POP MUSIC REVIEW : He’s Gotten Under Their Skin : Parade of Stars, Including Rockers, Turn Sinatra’s 80th Birthday Bash Into Historic Moment for Pop Culture

There were times on Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium when the evening seemed more like a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner than an 80th birthday salute to Frank Sinatra.

Bruce Springsteen started things off by escorting a teary-eyed Sinatra to a seat of honor with his wife, Barbara, and other family members. Sinatra then watched a nearly three-hour parade of entertainment personalities honor him with stories and/or songs.

Springsteen, who has given eloquent Hall of Fame induction speeches over the years, warmly and at length described Sinatra as an inspiration, alluding playfully to their mutual New Jersey and Italian backgrounds.

Accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar, Springsteen then sang “Angel Eyes.” The ballad is from 1958’s celebrated “Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely,” which Springsteen called his favorite Sinatra album.

That established the format of singers doing their versions of Sinatra songs--a pattern that was broken later in the evening by Bono.

Via videotape from Dublin, U2’s singer was joined by an orchestra on “Two Shots of Happy (One Shot of Sad),” a song he wrote for Sinatra with the hope that the singer will record it. Near the end of the number, Bono--who made a colorful speech at the 1994 Grammys presenting Sinatra with his Grammy Legend Award--further showed his affection for the master of American pop vocalists by planting a kiss on the camera lens.

Bob Dylan closed the classy event by singing his “Restless Farewell” with his band and a string quartet. The 1964 tune is a declaration of personal independence and freedom that is so close to the spirit of Sinatra’s “My Way” persona that it could have been written for the occasion. It ends with the lines: “So I’ll make my stand/ And remain as I am/ and bid farewell and not give a damn.”

This rock component lifted Sunday’s affair from a warm but predictable TV salute (it will air Dec. 14 on ABC, two days after Sinatra’s 80th birthday) into a historic moment of pop culture rapprochement.

Like most of his generation, Sinatra was openly hostile to the raw, rebellious rock ‘n’ roll when it arrived in the ‘50s. For some in both camps this division between traditional pop and upstart rock has never healed. For all his acclaim, Sinatra has rarely been mentioned in any rock context.

For years it would have been unthinkable for Sinatra to be honored by a stageful of rockers, and many of his longtime fans in the audience Sunday clearly seemed a bit uncertain about this parade of outsiders. They no doubt figured that the rockers’ presence was simply TV demographics strategy by the show’s executive producer, George Schlatter.

Ironically, the affair may lead to an even more dramatic pop summit: a recognition that Sinatra himself should be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alongside such other pre-rock influences as Hank Williams, Dinah Washington, the Ink Spots and Louis Jordan.

Though rock has been proud to acknowledge its blues, country, gospel and folk roots, it has tended to ignore the obvious pop connection, probably because pop was the tame, formulated musical world that rock ‘n’ roll rebelled against.

But there was never anything tame nor formulated in the best of Sinatra’s work. His music--in separate “golden eras” from his Columbia, Capitol and Reprise recording years--has been filled with the passion and self-affirmation that has characterized the most commanding rock.

Adding to the salute Sunday were rock pioneers Little Richard (an energetic “That Old Black Magic,” with an arrangement in the style of his own “Long Tall Sally”) and Ray Charles (a stirring “Ol’ Man River”), as well as Salt-N-Pepa (a customized rap built around their hit “Whatta Man”) and Hootie & the Blowfish (a finger-snappin’ rendition of “The Lady Is a Tramp”).

Other contemporary components ranged from the charismatic Luis Miguel (performing “Come Fly With Me” while a tape of Sinatra doing the same song was shown on a video screen) to the overwrought Patti LaBelle (“The House I Live In”) and the colorless Paula Abdul (a dance-centered treatment of “Luck Be a Lady”).

Moving into more traditional Sinatra pop turf, Natalie Cole delivered a stylish “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and Tony Bennett served up smooth renditions of “A Foggy Day” and “I’ve Got the World on a String.” Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme and Vic Damone joined for a medley of more than two dozen Sinatra hits.

Between songs, a wide range of actors and comedians--from the refreshingly polite Roseanne to the dignified Gregory Peck--saluted Sinatra and/or introduced film clips that showed highlights from his career as a singer and actor.

Sinatra’s reputation over the years has been stained by a certain tough-guy insensitivity, but his artistry has rarely been in doubt--nor has his generosity. When his credits were cited, the impressive thing wasn’t just the 200-odd albums or 63 films, but the $1 billion he has raised for charity. Even Sunday’s concert was a benefit--for the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center and AIDS Project Los Angeles.

Though Sinatra sang for only about 30 seconds Sunday (during the cast finale of “Theme From New York, New York”), his spirit fueled every moment of the evening--just as it has helped fuel all of pop music for six decades.