Beatles 1988 HOF Induction
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I know everyone is aware of the "controversy" surrounding the Beatles HOF induction in 1988 which McCartney boycotted. My question is has he ever come out and addressed this publically since? Has he made any comments in the last 25 years about his absence that night, expressed any regrets, etc? Yes, he had his reasons I am sure that made complete sense to him at the time, just wondering if he'd like to have that one back. I suppose he did make up for it somewhat 6 years later when he was the one to induct John.
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I think the HOF (inappropriately) made their point by inducting Paul 5 years after John...which in my book is nonsense!
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I saw an interview where he was asked about not attending the induction and his reply was reasonable in that he said because the lawsuits were still ongoing at the time between the Beatles that he'd feel like a hypocrite being up there and smiling with George and Ringo. I think he may have privately regretted not attending this event especially after George passed away. Personally I think he should have attended, but I can understand his reasoning at the time. It was quite a while back now wasn't it?
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Hey Erik - yes we are going back quite a bit - 1988, so it's been more than 25 years. I had read interviews that took place right around the time of the ceremony itself and Paul definitely said what you have pointed out about not wanting to come across as a hypocrite, etc. Like I said, at the time it probably made complete sense. However looking back more than 25 years I wonder if Paul regrets it. It hasn't been brought up recently to my recollection so that's why I was curious. A lot has happened in the last 26 years just wonder what he makes of it looking back.
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In the grand scheme of things, he just came across as petty, instead of celebrating an amazing legacy. All anyone remembers is him not showing up, not his reasoning. George Harrison summed it up pretty well, I thought.
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RMartinez:
In the grand scheme of things, he just came across as petty, instead of celebrating an amazing legacy. All anyone remembers is him not showing up, not his reasoning. George Harrison summed it up pretty well, I thought.
Curious what George had to say about it. He seemed to take the high road that night and simply said "...we love Paul." Mike Love from the Beach Boys, on the other hand, had interesting things to say that night for sure!
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LiveForever:
RMartinez:
In the grand scheme of things, he just came across as petty, instead of celebrating an amazing legacy. All anyone remembers is him not showing up, not his reasoning. George Harrison summed it up pretty well, I thought.
Curious what George had to say about it. He seemed to take the high road that night and simply said "...we love Paul." Mike Love from the Beach Boys, on the other hand, had interesting things to say that night for sure!
Yeah, that's for sure! George said something like it was too bad he [Paul] couldn't make it, he would have enjoyed it, but they still had a great time.
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Yeah. A lot of stars or celebrities with larger than life personalities and larger than life egos seldom admit to looking petty or small. That's why I was curious to see if it was something he has talked about in recent years. (Even his solo induction was weird in 1999 - awkward speech and inappropriate shirt his daughter was sporting). Anyway, we all make decisions in life we have to live with ... Such is life.
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LiveForever:
Yeah. A lot of stars or celebrities with larger than life personalities and larger than life egos seldom admit to looking petty or small. That's why I was curious to see if it was something he has talked about in recent years. (Even his solo induction was weird in 1999 - awkward speech and inappropriate shirt his daughter was sporting). Anyway, we all make decisions in life we have to live with ... Such is life.
I just re watched that, and yeah, you said it, Awkward! Ha ha! He should have writ a speech.
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RMartinez:
LiveForever:
Yeah. A lot of stars or celebrities with larger than life personalities and larger than life egos seldom admit to looking petty or small. That's why I was curious to see if it was something he has talked about in recent years. (Even his solo induction was weird in 1999 - awkward speech and inappropriate shirt his daughter was sporting). Anyway, we all make decisions in life we have to live with ... Such is life.
I just re watched that, and yeah, you said it, Awkward! Ha ha! He should have writ a speech.
I have to disagree...Paul was speaking from his heart (albeit with a bit of alcohol) that night. IIRC that was less than a year after Linda passed away, and his intent was to dedicate that award to her.
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DrivinFan:
RMartinez:
LiveForever:
Yeah. A lot of stars or celebrities with larger than life personalities and larger than life egos seldom admit to looking petty or small. That's why I was curious to see if it was something he has talked about in recent years. (Even his solo induction was weird in 1999 - awkward speech and inappropriate shirt his daughter was sporting). Anyway, we all make decisions in life we have to live with ... Such is life.
I just re watched that, and yeah, you said it, Awkward! Ha ha! He should have writ a speech.
I have to disagree...Paul was speaking from his heart (albeit with a bit of alcohol) that night. IIRC that was less than a year after Linda passed away, and his intent was to dedicate that award to her.
Ok!
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DrivinFan:
RMartinez:
LiveForever:
Yeah. A lot of stars or celebrities with larger than life personalities and larger than life egos seldom admit to looking petty or small. That's why I was curious to see if it was something he has talked about in recent years. (Even his solo induction was weird in 1999 - awkward speech and inappropriate shirt his daughter was sporting). Anyway, we all make decisions in life we have to live with ... Such is life.
I just re watched that, and yeah, you said it, Awkward! Ha ha! He should have writ a speech.
I have to disagree...Paul was speaking from his heart (albeit with a bit of alcohol) that night. IIRC that was less than a year after Linda passed away, and his intent was to dedicate that award to her.
