The 2007 Songwriters Hall of Fame

[tomsakic]

He already cried, what's the most open thing you can do in public. I guess the sound of your pissing is normal after that. After all, it's out bodies, why to be ashamed? ; - )

[Geoffrey]

PS

Tom Sakic wrote:
>To make laugh of journalist who was obviously sitting in the next room, listening to his pissing?

I considered this while eating my elevenses and I believe the key to the whole conundrum lies in the fact of his tears. He may have felt like crying because he had been called a 'creep' - I am not sure about that. But alone in the bathroom he felt so low that he secretly tried to seek God's attention and help by sending out a distress call. Even though the journalist would only have noted a succession of apparently meaningless spurts, there were in fact nine of them. These would have been three short, followed by three long, and finally three more short spurts - Morse Code for S.O.S. or 'Mayday'. I also wondered if that same journalist would have recorded the manner in which Prince Philip or the Pope went to the toilet, had he interviewed them instead.

[tomsakic]

Or would he call them "creep" indeed? Strange interview.

[lizzytysh]

My guess is that, with a male interviewer and male subject, for a supposedly non-inflammatory style publication, Leonard never dreamed that this or any journalist would be so possessed with copy as to record such a normal, yet 'personal' event. It showed a usual kind of trusting normalcy on Leonard's part, that he didn't feel the need to mask his activity; and that, in my mind, took a rather bizarre turn on the interviewer's part. If Leonard left the room to conceal tears, why would anyone presume it would be kosher to record and reveal anything that took place in the more private space, where he had taken refuge from the interviewer's eyes... obviously, as it turned out, not the ears. It was an invasive, self-centered act on the part of the interviewer. Classless exploitation.


~ Lizzy

[Geoffrey]

Lizzytysh wrote:
>It was an invasive, self-centered act on the part of the interviewer. Classless exploitation.


Right. That journalist told us more about himself than he ever did of his interview subject - and he was the mother of all creeps. What business did he have in snooping into a letter that Leonard had left on the table while gone to empty his bladder? Then he has the audacity to tell us that it was genuine.

[lizzytysh]

What business did he have in snooping into a letter that Leonard had left on the table while gone . . . Then he has the audacity to tell us that it was genuine.

That what was genuine? The letter? The same one he had to stealth to see? What was he expecting... a fake? Placed there to foil him? Or, perhaps, [hopefully] to test him . Don't need to check the professor's door to know his grade on that one.

I haven't read the piece, yet; will later. The background was too busy and conflicting with the print to be able to quickly scan it and didn't have time to read it, then or now.

With these type inclusions in his piece, it makes one wonder if he has an editor . One name to the cross-off list for in-person interviews and, perhaps, any at all. From what I'm reading, that would get my vote.


~ Lizzy

[Yankovic]

I've got beef now with the U.S. Songwriters Hall of Fame!

Last year they inducted Irving Burgie and he was not even mentioned as a nominee in the press release. I sent them an email and I'm waiting for a response.

This is what I wrote:

Hello

I have a question

Irving Burgie was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame last year, but his name was not even mentioned as a nominee in the press release. Why is that? Do you do this every year? A surprise inductee?

This is a link to the list of 2007 nominees from the Songhall website:

please read

http://www.songhall.org/index.php/vote/vote2007

Please write back

Thank you

I will let you know what they tell me.

Leonard Cohen was nominated last year and lost. This year he isn't even nominated, or at least he isn't mentioned in the press release. Maybe he will be this year's Irving Burgie! I'm not going to bother starting any more threads about the Songwriters Hall of Fame until Leonard Cohen actually gets inducted. Enough already!

This is the list of the 2008 Nominees:
http://www.songhall.org/index.php/vote/

These are the Leonard Cohen pages at the Songhall
http://www.songhall.org/index.php/vote/vote2007
http://www.songhall.org/vote/entry/195



Vote
Leonard Cohen

Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen turned to songwriting after establishing himself as an acclaimed novelist and poet. His resultant songs have earned him an adoring following of music fans and fellow artists, including Judy Collins, who expanded his audience in 1966 when she recorded his song “Suzanne” (actor/singer Noel Harrison also had a hit with it) and Jennifer Warnes, who had been a backup singer for Cohen before releasing her own acclaimed album of his material, “Famous Blue Raincoat,” in 1987. His uniquely intelligent output was celebrated earlier this year with the documentary “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man.”

