REM & VH get a Hall Pass

Two of the biggest rock bands of the 1980s took different paths to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday — indie favorites R.E.M. with a happy reunion and party band Van Halen with a fragmentary turnout.

Otherwise, the hall took on a New York flavor with the girl group sound of Spanish Harlem's the Ronettes, downtown poet Patti Smith and South Bronx's Grandmaster Flash, the first hip-hop act so honored.

Rock Hall inducts a diverse class - Freep.com