Pictured after the ceremony are R&B Foundation Chairman Kendall Minter and his guest, BMI's Del Bryant, legendary musician Lloyd Price and R&B Foundation board member Judy Tint.

Two-time Grammy winner Thom Bell, credited as one of the architects of the "Philly Soul" sound, adds this prestigious award to a trophy collection that includes his recent induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Leon Huff, Kenny Gamble, Eddie Holland and Brian Holland gather on stage to reminisce about Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Berry Gordy, Jr.

The R&B Foundation, which honors the genre's greats and seeks to preserve its legacy, revived its Pioneer Awards gala after a three-year hiatus due to money troubles. The organization now has the financial support of both the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania under a plan inspired by legendary BMI producer/songwriter Kenny Gamble, who was in attendance with his "Sound of Philadelphia" writing partner Leon Huff to present the award to Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.

Songwriter Eddie Holland, BMI's Charlie Feldman and Del Bryant, Eddie's daughter and songwriter Brian Holland share a table at a local Philly diner after the gala.

Singers Patti LaBelle and Smokey Robinson hosted the event at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue. In addition to Gamble and Huff, other presenters included BMI Icons Brian and Eddie Holland of Motown songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland, Ashford & Simpson, Bill Cosby, Jerry Butler, Boyz II Men, Bonnie Raitt and Jill Scott.

The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent, non-profit service organization whose mission is to foster public recognition and appreciation of rhythm & blues music and the artists who made significant contributions to the birth and development of r&b music, particularly from the 1940s through the 1970s. A year-round endeavor, the R&B Foundation produces the popular Pioneer Awards and administers significant medical and financial assistance endowments to those in need. Officially established in 1988, the Foundation was housed in Washington, D.C. and New York City until the recent move to Philadelphia in April of 2005.]]> 2006-07-09T18:00:01-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334850 Artists, Bell, Thom, Bryant, Del, Davis, Mac, DeGraw, Gavin, Jennings, Will, Kristofferson, Kris, Manilow, Barry, Menken, Alan, Moy, Sylvia, Presley, Elvis, Preston, Frances, Winwood, Steve, Awards, Industry Awards, Songwriters Hall of Fame Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony pulled out all the stops as SHOF Chairman/CEO Hal David and President Linda Moran helped honor BMI songwriting heavyweights Thom Bell, Mac Davis, Will Jennings, Sylvia Moy and Kris Kristofferson. The 37th annual induction ceremony, which also saluted songwriters Henry Cosby, John Mayer, Peter, Paul & Mary, and ABKCO Publishing's Allen Klein, took place June 15 at New York's Marriott Marquis Hotel.

BMI President & CEO Del Bryant, Kris Kristofferson, and SHOF Curator Oscar Brand

The evening was full of special moments, including one from music impresario Paul Shaffer, who honored inductee Thom Bell with a medley of some of his most famous songs, including "I'll Be Around," "You Make Me Feel Brand New," "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time" and "You Are Everything."

Inductee Will Jennings, SHOF President Linda Moran, Kris Kristofferson, Frances Preston, and inductee Mac Davis

Hal David gave the introduction to Johnny Mercer Award honoree Kris Kristofferson: "Tonight's honoree is a Rhodes Scholar and former United States Army helicopter pilot who, in 1965, resigned his commission, gave up a teaching post at West Point, and moved to Nashville to fulfill his dream of becoming a successful songwriter."

Country star Trace Adkins did Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" proud and presented the honor to his old friend. Kristofferson then thrilled the packed audience with a performance of "Help Me Make It Through the Night."

SHOF Chairman/CEO Hal David, inductee Sylvia Moy, and Will Jennings

BMI composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) came out to help induct fellow BMI affiliate Will Jennings, citing Jennings' amazing songwriting record, which includes co-writing Barry Manilow's first No. 1 smash, "Looks Like We Made It," as well as his extremely successful partnership with Steve Winwood. Broadway vocalist Linda Eder performed his blockbuster hit, "My Heart Will Go On," from Titanic.

Trace Adkins, Will Jennings, ASCAP's John LoFrumento, Paul Shaffer, Mac Davis, Lise Davis, Sylvia Moy, Del Bryant, inductee Thom Bell, and Hal David

Former BMI President & CEO Frances Preston helped induct her longtime friend, Mac Davis. "My first remembrance of Mac Davis was from a very early Nashville music festival," Preston reminisced. "I knew at that moment that Mac Davis was going to be one of America's greatest songwriters."

