BMI Honors Top UK, European Writers and Publishers at London Awards
BMI tonight (9/16) saluted the top UK and European songwriters and publishers in the pop, urban, country, dance, college and film/TV music genres at its 2003 London Awards. The gala dinner and awards ceremony, which honors the most performed songs on US radio and television written by members of its sister performing rights organizations, was hosted by BMI President & CEO Frances W. Preston along with BMI Senior Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations Philip Graham. The invitation-only event was held in the Ballroom of London's Dorchester Hotel.
 Ex-Eurythmics guitarist Dave Stewart (center) holds his BMI Crystal for writing the Song of the Year. Stewart is flanked by BMI Senior Vice President Writer Publisher Relations Phil Graham and BMI President and CEO Frances Preston |
"Underneath It All," written by Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart (PRS), published by BMG Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS), and recorded by No Doubt (featuring Lady Saw), was honored as the Song of the Year and received the organization's highest accolade, The Robert S. Musel Award. The prestigious award is named for the late Robert Musel, BMI's long-time UK consultant.
 BMI songwriter/artist Marsha Ambrosius of singing duo Floetry and Dave Stewart |
"19-2000," written by Damon Albarn (PRS) and Jamie Hewlett (PRS), and published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS), was named College Song of the Year for the most performances on college radio in the US. The Gorillaz' hit is from the virtual cartoon band's self-titled album, which also produced last year's College Song of the Year, "Clint Eastwood."
 Marsha Ambrosius and film composer David Arnold |
Receiving two Million-Air certificates each this evening were multiple BMI Award-winning songwriter/artists Sting (PRS) and Sir Elton John (PRS). Sting's "Every Breath You Take," published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd./Magnetic Music (PRS), reached the seven million performance plateau and his "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," also published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd./Magnetic Music (PRS), received a four million performance award. Sir Elton John received a six million performance award for "Your Song," co-written with Bernie Taupin and published by Universal Music Publishing (PRS), and a three million performance certificate for "Island Girl." Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl," published by Universal Music Publishing (PRS), also reached the six million performance plateau, and the Bert Kaempfert (GEMA) classic "Spanish Eyes," co-written with Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder and published by Doma Edition Bert Kaempfert (GEMA), received a five million performance award. Million-Air awards are given to the writers and publishers of the most performed songs in the BMI repertoire that have achieved more than one million US radio and television performances, or the equivalent of more than 5.7 years of continuous airplay.
 BMI's Brandon Bakshi (left) and Phil Graham (right) congratulate songwriters Spencer Davis and Muff Winwood, co-writers of the Spencer Davis Group classic "Gimme Some Lovin'," which received a Million-Air Award for reaching the three million performance plateau. |
BMI Pop Awards went to Paul Oakenfold (PRS) for "Starry Eyed Surprise" (co-written with Fred Neil and published by Mute Song [PRS]); Daniel Bedingfield (PRS) for his smash, "Gotta Get Through This," published by Reverb Music Ltd. (PRS); and to Trevor Horn (PRS) and publisher Unforgettable Songs Ltd. (PRS) for the Eminem hit "Without Me," which also received an Urban Award. The multi award-winning rap song was co-written by BMI songwriters Jeff I. Bass, Kevin "DJ Head" Bell and Eminem.
 BMI's Phil Graham and Frances Preston present a Million-Air Award to EMI Music Publishing's Peter Reichardt for the Police hit, "Every Breath You Take." The song, which earned a seven million performance award, was written by Sting. |
Other awards included both Pop and Urban certificates to the Michael Jackson song "Butterflies," published by Perfect Songs Ltd. (PRS) and written by Marsha Ambrosius, half of female singing duo Floetry; a second Pop Award to the Paul Herman (PRS)-penned and Cheeky Music Ltd. (PRS)-published "Thank You," which was last year's Song of the Year; a Latin Award to "Yo No Soy Esa Mujer," written by Mike Shepstone (PRS), Carlos Toro Montoro (SGAE) and Christian De Walden; and Country Awards to the Brooks & Dunn hit "The Long Goodbye," written by Ronan Keating (IMRO) and published by Universal Music Publishing (PRS), and to the Rascal Flatts song "These Days," written by Steve Robson (PRS), Jeffrey Steele and Danny Wells, and published by Rondor Music (London) Ltd. (PRS). "Emotion," written by Barry and Robin Gibb, and published by Gibb Brothers Music/BMG (PRS), received its second Pop Award for the Destiny's Child cover version; the Bee Gees classic hit won a BMI Pop Award in 1978.
 Irish songwriter Ronan Keating (left) is congratulated by BMI's Frances Preston and Phil Graham. Keating took home a BMI Country Award for his Brooks & Dunn smash, "The Long Goodbye." |
Music from the top US movies and television shows were also honored including David Bergeaud (SACEM) for the Cable TV Award-winning show Strong Medicine, Pete Townshend (PRS) for the smash TV hits CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami, David Arnold (PRS) for the James Bond thriller Die Another Day, and George Fenton (PRS), who took home two Film/TV Awards for his Emmy Award-winning documentary Blue Planet: Seas of Life and the hit movie Sweet Home Alabama.
High-resolution photos from the event will be available to registered users only. To request access, please contact mediarelations@bmi.com.
