Paul Weller

Gibson Guitartown London To Auction Autographed Guitars

2007-11-08T17:08:00-05:00

Gibson Guitartown London, a charity-inspired campaign bringing the power of music together with art to raise money for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, The Prince’s Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust, has announced that all 62 unique, hand-painted and signed guitars showcased at the summer public art exhibition are now available to bid online exclusively at eBay. All money raised from the sale of the 62 featured guitars at the live auction will be split equally among the three designated charities.

From June 2007 to September 2007, 30 10-foot, hand-painted, free-standing Gibson Les Paul replica guitars were on public display around More London on London's South Bank by City Hall, SE1. An additional 30 hand-painted and signed regular sized Gibson SG guitars were publicly displayed around The O2 Arena in Greenwich. All the associated visual artists, including Sir Peter Blake, Andrew Logan, Peter Saville and the caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, collaborated with many of Britain’s best known and respected musicians exclusively for the Gibson Guitartown London charity campaign.

Each 10-foot Gibson Les Paul replica guitar has been personally signed by rock & roll legends such as Sir Paul McCartney, Brian May, Robert Plant, Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, KT Tunstall, Bruce Dickinson, New Order, Dirty Pretty Things, Hard-Fi, Kasabian, Magic Numbers, James Blunt, Katie Melua, Mark Knopfler, Roxy Music and The Stereophonics.

Each Gibson SG guitar has been personally signed by musicians such as Ronnie Wood, Slash, Paul Rodgers, Roger Waters, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lemmy, Depeche Mode, The View, The Fratellis, Lost Prophets, Kaiser Chiefs and Mark Ronson.

All 62 Gibson guitars will be sold at the charity auction event to be held in IndigO2 at The O2 on Tuesday, November 20, 2007. The auction, hosted by Julien’s Auctions in association with Sotheby’s, will also be streamed online via the Auction Networks website and live eBay bidding.

To bid online and for more information on Gibson Guitartown London, go to www.londonguitartown.com.

To order the auction catalogue, go to www.juliensauctions.com/londonguitartown.

Ray Davies: BMI Icon

2006-10-03T17:48:01-05:00

It’s been more than 40 years since Ray Davies and the Kinks burst onto the pop music scene with “You Really Got Me.” The No. 1 English hit remains one of rock’s most primal songs, even credited by some as the first salvo of punk. He remains as vital as ever on his official solo debut, Other People’s Lives, which was hailed as “bloody brilliant” by Harp magazine.
The Kinks followed that first hit with a string of distinctive songs like “All Day and All of The Night,” “Tired of Waiting For You,” “See My Friends,” “Till the End of the Day,” “A Well Respected Man,” “Sunny Afternoon,” “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” and “Lola,” to name but a few of the songs written by Davies that formed a major part of the cultural soundtrack of the 1960s. By the end of that decade, he had begun composing conceptual albums like Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), Preservation and Soap Opera, incorporating the inherent theatricality in his songs into the Kinks’ stage show. During the 1980s, the Kinks solidified their stature as rock elder statesmen with hits like “Come Dancing.”
Davies has also continued to explore a variety of modes for expressing his considerable creativity, including a 1995 “unauthorized biography,” “X-Ray,” written as a semi-fictional (yet still revelatory) life story penned sometime in the future by an eager young journalist, and a book of short stories, “Waterloo Sunset.” Readings from“X-Ray” became part of his “Storyteller” tour and album in which he revisited some of his finest moments with the Kinks, introducing new material that suggested his continued excellence. as a songwriter outside his legendary band. Davies has also directed films (Return to Waterloo and Weird Nightmare, the latter a portrait of Charles Mingus) and written works for the theatre like Chorus Girls and 80 Days with Snoo Wilson.
When the Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, Davies was hailed as “almost indisputably rock’s most literate, witty and insightful songwriter.” He is also acknowledged for the quintessential sense of Englishness that can be found in many of his songs and his gift for telling character studies. In addition to being named a BMI Icon at the organization’s 2006 London Awards, he has also been awarded Commander of the British Empire honors by Queen Elizabeth II alongside the induction of the Kinks into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame.
Davies’s influence on other artists began with his peer Pete Townshend and has continued over the years with acts like Paul Weller, Oasis, Blur and, lately,the Hives, the Vines, the Libertines and others. Bands like Van Halen, the Jam and the Pretenders have enjoyed hits with his songs. Once called “the greatest humanist in rock,” Davies continues to compose songs marked by heart, humor, empathy, pungent details and unforgettable melodies, and record and perform them with classic showmanship.

Brits Honor Best of BMI’s UK Stars

2006-02-16T17:00:00-05:00

BMI songwriters and artists led the list of winners at the Brit Awards, the UK's most prestigious music awards show, held at London's Earls Court Arena on February 15.


James Blunt	KT Tunstall

Newcomer James Blunt, who performed his million-selling ballad "You're Beautiful" during the ceremony, picked up two Brits for British Male Solo Artist and Pop Act. Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall won the award in the other solo category for Best British Female Artist.


Arctic Monkeys	Lemar

Indie rockers Arctic Monkeys were named British Breakthrough Act, voted for by Radio 1 listeners, while r&b crooner Lemar picked up the award for British Urban Act. A special award for Outstanding Contribution to Music was given to former Jam frontman Paul Weller.


Paul Weller	Kanye West

Still riding high from his triple win at the recent Grammy Awards, rapper Kanye West was named International Male Solo Artist.

Established in 1977, the Brit Awards is a charity event that donates all proceeds to the British Record Industry Trust, better known as the Brit Trust, an organization that encourages the exploration and pursuit of the educational, cultural and therapeutic benefits of music. The Brit Awards is one of the UK's most exciting, most talked about and most successful music events and is considered the equivalent of the Grammys. The ceremony is televised the next day on UK's ITV1.