Thom Bell accepts his award

Davis, who signed his own recording contract in 1970, topped the charts in 1972 with his song, "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me," and wrote the Elvis Presley classics "A Little Less Conversation," "Memories" and "In the Ghetto," which he performed to a standing ovation.

Publishing giant Allen Klein was honored with the Abe Olman Publishing Award, presented by EMI Music Publishing's Martin Bandier and Carlin America, Inc.'s Freddy Bienstock, both previous recipients of the award. Klein's close friend, Yoko Ono, sent a congratulatory letter, which Bandier read. BMI artist Gavin DeGraw then performed an amazing rendition of ABKCO artist Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come."

Kris Kristofferson performs

The induction of BMI writer Sylvia Moy and the late Henry Cosby closed the show, presented by their longtime Motown collaborator, Stevie Wonder. The pair co-wrote many of Wonder's most famous early hits, including "I Was Made to Love Her," "Shoo Bee Doo Bee Da Day" and "My Cherie Amour," which Wonder performed during the ceremony.

Mac Davis performs

Dedicated to recognizing the work and lives of those composers and lyricists who create popular music around the world, the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/SHOF is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. BMI is a long-time supporter of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

WE BELONG TOGETHER
Darnell Bristol
Mariah Carey
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds
Sid "Uncle Jamz" Johnson
Patrick L. Moten
Sandra Sully
Bobby Womack
ABKCO Music, Inc.
Ballads By Design Publishing
Hip Chic Music
Mister Johnson's Jams Music
Rye Songs
Songs of Universal, Inc.
Sony/ATV Songs LLC
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Mariah Carey
Island Records

YOU AND ME
Jude Cole
Jason Wade
Dimensional Songs of the Knoll
G-Chills Music
Jude Cole Music
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Lifehouse
Geffen Records

BMI staged its 54th Annual Pop Awards on May 16, with top honors given to BMI Icons Crosby, Stills & Nash; Jesse Carmichael, Ryan Dusick, Adam Levine and Mickey Madden of Maroon 5 and Lil Jon as Songwriters of the Year; "She Will Be Loved" as Song of the Year; and EMI Music as Publisher of the Year. Hosted by BMI President/ CEO Del Bryant and Los Angeles VP/GM Barbara Cane at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the black-tie dinner recognized the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most performed pop songs from BMI's catalog of more than 6.5 million compositions.

	BMI Pop Awards Photo Slideshow
	BMI Icon Tribute
	2006 BMI Pop Awards song list
	Crosby, Stills, & Nash Bio

A highlight of the gala ceremony featured a musical tribute to legendary singing trio Crosby, Stills & Nash, who were honored as BMI Icons for their "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, whose signature three-part harmony has endured for more than three decades, join an elite list of previous BMI Icons that includes Paul Simon, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton and Carlos Santana.

Martin Bandier and his EMI Music Publishing team accept the publisher of the year award

The musical partnership of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash has produced some of the most timeless rock songs ever written, including "Marrakesh Express," "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "Helplessly Hoping," "Guinnevere," "Teach Your Children," "Wooden Ships," "Dark Star" and "Just a Song Before I Go." Called "the voice of an entire generation," CSN has just announced a summer reunion tour with Neil Young.

Maroon 5	Lil Jon	Crosby, Stills & Nash

Pop-rockers Maroon 5 were joined on stage by rapper Lil Jon to collect their BMI Songwriter of the Year Crystals for placing three songs each on the most performed list of 50. The trio of tracks earning Maroon 5 members Jesse Carmichael, Ryan Dusick, Adam Levine and Mickey Madden the prestigious title were "Sunday Morning," their two-time BMI Pop Award-winning smash, "This Love," and Song of the Year "She Will Be Loved."

Lil Jon picked up his third Songwriter of the Year win - he was both BMI's top Pop and Urban writer in 2005 - for penning "Lovers and Friends" (Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Usher & Ludacris), "Goodies" (Ciara featuring Petey Pablo) and "Salt Shaker" (Ying Yang Twins featuring Lil Jon), the latter two of which also made the list of top songs at the 2005 BMI Urban Awards. He was also honored at that ceremony as writer of the Song of the Year ("Yeah!"), as well as named one of BMI's Top 10 Urban Producers.

Included on Maroon 5's multi-platinum debut, Songs About Jane, "She Will Be Loved" was named BMI Pop Song of the Year for scoring the most airplay of any song on the most performed list during the award period. Co-written by the band's four BMI members, and published by Careers-BMG Music Publishing and February Twenty-Second Music, "She Will Be Loved" earned Maroon 5 their second Grammy this past February for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; they were named Best New Artist the previous year.

