2007 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Inductees Announced!

Writers of Born Free, Day-O, Running on Empty, Greatest Love of All and Goin’ Out of My Head to be Inducted by Songwriters Hall of Fame

NEW YORK, N.Y. – MARCH 19, 2007Don Black, Jackson Browne, Irving Burgie, Michael Masser, Bobby Weinstein and the late Teddy Randazzo will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year, SHOF Chairman/CEO Hal David announced today. The organization, which is dedicated to recognizing the work and lives of those composers and lyricists who create popular music around the world, returns for its highly anticipated 38th annual induction and awards dinner, scheduled for Thursday, June 7 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.  Special award honorees will be announced at a later date.

“From soaring film scores to seminal rock and roll, from calypso classics to pop anthems, this year’s inductees truly have contributed to the soundtrack of our lives,” commented SHOF Chairman and songwriter extraordinaire, Hal David. “We’re proud of the growing impact of our event, which is now one of the industry’s high points of the year, and we are looking forward to another terrific and memorable evening where we spotlight the accomplishments of our 2007 inductees.”

Lyricist/librettist Don Black has penned such major pop hits as Michael Jackson’s “Ben,” Hot Chocolate’s “I’ll Put You Together Again” and the enduring movie theme “To Sir With Love.” Key songs in Black’s catalog include “Born Free,” “Come September,” “Diamonds Are Forever,” “For Mama” and “To Sir With Love.” He has collaborated with a number of SHOF inductees in his long career, including composer John Barry on the theme songs for the James Bond movies Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, and Man with the Golden Gun. He also teamed with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber on such hit musicals as Tell Me on a Sunday, Sunset Boulevard and Aspects of Love. Other pairings include Quincy Jones on the movie soundtrack for The Italian Job.

Jackson Browne has come to epitomize the term singer-songwriter. His songs stand out as paragons of both personal and political songwriting and have been recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Byrds, with “Take It Easy,” which he co-wrote with the Eagles’ Glenn Frey, another SHOF inductee, giving that band its first big hit. But he remains best known for his own hits like “Running On Empty” and “Doctor My Eyes,” and was rewarded for his achievements in 2004 with his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Key songs in the Browne catalog include “Doctor My Eyes,” “Rock Me on the Water,” “Running on Empty,” “Take It Easy” and “The Pretender.”

Irving Burgie has long been acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music. Since 1956, his songs have sold over 100 million records by artists throughout the world, and he is the composer of such world standards as “Jamaica Farewell,” “Day-O” and “Island in the Sun.” He has written some 35 songs recorded by Harry Belafonte, and was the author of 8 of the 11 songs in his album “Calypso,” which became the first album in history to sell 1 million copies (1956). This album was #1 on the “Billboard” charts for 32 weeks.

Songwriter/producer Michael Masser first came to fame with “Touch Me in the Morning,” the hit power ballad that he wrote and produced for Diana Ross in 1973. With inductee Gerry Goffin he then wrote the Oscar-nominated Ross movie “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To?).” He later wrote for George Benson (the original version of “The Greatest Love of All”) and inductee Neil Diamond (“First You Have to Say You Love Me”) and also wrote the Roberta Flack/Peabo Bryson hit “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love.” After Teddy Pendergrass scored in the Masser-penned “Hold Me” duet with newcomer Whitney Houston, he co-wrote three Houston chart-toppers, “Saving All My Love for You,” “The Greatest Love of All” (with late SHOF inductee Linda Creed), and “Didn’t We Almost Have It All?.”  Key songs in the Masser catalog include “Didn’t We Almost Have It All?,” “Do You Know Where You’re Going To? (Theme From Mahogany),” “The Greatest Love Of All,” “Saving All My Love For You” and “Touch Me In The Morning.”

Foremost among the many songs that the team of Bobby Weinstein and Teddy Randazzo wrote were “Goin’ Out of My Head,” a hit for Little Anthony & the Imperials, which tallied over six million performances, and “Hurt So Bad,” also a hit for Little Anthony & the Imperials, that accounted for over four million performances. In addition, the duo wrote such classics as “Gonna Take a Miracle,” “I’m on the Outside Looking In,” “Pretty Blue Eyes” and “Have You Looked into Your Heart,” and continued writing together until Randazzo’s death in 2003. Key songs in the Weinstein/Randazzo catalog include “Goin’ Out of My Head,” “Hurts So Bad,” “Gonna Take a Miracle,” “I’m on the Outside Looking In” and “Pretty Blue Eyes.”

See all of the 2007 nominees.

The stars came out last year for the 37th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards event at the Marriott Marquis’ Grand Ballroom. Inductees Thom Bell, Mac Davis, Will Jennings, Sylvia Moy and special award recipients Kris Kristofferson (Johnny Mercer Award), Peter, Paul and Mary (The Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award), John Mayer (Starlight Award) and Allen Klein (Abe Olman Publishers Award) mingled with presenters and performers Trace Adkins, Ashford & Simpson, Martin Bandier, Freddie Bienstock, Linda Eder, Gavin DeGraw, Whoopi Goldberg, Dr. John, Alicia Keys, Dave Koz, Alan Menkin, Frances Preston, Paul Shaffer, Stevie Wonder and Pete Yorn in a mutual admiration society of many outstanding moments.

About The Songwriters Hall of Fame:

The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The SHOF not only celebrates songwriters and educates the public on their great achievements, but is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. Over the course of the past 37 years, some key Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees have included John Fogerty, Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Steve Cropper, Richard and Robert Sherman, Bill Withers, Carole King, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, Jim Croce, Phil Collins, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Jimmy Webb, Van Morrison and Cy Coleman among many, many others. 

Full biographies and a complete list of inductees are available at the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Virtual Museum at songhall.org.

Ticket Information:
Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame begin at $1000 each, and are available through Buckley Hall Events, (212) 573-6933. Net proceeds from the event will go towards the Songwriters Hall of Fame programs.