That's how I'd call it - not so much awkward...just not feeling too much pain at the moment due to some alcohol consumption (which can be excused since he was otherwise feeling a lot of pain from the loss of Linda...heck, it can be excused even if he was at a happy point in his life)
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Personally, I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke and is not something I personally care about. That aside... I view Paul's solo speech as someone that is very nervous about speaking very publicly after a very emotional year. I do believe when he said it was something Linda wanted more than him and that he was sad not to share that moment with her. It must have been rough and I don't blame him for drinking to get through it. I bet bringing Stella up made him feel less vulnerable as well. As for the Beatles induction... his quote is "After 20 years, the Beatles still have some business differences, which I had hoped would have been settled by now. Unfortunately, they haven?t been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion." Paul said that the recordings for Free as a Bird and Real Love happened only after the legal problems subsided. : Paul: "It was actually when the business problems got solved. The first thing we started talking about after the dust had settled was maybe we could do something together, maybe we don't have to live our lives completely separately from here on in. Just for the joy of getting together and doing something, Neil Aspinall at Apple said it could be an Anthology, the whole thing, CDs tracing the whole Beatles history. " So yeah, I do believe that he honestly felt that while there were legal issues he could not feel good about doing anything as the Beatles. I think an interesting question would be if John were still alive would he have attended?
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dappa-macca:
Personally, I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke and is not something I personally care about. That aside... I view Paul's solo speech as someone that is very nervous about speaking very publicly after a very emotional year. I do believe when he said it was something Linda wanted more than him and that he was sad not to share that moment with her. It must have been rough and I don't blame him for drinking to get through it. I bet bringing Stella up made him feel less vulnerable as well. As for the Beatles induction... his quote is "After 20 years, the Beatles still have some business differences, which I had hoped would have been settled by now. Unfortunately, they haven?t been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion." Paul said that the recordings for Free as a Bird and Real Love happened only after the legal problems subsided. : Paul: "It was actually when the business problems got solved. The first thing we started talking about after the dust had settled was maybe we could do something together, maybe we don't have to live our lives completely separately from here on in. Just for the joy of getting together and doing something, Neil Aspinall at Apple said it could be an Anthology, the whole thing, CDs tracing the whole Beatles history. " So yeah, I do believe that he honestly felt that while there were legal issues he could not feel good about doing anything as the Beatles. I think an interesting question would be if John were still alive would he have attended?
If you believe Yoko, he would have.
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A lot could have happened in those seven years after Dec. 8, 1980, so who knows. But, I cannot imagine John getting up on stage with the others unless it was an opportunity to make some scathing remarks about the HOF or the Beatles (with a smile of course). I can't see him viewing it as an honor and taking it seriously. Not knocking John, just a comment based on what I know of his wit and personality (which I happen to love).
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dappa-macca:
A lot could have happened in those seven years after Dec. 8, 1980, so who knows. But, I cannot imagine John getting up on stage with the others unless it was an opportunity to make some scathing remarks about the HOF or the Beatles (with a smile of course). I can't see him viewing it as an honor and taking it seriously. Not knocking John, just a comment based on what I know of his wit and personality (which I happen to love).
1970 Lennon would've mocked it. 1980 Lennon I'm not so sure. To me, one of the most tragic things about Lennon's death (of course the death in and of itself is beyond tragic) but to me one of the saddest things about the timing of it is he really seemed to have turned a corner with the release of double fantasy. It was a coming out of retirement project for him and I truly believe we would've seen some kind of Beatles reunion or reconciliation at least by 1985 had he still been alive. Not sure why I feel that way but I do. Of course, the world will never know.
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LiveForever:
dappa-macca:
A lot could have happened in those seven years after Dec. 8, 1980, so who knows. But, I cannot imagine John getting up on stage with the others unless it was an opportunity to make some scathing remarks about the HOF or the Beatles (with a smile of course). I can't see him viewing it as an honor and taking it seriously. Not knocking John, just a comment based on what I know of his wit and personality (which I happen to love).
1970 Lennon would've mocked it. 1980 Lennon I'm not so sure. To me, one of the most tragic things about Lennon's death (of course the death in and of itself is beyond tragic) but to me one of the saddest things about the timing of it is he really seemed to have turned a corner with the release of double fantasy. It was a coming out of retirement project for him and I truly believe we would've seen some kind of Beatles reunion or reconciliation at least by 1985 had he still been alive. Not sure why I feel that way but I do. Of course, the world will never know.
I agree with you. John was even talking about going out on tour.
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dappa-macca:
Personally, I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke and is not something I personally care about. ...
Considering that the whole thing is basically run by one family (just like NASCAR), that's not an unfair assessment.
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Nancy R:
LiveForever:
dappa-macca:
A lot could have happened in those seven years after Dec. 8, 1980, so who knows. But, I cannot imagine John getting up on stage with the others unless it was an opportunity to make some scathing remarks about the HOF or the Beatles (with a smile of course). I can't see him viewing it as an honor and taking it seriously. Not knocking John, just a comment based on what I know of his wit and personality (which I happen to love).
1970 Lennon would've mocked it. 1980 Lennon I'm not so sure. To me, one of the most tragic things about Lennon's death (of course the death in and of itself is beyond tragic) but to me one of the saddest things about the timing of it is he really seemed to have turned a corner with the release of double fantasy. It was a coming out of retirement project for him and I truly believe we would've seen some kind of Beatles reunion or reconciliation at least by 1985 had he still been alive. Not sure why I feel that way but I do. Of course, the world will never know.
I agree with you. John was even talking about going out on tour.
I don't doubt that he would have been in the limelight more and maybe even considered getting back with P,G,R, but I still don't think he would have held the HOF in high regard.