Rock Hall Voting Scandal: Dave Clark 5 Actually Won (Jann Wenner FINALLY EXPOSED)

According to sources knowledgeable about the mysterious ways of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, British Invasion group The Dave Clark Five and not Grandmaster Flash finished fifth in the final voting of the nominating committee and should have been inducted on Monday night.

According to sources, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, who recently appointed himself chairman of the Foundation after the death of Ahmet Ertegun, ignored the final voting and chose Grandmaster Flash over the DC5 for this year's ceremony.

"Jann went back to a previous ballot instead of taking the final vote as the last word," my source insisted. "He used a technicality about the day votes were due in. In reality, The Dave Clark Five got six more votes than Grandmaster Flash. But he felt we couldn't go another year without a rap act."

R.E.M., Van Halen, The Ronettes and Patti Smith were the top four vote-getters, with Grandmaster Flash finishing fifth when the votes were counted on the first date ballots were due in to the Rock Hall office.

But when all the ballots were counted a few days later, the DC5 had pulled ahead. Wenner decided to ignore that and stick with the earlier tally.

"We begged Jann to allow all six acts to be inducted. But he insisted that he couldn't because there wouldn't be enough time," my source said. "He wanted to have Aretha Franklin come and perform in memory of Ahmet Ertegun."

The Ertegun tribute, while very nice, was deemed unnecessary by members of the main committee because the Atlantic Records co-founder will be memorialized in New York on April 17.

"But Jann wanted to do his own tribute. It was insane, especially since he took over Ahmet's position on the board before Ahmet even had a memorial. Jann simply sent papers around informing everyone that he was now the chairman," my source said.

The Dave Clark Five ballot tampering, however, stings the most. The group, part of the British Invasion of the '60s, should have been inducted long ago for their hits like "Glad All Over," "Bits & Pieces" and "Catch Me If You Can." Making them wait has turned out to be a huge mistake, as their fortunes have not been great.

In December 2006, sax player Denis Payton succumbed to cancer at age 63. Lead singer Mike Smith has been paralyzed since 2003 after falling off a ladder at his home in Spain.

In August 2005, a terrific fundraising effort for Smith at B.B. King's in New York was supposed to be the prelude to finally recognizing the group that had several memorable hits in the mid-'60s.

Wenner's cruel axing of them from the show and the Hall of Fame should be painful to many who are intimately involved with the Hall, like Paul Shaffer, who runs the Hall of Fame band and produced and emceed the Smith tribute.

So what happened here? My sources also say that Wenner's motivation may have sprung from a controversial speech that was delivered by new administrative head Joel Peresman to the nominating committee last winter.

"He stood up there and told us that we should vote for who we thought would be most commercial, and who be best on the TV show," a source said. "It was outrageous. Some people tried to stop him and asked him to leave, but he wouldn't. He said, 'I'm not leaving.' The director is never supposed to speak to the nominating committee."

Peresman came to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation last year when Wenner arbitrarily ousted the long-time chief of the group, Suzan Evans Hochberg, after two decades of loyalty.

"We couldn't believe Jann stood up there last night and said Suzan was retiring. But when the seating plan went crazy the other day, Jann called and begged her to come in and help. Peresman knows nothing about the business," a source said.

Peresman came to the Foundation from gigs booking shows at Madison Square Garden and with Clear Channel, the radio giant that many feel has strangled the music business with intransigent radio play policies and suggestions — actually, government investigations — of payola.

None of this should come as any surprise to those who have followed the roller-coaster world of the Rock Hall. According to the group's most recent tax filing, for example, they gave only $9,000 to indigent musicians from their $11 million in holdings.

Even worse: Wenner sent a tax-free $10,000 to something called Jazz Casuals in San Francisco. It's really just the archives of Ralph J. Gleason, the late jazz writer who periodically wrote for Rolling Stone in its early days. It was the only donation made by the Foundation to any group last year.

"Again, outrageous," a source said. "With all of Jann's money, he could have just sent a check. He didn't need to use the Foundation's money."

