POP MUSIC

REAL GOOD TIME TOGETHER: The rift between Cale and Reed (not their first) will make them a closely watched pair when the band is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Jan. TK in a dinner ceremony at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Hall officials are hopeful that the band’s members will perform together, though Cale says it’s unlikely, given that the group is mourning the August death of its guitarist, Sterling Morrison.

“I don’t think [performing] is an option,” Cale says. “In a sense, they’re a year late, since we are all going to miss Sterling.”

That could leave the ceremony without performances from the three most celebrated inductees. David Bowie, despite having criticized the very idea of a rock hall of fame, is willing to attend and perform, but is scheduled to give a concert in Helsinki that night. Pink Floyd, like the Velvets, is torn by a long-standing feud between its principals--former member Roger Waters and the David Gilmour-led faction that has carried on with the band’s name.

Mindful of the bad vibes in 19xx when Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty refused to let former bandmates Stu Cook and Doug Clifford on stage to perform, Hall of Fame Executive Director Suzan Evans is seeking to negotiate arrangements to have both bands represented in the performing part of the ceremony.

“I’m hopeful that everyone will be there, play and be happy,” she says.