Sham

Fall Out Boy

2006-03-09T17:00:00-05:00

If ever a band was poised to assume the power pop mantle of greatness, it’s Fall Out Boy. Exploring the musical turf between heart-on-sleeve tenderness and straight out bombast, the band’s major label debut recording, From Under the Cork Tree, delivers the same heady thrill as the Ramones’ Road to Ruin and Cheap Trick’s In Color.

Like those classic rock albums, From Under the Cork Tree is a sweet ‘n’ sour mélange of high-impact instrumentation, bubblegum-flavored melodies and darkly humorous lyrics.

The band’s virtues are explosively evident on their Top 40 single, “Sugar, We’re Going Down.” Singer/songwriter Patrick Stump comports himself with admirable skill, crooning earnestly one minute, belting urgently the next. Guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley prove themselves equally adept at musical dynamics.

Then there’s Fall Out Boy bassist and wordsmith Peter Wentz, whose Morrissey-like penchant for spinning lyrical gold from inside jokes is evident in absurdist song titles like “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More ‘Touch Me’,” “Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends” and “Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued.”

Hailing from Chicago, Fall Out Boy emerged in 2003 with the independent album Take This To Your Grave. The 2004 acoustic EP, My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue, was the spark that ignited a bidding war. Signing with Island/Def Jam, Fall Out Boy became the break-out band from the 2004 Vans Warped! Tour (FOB made a triumphant return in 2005). In summer 2005, the band announced it was headlining Nintendo’s Fusion Tour, a 40-state jaunt described as a mix of “games, music and sweaty teens.”

Fortunately, the pressures of fame and touring don’t appear to have dampened the band’s creative spirit. “When it’s all over, we want to be remembered as a rock band that pushed limits and was sincere and totally honest to itself and its fans,” Wentz said recently. “When we are 90 years old and on our death beds, it will matter to us that at least we took chances."

Fall Out Boy

2005-09-15T18:00:00-05:00

If ever a band was poised to assume the power pop mantle of greatness, it's Fall Out Boy. Exploring the musical turf between heart-on-sleeve tenderness and straight out bombast, the band's major label debut recording, From Under the Cork Tree , delivers the same heady thrill as the Ramones' Road to Ruin and Cheap Trick's In Color . Like those classic rock albums, From Under the Cork Tree is a sweet 'n' sour mélange of high-impact instrumentation, bubblegum-flavored melodies and darkly humorous lyrics.

The band's virtues are explosively evident on their Top 40 single, "Sugar, We're Going Down." Singer/songwriter Patrick Stump comports himself with admirable skill, crooning earnestly one minute, belting urgently the next. Guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley prove themselves equally adept at musical dynamics.

Then there's Fall Out Boy bassist and wordsmith Peter Wentz, whose Morrisey-like penchant for spinning lyrical gold from inside jokes is evident in absurdist song titles like "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me'," "Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends" and "Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued."

Hailing from Chicago, Fall Out Boy emerged in 2003 with the independent album Take This To Your Grave . The 2004 acoustic EP, My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue , was the spark that ignited a bidding war. Signing with Island/Def Jam, Fall Out Boy became the break-out band from the 2004 Vans Warped! Tour (FOB made a triumphant return in 2005). In summer 2005, the band announced it was headlining Nintendo's Fusion Tour; a 40-state jaunt described as a mix of "games, music and sweaty teens."

Fortunately, the pressures of fame and touring don't appear to have dampened the band's creative spirit. "When it's all over, we want to be remembered as a rock band that pushed limits and was sincere and totally honest to itself and its fans," Wentz said recently. "When we are 90 years old and on our death beds, it will matter to us that at least we took chances."

Lil Jon, R. Kelly, Kanye West and EMI Take Top Honors at BMI Urban Awards

2005-08-26T18:00:00-05:00

'Yeah!' Named Most Performed Song; Charlie Wilson and The Gap Band Honored as BMI Icons

BMI saluted the premier r&b, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers at its 2005 BMI Urban Awards, staged August 26 in the Grand Ballroom of the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach.

BMI Urban Awards Event Photos

BMI Urban Awards Song List

Billboard #1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Lil Jon and R. Kelly were named Songwriters of the Year, each receiving four "most performed song" awards. "Yeah!," written by Sean Garrett, Lil Jon and Patrick "j.Que" Smith, was named Song of the Year, Kanye West received Producer of the Year honors, and EMI Music Publishing was awarded the BMI Crystal for Urban Publisher of the Year. The first Urban Ringtone Award went to Lil Jon and Craig D. Love for "Freek-A-Leek." A highlight of the gala was a tribute to urban funk legends Charlie Wilson and The GAP Band, who were named BMI Icons for their "enduring influence on generations of music makers."