EMI Music Publishing (EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc./EMI-Hastings Catalog, Inc./Stone Diamond Music) claimed its second consecutive BMI Pop Publisher of the Year prize with 18 songs on the top 50 list, giving the publishing giant the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. EMI Chairman & CEO Martin Bandier accepted the company's 11th BMI Pop Publisher Crystal.

In addition to the Song of the Year, BMI also recognized the performance achievements of two other songs: "Beverly Hills" earned Most Performed Song on College Radio kudos for songwriter Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and publisher E.O. Smith Music, and "1, 2 Step," written by BMI Top 10 Urban Producer Jazze Pha and published by Bubba Gee Music, Noontime Tunes and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., received BMI's very first Internet Song of the Year award by tallying the most hits on BMI-licensed web sites during the award period.

Three other songs besides "This Love" took home a second BMI Pop Award, including "Heaven" by Los Lonely Boys, which also won last year; D.H.T.'s version of "Listen to Your Heart," which earned a Pop Award in 1990 for the recording by Roxette; and the Hall & Oates remake of "I'll Be Around," which won a Pop Award in 1972 for the original Spinners hit written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt.

Songwriters Gavin DeGraw, Kara DioGuardi, George Pajon, Jr., will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, and Full Force members Paul Anthony, Baby Gerry, B-Fine, Bowlegged Lou, Curt-T-T and Shy Shy each scored two BMI Pop Awards, while publishers Careers-BMG Music Publishing/Zomba Songs, Cherry River Music Co., Dimensional Songs of the Knoll, El Cubano Music, Ensign Music LLC, February Twenty-Second Music, Forceful Music/Mokojumbi Music, G. DeGraw Music, Inc., K'Stuff Publishing, Songs of TVT, Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group (Songs of Universal, Inc./Irving Music), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Waters of Nazareth Publishing and will.i.am music, inc. were each cited for multiple award-winning songs.

Another of the ceremony's highlights included a special presentation to 21-year-old Catawba College student Dennis E. Reed, Jr., first place winner of the BMI Foundation's 9th Annual John Lennon Scholarship Awards. The Charlotte, North Carolina native, who got to share the stage with some of music's biggest stars, went home with a $10,000 scholarship for his song, "Out of Control." Established in 1997 by Yoko Ono in conjunction with the BMI Foundation and matched by generous donations from Gibson Musical Instruments, the John Lennon Scholarship program recognizes the talent of young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24.

Thom Bell	Mac Davis

Bell, a two-time Grammy winner and r&b producer/composer, helped to create the "Philly Soul" sound through his work in the '60s with the Delfonics and in the '70s with the Spinners, the O'Jays and the Stylistics. He arranged a string of memorable hits, including the Stylistics' "Stop, Look and Listen" and the O'Jays classic "Love Train."

Davis found success as the composer of the Elvis hits "A Little Less Conversation," "Memories" and "In the Ghetto." He signed his own recording contract in 1970, topping the charts in 1972 with his song, "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me."

Jennings, a Grammy and Academy Award-winning songwriter, composed wildly popular movie themes "My Heart Will Go On," from Titanic, and "Up Where We Belong" from An Officer and a Gentleman. His work also includes Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven," Barry Manilow's "Looks Like We Made It" and Steve Winwood's "Higher Love."

Moy, a Detroit-born songwriter/producer, composed Motown such classics as Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" and Marvin Gaye's "It Takes Two." She also wrote the theme songs for the TV series Blossom, The Wonder Years and Growing Pains.

Dedicated to recognizing the work and lives of those composers and lyricists who create popular music around the world, the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/SHOF is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. BMI is a long-time supporter of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

With The Emancipation of Mimi , Mariah Carey repudiates the rumor mills, negates the naysayers and opens up Her voice and soul to blaze a sensational return to the pinnacle of the charts. Co-writing all 14 tracks, Carey has created a lustrous suite of songs to celebrate her spiritual and professional renewal. Audiences are clearly primed, as the long awaited project is a resounding, out-of-thebox success.

Longtime fans of Carey’s signature, multi-octave balladry will delight in the glossy “We Belong Together,” as her lyrics reference listening to Bobby Womack and Babyface on the midnight radio. The retrovinyl crackle on “Mine Again” extends the legacy of classic soul that ignites with the sheer aural sensuality of “Joy Ride.”

