| The 34th
annual Songwriters Hall of Fame induction
and awards dinner was held on Thursday,
June 12 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel
in New York City. In addition to the inductions
of ASCAP songwriters Queen and
Phil Collins, Hall of Fame ASCAP
songwriter Jimmy Webb received
the Johnny Mercer award, ASCAP Board Member Nicholas
Firth received the Abe Oleman Publisher
Award, and former ASCAP Board Member Martin Bandier
received the Patron of the Arts Award.
For more information, visit the
Songwriter's Hall of Fame web site at: http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/
Patron of the Arts Award
Martin Bandier
Chairman & CEO, EMI Music Publishing
Photo:
Theo Wargo /
Wireimage.com
|
Martin Bandier is the Chairman and CEO of EMI
Music Publishing, the world’s largest and
mostsuccessful music publishing company. He is
also a director of the Board of EMI Group, plc.
EMI controls the rights to more than one million
song titles, from “Santa Claus is Coming
to Town” and “New York, New York”
to “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”
Bandier began his career as General Counsel to
the real estate development firm LeFrak Organization,
eventually rising to Senior Vice President. In
1975, Bandier co-founded The Entertainment Company,
which scored best-selling songs from Dolly Parton,
Barbara Streisand and Captain and Tenille. In
1984, he co-founded SBK Entertainment and in five
years acquired two of the industry’s most
important song collections --Combine Music, a
Nashville-based music publishing company, and
CBS Songs, at the time, the largest music publishing
company to be acquired.
In 1989, SBK sold its music publishing interests
to Thorn EMI and Bandier remained on at the newly
merged company, soon becoming Chairman and CEO.
Since then, Bandier has catapulted the company
to new heights. In 1997, a 50% purchase of Jobete
Music Co., the catalog containing classic songs
of Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the
Jackson 5 and other legendary Motown hits, took
place, with a further 30% stake acquired in April
of 2003.
He was also responsible for the significant copyright
purchases of Filmtrax, in 1991, and Windswept
Pacific, in 1999, then one of the largest remaining
independent music publishing companies in existence.
Bandier’s involvement has been critical
to the development and signing of Grammy-gleaning
artists like Alicia Keys, Sting, Enrique Iglesias,
Pink and Rob Thomas; likewise for this year’s
EMI Music Publishing’s Grammy artists and
songwriters -- such as Norah Jones, Foo Fighters
and Alan Jackson -- who amassed an extraordinary
24 Grammys.
Bandier’s civic commitments include membership
on the boards of the United Jewish Appeal, City
of Hope and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame,
and he serves as a trustee of the T.J. Martell
Foundation. He is director of The NMPA (National
Music Publishers Association) and the Rock and
Roll Hall Fame. His many industry achievements
include numerous years as Publisher of the Year,
by ASCAP and Billboard. This year Bandier
will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of
Fame as Patron of the Arts. Bandier is also a
trustee of Syracuse University.
Bandier is a member of the Metropolitan New York
Advisory Board and is a 1994 Arents Award winner.
He has two daughters, and he and his wife, Dorothy,
live in New York City, with their son, Max.
Phil Collins
 Phil
Collins, a native of Chiswick, England, is the
affable singer, drummer and songwriter who helped
turn Genesis from a respected art-rock band into
a pop hitmaking machine. He also carved out a
place for himself as a superstar solo artist during
the ‘80s. A former child actor, Collins
had a featured role in a London production of
Oliver! in 1964. He joined Genesis as
a replacement for the band’s original drummer,
but the spotlight stayed on frontman Peter Gabriel
until Gabriel suddenly left the group in 1974.
Collins eventually moved into the lead vocalist
spot and led the band into a much more accessible
pop direction. Resulting hits, written by Collins
with bandmates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford
include “That’s All,” “Follow
You, Follow Me,” “Misunderstanding,”
and “Invisible Touch.”
