LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts/ ASCAP) ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) held its 31st annual Awards tonight at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Hosted by ASCAP Senior Vice President, International
Roger Greenaway and Vice President, Membership Se?n Devine, the gala dinner and awards presentation honored those songwriter, composer and publisher members of PRS for
Music - the UK's Performing Right Society - whose repertory is licensed by ASCAP and was among its most performed works in the U.S. during 2010.
Among the honorees and special guests in attendance were ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams, Hal David, Taio Cruz, EMI's Guy Moot, Paloma Faith, Plan B (Ben Drew), Craig Armstrong, Randy Bachman, Madeline Bell, Cathy Dennis, Julian Gingell, Albert Hammond, Wayne Hector, Simon Kirke, Dan McGrath, Steve Mac, Josh Phillips, Jay James Picton, Matt Redman, Jasmine Rodgers, Steve Rodgers, Ricky Ross, Barry Stone, Keith Strachan and Matthew Strachan.
Pop singer/songwriter Taio Cruz was named Songwriter of the Year, and also received Song of the Year honors for his smash hit single "Dynamite." The British native, who was honored with ASCAP's Vanguard Award in 2010, has dominated the charts across the globe in the last year, landing him consecutive No 1 singles in the U.S. with "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite," and countless No 1s across Europe and South America. In May 2011, Cruz walked away with three Billboard Music Awards for "Dynamite" - Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song and Top Pop Song. He is currently in the studio putting the finishing touches to his feverishly anticipated new album, which he has been working on since moving to Los Angeles at the beginning of the year.
EMI Music Publishing was named Publisher of the Year for its most-performed winning songs "Break Your Heart" (Taio Cruz), "Dynamite" (Taio Cruz) and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Tears for Fears). Guy Moot, President of EMI Music Publishing UK & European Creative was on hand to accept the award. EMI also collected a Television Award for "American Idol."
As part of ASCAP's ongoing commitment to support emerging music creators, rapper Plan B was honored with ASCAP's Vanguard Award in recognition of his chart-topping album The Defamation of Strickland Banks. Previous Vanguard Award honorees include Taio Cruz, Calvin Harris, Kate Nash and Bat for Lashes. Singer/songwriter Paloma Faith was honored with ASCAP's College Award for her platinum-selling debut album Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? Previous College Award honorees include Scouting for Girls, The Ting Tings, Keane, Franz Ferdinand, Belle & Sebastian and Radiohead.
The evening was highlighted with a special tribute to Oscar and Grammy Award-winning lyricist Hal David in celebration of his 90th birthday. Madeline Bell, Roger Greenaway, Albert Hammond, Jay James Picton, Ricky Ross and Paul Williams performed a selection of songs from David's songbook of hits, which include such memorable classics as "Alfie," "Close to You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," "The Look of Love," "Walk on By," "What the World Needs Now is Love" and countless others. David, who turned 90 on May 25th, was honored last month with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and, along with long-time collaborator Burt Bacharach, will receive the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song next spring at an all-star tribute in Washington D.C.
A total of 21 Song Awards were presented throughout the evening. Those being honored included U2 for "Beautiful Day," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You," Paul McCartney for "Come Together," Phil Collins for "In the Air Tonight," Annie Lenox for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," Rod Temperton for "Thriller," Coldplay for "Viva La Vida" and Imogen Heap for "Whatcha Say." For a complete list of winners, go to www.ascap.com.
Honorees in the Film and Television Theme categories were:
Lorne Balfe (Megamind)
Nigel Godrich (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World)
Craig Armstrong (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps)
Cathy Dennis, Julian Gingell, Barry Stone (American Idol)
Josh Phillips, Dan McGrath (Dancing With the Stars)
Elizabeth Fraser ("Teardrop" from House)
Keith Strachan, Matthew Strachan (Who Wants to be a Millionaire)
About ASCAP
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 420,000 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.