It’s not all smooth silk and ballads, however; raising the temperature substantially, a hit-making host of hip-hop purveyors accompanies Carey squarely into the urban zone. Collaborating with Grammy-winning producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo — The Neptunes — on “Say Somethin,’” she and her duet partner, Snoop Dogg, smolder in tandem with a club-heavy groove. Keeping it equally authentic, Jermaine Dupri, Twista and Nelly all individually join Carey on subsequent tracks. Bolstered by a sample of Thom Bell and Linda Creed’s “Betcha By Golly Wow” as recorded by The Ramsey Lewis Trio, “Stay the Night,” a track produced by Kanye West, perfectly epitomizes Carey’s enduring appeal: timeless soul amped up with nouveau hip-hop flourishes, sparkling with radiant star power. The cover photo says it best, portraying a voluptuous, wind blown Carey posing like a latter-day Greek goddess.

The daughter of a former opera singer and vocal coach — and even named for a song, “They Call the Wind Mariah,” from the Lerner and Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon , Carey, born on Long Island, New York, began vocalizing at the age of four, and was writing her own songs by the time she was attending Oldfield Middle School. The day after graduation from high school, she moved into Manhattan, where she sang backing vocals for a succession of artists, including Brenda K. Starr, who passed her demo on to Sony Music Entertainment chief Tommy Mottola at a party. As legend has it, when Mottola listened to the demo on his ride home, he subsequently commanded his driver to spin the limo around and return to the party so that he could meet the young singer. Soon afterwards, Mottola signed Carey to a Columbia Records contract, where he oversaw her meteoric rise, and eventually married her.

The Emancipation of Mimi, which Carey co-executive produced with her new label chief, Island/Def Jam’s Antonio “LA” Reid, continues an unprecedented lineage of hitmaking that began with her self-titled 1990 debut and four successive hit singles, “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “Someday,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” Her follow up, Music Box , continued her chart domination, selling an astounding 10 times platinum. Since these auspicious introductions, Mariah Carey has become the best-selling female performer of all time, with 16 number one singles capped by two Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade” Award and the World Music Award for “World’s Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium.” The only artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s, with the single “Heartbreaker,” she even pushed ahead of The Beatles as the artist with the most cumulative weeks spent atop Billboard ’s Hot 100 Singles chart.

“Mimi” is a nickname that those close to Carey use to address her. This new found freedom, or “emancipation” as evidenced in the title, is given an emphatic dictionary definition on the CD booklet, “To free from the restraint, control, oppression, or power of another.” As she nails a door shut on the past, her lyrics proclaim the autonomy of her new life. “I was in a beautiful house, surrounded by beautiful things, but I couldn’t be who I really was,” she told a British magazine. Soon after her marital split came the movie Glitter , released the week after 9/11, that starred Carey in an acting role. Carey told the New York Post , “The problem was (that) Glitter was about a diva moment. It was too close to my life.” A well-publicized break from her next record label, Virgin, and recovery from exhaustion kept Carey in the trades and tabloids, if not on the charts, but even her record sale doldrums were relative. Both the soundtrack to Glitter and the follow-up, Charmbraclet , moved over a million copies in the U.S. alone.

Now, with her creativity renewed, Carey plans to pen a series of illustrated children’s tales following the life of a bi-racial orphan girl. The series will be based on experiences from the singer’s own childhood, growing up in a mixed-race family. She’s also hoping to translate an earlier album, her 1994 Merry Christmas, into a family-friendly Broadway show. She told MTV, “I get a chance to live out my Christmastime fantasies vicariously through the show. I think it’s going to be fun and something families can go to see.”

On “Fly Like a Bird,” the concluding track to The Emancipation of Mimi , Mariah takes it to church with the jubilant backing of a gospel choir as a disembodied voice intros the song with this quotation from Psalms, Chapter 30, verse five: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” As she celebrates her liberation, like the bird she describes in song, Mariah Carey soars higher in a stratospheric arc of ever-ascending artistry.

It's not hard to understand why David Byrne was initially hesitant to reunite onstage with former Talking Heads bandmates Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison when the band was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. After all, in the decade-and-a -half since that seminal avant-art-punk-r&b combo quit performing, Byrne has expanded his artistic horizons far beyond the ones he explored in his original stint as the adventurous foursome's tightly wound frontman.

