New York, March 13, 2006 – The Blondie feud was certainly the highlight of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner on Monday, and with all of the exposure, it will be interesting to see what portions of the ceremony see airtime on VH1 come March 21. (The current members of Blondie ostracized two former members of the group, Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison, and Debbie Harry publicly refused to allow the two to join in their live performance. Rehearsals, anyone?)

Backstage in the press room, Blondie guitarist Chris Stein brandished his trophy like a weapon, “in case I run into any of those f----ers”. About barring the pair from performing with the band, Stein said, “They sued us, so why the f--k would we want to play with them?”

Black Sabbath was also inducted, and Ozzy Osbourne tossed out his signature brand of bizarre, off-color reasons for their not performing. Metallica stood in, and rocked the Waldorf-Astoria ballroom with a couple of Black Sabbath hits. The Metallica guys weren’t shy backstage; Lars Ulrich rambled on about Sabbath-love, their upcoming tours, their new record and, um, well, we stopped listening.

Other inductees this year included Lynyrd Skynyrd, Herb Alpert, the Sex Pistols and the late Miles Davis. The jazz king’s family was on hand for the awards, and mentioned that they’re currently in talks with actor Don Cheadle for the lead in a Miles Davis biopic.

The other big buzz of the evening, the profanity-laden letter to the Hall of Fame from the no-show Sex Pistols; well, it’s kind of punk rock.

As we were leaving, after 1 A.M., we met the scorned Blondies Infante and Harrison in the Waldorf lobby, greeting fans and wondering aloud if they’ll ever perform again.