In press conference held earlier today, Cleveland mayor, Frank Jackson, and Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame officials announced that the 2009 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held in Cleveland. This will be the first ceremony since 1997 to take place in the home of the museum. According to Terry Stewart, the CEO of the hall of fame museum, if all goes well in 09, then Cleveland will host every third ceremony.

Sure, it would be better if the induction ceremonies were held in town every year, but as Joel Pressman, the president and CEO of the hall of fame foundation, pointed out, having the ceremony in Cleveland every year would be impractical since the labels and many of the hall’s major benefactors reside in New York.

It’s a start. We can work on convincing the Doug Morris types in the industry on the benefits of this novel invention called the airplane next year. He’s no technologist, so he may not be aware of these flying machines that can get you from point A to point B in a short period of time.

Now that we have the ceremony in Cleveland in 09, the big question is who will we be inducted into the hall of fame next year. It has to be better than the class of 07 with John (Cougar) Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, The Dave Clark Five and The Ventures, right? The Plain Dealer published an initial list of who may be eligible that included Bon Jovi, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, New Edition, Pantera, Run-D.M.C., Slayer, The Smiths, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Aside from Frankie Goes to Hollywood and New Edition, the possible nominees aren’t that bad. Run-D.M.C, Bon Jovi, and Stevie Ray Vaughn are pretty good bets to make it in, if not for 09’s ceremony, then surely for a later date, and one would hope that the rock hall would have enough sense to consider new wave artists like New Order and Depeche Mode before Frankie Goes to Hollywood. On the metal side of things, the PD included two prominent metal bands in Pantera and Slayer, but omitted the biggest one, Metallica. Lastly, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and Billy Bragg are all eligible for next year’s class, as are The Beastie Boys, who missed out on this past year’s ballot.

Cleveland to Host Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony from Cleveland.com