This Year's inductees include:

This Year's inductees include:
THE ASSOCIATION
Original members: Jules (Gary) Alexander, Ted Bluechel, Brian Cole, Russ Giguere, Terry Kirkman, Jim Yester.
Their story: By the time the band's first hit song, "Along Comes Mary," happened along in 1966, The Association had built up quite a following around Los Angeles, with a fan club membership reported at about 10,000 people. Their tight vocal harmonies and solid instrumentation were featured again on "Cherish," which became a No. 1 song, as well as "Windy" and "Never My Love." The band has weathered break-ups and reunions. The current Association features founding members along with brothers and children of other founders. Yester is still singing Association songs since he began touring with the pop act Triple Gold, featuring singers from other popular vocal groups of the 1950s and '60s.
THE CHARIOTEERS
Original members: Billy Williams, Ira Williams, Ed Jackson, Howard Daniel.
Their story: Wilberforce University in 1930 was the meeting place of The Charioteers, who were mentored by Daniel, a college professor. They dropped the name Harmony Four in favor of The Charioteers because they loved to perform the song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." They evolved from strictly spirituals to popular music. After winning the Ohio State Quartet contest in 1931, they became radio stars, then recording artists with numerous labels. They sang on records with Pearl Bailey, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Only one of The Charioteers' records was a certified hit -- "A Kiss and a Rose," recorded in 1949 -- but members continued to record through 1957.
THE COMMODORES
Original members: William King, Thomas McClary, Ronald LaPread, Walter "Clyde" Orange, Lionel Richie, Milan Williams.
Their story: Out of the ashes of two other bands came The Commodores, whose core members met at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Their manager booked them in New York, where they were discovered by a Motown executive and signed to open concerts for The Jackson Five. The Commodores were just as adept as dance tunes ("Brickhouse") as they were at tender ballads ("Easy," "Three Times A Lady," "Sail On"). Richie, who penned many of those love songs, left the group in the 1980s to launch a successful solo career.
DANNY AND THE JUNIORS
Original members: Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei, Joe Terry.
Their story: Here's a group that bridged the gap between straight white pop and R & amp;B. These Philly boys were influenced by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers as well as The Four Lads and The Four Freshmen. They rehearsed in cars; they sang under the window of a record producer to get noticed; and they heeded Dick Clark's advice by changing their song "Do the Bop" to "At the Hop." That's the song they performed on Clark's "American Bandstand" as a last-minute substitution for Little Anthony and the Imperials in late 1957. It became the No. 1 record in the United States about a month later. Danny and the Juniors also are remembered for the song "Rock and Roll is Here to Stay."
EARTH, WIND & amp; FIRE
Original members: Maurice White, Verdine White, Ronnie Laws, Roland Bautista, Jessica Cleaves, Wade Flemons, Donald Whitehead.
Their story: Maurice White was this group's mover and shaker. After a promising start in professional music, including four years as drummer for jazz musician Ramsey Lewis, White and brother Verdine founded the band Salty Peppers in Chicago. After producing a few local hits and enduring some personnel changes -- one of which brought Philip Bailey into the group -- Earth, Wind and Fire was born. White's interest in music, mysticism and theater was present in the group's live performances and contributed to the success of many recognizable sons -- "Shining Star," "Sing A Song," "September," "Boogie Wonderland," "After the Love Has Gone" and "Let's Groove."
THE FIVE SATINS
Original members: Fred Parris, Sylvester Hopkins, Nathaniel Mosely Jr., Albert Denby, William L. Powers.Their story: The Five Satins, from New Haven, Conn., were first called The Scarlets. They were given just 15 minutes of studio time at Jax Records in 1954 to record two ballads, "Dear One" and "I've Lost." "Dear One" was a hit with New Yorkers, who loved the traditional R & amp;B harmony of it. The quintet scattered as each was called to fulfill military service, and Parris formed a new group that was renamed The Five Satins. Parris was on guard duty early one morning at an army base near Philadelphia and thinking of his girlfriend when he wrote the group's most famous song, "In the Still of the Night." The recording of it crossed over from R & amp;B charts to pop and remains one of the most popular tunes of the 1950s.
THE FOUR LADS
Original members: Bernie Toorish, Jimmie Arnold, Frank Busseri, Connie Codarini.
Their story: They really were lads when they got started in the 1940s. These former choir boys at St. Michael's Cathedral School in Toronto performed in a hotel one night, not knowing that a member of the famous Golden Gate Quartet was listening and inspired to call his manager. A two-week tryout in a New York nightclub ended after 30 weeks, and Columbia Records came calling. As a backup group on Columbia, The Four Lads were given the freedom to choose with whom they would perform. They chose Johnnie Ray, who was an unknown until his 1951 record "Cry" was released. After many more hits with Ray, The Four Lads recorded some of their own, including "Istanbul," "Down by the Riverside," "Moments to Remember" and "Standing on the Corner (Watching All the Girls Go By)."