Below is the complete list of 2003 BMI London Award winners:
SONG OF THE YEAR (THE ROBERT S. MUSEL AWARD)
UNDERNEATH IT ALL
Dave Stewart (PRS)
BMG Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: No Doubt featuring Lady Saw
COLLEGE SONG OF THE YEAR
19-2000
Damon Albarn (PRS)
Jamie Hewlett (PRS)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Gorillaz
MILLION-AIR AWARDS
7 Million Performances
EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE
Sting (PRS)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd./Magnetic Music (PRS)
6 Million Performances
BROWN EYED GIRL
Van Morrison*
Universal Music Publishing (PRS)
YOUR SONG
Sir Elton John (PRS)
Bernie Taupin*
Universal Music Publishing (PRS)
5 Million Performances
SPANISH EYES
Bert Kaempfert (GEMA)
Charles Singleton*
Eddie Snyder*
Doma Edition Bert Kaempfert (GEMA)
4 Million Performances
EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC
Sting (PRS)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd./Magnetic Music (PRS)
GET BACK
John Lennon (PRS)
THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN
Alan Price (PRS)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
NEVER ON SUNDAY
Manos Hadjidakis (SACEM)
Billy Towne*
EMI United Partnership Ltd. (PRS)
WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT
Graham Lyle (PRS)
Goodsingle Ltd. (PRS)
Hornall Brothers Music Ltd. (PRS)
3 Million Performances
BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP
Michael d'Abo (PRS)
EMI United Partnership Ltd. (PRS)
BUS STOP
Graham Gouldman (PRS)
Hournew Music Ltd./Music Sales (PRS)
GIMME SOME LOVING
Spencer Davis (PRS)
Muff Winwood (PRS)
Steve Winwood (PRS)
FS Ltd. (PRS)
Universal Music Publishing (PRS)
ISLAND GIRL
Sir Elton John (PRS)
MY LOVE
Tony Hatch (PRS)
Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Ltd. (PRS)
TALKIN' IN YOUR SLEEP
Roger Cook (PRS)
Bobby Wood*
Music 1 Limited (PRS)
POP AWARDS
BUTTERFLIES
Marsha Ambrosius*
Perfect Songs Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Michael Jackson
DAYS GO BY
Steve Smith (PRS)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Dirty Vegas
EMOTION (2nd Award)
Barry Gibb (PRS)
Robin Gibb (PRS)
Gibb Brothers Music/BMG (PRS)
Artist: Destiny's Child
FEEL IT BOY
Beenie Man (PRS)
Pharrell Williams*
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Beenie Man featuring Janet Jackson
GOTTA GET THRU THIS
Daniel Bedingfield (PRS)
Reverb Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Daniel Bedingfield
A MOMENT LIKE THIS
Jorgen Elofsson (STIM)
John Reid (PRS)
BMG Music Publishing Scandinavia AB (STIM)
Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Kelly Clarkson
STARRY EYED SURPRISE
Paul Oakenfold (PRS)
Fred Neil*
Mute Song (PRS)
Artist: Paul Oakenfold featuring Shifty Shellshock
THANK YOU (2nd Award)
Paul Herman (PRS)
Cheeky Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Dido
THIS WOMAN'S WORK
Kate Bush (PRS)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Maxwell
UNDERNEATH IT ALL
Dave Stewart (PRS)
BMG Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: No Doubt featuring Lady Saw
WHAT'S LUV?
Graham Lyle (PRS)
Irv Gotti*
Ja Rule*
Goodsingle Ltd. (PRS)
Hornall Brothers Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Fat Joe featuring Ashanti
WITHOUT ME
Trevor Horn (PRS)
Jeff I. Bass*
Kevin "DJ Head" Bell*
Eminem*
Unforgettable Songs Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Eminem
WRONG IMPRESSION
Gary Clark (PRS)
Chrysalis Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Natalie Imbruglia
URBAN AWARDS
BUTTERFLIES
Marsha Ambrosius*
Perfect Songs Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Michael Jackson
GANGSTA LOVIN'
Jonah Ellis*
Lonnie Simmons*
Alisa Yarbrough*
Minder Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Eve with Alicia Keys
HALFCRAZY
Francis Lai (SACEM)
Artist: Musiq
HAPPY
Raymond James Calhoun*
Irv Gotti*
Minder Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Ashanti
WHAT'S LUV?
Graham Lyle (PRS)
Irv Gotti*
Ja Rule*
Goodsingle Ltd. (PRS)
Hornall Brothers Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Fat Joe featuring Ashanti
WITHOUT ME
Trevor Horn (PRS)
Jeff I. Bass*
Kevin "DJ Head" Bell*
Eminem*
Unforgettable Songs Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Eminem
LATIN AWARD
YO NO SOY ESA MUJER
Mike Shepstone (PRS)
Carlos Toro Montoro (SGAE)
Christian De Walden*
Artist: Paulina Rubio
COUNTRY AWARDS
HELP ME UNDERSTAND
Wayne Hector (PRS)
Steve Mac (PRS)
Rokstone Music (PRS)
Rondor Music (London) Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Trace Adkins
THE LONG GOODBYE
Ronan Keating (IMRO)
Universal Music Publishing (PRS)
Artist: Brooks & Dunn
THESE DAYS
Steve Robson (PRS)
Jeffrey Steele*
Danny Wells*
Rondor Music (London) Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Rascal Flatts
YOUNG
Steven McEwan (PRS)
BMG Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Trinifold Music Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Kenny Chesney
DANCE AWARD
DAYS GO BY
Steve Smith (PRS)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Artist: Dirty Vegas
EMMY AWARD
BLUE PLANET: SEAS OF LIFE
George Fenton (PRS)
FILM MUSIC AWARDS
DIE ANOTHER DAY
David Arnold (PRS)
SWEET HOME ALABAMA
George Fenton (PRS)
TV MUSIC AWARDS
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
Pete Townshend (PRS)
CSI: MIAMI
Pete Townshend (PRS)
PROVIDENCE
John Lennon (PRS)
CABLE TV AWARD
STRONG MEDICINE
David Bergeaud (SACEM)
* Share licensed directly through BMI
Community
Connect with BMI & Professional Songwriters