Monday, July 04, 2005

Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Suit Update

According to CNN, the trademark-infringement suit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame brought against the Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been settled:

The suit was dismissed earlier this week when the founders of Jewsrock.org agreed to refrain from using the phrase "Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in connection with their site, a lawyer for the site told Reuters on Friday.

That didn't stop sponsors of the site from establishing a "Challah Fame" -- using the Yiddish word for a braided egg bread -- to label their alphabetical listing of Hebraic-born pop stars, among them Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Lou Reed, Carole King and David Lee Roth.

Visitors to the site also can link to various essays on Semitic rockers under the heading "Shul of Rock" (borrowing from the Yiddish word for a synagogue). One article chronicles the origins of the all-Jewish L.A. band the Knack and its 1979 hit single "My Sharona." Another charts the rise of celebrity tailor "Nudie" Cohen, who designed suits for Elvis Presley and Hank Williams.

Readers can also take the "Jew or Not?" quiz. For the record, Bruce Springsteen is not Jewish. But according to Jewsrock.org, his drummer, Max Weinberg, is and has been "proving that Jews do have rhythm since 1974, when he auditioned for the E Street Band."
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This was all very silly of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I guess that's just the way it goes. Here's my favorite quote from the article: "These guys are an enormous establishment and institution, and we're just three Jewish guys with a computer."

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