Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex Opens in New York With Debbie Harry Bash

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York's Soho opened its doors last night with a bang: Visitors took an audio tour of the museum with a little help from wireless headphones before retreating upstairs to a huge loft party. Rolling Stone's Jann S. Wenner gave the opening remarks, and Dave Mason performed the Traffic hit "Feelin Alright." Debbie Harry, in a black beret, belted out "Call Me" and a border-line acoustic version of "Heart of Glass." After making their way down the red carpet, guests such as Jimmy Destri, Les Paul and Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels took turns signing a huge make-shift plywood wall. Click above for our report live from the party's red carpet and below for a virtual tour of some of the museum's coolest artifacts and the story behind the Hall's new branch:

• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Preps Satellite Museum in New York
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex: A Guided Tour of New York's New Home of Music History

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Song Stories

“Karma Chameleon”

Culture Club | 1983

Boy George has said this song was about standing by what you believe in. However, at the time, he was involved in a secret affair with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. "Now people can understand the songs better," he said. "They were written about my relationship with Jon, and they were also written about being a gay man in a homophobic world." The lines "If I listen to your lies, would you say/I'm a man without conviction/I'm a man who doesn't know how to sell a contradiction," described his life at the time, he said. "I was selling this big lie."

More Song Stories entries »

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