Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Opens Archives to the Public

Cyndi Lauper watches a video about Wanda Jackson during the Women Who Rock exhibit opening at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio has opened its library and archives to the public, granting scholars and fans alike access to items including personal letters penned by Madonna and Aretha Franklin and rare concert footage of the Rolling Stones on tour in the early Eighties.

The museum's collection, which includes over 3,500 books, 1,400 audio recordings and 270 videos, is housed in a new four-story, $12 million building located on the Cuyahoga Community College campus in Cleveland, not far from the Rock Hall. The building was funded by the college, and the institution will shares its archives with the college's Center for Creative Arts.

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Song Stories

“Too Close”

Next | 1998

Next was formed in Minneapolis when the uncle of Terry "T-Low" and Raphael "Tweety" Brown, who was a gospel choir director, introduced the brothers to Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar. Sounds of Blackness singer Ann Nesby groomed the R&B group before handing them over to Naughty by Nature's KayGee, who wrote and produced "Too Close." The idea for the song was sparked "from a conversation we had with several girls at a nightclub," explained T-Low. "It's talking about the club scene, with guys getting out of hand and the female telling him to back up, asking, 'What are you doing?'" 

More Song Stories entries »

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