By contrast, the Foundation gave only $53,000 to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland. Attorney Allen Grubman's law firm took another $50,000 for legal services rendered. Evans received her usual $300,000 salary. Peresman is said to be receiving even more.

And then there's the matter of who has left on the nominating committee. I'm told that nearly half the group is gone, leaving 32 members. Many of the remaining members are former or current Wenner employees, like Rolling Stone's Nathan Brackett, David Fricke, Jim Henke, Joe Levy, Brian Keizer and Anthony DeCurtis.

Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen's manager and a former Rolling Stone writer, is the chairman of the committee and considered the last truly mediating influence on Wenner.

There are only three actual musicians: Paul Shaffer, Steven van Zandt and Robbie Robertson. Three are female. One of them is black. There are only two other black members: journalist Toure and Reginald C. Dennis

Wenner, I'm told, "weeded out everyone he didn't like." He even got rid of the veteran New York Post and Vanity Fair writer Lisa Robinson.

Wenner almost bumped Claudia Perry, a Newark Star Ledger sports writer and former pop music critic. After a scuffle, she managed to hang on, which was good news. As a black woman she fulfilled two minorities on the board (Edna Gundersen and Elyssa Gardner of USA Today are the other females).

"This is the opposite of what Ahmet would have wanted," a source said. "He liked a big committee that reflected lots of different tastes."

List of bands not in as of 2007 and their eligible dates next to them...some have waited decades already..remember Jann says next is LL Cool J, Run DMC and the list of rappers to come next because "we are running out of rock artists..."ohhhhhhreally?:

2006: ABC, Aztec Camera, Bad Religion, Billy Idol, David Byrne, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Hanoi Rocks, Hüsker Dü, Meat Puppets, Ministry, Minor Threat, Mission of Burma, Mötley Crüe, New Order, Phil Collins, The Replacements, Robyn Hitchcock, Soft Cell, Stevie Nicks, Stray Cats, The The, Thompson Twins, ...

2005 Christopher Cross, English Beat, The Go-Betweens, The Go-Go's, Huey Lewis and The News, INXS, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Kurtis Blow, Loverboy, Minutemen, Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Cray, The Sisters of Mercy, UB40, Willie Nile, ...

2004 The B-52's, Bauhaus, Bryan Adams, The Dead Kennedys, Def Leppard, Descendents, Dexys Midnight Runners, Echo and the Bunnymen, Iron Maiden, Killing Joke, Lucinda Williams, Pat Benatar, The Psychedelic Furs, Rickie Lee Jones, Simple Minds, The Slits, The Specials, Survivor, “Weird Al” Yankovic, ...

2003 Black Flag, The Cars, The Cramps, The Cure, David Gilmour, Devo, Dire Straits, The Fall, Gang of Four, Gary Numan, Generation X, Harry Connick Jr., The Human League, Joe Jackson, Joy Division, Kate Bush, Los Lobos, Midnight Oil, The Misfits, The Neville Brothers, Pere Ubu, Public Image Ltd., Rick James, Ronnie Montrose, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Squeeze, Toto, The Undertones, Whitesnake, X, ...

2002 Amy Grant, The Boomtown Rats, The Buzzcocks, Cheap Trick, Chic, Eddie Money, Foreigner, George Thorogood, Iggy Pop, The Jam, Motörhead, Peter Gabriel, Suicide, Teddy Pendergrass, Television, The Village People, Wire, XTC, ...
2001 Air Supply, Boston, Graham Parker, Heart, John Mellencamp, Luther Vandross, The Modern Lovers, Sammy Hagar, ...

2000 The Alan Parsons Project, Alex Chilton, Journey, Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole, Split Enz, Ted Nugent, The Trammps, ...

1999 Bad Company, Brian Eno, The Commodores, Donna Summer, Jefferson Starship, Judas Priest, Kansas, KISS, The Residents, Robert Palmer, Rufus & Chaka Khan, ...
1998 ABBA, Augustus Pablo, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Barry Manilow, Barry White, Darlene Love, John Fogerty, Lindsey Buckingham, Montrose, New York Dolls, Rush, Stealer's Wheel, Tina Turner, Tom Waits, ...

