Stargate's Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen Receive Songwriter of the Year Honors at 27th Annual ASCAP Awards in London
Bat For Lashes and The View Receive Special Awards; Charles Strouse Performs Songs From "Bye Bye Birdie," "Applause" and "Annie"
| Source: ASCAP
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - October 11, 2007) - The American Society of Composers, Authors and
Publishers (ASCAP) honored the top writer and publisher members of the PRS
-- the U.K.'s Performing Right Society -- at a ceremony held last night
(October 10) at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Hosted by ASCAP
Senior Vice President, International Roger Greenaway and Vice President,
Membership Seán Devine, the gala dinner and awards presentation honored
those writer and publisher members of the PRS whose repertory is licensed
by ASCAP and was among its most performed works in the U.S. during 2006.
"We're very pleased to celebrate the achievements of the writer and
publisher members of the PRS whose music is represented by ASCAP in the
United States," said Greenaway. "It has been a particular privilege to
salute our Songwriter of the Year honorees, Tor and Mikkel, and to welcome
the legendary Charles Strouse to our event as he memorably performed a
number of his classic songs."
Norwegian songwriters/producers Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen,
collectively known as Stargate, earned the coveted title of ASCAP
Songwriter of the Year for penning an impressive seven of the most
performed songs of the past year:
Ne-Yo's "So Sick" and "Sexy Love," Rihanna's "Unfaithful," Kelly Clarkson's
"Walk Away," Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable," Lionel Richie's "I Call It Love"
and Mario Vazquez's "Gallery." The duo also collected ASCAP's Song of the
Year award for Ne-Yo's R&B ballad, "So Sick." Their chart-topping success
earned them the title of #1 Hot Producers on the Billboard Year End Chart
in 2006. Earlier this year, they picked up a Norwegian Grammy
(Spellemann), three ASCAP Pop Music Awards and two ASCAP Rhythm & Soul
Music Awards.
EMI Music Publishing UK was named ASCAP Publisher of the Year. ASCAP CEO
John A. LoFrumento presented the award to Managing Director Guy Moot, who
commented, "We're obviously very proud to be named ASCAP's Publisher of the
Year, which is recognition for the incredible work of our songwriters. For
Stargate to pick up seven awards, including Songwriter of the Year, is
particularly pleasing in a year that has seen them make a huge breakthrough
in the U.S. With other wins for Yusuf Islam, Phil Collins, Mick Jagger,
Keith Richards and Lenky, it's good to see the diversity and breadth of our
catalog being acknowledged." This is the fourth time that EMI Music
Publishing has been named ASCAP Publisher of the Year in the U.K.
As part of ASCAP's ongoing commitment to support emerging music creators at
a grassroots level, Bat For Lashes and The View were honored with special
ASCAP awards. Bat For Lashes received the ASCAP Vanguard Award for her
debut album, "Fur and Gold," and The View was honored with the ASCAP
College Award for their platinum-selling debut album, "Hats Off To The
Buskers."
Bat For Lashes is the work of Natasha Khan, a British singer/songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist and visual artist who lives in Brighton, England.
Her debut album, "Fur and Gold," made the shortlist for the 2007 Mercury
Prize and the video for her debut single, "What's A Girl To Do" has been
nominated for the Video Star award at this year's MTV European Music
Awards. Bat For Lashes was selected to perform at ASCAP's prestigious
"ASCAP Presents..." showcase at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX in
March this year. She is currently on a two-month tour of the U.S. and
Canada. This is the first time that the Vanguard Award has been presented
at ASCAP's U.K. ceremony. Past honorees have included The Arcade Fire,
Beck, Modest Mouse, the Strokes and Jack Johnson, among others.
The View is a four-piece band from Dundee, Scotland comprising
songwriter/bassist Kieran Webster, songwriter/lead singer Kyle Falconer,
lead guitarist Pete Reilly and drummer Steve Morrison. The band has a
reputation for being one of the U.K.'s most exciting live acts and made
their U.S. debut at a concert in New York City earlier this year. "Hats
Off To The Buskers," featuring hit singles "Same Jeans," "Superstar
Tradesman" and "Wasted Little DJ's" went to number one in the U.K. charts
in January 2007. The album hit U.S. stores in May and features three bonus
tracks exclusive to the U.S. release. They made the shortlist for the 2007
Mercury Prize and received a Best New Act nomination for the Q Awards 2007.
Past honorees have included The Cribs, Keane, Franz Ferdinand, Chemical
Brothers, Belle & Sebastian and Radiohead, among others.
Honorees in the Film and TV Theme categories were Erran Baron Cohen
("Borat"), Patrick Doyle ("Eragon"), Sir John Tavener ("The Children of
Men"), Alex Heffes ("The Last King of Scotland"), Anne Dudley ("Tristan and
Isolde"), Dario Marianelli ("V for Vendetta"), Keith Strachan and Matthew
Strachan ("Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"), Catherine Dennis, Julian
Gingell and Barry Stone ("American Idol"), Elizabeth Fraser ("House"), and
Dan McGrath and Josh Philips ("Dancing with the Stars").
Among the songwriters with multiple award-winning songs were: Tor Hermansen
and Mikkel Eriksen with seven songs; and Coldplay, Dido and U2 with two
songs each.
Charles Strouse, a luminary of Broadway, Hollywood, television, and pop and
concert music, highlighted the evening with a special performance.
Strouse, who will be celebrating his 80th birthday next year, is best known
for his legendary Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals, "BYE BYE BIRDIE,"
"APPLAUSE" and "ANNIE." His other credits range from the 1958 girl group
hit, "Born Too Late" to motion picture scores for "BONNIE & CLYDE," "THE
NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S" and "ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN" to the TV theme
from "ALL IN THE FAMILY."
For more information, including a complete list of winners, go to
www.ascap.com.
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights
Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5
million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than
300,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has
representation arrangements with over 90 music rights organizations such
that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the
world. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by
licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and
distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only
American Performing Rights Organization owned and governed by its writer
and publisher members.