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Revisiting the insane 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction

Mon 23 January 2023 7:00, UK

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was still a new institution in 1988. Having established the institution in 1983, former Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun organised an induction committee and formed the first class in 1986. That group mainly consisted of artists who established the genre, including Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry.

The 1987 class looked much the same, emphasising the evolution of rock into other genres. Marvin Gaye, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, and Jackie Wilson were among the figures who represented the spirit of rock and roll, even if they didn’t specifically play rock music. But by 1988, it was time to bring in the 1960s class.

The first two classes were relatively large: 1986 had ten inductees, while 1987 had a whopping 15 individual artists and bands getting the nod. Things were scaled back for 1988, with only five acts being nominated and inducted that year. The idea was to focus on five acts that had an outsized impact on the evolution of rock music from a fad to a global phenomenon, and hopefully, keeping a low number would simplify things.

The marquee name that year was The Beatles, who had to wait until the third induction class for their inevitable enshrinement. Also included that year were The Drifters, the vocal group led by Ben E. King; Bob Dylan, the iconic singer-songwriter whose turn towards electric rock revolutionised music; and The Supremes, the Diana Ross-led Motown group who fused rock, pop, and soul into a globally successful brand.

The fifth and final inductee from the 1988 class was The Beach Boys. Unlike their peers (minus George Harrison, who had the number one single in the country that week with ‘Got My Mind Set On You’), The Beach Boys were actually contemporary hitmakers during their induction. Only a few months after their induction, the band’s single ‘Kokomo’ went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. But while most of The Beach Boys were there to simply party and mingle, Mike Love had other ideas.

Love would later claim in his 2016 autobiography that the induction night was the only time since the early 1960s that he didn’t practice transcendental meditation before taking the stage. Whether it was from a lack of proper breathing technique or not, Love stepped up to the microphone in a combative mood.

Later that night, Mick Jagger would induct his friends and main musical rivals, The Beatles. Ringo Starr gave a particularly imbibed that set the tone for the night, while George Harrison’s speech included good humour and even some shots at former bandmate Paul McCartney, who declined to attend the ceremony.

For whatever reason, Love was looking to start something. He consistently interrupted Brian Wilson’s speech, and when it was his time to take the microphone, he unleashed a rant that took aim at just about everyone in the room, with a specific contempt saved for Jagger.

“The Beach Boys did about 180 performances last year,” he said. “I’d like to see the Mop Tops match that! I’d like to see Mick Jagger get out on this stage and do ‘I Get Around’ versus ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ any day now. And I’d like to see some people kick out the jams, and I challenge the Boss to get up on stage and jam.”

“I wanna see Billy Joel, see if he can still tickle ivories,” he continued. “I know Mick Jagger won’t be here tonight; he’s gonna have to stay in England. But I’d like to see us in the Coliseum and he at Wembley Stadium because he’s always been chickenshit to get onstage with the Beach Boys.”

Of course, Jagger was there that night, which probably led to an awkward conversation or two. As music director Paul Shaffer tried desperately to play him off, Love gave one final declaration. “I don’t care what anybody in this room thinks,” he said. “A lot of people are going to go out of this room thinking Mike Love is crazy.”

The final bit of chaos came after The Beatles’ speeches when just about every famous rock star on earth took the stage to belt out a few tunes. Just on a casual glance, you can spot everyone from Little Richard to Neil Young piling onstage. Love’s targets, including Joel and Bruce Springsteen, took the stage in a slightly awkward fashion. Eventually, it came time for Love to step up and sing ‘Barbara Ann’, with the camera crew making sure to catch Jagger’s reaction during the performance.

After the ceremony officially wrapped, Beach Boys guitarist Carl Wilson reportedly handed his statuette to Shaffer and commiserated that “our career is over.” It wasn’t, as The Beach Boys managed to somehow get even bigger by the end of the decade. But Love’s fiery speech would solidify the 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony as perhaps the most insane on record.