Monday, November 11, 2002

The Police, The Clash to join rock hall of fame



The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Three British exports from rock's "new wave" of the late 1970s - The Police, The Clash, and Elvis Costello and the Attractions - will join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year.

They'll be inducted along with the Righteous Brothers, blue-eyed soul singers of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," and Australian hard rockers AC/DC.

The 18th annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be March 10 in New York and televised later on VH1. The rock hall is in Cleveland.

The Police's relatively short career included hits such as "Roxanne" and "Every Breath You Take." Lead singer Sting maintains an active solo career.

The politically charged quartet The Clash broke in as punk rockers and expanded their sound to take in reggae and urban influences. Their biggest radio hit was "Rock the Casbah."

Mr. Costello, a prolific genre-hopper with hits such as "Alison," "Pump it Up" and "Veronica," led the tight trio, the Attractions, for more than a decade. He still performs with two of its members, keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas.

The Righteous Brothers were Southern California crooners Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, who also sang the hits "Unchained Melody" and "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration."

The bone-crunching riffs of Angus and Malcolm Young lead AC/DC, who are still active.

The ceremony has the potential for some tense reunions in tuxedos. Mr. Costello feuds with Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas, and The Police and The Clash had acrimonious breakups.