The friendship between former air personality, author and rock historian DJ Norm N. Nite and pop star Lesley Gore dates back to 1968 when they were guests on “The Mike Douglas Show.” But, little did Nite know when he took her call on Aug. 2, 1983, that it would be life changing. Gore and a group of music industry executives were meeting in New York to discuss what it would take to create a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since Nite knew many of the key players, the singer wanted him to be there.
Known as Mr. Music for his encyclopedic knowledge of rock, Nite hosted oldies shows on Cleveland’s WGAR, WHK and WMJI radio before moving on to CBS-FM and WNBC in New York. As a teen growing up in Cleveland, he faithfully tuned in to DJ Alan Freed’s late-night radio program on WJW, which spun the rhythm-and-blues music Freed called “rock and roll.” The broadcasts garnered legions of fans and led to 1952’s Moondog Coronation Ball at the Cleveland Arena, recognized by many musicologists as the first rock and roll show.
“When Lesley asked me to participate, I was working full time and writing books about rock music, and I almost said no,” Nite recalls. “But, the idea was too intriguing.”
To commemorate the silver anniversary of the iconic landmark, Kent State University Press published, “The House That Rock Built: How It Took Time, Money, Music Moguls, Corporate Types, Politicians, Media, Artists, and Fans to Bring the Rock Hall to Cleveland.” Written by Nite and Cleveland journalist Tom Feran, it describes the long and winding road to reality, fraught with detours, including debates on where to build it (Tower City and the Flats were among the sites considered), how to pay for it (a public-private partnership contributed $65 million, which escalated to $93 million when architect I.M. Pei agreed to design it) and who to honor (spirited discussions still intensify whenever the annual list of enshrinees is announced).
In the months following initial meetings Nite attended, Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records, Jann Wenner, co-founder and longtime editor of Rolling Stone, and record executive Seymour Stein launched the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Once word leaked out that Cleveland was being considered as a location, cities including Memphis, San Francisco and Philadelphia made it known they also were worthy contenders. Nite commuted back and forth between New York and Cleveland to serve as the liaison between his hometown and the East Coast establishment. What followed was a 12-year odyssey that culminated in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s triumphant public opening on Cleveland’s lakefront on Sept. 2, 1995.
K. Michael “Mike” Benz, executive adviser at Ciuni & Panichi, recalls the countless hours spent by Clevelanders determined to win what they considered the ultimate prize for their city.
“It wasn’t just about rock ’n’ roll,” he says. “It was about our image and about our very emotion. It was at the heart of the concept of creating what we called the ‘Comeback City’ and the ‘All-American City.’”
During his time as executive vice president of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, Benz led the effort to bring the building here. From 1992 to 1994, he also took the helm as the Rock Hall’s director, “to try to bring it from third base to home.” That meant supervising funding, groundbreaking and construction; selling sponsorships to local, national and international corporations; and encouraging city officials to get on board.
Benz credits radio station WMMS for the idea of staging a petition drive as a way for the community to show its support. More than 660,000 signatures were collected at concerts, clubs, malls, banks and air shows. It’s an effort he compares to the scene from one of his favorite movies, “Miracle on 34th Street,” in which Kris Kringle, a man claiming to be Santa Claus, gets a court hearing to prove his sanity. As evidence in his favor, postal workers deliver bag after bag of letters addressed to Santa Claus that are meant for Kringle.
“That was in my head,” Benz says. “We wanted this to be the one and only Santa Claus, the one and only Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Fans also rose to the occasion when USA Today invited readers to vote by phone — at 50 cents a call — for one of eight places deemed finalists. When the newspaper’s phone lines closed two days later, Cleveland had logged 110,315 votes — well over five times the number of the other cities combined.
Benz, who grew up listening to the Beach Boys, adds that not everyone who championed the crusade loved rock ’n’ roll, which is why he admires their tenacity all the more.
“The reason many of our leaders stayed involved was because they understood all the Rock Hall would mean to our city — it was about jobs, the rebirth of Cleveland, and it was about the future,” Benz says. “They realized that this multibillion-dollar industry could be forever.”
As rock evolves, so have the inductees. Bill Haley, the Beatles, the Cure and Roxy Music have made room for the Class of 2020, which includes Nine Inch Nails and the Notorious B.I.G. The economic effect of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame remains noteworthy. According to a 2018 study cited on the Rock Hall’s website, the attraction has generated nearly $13.4 million in state and local tax revenues and has had a total impact of $199 million in business sales in Cuyahoga County. Visitors spent an estimated $127.4 million in 2017, both on-site and throughout the county, which supported 1,872 jobs.
“During a non-COVID-19 week, there’s so much to do in this city,” Feran reflects. “We have a marvelous historic theater district, and the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Museum of Art and West Side Market are terrific. But now, the Rock Hall is No. 1 on everybody’s list alongside, if not supplanting, the Terminal Tower as the identity and the face of the city. Who knew that would happen? I think it’s
spectacular.”