10-year-old Rock and Roll Hall spreads the word

By John Benson

CLEVELAND (Billboard) – When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and Museum staged its 10th annual American Music Masters
concert last November at Cleveland’s State Theater as a tribute
to Sam Cooke, even the performers were star-struck. Elvis
Costello, for one, walked offstage in a haze, leaving behind
Solomon Burke and Aretha Franklin to sing “A Change Is Gonna
Come.”

Costello admitted that he had to keep pinching himself,
says Warren Zanes, VP of education at the museum, who was
standing in the wings that evening. The singer — a Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame inductee in 2003 — could not believe he was
performing with his heroes on such a once-in-a-lifetime bill.

These are the moments the museum’s staff works toward.

“If you do it right,” Zanes says, “you then have someone of
Elvis Costello’s stature, who is an ambassador, (who) goes and
says (the Rock Hall is) about the music, about teaching the
lessons that you can teach from the music.”

On March 13, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will hold its
annual induction dinner in New York. Black Sabbath, Blondie,
Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Sex Pistols and the founders
of A&M Records — Herb Albert and Jerry Moss — are this year’s
honorees.

Meanwhile, at some point this year, the hall’s 6 millionth
visitor will walk into the angular $84 million facility, which
was designed by noted architect I.M. Pei and opened in
September 1995.

That milestone will merit a brief celebration, perhaps a
few balloons and local TV coverage. But otherwise it will be
just another day for the museum, which is scenically perched on
the shores of Lake Erie.

EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION

There is little time for reflection for the institution,
which has been strengthening its programs, expanding its
facilities and enhancing its image.

“I think one of our biggest challenges is to remind people
that this is an art form that changed the world, one that
continues to sort of be the platform for many idealists on how
the world can be different,” Rock Hall president/CEO Terry
Stewart says.

Just as the hall has drawn tourists to northeast Ohio, it
also has brought together a unique staff: unabashed rock ‘n’
roll believers, dedicated not only to promoting the institution
but to spreading its gospel. They include Stewart, former
president of Marvel Entertainment Group and extensive
memorabilia collector; Zanes, former Del Fuegos band
member-turned-academic; and VP of exhibitions and curatorial
affairs Jim Henke, a former writer/editor for Rolling Stone.

The staff brings rock’s past alive for, among others, the
fans of tomorrow. In addition to reaching roughly 50,000
schoolchildren each year, from elementary to high school age,
with various in-house programs, the hall offers a
distance-learning program via video conferencing, as well as
dozens of symposiums and concerts by music industry veterans.

The latest chapter in the hall’s educational efforts is
coming to fruition this year with the opening of a
20,000-square-foot archive and library, located on the Cuyahoga
Community College downtown Cleveland campus.

“It’s a library and archives (that are) unique in the
world,” Stewart says. It will offer the opportunity “to study
original source material and other documents, trying to
understand where this art form came from, how it rose to such
prominence.”

CULTURAL ARTIFACTS

The museum’s vitality depends on its presentation of
artifacts and an ever-changing list of notable exhibits, which
are either loaned to or owned by the facility.

As for competition within the rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia
market, which has proliferated exponentially during the last
decade with eBay and other such entities as the Hard Rock
chain, Stewart says there are plenty of items to go around and
suggests that collectors likely view donations to the hall as a
source of prestige.

The current featured exhibit is “Tommy: The Amazing
Journey,” and an extensive Bob Dylan collection is due later
this year. Even though diehard fans may find interest in
specialized displays, Stewart says focus groups reveal that the
desire to pay homage to the art form rather than specific
exhibits attracts first-time and repeat visits.

The hall has created another draw for visitors with the
CMJ/Rock Hall Music Fest. Debuting late last spring, the
multiple-day, multiple-venue festival attracted more than
18,000 music fans.

That is great news for the Greater Cleveland Convention and
Visitors Bureau, which estimates the hall’s annual
400,000-500,000 visitors generate more than $100 million in
tourism for northeast Ohio. More important, 90 percent of the
facility’s visitors come from outside of the area, making the
hall a first-day destination.

“From the city’s point of view, that’s why the Rock Hall
was built: to attract people from literally around the world,”
says Dennis Roche, president of the bureau.

“We’re talking about (telling) the whole world … to come
to Cleveland,” Stewart says. “It’s a very big deal.”

Reuters/Billboard