Library of Congress "Gershwin Medal"

[ron hertel]

It was announced yesterday that Burt Bacharach & Hal David will be the recipients of the "Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song" next Spring..... Event is to include an all star tribute which will hopefully be televised. I suspect this will be far more meaningful than their long lamented exclusion from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! ... Previous recipients have included Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.

[Blair N. Cummings]

You knew this was coming, didn`t you?
Here`s how this "award" is described on its own site:Gershwin Prize for Popular Song
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song celebrates the work of an artist whose career reflects lifetime achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding. The styles in which these works are composed reflect myriad contemporary traditions like rock, jazz, country, pop, blues, folk, and gospel. The recipient-whether composer, singer/songwriter, or interpreter-is recognized for entertaining and informing audiences, for drawing upon the acknowledged foundations of popular song, and for inspiring new generations of performers on their own professional journeys.


The selection is made by the Librarian of Congress in consultation with a board that is both credible and broad enough in scope to represent the full spectrum of popular song. Board members may include but need not be limited to scholars, producers, performers, music critics, songwriters, and subject specialists within and outside the Library of Congress.

Leaving aside the question of how and why the Library of Congress started competing with Rolling Stone and MTV in issuing pointless music awards, I`d like to know why (say) Lady Gaga wouldn`t qualify for this. Surely she has "inspired" a "new generation" more than Burt and Hal have done. I doubt that many under thirty years of age have ever heard of them.
Obviously (I hope), this is not meant to demean Burt and Hal. It is to question WHY FOR F....`S SAKE we need another "award."
Maybe if George and Ira themselves were around to determine the recipients of these things and could present the trophy/t-shirt/coffee mug in person it would be...I don`t know...fun? cool? somehow meaningful ? Does anyone reading this know who the Librarian of Congress is or why we should care about his/her taste in music ?
I don`t.
Awards are arbitrary and/or obvious and/or political. If Burt and Hal had created everything they did but hadn`t sold any records, neither of them would own as much a an Employee of the Quarter plaque. They would, howver, still be unsurpassed musical geniuses and posterity (if not an award-engraving company) would know it.

[BachtoBacharach]

LOL! How true! Another meaningless award.

[ron hertel]

WELL! .... Guess we can scrap the the Emmys, Tonys, Grammys, Oscars, CMA's, Peoples Choice Awards etc. .. etc. ... etc............. At the very least - this award and accompanying ceremony may expose Burt & Hal to a wider audience and create a well deserved expanded fan base! .... And yes - the almighty "$$ dollar $$" is always a part of the equation - look at sales figures following any of the major awards presentations. ... and ... it may just make a couple of great and talented men (Burt & Hal) FEEL GOOD and APPRECIATED! .... I've got no problem with that!

[Blair N. Cummings]

To be honest, Ron, I wish we could scrap all of those "awards". If Burt and Hal don`t feel "good and appreciated" by now I doubt that another fabricated trinket will do it for them. Maybe a few long lines of coke and several years of therapy would be more effective. (That IS a joke, by the way).
As for expanding their fan base... that depends on the likes of you and me doing what we`ve always done to expose receptive new listeners to the music. Another televised "awards special" won`t do it; your presumed audience will be engrossed in video games.

[gabba]

hi...where will take place this ..and when???thank you

[BachtoBacharach]

Amen Blair, I am with you on that! Preach it buddy!

BTW, I bet the most gratifying thing for Burt and Hal was to watch those tunes done by Dionne and others race up the charts...that is the biggest reward and award...all that other fabricated crap is guilding the lily. When Dionne's I Say A Little Prayer hit the charts in 1967, Burt was beaming with pride! As Burt told John Houston, that was the tune that "did it" for him...put Burt in a place in American Pop culture that he hadn't been before...it also kicked Dionne's career into the stratosphere. What an award to have a tune like that become an icon in and of itself! Each hit like that brought recognition to all Burt's body of work. An award like this won't have much bang for the buck. There are so many awards that most of them are meaningless now. The folks who would be watching the Library of Congress awards are not the folks who put musical acts on the top of the charts these days; they are preaching to choir (us Burt and Hal fans). Folks who would be interestedin in watching that would be fans of whomever is inducted...and besides these awards are about as irrelevent as the RRHOF has become.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

I don't think an award like this is meaningless at all. Sorry to disagree with many of you. Would you say that the Medal of Honor, or the Purple Heart awards are meaningless? I think a Grammy award is a very nice thing to possess. I think that Burt and Hal are very proud of their Grammy's and Academy Awards. I am THRILLED about this award that Burt and Hal are getting. And I still would very much like them to receive The Kennedy Honors as well. The truth is that I can be as cynical as anyone. But when it comes to Burt and Hal, I want to see them be honored in this way. They deserve it and they shouldn't be passed over.

[blueonblue]

Enormous,
I completely agree with you !!!

"blue"