Rochester R&R Hall of Fame

[drbassman]

Well, well!  Look who is being inducted into the Rochester, NY R&R Hall of Fame on April 26th.

Rochester R&R Hall of Fame 2015 class:

Ron Carter – Jazz bassist
Henry Juszkiewicz – Gibson Guitar Co. owner/CEO 
Gap Mangione – Jazz keyboardist 
William Warfield – Bass baritone concert singer/actor 
Wilmer Alexander Jr. & The Dukes – R & B band

[uwe]

Wot? Not the inventor of the Badbird Bridge then?!!! What a scam.

[mc2NY]

Hell......What about ME ?!?!?!

I was the top all-night FM radio DJ there for years....while Henry lived there!!!

I may be responsible for his irrational thinking from the weird music I played

Hell, my band was voted number 1 just before we left and moved to NYC, with an album in Billboard and on the first WCMF album, with one of the main airplay tracks.

I produced the live Bahama Mama LP ( was a great all-white reggae band...Eddie Grant hired them as his band saying they were better than any Jamaicans) and the various artists LP "From the City that Brought You...Absolutely Nothing" that was also a BBillboard Top Album Pick.

"Wilma and the Dukes?"  HA!!

No offense but is there really THAT many possible inductees to have a Rochester Music Hall of fame ?
I would think they would run dry after a decade of five inductees a year, no? Looks like the've hit most of the obvious major ones already.

That said.....good music city for its size.  Hell, Mitch Miller to Lou Gramm to members of Wings and the Rascals, Chuck Mangione, etc.  God Bless the Great, Great House of Guitars

[Highlander]

Claws in, Jon... claws in...

[Dave W]

Henry is famous, you have to admit that. Infamous to some, but that's just the other side of the same coin.

[Lightyear]

Henry is famous, you have to admit that. Infamous to some, but that's just the other side of the same coin.

Yes, and he's likely to give them some free stuff as well 

[mc2NY]

Claws in, Jon... claws in...

Just kidding. The Wilma and the Dukes DooWop bar band inductees got me going
I see my old buds Duke Jupiter was inducted. Used to play their demos on the radio for them before they got signed. Same for Spyro Gyra...technically more a Buffalo band but they won their recording contract from a contest the radio station in Rochester I was a DJ at had.

I'm not a fan of awards ceremonies after hosting them for years at NAMM.

I had to show up to accept a songwriting award years back. I entered a "Religious/Gospel" category on a dare and won. Go figure. Showed up in black leather with my hair to my ass, looking like Sebastian Bach from Skid Row. Damned if I didn't get stares from all the hardcore Christians when I had to walk up to accept. I could actually feel the stares like little knives going through me.  Funny

BUT....it would be soooo great an opportunity to prank Henry somehow...like doing one of those "History of Gibson" video intros but start it with footage of Fender Strats and Precision Basses but have the voiceover calling them "Les Paul's and Thunderbirds"....and then stopping it after like 30 seconds, zooming in on Henry and then saying "Oh wait, wrong tape" and then playing the right one.
That would be classic

[Highlander]

+1 on the prank...

[Dave W]

Or you could bring a Zoot Suit SG and hypnotize him during the ceremony.

[uwe]

You guys are uncreative. If I was the moderator that evening, I'd wear something appropriate: FBI SWAT gear. And have a little Indian run across the stage every now and then, with some rosewood planks under his arm who pidgeon-Englishs into the microphone: "Eeetz oll perfectlee leegeel, sahib!!!"

[Dave W]

Now that's just cruel! 

[Highlander]

You could also wear a Tee with a "MOST WANTED" theme and showing a Contintental...?

[uwe]

 

[mc2NY]

Ya think Henry was the kid who got beat up in grade school ?

[Dave W]

Ya think Henry was the kid who got beat up in grade school ?

No. Those guys are more likely to become engineers.

Wouldn't surprise me if Henry had been a high school cheerleader, though. Or at least the emcee at pep rallies.