A Dude With ‘Tude

Frank Sinatra does not need rock ‘n’ roll to guarantee his place in musical history (“Hall, or Nothing at All,” by Robert Hilburn, July 2). Whooping it up for his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame merely shows the near total meaninglessness of the rubric “rock” today.

This desperation to inject real talent into an increasingly dismal rock scene shows how desperate Hilburn is to find anything worth writing about in the current pop music. The monster Hilburn helped create has come back to bore him to death. Suggesting that joining the R&R; Hall of Shame is somehow a promotion for probably the greatest popular singer in history is the equivalent of UCLA somehow thinking that naming its medical center after Ronald Reagan makes it more attractive to sick people.

If Sinatra deserves to be sentenced to life after death as a rock star, I would like to nominate Sarah Vaughan, Igor Stravinsky and Duke Ellington. I can already hear them turning over in their graves.

BILL BOLT

Santa Monica

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On an A&E; “Biography” of Bobby Darin, many artists say how they were influenced by him, including Tony Orlando, who called him the biggest influence in his life. And who influenced Bobby Darin? Ol’ Blue Eyes, of course. He needs to be inducted.

CHRIS SULLIVAN

Los Angeles

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This is from an interview with Paul McCartney in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions”:

Mark Lewisohn: “Was working late a deliberate thing, so that no one else would be in the building and you’d have the run of the place?”

McCartney: “No, we’d just heard that Sinatra recorded late, that’s all I can remember. Somebody said, ‘Sinatra never records until 10 in the evening’ and we thought, ‘That sounds groovy!’ ”

DAVE JORGAN

Corona del Mar

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Sinatra in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Absolutely. Now what about Al Jolson? His music was “filled with the grand, dramatic gesture and a supreme belief in possibilities” Hilburn cites, and Jolie certainly had enough “swagger and attitude” to pass Bono’s litmus test.

Moreover, he was a white guy pretending to be black. I think that pretty much ices it.

MICHAEL McKEAN

Los Angeles

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Is swagger and attitude what makes one a rock ‘n’ roller? Well, gosh, Lenny Bernstein had swagger and George Gershwin had lots of attitude, so let’s campaign to get them in too.

Hilburn speculates that had Sinatra grown up in the ‘60s, he might have demonstrated “pre-rock musical sophistication in the manner of Elvis Costello or Bryan Ferry.” Right. And if Van Gogh were around today, he’d be drawing for Mad magazine.

Don’t get me wrong. I love good rock ‘n’ roll. But to spend even one moment worrying about the fact that the greatest pop singer of all time has not been afforded a place next to Little Richard and Chuck Berry is analogous to expressing concern that Mother Teresa has yet to be included in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Frank Sinatra has a unique position of high honor in the only place that really counts: the hearts of millions of music lovers around the world.

BRUCE BELLAND

Encino