THE IMPRESSIONS
Original members: Arthur Brooks, Richard Brooks, Sam Gooden, Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield.
Their story: Here's another example of a musical merger from the late 1950s. The Brookses and Gooden were formerly of the Roosters, a band from Chattanooga, Tenn., while Butler and Mayfield, of Chicago, had been in Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers. The group's first single, 1958's "For Your Precious Love," was a hushed gospel-influenced song. The Impressions always leaned toward the softer side of the soul music scene. Butler was lead singer until he started a solo career in 1958, when songwriter Mayfield took over the reins. The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock declared The Impressions "black music's premier vocal" until the Temptations arrived on the scene. There were social angles to songs such as "It's Alright" and "People Get Ready," but they also became known for the romance of "You Must Believe Me" and the gospel-like anthem "Amen."
THE ISLEY BROTHERS
Original members: Brothers Ronald, O'Kelly and Rudolph Isley.
Their story: This trio concocted a musical formula that included gospel, R & amp;B and doo wop. They signed with RCA in 1959 and soon after recorded "Shout, Parts I and II," which featured the energy of rock 'n' roll and the call-and-response hallmark of gospel music. Follow-up success didn't come as easily -- they changed labels several times -- until they recorded "Twist and Shout" in 1962, two years before The Beatles rode it to the top of pop charts. Somehow, the Isleys have always remained relevant on the music scene, whether they were singing the Holland-Dozier-Holland love song "This Old Heart of Mine" (1966, and remade by Ronald Isley and Rod Stewart in 1990), the funky "It's Your Thing" (1969) or collaborating with today's young R & amp;B and hip-hop stars. Ronald Isley is to release a solo recording of romantic songs later this year.
MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS
Original members: Martha Reeves, Gloria Williams, Rosalind Ashford, Annette Sterling.
Their story: Reeves, who grew up singing in her father's Methodist church, formed a group called the Del-Phis in 1960 with some friends from high school. After they cut one record with Checkmate, Reeves landed an audition with Motown Records. Instead of a spot on the label's roster, however, Reeves became a secretary at Motown. One of her tasks was reserving studios for recording sessions. When Mary Wells didn't make her appointment one day, the Del-Phis used the studio to record "There He Is at My Door," which would be their first single on Motown's Melody label. Williams left the group, Reeves became lead singer, the band's name was changed to Martha and the Vandellas, and a string of Holland-Dozier-Holland-penned hits followed, including "Heat Wave," "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run."
THE MERRY MACS
Original members: Ted, Judd and Joe McMichael.
Their story: This group began as a family act. Back in the 1920s, when three-part harmony was the norm, the brothers McMichael of Minneapolis, Minn., sang harmony while their mother carried the melody in performances at high school proms and college dances. They were hired to sing on a radio show in 1926, minus Mom. One year and two name changes later, they began a tour with band leader Joe Haymes. Cheri McKay joined them in 1930 to sing the melodies, which made the Merry Macs the first close-harmony group to feature a woman. They set other trends, too, in terms of using rhythmic accompaniment onstage, wearing formal attire for performances and appearing in Hollywood films. Hit songs included "Pop Goes the Weasel" (1938) and "Mairzy Doats" (1944) which reached number one for five weeks. Members came and went until 1964, when the Merry Macs retired. Ted McMichael is the only surviving founding member, and his daughter, Geri Benson, is lead singer of the new Merry Macs.
PEERLESS QUARTET
Original members: Henry Burr, Albert Campbell, Steve Porter, Tom Daniels.
Their story: This vocal group, which grew out of Columbia Male Quartet, was founded 99 years ago and weathered many personnel changes before disbanding in 1928. There was a patriotic theme to the music of Peerless Quartet -- after all, it was performing during World War I -- with songs such as "Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France" (1917), "What Kind Of An American Are You?" (1917) and "Liberty Bell" (1918). Burr, by the way, recorded other songs using various aliases.
THE WHISPERS
Original members: Twins Walter and Wallace Scott, Nicholas Caldwell, Gordy Harmon, Marcus Hutson.
Their story: Five young men from Jordan High School, in the Watts section of Los Angeles, came together in 1962 to sing the hits by the groups that influenced them -- The Flamingoes, The Temptations, The Hi-Lo's, The Four Freshmen and Nat King Cole. Their first record producer called them The Whispers because of their soft sound. Their 1969 recording of "The Time Will Come" landed them in the top 20 of national R & amp;B radio charts for the first time, and another song, "Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong" crossed over to pop charts. Most Whispers songs were R & amp;B and soul successes, but in 1987, the group found itself back on pop charts with "Rock Steady."