "Dancing Queen," ''Waterloo" and "Knowing Me Knowing You."
ABBA was never as big in the United States as in Europe. But 6 million of the 26 million copies of ABBA's greatest hits collection were sold in the U.S., and the stage and film productions of "Mamma Mia" kept their songs alive for a new generation and those who might have missed them in the first place.
Genesis was a leader in Britain's progressive rock movement in the 1970s, with singer Peter Gabriel dressed in outfits including a giant sunflower for elaborate performances and with the album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway."
When Gabriel left, remaining members auditioned hundreds of singers before settling on one of their own, drummer Phil Collins. They were fixtures on the pop charts in the 1980s with songs like "Invisible Touch" and "Tonight Tonight Tonight."
Led by the harmonies of singers Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, The Hollies produced British invasion hits like "Bus Stop" and "Carrie-Anne." After Nash left, the Hollies kept up with 1970s standards "The Air That I Breathe," ''He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)."
Of those three, only The Hollies were scheduled to reunite for a performance Monday.
Jamaica's Cliff was among the first to export the reggae musical style. His best-known songs include "You Can Get It if You Really Want," ''The Harder They Come" and "Many Rivers to Cross."
The Michigan-based Stooges never sold many records. But the brutal force of their 1973 album "Raw Power" influenced the punk movement to come, and the rubber-limbed Pop was an electric frontman.
Songwriter Carole King is inducting old colleagues from an era (the 1950s and early 1960s) when performers largely left songwriting to others. They include Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," ''On Broadway"), Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry ("Leader of the Pack," ''Be My Baby"), Otis Blackwell ("All Shook Up," ''Don't Be Cruel"), Mort Shuman ("Save the Last Dance for Me," ''This Magic Moment" with Doc Pomus) and Jesse Stone ("Sh-Boom," ''Money Honey").
Geffen, before he spread his influence to other parts of the entertainment business, started the Asylum and Geffen record labels.
Scheduled performers included Phish, Faith Hill, Chris Isaak and Wyclef Jean. The ceremony is being telecast live on the Fuse music network.
