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| Sir Paul McCartney Named Songwriter of the Year The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) honored the top writer and publisher members of PRS for Music - the UK's Performing Right Society - at a ceremony held at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Wednesday, October 14, 2009. Hosted by ASCAP Senior Vice President, International Roger Greenaway and Vice President, Membership Seán Devine, the gala dinner and awards presentation honored those writer and publisher members of PRS for Music whose repertory is licensed by ASCAP and was among its most performed works in the U.S. during 2008. Among the honorees and special guests in attendance were Paul Williams, Phil Collins, Madeline Bell, Randy Bachman, Craig Armstrong, Steve Booker, Bob Daisley, Patrick Doyle, Julian Gingell, Howard Goodall, Calvin Harris, Adrian Johnston, Edward O'Sullivan "Bunny" Lee, Jim McCarty, Dan McGrath, Rick Nowels, Jocelyn Pook, Joby Talbot, Barry Stone, Matthew Strachan and Keith Strachan, among others. The evening's top honors were awarded as follows: - Sir Paul McCartney was named Songwriter of the Year and was recognized for the songs "All You Need Is Love, " "Come Together" and "Hello Goodbye." - The Song of the Year award went to Coldplay for "Viva La Vida." - Universal Music Publishing earned Publisher of the Year honors for having five of the most-performed winning songs: "Viva La Vida, " "Paper Planes, " "Mercy, " "Sweet Dreams" and "Swagger Like Us." As part of ASCAP's ongoing commitment to support emerging music creators, Scottish electronic musician, singer-songwriter and producer Calvin Harris was presented with ASCAP's Vanguard Award in recognition of his gold selling debut album, "I Created Disco." Previous Vanguard Award honorees include Kate Nash, Bat For Lashes, The Arcade Fire, Beck, Modest Mouse, the Strokes and Jack Johnson. Indie pop duo The Ting Tings were honored with the ASCAP College Award for their multi-platinum selling debut album, "We Started Nothing." Previous College Award honorees include The Kooks, The View, The Cribs, Keane, Franz Ferdinand, Chemical Brothers, Belle & Sebastian and Radiohead. In keeping with the show's tradition of presenting entertainment by legendary American songwriters, the evening was highlighted with a special performance by Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winning Hall of Fame songwriter Paul Williams who sang a selection of his timeless standards, accompanied by American soul singer Madeline Bell. Williams, who was elected President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP in April 2009, is responsible for creating a number of enduring hits, including "We have Only Just Begun, " "Rainy Days and Mondays, " "You and Me Against the World, " "An Old Fashioned Love Song, " "I Won't Last a Day Without You, " "Let Me Be The One, " and "The Rainbow Connection." His songs have been recorded by such diverse artists as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie, Ray Charles, R.E.M., Tony Bennett, The Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Luther Vandross, The Scissor Sisters, Diana Krall, Jason Mraz, and Kermit the Frog. A total of 21 Song Awards were presented throughout the evening. Phil Collins collected an award for "In The Air Tonight." This is the 11th time that Collins has been honored for the song, which earned him Song of the Year honors in 1982. Songwriter Steve Booker was on hand to pick up his award for "Mercy, " the hit single from Duffy's debut album, "Rockferry." Longtime Ozzy Osbourne collaborator Bob Daisley collected an award for "Crazy Train." Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell-Smith of 60s blues-rock band the Yardbirds were honored for their contributions to The Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up." Annie Lennox and Eurythmics partner Dave Stewart were recognized for the ninth time for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), " and last year's Songwriter of the Year honoree Dido was honored for the eighth time for the song "Thank You." Multiple award-winning songwriters included Sir Paul McCartney who earned three awards for "All You Need Is Love, " "Come Together" and "Hello Goodbye, " and receiving two awards each were AC/DC's Brian Johnson for "Back in Black" and "You Shook Me All Night Long, " M.I.A. and The Clash for "Paper Planes" and "Swagga Like Us, " and U2 for "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You." Other honorees in the Song Awards category included Cathy Dennis ("I Kissed A Girl"), Def Leppard and Mutt Lange ("Pour Some Sugar On Me"), Pink Floyd's Roger Waters ("Money"), The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger & Keith Richards ("Start Me Up"), and Cornel Campbell, Edward O'Sullivan "Bunny" Lee and Lloyd Samuel Mason ("Need U Bad"). Honorees in the Film and Television Theme categories were: - Craig Armstrong ("The Incredible Hulk") - Patrick Doyle ("Igor" and "Nim's Island") - Joby Talbot ("Penelope" and "Son of Rambow") - Adrian Johnston ("Brideshead Revisited") - Jocelyn Pook ("Brick Lane") - Paul Englishby ("Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day") - Cathy Dennis, Julian Gingell and Barry Stone ("American Idol") - Keith Strachan and Matthew Strachan ("Who Wants to Be a Millionaire") - Elizabeth Fraser ("Teardrop" from "House") - Dan McGrath and Josh Phillips ("Dancing with the Stars") Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 360, 000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations so that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world where copyright law exists. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |