The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame is inducting their newest class tonight in Cleveland. You do know that they’ve been hyping Ringo Starr’s induction. Ringo is not getting in as a regular member. For years Jann Wenner and friends kept him out as a solo member even though Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were all in.

Finally, Paul McCartney put his foot down. Ringo was not on this year’s ballot. His induction was not open to a vote. It was McCartney who insisted that Wenner et al put Ringo in. He goes in as a Lifetime Achievement member. He’s the only winner in 27 years to be inducted for “Musical Excellence.”

I don’t disagree that Ringo should be in the Hall of Fame. As as a drummer he is par excellence. Plus, his hits– “It Don’t Come Easy,” “Photograph,” “The No No Song,” “Oh My My,” “Back off Bugaloo”– are radio staples and little masterpieces. Good for Paul, for being so loyal.

Elsewhere the Rock Hall of Shame continues to charge big money for tickets and does nothing to help anyone. They don’t give even a small donation to MusiCares or any other group that supports indigent or ailing musicians. They don’t even have an education fund. They pay their CEO Joel Peresman 400,000 a year. The total salaries listed on their 2014 Form 990 tax filing — $524,839– actually EXCEED the amount they gave to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland. That amount in 2014 was 421,250.

The Hall of Fame Foundation claimed total assets of $11 million in 2014. Remember this is all separate from the actual Museum in Cleveland. This is just Jann Wenner’s New York based fiefdom. Yes, he’s the same Jann Wenner whose magazine, Rolling Stone, just retracted that infamous campus rape story.

I did get a laugh listening to a promo for the Rock Hall on WCBS FM, which is promoting the induction ceremony. In the ad they make a big deal of last years inductees including “The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein” and the Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Hah! At last year’s ceremony, Oldham boycotted and didn’t show, Epstein was given a two minute nod that almost no one heard.

Still not in the Rock Hall: Sting, Bon Jovi, Chubby Checker, Carly Simon, Chicago, the Moody Blues, Billy Preston, Mary Wells, Bryan Ferry, Carole King (as a performer), KISS, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Deep Purple, Three Dog Night, the 5th Dimension, and most glaringly– Peter Wolf and J Geils Band. Wolf will appear Saturday night as a presenter. For years Wenner has dangled the induction carrot in front of him, and done nothing. They are like Charlie Brown, Lucy and the football. It’s sad. J.Geils should have been in years ago.

APRIL 22: Shawn Mendes’ “Handwritten” is number 1 everywhere even Billboard. He sold 117,365 copies of “Handwritten” including streaming and downloading. He’s the youngest pop star to hit number 1 in a debut since Justin Bieber. He’s also the first star born from social media.

APRIL 16: Shawn Mendes will not turn 17 until August. That means at a solid 16, he’s number 1 today on iTunes and most certainly on Billboard when the albums are counted next week. His first album, “Handwritten,” was released on Tuesday by Universal Music.

Mendes is many things including the better Bieber. He’s tall, for one thing. For another, he really plays and writes. I actually saw him at a showcase last winter in New York. His audience is, like Bieber’s, screaming teenage girls.

Any other differences? His songs are catchy and original. He can play an acoustic set for hours. Call him a junior James Taylor. The worst thing that could happen to him is being infected by song “teams” and collaborators, production groups that turn his music into the same pap churned out by everyone else. At the moment, he’s still original.

He’s also polite and self effacing. He nice parents, from Toronto. This summer, Mendes will really blow up when he goes on tour with Taylor Swift. Yes, in this case, Taylor would be a cougar!  Hopefully, she’ll just be a good friend and mentor. She did that for Ed Sheeran, and look where he is now.

How did Mendes do it? Really, social media. He’s part of a vast network of Vine and YouTube stars who the teens are creating on their own. It’s a whole teen subculture. Grace Helbig, about to have a talk show on the E! channel, is one of them. And more are coming, in droves.