Steve Wildsmith

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is no stranger to controversy, and it’s no surprise to Mick Jones, guitarist for the classic rock band Foreigner, that — once again — his group has been overlooked for the 2010 induction ceremony.

Foreigner will perform at The Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. in downtown Knoxville on Monday, March 15; I spoke with Jones recently by phone for a preview story that’ll be published in Friday’s edition of The Daily Times Weekend entertainment section. We spoke at length about Foreigner’s longevity — and about the band’s 2008 performance at the Foothills Fall Festival in downtown Maryville — and about the group’s snubbing at the hands of Hall of Fame decision-makers.

“It is kind of upsetting that Foreigner has never even been on the ballot, and I think about it from time to time,” Jones told me. “I just heard about ABBA being inducted this year, and that made me think — is ABBA even a rock ‘n’ roll band? I’m not so sure about that.

“Some of the decisions they’ve made and the people they’ve left out — there’s a question of integrity there. I started out at the beginning, of my career emulating the roots of rock ‘n’ roll and all of my heroes at that time, and I’ve tried to keep that in mind all the way through, and I feel we’ve certainly played a part in the scheme of things. I think you can safely say we’re a genuine rock band, because we had a big effect on the music business at that time.

“To be totally ignored, along with bands like Journey and Boston — it hurts a bit,” he added. “But the fact I feel the integrity is missing in that organization, with the choices sometimes of the people they introduce into it as rock ‘n’ roll, makes it all a bit questionable.”

The night after Foreigner rocks East Tennessee, another group that’s been overlooked by the Hall of Fame will play the very same venue. John Lodge of The Moody Blues talked a bit about his band’s exclusion as well in an interview with us to promote the band’s show on Tuesday, March 16, at The Tennessee Theatre.

“It’s been 43 years since ‘Days of Future Passed’ (the band’s landmark 1967 album) was released, and every year our name comes up — ‘What do you think of The Moody Blues and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?’” he said. “But we come through every phase, and we’re still there, on the outside. And we get put on the back burner for another year.

“I don’t really put any thought in it, because the Hall of Fame is a club, and if you’re not invited to the club, why bother trying to get in? Our success is the audience who comes to our concert, the person who comes up and says, ‘You’ve done so much for me as a person.”