Lil Jon	R. Kelly	The GAP Band

The ceremony was hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Catherine Brewton, who presented awards to the 70 songwriters of the 35 most performed songs of 2004 in the urban music format.


Sean Garrett	Patrick "j.Que" Smith	Kanye West

Lil Jon, who was honored with three major BMI awards - Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year and Urban Ringtone of the Year - was also named one of BMI's top songwriter/producers of the year. He placed four songs on the most-performed song list, including "Freek-A-Leek," "Goodies," "Salt Shaker" and Song of the Year "Yeah!" Lil Jon was also named Songwriter of the Year at BMI's Pop Awards held in May, marking the first time a songwriter earned both Pop and Urban Songwriter of the Year honors in the same year.


Craig D. Love	Cool & Dre	Fat Joe

R. Kelly received his second BMI Crystal as Urban Songwriter of the Year (he also won in 2002) with four songs on the most-performed list - "Gigolo," "Hotel," "Step in the Name of Love" and "Thoia Thoing" - and was also named one of BMI's top songwriter/producers. His latest CD, TP.3 Reloaded, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 the week of its release, instantly becoming his fifth #1 album.


Jazze Pha	John Legend	Mannie Fresh

"Yeah!," recorded by Usher featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon, was named Urban Song of the Year for tallying the most U.S. broadcast performances in 2004. The #1 Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop song earned awards for songwriters Sean Garrett, Lil Jon and Patrick "j.Que" Smith, and music publishers Christopher Matthew Music, Hitco Music and White Rhino Music, Inc.

BMI Producer of the Year honors went to Kanye West for logging the most producer credits on charting songs. The BMI Top Urban Producers list also included Cool & Dre, Eminem, Fat Joe, Jazze Pha, R. Kelly, John Legend, Lil Jon, Mannie Fresh and The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo).

On the list of BMI's 35 most-performed urban songs, four songwriters contributed three songs each: Eminem, Sean Garrett, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. Other writers earning multiple awards were Miri Ben-Ari, Chad Hugo, Lil Flip, Harold Spencer Lilly, Jr., Craig D. Love and Sham.

EMI Music Publishing was named BMI Urban Publisher of the Year by accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. Big Jon Platt, Executive Vice President, Urban Music, U.S., accepted on behalf of the publisher, which boasted 17 songs on the most-performed list (through its companies EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., EMI-Hastings Catalog, Inc., EMI-Stone Diamond Music Corporation, and Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc.).

Other publishers with multiple award-winning songs were Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc./Zomba Songs Inc. (8 awards); Universal Music Publishing (Irving Music/Songs of Universal, Inc.) (6); Warner/Chappell Music Group (Foster Frees Music, Inc./Rick's Music, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.) (5); R. Kelly Publishing, Inc. and White Rhino Music, Inc. (4 each); Eight Mile Style Music and Waters of Nazareth Publishing (3 each); C'Amore Music, Clover G Music, Embassy Music Corporation, Ensign Music Corporation, Mirimode Music, Please Gimme My Publishing, Inc., Raynchaser Music, Swizole Music and Uncle Bobby Music (2 each).

The evening culminated with Charlie Wilson and The GAP Band being honored as BMI Icons. One of the most influential groups in the history of r&b, Charlie and his brothers Robert and Ronnie Wilson, who got their name from the streets in the black business hub of their native Tulsa, Oklahoma (Greenwood, Archer, Pine), dominated the r&b charts with their hard-driving funk grooves from the late '70s to early '80s. Four of the band's nine albums were certified Platinum plus (The GAP Band II, The GAP Band III, The GAP Band IV and GAP Band V - Jammin') and featured 15 Top Ten and four #1 r&b hits, including "You Dropped a Bomb On Me," "Party Train," "Burn Rubber," "Outstanding," "Oops Upside Your Head," "Early in the Morning," and the smooth love song, "Yearning for Your Love." "Outstanding" alone remains one of the most sampled songs in history and has, astonishingly, been used by over 150 artists.

Prior to being named BMI Icons, Wilson and The GAP Band were saluted with an all-star musical tribute that included performances by 112 and Guy. BMI President and CEO Del Bryant, along with Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dogg and will.i.am (of the Black Eyed Peas), presented the award to the group.