Key songs in the Cohen catalog include “Bird on the Wire,” “Hallelujah,” “Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” “So Long Marianne” and “Suzanne.”

Back to nominees list

The 2008 Inductees will be announced in April.

[Yankovic]

The Songwriters Hall of Fame emailed me and said that I have to be a voting member in order for them to answer my questions.

My guess is that the Songwriters Hall of Fame ballot has a section for Write-In candidates. I guess lots of people wrote in for Irving Burgie.

If you want to become a member and vote annualy, here's the phone number and the application process:

You only qualify for Lifetime Membership - $1000.00

http://www.songhall.org/forms/shof_membership.pdf

1-212-957-9230

[Yankovic]

“Bird on the Wire,”

[Davido]

Let's get this right! The song is 'Bird on the wire', the Tony Palmer film (1974) is 'Bird on a wire'.
Dave

[Sue]

In an earlier post in this thread, which I hadn't seen till now, Geoffery wrote

Remember that interview.....

http://www.webheights.net/speakingcohen/villv67.htm

and Tom later commented

...Strange interview.

then Lizzy (although she hadn't yet read it) wrote

With these type inclusions in his piece, it makes one wonder if he has an editor . One name to the cross-off list for in-person interviews and, perhaps, any at all.

Well, anyone could be forgiven for thinking the interview in question was somehow unsympathetic to Leonard Cohen and not much worth reading. Quite the opposite! I have just read this interview, from 1967, for the first time and it is one of the most clued-up things I have ever read about Cohen by someone who clearly got what he was about and seemed to quite like him for it. But its greatest interest is the fact that it was written before Songs of Leonard Cohen had even made an appearance, when it was still in the making and before anyone, Leonard included, knew if it would turn out to be any good. Amazing to think of. So this journalist was able to form his own impression of Leonard, without any of the intervening fog of his subsequent history which colours so much writing about him now. He had a strong inkling that it would turn out to be quite good, and he wrote:

If his forthcoming album is a good one, Leonard Cohen may well become one of history's odder choices for pop stardom. But the men we deem to worship are never ordinary; that is the one passion they must guard against. If the time is ripe for a guru with a cold in the ego, Leonard Cohen's modest agony will stand him in good stead.

As hindsight that would be nothing to speak of, but as an example of foresight it seems quite remarkable to me.

[lizzytysh]

I have to agree, Sue. Good case you made. Is that person still around to see Leonard inducted into all these Halls of Fame?


~ Lizzy

[Yankovic]

Damn it, I should have told all of you in 2006 to become members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and given you the number to join so Leonard would get more votes and get inducted.

Unlike The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, only members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame are allowed to attend the induction ceremonies.

It was taking too long to get a response from them by email, so I just called them and asked them to email me the application. It's in ADOBE format. I don't know if I can post it.

Call the Song Hall at 1-212-957-9230 and have them email you the membership application so you can vote annually.

This is the last hall of fame that Leonard Cohen has to be inducted into in the U.S., unless someone decides to open a FOLK MUSIC Hall of Fame. Who knows, maybe Cohen will get a STAR on the Hollywood Walk of Fame too!!

http://www.folkalley.com/archives/000533.php
http://www.folkalley.com

[Yankovic]

Here is the application

http://www.songhall.org/forms/shof_membership.pdf

you only qualify for lifetime membership

you don't have to be a U.S resident to vote

[hallelujah4cohen]

I can't believe Leonard Cohen is being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame AND the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the same year. I think only 4 other songwriters/musicians have done that. I don’t know yet if he’s actually performing at the Rock & Roll Inductee ceremony (does anyone know?), but I saw that VH1 is doing a contest to let a fan win a trip to NY, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
http://www.vh1.com/interact/sweepstakes ... fame_2008/
Do you guys know who some of the other artists are or how these ceremonies normally work?