The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2010 inductees: ABBA, The Hollies, Genesis, The Stooges and Jimmy Cliff. Denied, for the second time, are The Chantels and Donna Summer.

Making the "nonperformer" category of inductions are mogul David Geffen, Brill Building songwriting teams Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling") and Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry ("Be My Baby"), and songwriters Otis Blackwell ("Don't Be Cruel"), Mort Shuman ("Save the Last Dance for Me," with Doc Pomus), and Jesse Stone ("Shake, Rattle and Roll").

Here's the full list of 2010 Hall of Fame nominees. Click on a link to read their profile:

• ABBA
• Darlene Love
• Donna Summer
• Genesis
• Jimmy Cliff
• KISS
• Laura Nyro
• LL Cool J
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Chantels
• The Hollies
• The Stooges

The winners will be inducted at a ceremony held on March 14, 2010 in New York. (Officials have decided to return to the museum's home base of Cleveland only once every three years for the actual inductions.) Which of these artists should make it into the hall, and which shouldn't even be on this list? Let me know what you think here.

Now Updated! Here's a golden oldie I like to revisit every holiday season: the story of the Beatles Fan Club records, released every year for their fans at Christmastime and featuring skits and songs never heard anywhere else - including some Christmas music that's never been released to the general public! Read more about this fab Christmas tradition right here, with all-new information and trivia.

Now updated! Four decades later, the legacy continues... this simple NBC-TV broadcast, designed merely as a standard pop Christmas special, instead morphed into one of the more fascinating career resurrections in entertainment history. How did the King do it? More importantly, why did he do it? My guide to Elvis' 68 "comeback" answers these questions and more! Now with a timeline, setlists, discography and more!

It made names out of Allen Toussaint and Lee Dorsey, it helped birth Memphis soul and funk, and it was a major influence on the British Invasion. So how come most music fans aren't even aware that New Orleans Soul is a style? Read more about New Orleans Soul music and its history in my latest encyclopedia entry.

The latest in a series of song histories based on the classic tunes in the video game The Beatles: Rock Band... One of the happiest songs from a group known for happy music, "Getting Better" still manages to contain a bit of cynicism -- as well as some rather ugly confessions. Read a detailed breakdown of "Getting Better" in my latest Beatles fact sheet.

The murder of John Lennon is not an easy subject for many of us to discuss, especially those of us Beatles fans who were alive on the night of the murder and remember all too well what it meant... not just to John's family and the world of music, but the world at large. Everything we knew seemed to change that horrible night, and so, as always around this time of the year, I'm presenting this John Lennon death FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list) to help those of us who may not know much about the incident, or who still wonder about certain aspects of it. WARNING: the awful details of that night may yet prove too painful for many of you, but this FAQ is offered merely to help the world understand John's death, not celebrate it. And the legacy of John Lennon's life will always overwhelm the power of a gun.

The nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards have just been announced, and I've got the full list right here -- or, at least, the nominees oldies music lovers care about, the pop and rock radio favorites of the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies. Some of these folks are making the best music of their careers, and some, in my opinion, anyway, are just marking time. But you can decide for yourself with this guide, which features clips from all the nominated songs and details on all the nominated albums. Read about the oldies artists nominated for the 52nd Grammys here.

Motown was a label both before and after it was a sound, but that specific Sound Of Young America is a genre all its own, one that's influenced countless musicians on both sides of the pond -- and one that's often significantly different from earlier and later Motown releases. Read more about Motown music and its history in my latest encyclopedia entry.

The latest in a series of song histories based on the classic tunes in the video game The Beatles: Rock Band... This may be one of the most popular songs ever written about a real person, but neither the person in question nor John Lennon himself was ever very happy with how it came out. And William Shatner, unfortunately, liked it just a bit too much. Read a detailed breakdown of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" in my latest Beatles fact sheet.

It's that time of year again, believe it or not... time to start thinking about your loved ones and how you can best show your appreciation in the 2009 holiday season. This all-new selection of gift ideas -- all products that weren't available last year -- scans the net in search of that perfect something for that perfect someone. And with the economy in the shape it's in, good news... most of these presents average out at just about 20 bucks a pop. Check out my 2009 gift guide for oldies lovers here. (photo source: hubpages.com)