In addition to the BMI performance awards, music trade magazine Billboard recognized the BMI-affiliated writers who had #1 songs on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Hot 100 charts during the past year. Chad Hugo, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams led with "Drop It Like It's Hot," which topped all four lists.

3 Doors Down, Lil Jon, EMI Top BMI Pop Awards; Paul Simon Honored as Icon

2005-05-17T20:00:01-05:00

BMI announced its 53rd Annual BMI Pop Awards on May 17, with top honors given to 3 Doors Down's "Here Without You" as Song of the Year, Lil Jon as Songwriter of the Year, and EMI Music Publishing as Publisher of the Year.

Pop Awards Photo Slideshow

2005 BMI Pop Awards Song List

Paul Simon's BMI Awards List

2005 Lennon Scholarship Winners

Del Bryant, President & CEO, and Barbara Cane, Vice President & General Manager, Writer/Publisher Relations, Los Angeles, hosted the dinner event. The writers and publishers of the 50 most performed songs of the past year were recognized, plus the overall song, songwriter and publisher winners. A highlight of the gala, staged at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, was a tribute to songwriter/artist Paul Simon, who was named a BMI Icon.


3 Doors Down	Lil Jon

"Here Without You" won the title of BMI Pop Song of the Year, with songwriters Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell, Chris Henderson and Matt Roberts of the group 3 Doors Down accepting; this distinction is given to the song tallying the most feature broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Published by Escatawpa Songs and Songs of Universal, Inc. and included on 3 Doors Down's Republic/Universal CD Away From the Sun, "Here Without You" has already been certified as a BMI Million-Air (with two million broadcast performances) and was previously honored as BMI's 2004 Most Performed Song on College Radio. Lead singer Brad Arnold was also named Songwriter of the Year at the 2002 BMI Pop Awards.


Nickelback	Paul Simon

Lil Jon wrote four songs on the Most Performed List of 50 to collect the BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year crown. The songs earning him the title were "Damn!" (YoungBloodZ featuring Lil Jon), "Freek-A-Leek" (Petey Pablo), "Get Low" (Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring the Ying Yang Twins) and "Yeah!" (Usher featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon).

Of the 88 songwriters who received 2005 BMI Pop Awards, two were triple winners: Chad Kroeger (SOCAN) of Nickelback and Sham. Other writer/artists earning awards included Michelle Branch, Five for Fighting, Linkin Park, Sarah McLachlan, Pete Townshend (PRS), Shania Twain, Maroon 5, Los Lonely Boys, R. Kelly, Seal (PRS), Lil' Kim, Evanescence, the White Stripes, Fountains of Wayne, Mario Winans and the Black Eyed Peas.

Paul Simon was saluted as a BMI Icon for his "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." In a career dating back to the 1950s, Paul Simon has established himself among the best and most popular songwriters of the rock era. His songs have bookmarked moments in the lives of millions, whether with words of love, longing, humor, politics or, above all, hope. He has incorporated the rhythms of his native New York with those from as far away as Brazil and South Africa.

For his efforts, he is a 12-time Grammy winner, a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee (as Simon & Garfunkel and as a solo artist), the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, an Oscar nominee, an Emmy Award winner, and the much-honored co-founder of the Children's Health Fund. His songwriting catalog has earned 39 BMI Awards -- including multiple citations for "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Mrs. Robinson," "Scarborough Fair" and "The Sound of Silence" -- and amassed nearly 75 million broadcast airplays, according to BMI surveys.

After a video tribute, the musical salute to Simon featured performances by 2004 Icon recipient Brian Wilson (who sang "The Sound of Silence"), British sensation Joss Stone ("Mother and Child Reunion"), Adam Levine and James Valentine of the Grammy-winning band Maroon 5 ("Homeward Bound") and soul gospel diva Yolanda Adams ("Bridge Over Troubled Water").

Simon enters the elite company of previously praised BMI Icons, including Bill Anderson, James Brown, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Isaac Hayes, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Loretta Lynn, Carlos Santana, Dolly Parton, Al Green, Van Morrison and Brian Wilson.

EMI Music Publishing (EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc./EMI-Stone Agate Music), with 11 award songs, claimed the BMI Pop Publisher of the Year prize, given to the publishing concern with the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. EMI's winning songs were "100 Years," "Bright Lights," "Damn!," "Freek-A-Leek," "Get Low," "Heaven," "I Don't Wanna Know," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "Into You," "Unwell" and "Where Is the Love." EMI Chairman & CEO Martin Bandier accepted the crystal trophy.

