SamboraBlog

Ballots were mailed this week to the voting membership of the Songwriters Hall of Fame to choose the class of 2008, SHOF Chairman/CEO Hal David announced today.

SHOF voters will have their work cut out for them. Nominees in the performer songwriter category include Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel and David Gates, along with such teams as Robert Lamm/James Pankow (of Chicago fame), Mick Jones/Lou Gramm (Foreigner) and John Densmore/Robby Krieger/Ray Manzarek/Jim Morrison (The Doors). Tom Petty and John Sebastian are in the running along with Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), and the aforementioned Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora team and Steve Winwood.

Voters must also choose inductees from the non-performer category, containing some of the most respected and successful songwriters of our times. They include Desmond Child (“Livin' La Vida Loca”), Albert Hammond (“To All The Girls I've Loved Before”), Graham Gouldman (“The Things We Do For Love”), Mark James (“Suspicious Minds”), and the teams of Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart (“Come A Little Bit Closer”), Roger Cook/Roger Greenaway (“Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress”), Sandy Linzer/Denny Randell (“Workin' My Way Back to You”), Galt MacDermot/James Rado/Gerome Ragni (“Hair”) and Paul Vance/Lee Pockriss (“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”). Alan Menken (“A Whole New World”), Billy Sherrill (“Stand By Your Man”) and Chip Taylor (“Wild Thing”) also add their substantial catalogs to the ring.

“This is one of the most competitive years I can remember,” commented SHOF Chairman/CEO and songwriter extraordinaire, Hal David. “Over the past four decades, the SHOF has come to represent the legacy of the great popular song in all of its richness and variety, and, as a result, our voting members have never faced a more challenging ballot.”

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 39th annual induction and awards dinner, scheduled for Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

To get a sampling of each nominee's catalog and find out more about the Songwriters Hall of Fame, go to songhall.org.

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 38 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, Bruce Springsteen, 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.