1997 Bette Midler, Big Star, The Blossoms, Blue Öyster Cult, Dan Fogelberg, Foghat, Hall & Oates, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Joe Walsh, Lou Reed, Pete Townshend, Peter Frampton, Richard Thompson, Roxy Music, Scorpions, Styx, Triumvirat, ...

1996 America, Bill Withers, Carly Simon, The Doobie Brothers, Electric Light Orchestra, Gerry Rafferty, J.J. Cale, Kraftwerk, Little Feat, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Meat Loaf, Olivia Newton-John, REO Speedwagon, Robert Wyatt, Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood, The Stylistics, Thin Lizzy, War, Yoko Ono, ...

1995 Badfinger, Bruce Cockburn, Derek and the Dominos, Diana Ross, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Faces, Gentle Giant, The J. Geils Band, Jimmy Buffett, Mountain, Ringo Starr, Ry Cooder, Steeleye Span, Supertramp, Sweet, Todd Rundgren, Uriah Heep, ...

1994 Alice Cooper, Blind Faith, Bread, The Carpenters, The Chi-Lites, Chicago, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Grand Funk Railroad, Joe Cocker, John Denver, Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge, Johnny Winter, King Crimson, Kool & the Gang, Linda Ronstadt, The Meters, Mott the Hoople, Nick Drake, Poco, Rick Springfield, The Stooges, Three Dog Night, Warren Zevon, Yes, ...

1993 Al Kooper, Blood Sweat & Tears, Blue Cheer, Brian Auger, Can, Deep Purple, Dr. John, Emmylou Harris, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Leon Russell, Leonard Cohen, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Steppenwolf, Steve Miller Band, T. Rex, ...

1992 The Bar-Kays, Bobby Womack, Canned Heat, Country Joe & the Fish, Fairport Convention, Gram Parsons, Harry Nilsson, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Cliff, Johnnie Taylor, Laura Nyro, Procol Harum, Ten Years After, ...

1991 Captain Beefheart, Cat Stevens, The Grass Roots, Jim Croce, Love, MC5, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Scott Walker, The Small Faces, Tim Buckley, Tommy James & the Shondells, ...

1990 Albert Collins, Boz Scaggs, Cher, The Chieftains, Donovan, The Guess Who, Joe Tex, John Cale, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Junior Walker & the All-Stars, Junior Wells, Merle Haggard, Nico, Randy Newman, The Shangri-Las, The Sonics, Sonny & Cher, The Turtles, ...

1989 The Dave Clark Five, The Dixie Cups, The Hollies, Johnny Rivers, Marianne Faithfull, The Moody Blues, Son House, Them, Waylon Jennings, The Zombies, ...

1988 Billy Preston, The Chiffons, The Crystals, Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton, Lesley Gore, Loretta Lynn, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Rocky Fellers, Rufus Thomas, ...

1987 Barbra Streisand, The Contours, Dee Dee Sharp, Dick Dale, Glen Campbell, The Kingsmen, ...

1986 Ben E. King, Brian Hyland, Carla Thomas, The Marvelettes, Mary Wells, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Willie Nelson, ...

1985 Bobby Vee, Chubby Checker, Cliff Richard & the Shadows, Link Wray, The Ventures, ...

1984 Brook Benton, Carole King, Conway Twitty, Eric Dolphy, Huey “Piano” Smith and the Clowns, Jerry Butler, King Curtis, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Neil Sedaka, The Penguins, Roy Brown, Sonny Boy Williamson, ...

1983 The Chantels, Connie Francis, The Dominoes, Junior Parker, Ornette Coleman, Paul Anka, Serge Gainsbourg, Wanda Jackson, ...

1982 The Cadillacs, Chuck Willis, Danny & the Juniors, George Jones, Johnny Mathis, Patsy Cline, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, ...

1981 The “5” Royales, Bill Evans, The Clovers, The Five Satins, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, Johnny Burnette and the Rock N Roll Trio, Lee Morgan, ...

1980 Jack Scott, Johnny Ace, ...

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