Byrne - who says that his early art-college background taught him "that anything could be art and art could be anything" - has long been adept at using his notoriety as a musician to expand his artistic horizons, regularly venturing into unexpected areas even further outside the mainstream than Talking Heads' boundary-breaking output. For instance, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, his 1981 collaboration with Brian Eno, helped introduce electronic music, third-world percussion and found voices to rock audiences. He's won acclaim for his scores for film (including Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob and Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor) and theatre (Twyla Tharp's The Catherine Wheel, Robert Wilson's Civil Wars), and emerged as an accomplished filmmaker with the 1986 feature True Stories. And for the past dozen years, he's put his eclectic musical tastes to good use as head of the esteemed Luaka Bop label, whose eclectic catalogue encompasses an array of sounds from around the world, and has helped to win new fans for such diverse acts as Cornershop, Tom Ze, Susana Baca and Os Mutantes.

Luaka Bop is also the home of Byrne's most recent album, Look Into the Eyeball, a typically eclectic - and typically accessible - fusion of influences that strikes a balance between personal introspection, wry humor and multicultural experimentation. The album's pleasures range from the Latin funk of "Desconocido Soy" to the gospel uplift of "Walk on Water" to the rhythmic, orchestrated pop of "Smile" and "Everyone's in Love With You" to the classic Philly-soul style of a pair of tracks that boast arrangements by legendary r&b producer Thom Bell.

Describing the album's aesthetic inspirations, Byrne says, "I had been wondering if there might be a way to include the warm, lyrical, beautiful, emotional sounds and associations of strings and orchestral parts with groove music and beats for the body. I want to move people to dance and cry at the same time.

"Like the song 'The Revolution' implies, I somehow imagine that a real revolution is won by seduction, by winning over not just the mind, but the body and the senses as well. And that the sadness of some of these melodies are countered by the vigor and persistence of the groove."

Considered a principal architect of the influential "Philly Soul" sound, Bell is arguably best known for his 1970s achievements. But the fact is, the legendary composer-arranger hasn't slowed down or limited his creative scope. Bell arranged several songs on David Byrne's acclaimed 2001 album Look Into The Eyeball. Most recently, many of Bell's songs were featured in the musical stage production Me and Mrs. Jones, starring Lou Rawls and performed at Philadelphia's Prince Music Theater.

Even Madison Avenue has acknowledged the mesmerizing power of Thom Bell's music. Bell's composition "I'll Be Around" has been selected as the theme for the multi-million dollar Chevy Impala advertising campaign. The new Chevy slogan "We'll Be There" was culled from Bell's song, which was popularized by the Spinners in 1972.

It would do a disservice to describe Bell's career as "successful." Consider this: Bell's songwriting and arranging achievements are so voluminous, space prohibits us from listing them all. He co-wrote the Stylistics most memorable hits, including "Stop, Look and Listen," "You Are Everything," "Betcha By Golly Wow," "Break Up To Make Up" and "You Make Me Feel Brand New." Bell was similarly instrumental in the success of the Spinners, co-composing such hits as "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love," "One of a Kind Love Affair," "Mighty Love" and "Rubberband Man," as well as the Spinners/Dionne Warwick duet "Then Came You." His song "Mama Can't Buy You Love" was one of Elton John's most successful tunes, and Bell arranged O'Jays classics like "Back Stabbers," "Love Train" and "For the Love of Money."

The two-time Grammy winner has received numerous BMI accolades, including 11 Pop Awards, four R&B Awards and a total of 16 "Million-Air" certificates for an astounding 10 songs with one million or more broadcast performances. Bell has also been twice honored by Billboard with their Number One Producer award.

Born in Philadelphia in 1941, Bell studied classical piano as a youth. In 1959, he joined Kenny Gamble's harmony group the Romeos and by age 19 he was conducting and arranging for rock & roll dance pioneer Chubby Checker. When manager Stan Watson formed the Philly Groove label in 1968, Bell came aboard and oversaw Delfonics classics like "La La Means I Love You" (1968) and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time" (1970).

Bell's work with the Delfonics resonated with r&b fans hungry for romantic "slow drag" ballads. When Bell reunited with Gamble and new partner Leon Huff at their newly formed Philadelphia International Records, the classic Philly Soul crystallized in earnest. Seminal hits like Jerry Butler's "Only the Strong Survive" (1969), Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" (1972), and the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes classic "If You Don't Know Me By Now" featured Bell's inimitable arrangements.

Noteworthy for their potent fusion of soaring strings, burnished horns and well-tempered rhythms, Bell's arrangements factored largely in the development of funk and disco. With contemporary artists like Alicia Keys, D'Angelo and Angie Stone reviving the sounds of the '70s, Thom Bell's influence looms larger than ever.