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October 6, 2009
News, BMI London Awards, International, London, Rock, Pop, Film-TV
Donovan, Danielle Brisebois, Natasha Bedingfield and More Honored at 2009 BMI London Awards
BMI lauded the UK and Europe’s premier songwriters, composers and music publishers tonight during its annual BMI London Awards. The ceremony was hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant; BMI Senior Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Phil Graham; and Executive Director, Writer/Publisher Relations, Europe & Asia Brandon Bakshi. Staged in London’s Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, the event honored the past year’s most-performed songs on U.S. radio and television. BMI is a United States-based performing right organization that collects and distributes monies for the public performance of music on outlets including radio, television, the Internet and the top-grossing tours in the U.S. British citizens honored at the event are members of the UK performing right society PRS for Music (PRS) and are represented in the U.S. by BMI.
View the BMI Award-winning song list
In addition to saluting numerous UK songwriters, composers and music publishers alongside music creators from Europe, India and other international markets, BMI named Donovan a BMI Icon. The Icon designation is given to BMI songwriters who have bestowed “a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Donovan joins an elite list of past honorees that includes multi-genre nobility Bryan Ferry, Peter Gabriel, Ray Davies, Van Morrison, the Bee Gees, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton, James Brown, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Steve Winwood and more.
Donovan transformed popular music in the 1960s, earning 12 consecutive Top 40 hits, including “Mellow Yellow,” “Sunshine Superman,” “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” “There Is a Mountain,” “Lalena,” “Epistle to Dippy,” “Atlantis,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “Jennifer Juniper,” all of which he wrote alone. His compositions have also resurfaced in hit films and television series, as well as various advertising campaigns. In 1965, “Catch the Wind” earned an Ivor Novello Award for best contemporary folk song, marking the first time the honor was bestowed on an artist’s debut single. Donovan received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Hertfordshire in 2003, and in 2009, he became Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters from the Minister of Culture, France, and garnered the American Visionary Art Museum Baltimore’s prestigious Grand Visionary Award. A man not only of unfathomable talent but of rare conviction as well, he is a well-known proponent and student of Transcendental Meditation and leads the musical wing of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Hard at work on a new album entitled Ritual Groove, Donovan plans to tour continuously through 2010.
Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocket Full of Sunshine” earned the prestigious Robert S. Musel Award for Song of the Year. Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd., the song was co-written by Bedingfield and Danielle Brisebois, the same potent pair who co-wrote Bedingfield’s breakout smash “Unwritten.” The title track of Bedingfield’s third album, “Pocket Full of Sunshine” climbed to the top ten of the Billboard 100, #2 on the U.S. iTunes chart, and topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play; the double-platinum single has sold well-over 2 million copies around the world. “Pocket Full of Sunshine” also earned BMI’s College Song of the Year crown thanks to tallying the most performances on American college radio.
The BMI Dance Award went to “Cry for You,” recorded by Sweden’s latest in-demand export, September. Co-written by Anoo Bhagavan (STIM) and Niclas von der Burg (STIM) and published by EMI Music Publishing Scandinavia AB (STIM), the song rested in the #1 slot of Billboard Dance Radio Airplay for three weeks as it soared to the top ten of charts in more than 15 countries around the world.
Chris Brown’s “With You,” co-written by Amund Bjørklund and Espen Lind, garnered BMI Pop and Urban Awards for its creative hive; Rune RK (KODA), also known as Enur, earned two BMI Pop Awards for co-writing his own “Calabria 2008,” featuring Natasja, and Pitbull’s “The Anthem,” featuring Lil Jon; Giorgio Tuinfort (BUMA) also won two BMI Pop Awards for Akon’s “Right Now (Na Na Na)” and Colby O’Donis’s “What You Got,” featuring Akon. Additional winners included Adele, Eg White, KT Tunstall, Gavin Rossdale, Duffy, Miguel Bosé (SGAE), Elio Aldrighetti (SIAE), Vittorio Ierovante (SIAE), Julieta Venegas (SGAE) and Steve McEwan.
Top Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman garnered BMI Film Music Awards for his Academy and Golden Globe Award-winning original music for Slumdog Millionair, while prodigious brothers Rupert Gregson-Williams and Harry Gregson-Williams each earned two trophies: Rupert garnered two BMI Film Music Awards, while Harry won awards in both the BMI Film Music and TV Music categories. Rock legend Pete Townshend earned three BMI TV Music Awards, while esteemed composer Rolfe Kent figured prominently among the BMI Cable Music Award winners.
BMI “Million-Air” certificates were also presented throughout the evening in recognition of songs that have achieved more than three million U.S. radio and television performances—the equivalent of more than 17 years of continuous airplay. Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” which Morrison composed completely alone, topped the list with an astounding nine million performances. Songs honored for generating more than five million performances included “Black Magic Woman,” written by Peter Green; “I’m Not in Love,” co-written by Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart; “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” co-written by Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; and “Wonderful Tonight,” written by Eric Clapton. The late John Lennon contributed “Get Back,” “Ticket to Ride” and “A World Without Love” to the list of songs that have earned more than four million performances, as well as “Help,” “If I Fell” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” to the list of three-million performance generators.
Additional award-winners whose compositions have passed the three-million performance milestone included Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Shania Twain, Pete Townshend, Phil Collins; Queen’s Freddie Mercury and Brian May; Lamont Dozier, Gerry Rafferty, Martin Gore; and Yes’s Jon Anderson, Trevor Horn, Chris Squire and Trevor Rabin.
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