Other publishers garnering three or more awards were Universal Music Publishing (Irving Music/Songs of Universal, Inc./Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc.); Warner/Chappell Music Group (Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. and Rick's Music, Inc.); Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc./Loco De Amor Music/Zomba Songs Inc.; and White Rhino Music.

In addition to Song of the Year "Here Without You," BMI recognized the performance achievements of two other songs. "Someday" by Nickelback earned Most Performed Song on College Radio kudos for songwriters Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake and Ryan Vikedal of the group and publisher Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," the most performed composition in BMI's repertoire of 6.5 million musical works, was certified as a 10 Million-Air, meaning it has been broadcast 10 million times. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and published by ABKCO Music, Inc., Mother Bertha Music, Inc., and Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc.


Phil Spector	Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil

Another special presentation was the announcement of the First Place winner of the 2005 John Lennon Scholarship Awards. Sydney Price, a 17-year-old junior at Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in

BMI Celebrates Urban Music at 2004 Awards with Top Writers, Producers, Publishers

2004-08-26T18:00:01-05:00

Al Green Honored as BMI ICON

BMI saluted the premier R&B, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers at its 2004 BMI Urban Awards, staged tonight (8/27) at the Grand Ballroom at the Fontainebleau Hilton Resorts & Towers in Miami Beach.

Pictured at the 2004 BMI Urban Awards are BMI's Del Bryant and Frances Preston, Producer of the Year R. Kelly, BMI ICON honoree Al Green and BMI's Catherine Brewton

R. Kelly won two of the evening's top honors as writer of Song of the Year, "Ignition," and as Urban Producer of the Year. Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams were proclaimed Urban Songwriters of the Year and Universal Music Publishing was named Urban Publisher of the Year. A highlight of the gala was a tribute to soul music legend Al Green, who was named a BMI ICON for "his enduring influence on generations of music makers."

BMI Urban Awards Event Photos

2004 BMI Urban Awards Song List

Al Green: MusicWorld Feature | BMI Awards List

Don Henley Life Is Still Good

2000-03-31T17:00:00-05:00

"After a couple of decades of being a public figure, a person grows tired of his own face, his own voice," says Don Henley, explaining the extended gap between his last solo album, 1989's multi-platinum The End of the Innocence, and the new Inside Job.

"If this malaise is allowed to continue unchecked," the Eagles co-founder continues, "it can deteriorate into something that my pals and I call 'Death by Show Business.' This doesn't refer to literal death, although that is sometimes the case, but more to a loss of enthusiasm and a withering of creativity, a sort of atrophy of the spirit. One day you wake up and you're wearing the pathetic clown suit. Although I always tried to lead a varied life that included charitable work, I had reached a point where I wanted to do something proactive, something that wasn't completely me-oriented."

Towards that end, Henley spent much of the 1990s - a period that he describes as "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" - engaged in a diverse array of artistic, philanthropic and personal endeavors. He helped to found the Walden Woods Project (www.walden.org), which has become a leading light in the environmental movement, first raising funds for the purchase and preservation of the fabled Walden Pond woods, and subsequently expanding its reach to include educational and research programs. Henley has also been active in working with several other environmental organizations, as well as such worthy causes as Farm Aid, The Race to Erase MS, and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

In recent years, Henley also found time to reconnoiter with his former Eagles bandmates for a live album, Hell Freezes Over, and a monstrously successful reunion tour. He also spearheaded the all-star Eagles tribute album Common Thread: The Songs Of The Eagles, a successful fundraiser for the Walden Woods Project.

In January 1994, Henley saw his Los Angeles home destroyed by the Northridge earthquake, and took that disaster as a hint to relocate to his native state of Texas. In May 1995, he married longtime companion Sharon Summerall; the couple has since welcomed the arrival of a daughter and a son. Another new addition was Henley's own studio, Samain Sound, where some of Inside Job was recorded.

Henley describes Inside Job - which he co-produced with Stan Lynch, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and which features guest appearances by Randy Newman, Stevie Wonder, Jimmie Vaughan and Henley's old Eagles partner Glenn Frey - as "a diary of sorts, a chronicle of the past 11 years." The album's 13 songs find the artist examining such significant issues as abuse of power ("Inside Job"), ecological irresponsibility ("Goodbye to A River"), corporate culture ("Workin' It") and family life ("For My Wedding," "Everything Is Different").

"Inside Job is my view of the world from this particular time and place," Henley concludes. "My marriage and the birth of my children have had a profound effect. Despite all the sham and selfishness, life is still good. Children constantly rekindle hope and appreciation, and they have excellent bullshit detectors. It's a wonderful thing."


Al Green	R. Kelly	Busta Rhymes