The Police, The Clash, Elvis Costello will join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

NEW YORK (AP) _ Three British exports from rock's ``new wave'' of the late 1970s _ The Police, The Clash and Elvis Costello and the Attractions _ will join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next

Thursday, November 7th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Three British exports from rock's ``new wave'' of the late 1970s _ The Police, The Clash and Elvis Costello and the Attractions _ will join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year.

They'll be inducted along with the Righteous Brothers, blue-eyed soul singers of ``You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin','' and Australian hard rockers AC/DC.

The 18th annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held March 10 in New York and televised later on VH1.

The Police's relatively short career included hits such as ``Roxanne'' and ``Every Breath You Take.'' Lead singer Sting maintains an active solo career.

The politically charged quartet The Clash broke in as punk rockers and expanded their sound to take in reggae and urban influences. Their biggest radio hit was ``Rock the Casbah.''

Costello, a prolific genre-hopper with hits such as ``Alison,'' ``Pump it Up'' and ``Veronica,'' led the tight trio, the Attractions, for more than a decade. He still performs with two of its members, keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas.

The Righteous Brothers were Southern California crooners Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, who also sang the hits ``Unchained Melody'' and ``(You're My) Soul and Inspiration.''

The bone-crunching riffs of Angus and Malcolm Young lead AC/DC, who are still active. The 1980 hit ``You Shook Me All Night Long'' is a band highlight.

As is often the case with the rock hall, the ceremony has the potential for some tense reunions in tuxedos. Costello feuds with Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas, and both The Police and The Clash had acrimonious breakups.

Earlier this year, Talking Heads re-formed to perform at their rock hall induction after years of bitterness.

Additional inductees in the ``sidemen'' and nonperformer categories will be announced later.