Collins began to receive recognition as a solo
artist with his debut album, Face Value,
in 1981. The new video era and Collins’
memorable R&B-flavored recordings made him
a ubiquitous presence throughout the 1980s. Collins
originals “One More Night,” “In
the Air Tonight,” “I Cannot Believe
It’s True,” “Against All Odds,”
“Easy Lover”, “I Don’t
Care Anymore” and “Sussudio,”
among others, were worldwide smash hits. His newest
album, Testify, was released in November
2002.
Queen
 The
scene in Wayne’s World where the
central characters listened while driving to “Bohemian
Rhapsody” typifies much about what has made
Queen’s music popular and enduring. The
songs have a rhythmic jolt that can’t help
but make your head nod back and forth and singing
along amounts to a virtual reflex due to the anthemic
nature of the material.
Queen formed in 1971 while the members were still
college students and made its first recording
in 1973. That album didn’t catch fire, but
the second release included “Seven Seas
of Rhye,” the song that first gained the
group its fans. With the release of their third
record, Queen began to make a name in the American
marketplace, but their meteoric and global success
occurred with 1975’s A Night At The
Opera, which included “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The mock-operatic piece took three weeks to record,
and it was promoted with one of the first conceptual
videos. Other successful releases followed, with
songs like “Somebody to Love,” “We
Are The Champions” and “We Will Rock
You” added to the core of Queen’s
repertoire.
In the 1980s, Queen diversified its sound with
tracks like “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,”
“Another One Bites The Dust” and “Under
Pressure,” their collaboration with David
Bowie. They created as well a movie soundtrack
for the 1980 film “Flash Gordon.”
Sadly, the bubble burst when lead vocalist, Freddie
Mercury, announced in November of 1991 that he
was suffering from AIDS. The scope of the group’s
fans was underscored when he died two days later
and a memorial concert was held at England’s
Wembly Stadium. Over a billion people around the
globe saw the show when it was broadcast live.
Johnny Mercer Award
Jimmy Webb
 Jimmy
Webb received the Johnny Mercer Award, an honor
bestowed only upon a writer or writers already
inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and
selected by the Nominating Committee as one who
has established a history of outstanding creative
works. Though best known for his instant classics
including "By The Time I Get To Phoenix,"
"Wichita Lineman," "Galveston,"
"MacArthur Park," "Didn't We,"
"Up, Up and Away" and "Worst That
Could Happen," Jimmy Webb's work continues
to grace a multitude of major recording artists'
albums, from Tony Bennett, to Reba McEntire, Linda
Ronstadt, and R.E.M. Webb is the only artist to
ever receive Grammy awards for music, lyrics,
and orchestration. He is a member of the National
Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame
and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The
National Academy of Songwriters gave Jimmy its
Lifetime Achievement Award and in 1999 and Webb
was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame as
one of the State's most celebrated sons. He currently
serves on the Board of Directors for both The
Songwriters' Hall of Fame and ASCAP.
Abe Olman Publisher Award
Nicholas Firth
 Nicholas
Firth is Chairman of BMG Music Publishing Worldwide,
a unit of BMG, the global music and entertainment
division of Bertelsmann AG. Since its 1987 launch
under Mr. Firth's direction, BMG Music Publishing
has become an industry leader. The company has
made over 200 catalogue and corporate acquisitions
in 15 countries, most notably Zomba Music Publishing,
Italy's G. Ricordi, France's Éditions Durand
and Éditions Salabert as well as the catalogues
of Santana, Fleetwood Mac, B.B. King, Bryan Ferry,
Barry Manilow, Peter Cetera (Chicago) and Gilbert
Becaud. The company's roster includes some of
the world's biggest recording artists such as
Nelly, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Coldplay,
Alanis Morissette, the Bee Gees, Peter Maffay,
Rammstein, Elvis Costello, Beck, Erykah Badu,
The Cure, The Eurythmics, Annie Lennox and Wu-Tang
Clan. BMG Music Publishing's successful Film and
TV Music division has placed BMG's copyrights
in recent films such as 8 Mile, Spiderman,
Sweet Home Alabama, The Scorpion
King and Shrek and hit television
programs including Malcolm In The Middle, The
Sopranos and ER. A 40-year veteran of the music
publishing business, Mr. Firth has broad international
operating experience in the USA, Europe and the
Far East. |
