BY LARRY NAGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer

"Never"arrived ahead of schedule Tuesday night, as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions finally came to Ohio.

As recently as 1992, rock hall co-founder Ahmet Ertegun had said the inductions would "never" be moved from the music industry center of New York to Cleveland.

But when the city got the museum built, it got extra clout. For a night, Cleveland was the center of the rock 'n' roll universe, as a star-studded crowd packed the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel for the $1,500-a-plate event.

Cincinnati was represented, as hometown hero Bootsy Collins was inducted with George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic. He took his turn at the microphone to pay tribute to another Cincinnatian, a non-performing inductee at Tuesday night's ceremonies. "I'd like to thank Syd Nathan, King Records, Cincinnati. . . . He got us all started with the James Brown thing."

While P-Funk sounded a note of unity with its "One Nation Under a Groove" funk onstage, backstage the group's original bassist, Billy Nelson,complained about the inequities of the music business.

That was echoed by the second group to be inducted: the Rascals. Onstage, organist Felix Cavaliere talked about the polarization in today's music and society in general. He called for people to again create "music to reach out and heal and bring us all closer together."

Backstage, the group's lead singer, Eddie Brigati, said the Rascals were "survivors of an industry that, had they treated us a little bit better, we would have had much, much more magic to give. . . . I'm still fighting for my publishing rights."

But the rock hall inductions have always been about the unifying aspect of the music, from stressing the lineage of the early influences to the younger artists who induct their idols. Tuesday night was no different.

The Jackson 5 induction turned into a mini-Motown reunion as Michael Jackson and his brothers stood onstage with Diana Ross and Motown founder Berry Gordy." Mr. Gordy described the Jackson 5 as a "cultural revolution. For the first time, young black kids had their own heroes in their own image to emulate."

Beach Boy Brian Wilson inducted the Bee Gees, while Shawn Colvin inducted Joni Mitchell, who was absent because of emotional exhaustion after being reunited with the daughter she placed for adoption 30 years ago. Her statuette was accepted by Graham Nash, who was inducted as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash.

For Steve Stills it was a double-induction night as he also entered the rock hall as part of Buffalo Springfield. Fellow band member Neil Young was absent, because of a reported dispute over free tickets for his family. Tom Petty inducted Buffalo Springfield, which included Richie Furay, a native of Yellow Springs, Ohio.

The inductions had an additional Cincinnati connection in the video clips for P-Funk and early influence Bill Monroe, which were produced by local filmmaker Steve Gebhardt.

Mahalia Jackson was the other early influence, despite her family's protest that she wouldn't want to be associated with rock 'n' roll.

Relatives of Cincinnatian Syd Nathan, founder of King Records, were on hand to accept the award.

Mr. Nathan's nephew, Steve Halper of Blue Ash, toured the museum for the first time shortly before the inductions. He was disappointed there was no King exhibit yet, but admitted, "I was supposed to send some stuff, but I never got around to it."

Mr. Halper gives credit for his uncle's induction to Seymour Stein, rock hall board member and former president of the New York hall of fame committee. "Seymour pushed it forward since day one," he said.

Mr. Stein, founder of Sire Records and best known as the man who discovered Madonna, got his start in the record business at King.

The King mogul's grandson James Engelheardt accepted the award for his "pap aw," citing the diverse styles on the Cincinnati label.

> The inductions ended at midnight with CS&N's entrance into the rock hall.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions are scheduled for broadcast on VH-1 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday.