August 14 – Alan Freed’s Ashes

Not to be disrespectful, but why is there an urn with anybody’s ashes in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland? In any case, the controversy that has sparked much debate of late revolves around the notion that Alan Freed, the late 1950s disc jockey credited with coining the phrase “rock ‘n roll” and championing its cause, has had his ashes removed from the Hall of Fame and returned to his family, though the family wishes for them to remain on display. It has been said that the space the urn took was needed for a particular garment that was to be added to the new Beyonce exhibit. Now, I understand that not only has Beyonce not done anything to further rock and roll, she’s not even a rock ‘n roll artist. And while I liked her very much in Goldmember, and I think that “Single Ladies” is a damn clever song, and funny, everything else Beyonce just annoys me to no end. There’s the overly overkill and the in your face ostentatiousness, though I kind of like that she just stood back and let her sister kick the crap out of her husband. But if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame needs an exhibit from a current pop star to raise funds to keep the museum going, even if she is meaningless to the history or future of rock and roll, so be it. I’ve read that Alan Freed’s exhibit remains fairly large anyway, and question if anyone else’s ashes are on display at the museum (we know that Keith Richards’ father’s are not) and why this is necessary.