Songwriters Hall Of Fame 2014 Nominees For Induction Announced

One of the few country songwriters to cross over to the pop charts in the 1960s with such hits as “Still” and “8 X 10,” Grand Ole Opry star Bill Anderson topped the country charts in the ‘60s and ‘70s with songs like “I Get The Fever” and “Sometimes.” But he is most celebrated for his songwriting, with “City Lights” hitting No. 1 for Ray Price in 1958—when Anderson was just 19. He soon had hits with the likes of Connie Smith, Hank Locklin, Porter Wagoner, Jim Reeves, and Faron Young, but the hits he had in the ‘90s and after with artists including Steve Wariner, Kenny Chesney, Vince Gill and Brad Paisley (whose Anderson-penned “Whiskey Lullaby” won the 2005 Country Music Association Song of the Year award) led to his becoming the first country songwriter to receive the BMI Icon Award, in 2002.
Key songs in the Anderson catalog include: * Mama Sang A Song * Po’ Folks * Still * Tips Of My Fingers * Whiskey Lullaby

Bobby Braddock served as Marty Robbins’ pianist, with Robbins returning the favor by recording Braddock’s “While You’re Dancing” for the songwriter’s first chart record in 1966. Braddock’s first No. 1 hit came two years later with Tammy Wynette’s classic “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” and he would go on to score more hits for Wynette and then husband George Jones, including “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the Country Music Association Song of the Year in 1980 and 1981 and considered by many to be the greatest country music song. Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1981, Braddock was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
Key songs in the Braddock catalog include: *D-I-V-O-R-C-E * Golden Ring * He Stopped Loving Her Today * Time Marches On * Would You Catch A Falling Star?

Native New Yorkers, cousins Luigi Creatore and the late Hugo Peretti formed a songwriting/producing team in the 1950s that yielded songs written for artists including Valerie Carr as well as recordings produced for the likes of Jimmie Rodgers, Sam Cooke and Perry Como. They not only wrote the English lyrics for the South African song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” but produced The Tokens’ classic hit version. They co-wrote Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” with Songwriters Hall of Famer George David Weiss, and with Weiss wrote the Civil War musical Maggie Flynn before winning a Grammy in 1977 for producing Best Musical Show Album Bubbling Brown Sugar.
Key songs in the Hugo & Luigi catalog include: * A Walkin’ Miracle * Can’t Help Falling in Love
* Let’s Put It All Together *Oh, Oh, I’m Fallin’ in Love * The Lion Sleeps Tonight Again

Graham Gouldman is one of England’s most successful songwriters, penning such classic 1960s hits as “For Your Love” and “Heart Full of Soul” for The Yardbirds, “Bus Stop” and “Look Through Any Window” for The Hollies, and “No Milk Today” and “Listen People” for Herman’s Hermits, while also writing hits for Jeff Beck, Cher and the Shadows. A former member of the Mindbenders, he joined with that band’s Eric Stewart and Kevin Godley and Lol Crème in forming pop group 10cc. For that band he delivered such hits as “The Things We Do For Love.” 
Key songs in the Gouldman catalog include: * Bus Stop * For Your Love * I’m Not In Love * No Milk Today * The Things We Do For Love

Memphis singer Mark James’ recording of his composition “Suspicious Minds” found its way to producer Chips Momans, who brought it to Elvis Presley. It topped the charts in 1969 for Presley, who hit big again in 1973 with James’ “(You Were) Always On My Mind.” James also wrote B.J. Thomas’s 1968 hit “Hooked on a Feeling” and songs for numerous films including Kramer vs. Kramer, Honeymoon in Vegas and Reservoir Dogs. He composed his first film score for the 2001 short film Trade Day.
Key songs in the James catalog include: * (You Were) Always On My Mind * Eyes Of A New York Woman * Hooked On A Feeling * Moody Blue * Suspicious Minds

As a team, Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell wrote and produced the Toys classic “A Lover’s Concerto,” and wrote many other pop-rock hits of the 1960s. For Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons they provided “Working My Way Back To You,” “Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me),” and (with Bob Crewe) “Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got).” The duo also wrote songs for The Monkees and had numerous credits with other writers outside their own partnership. More recently, their classic “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby” has attained hit status once again, as covered by the band Smash Mouth. 
Key songs in the Linzer & Randell catalog include: * A Lover’s Concerto * Let ‘s Hang On To What We’ve Got * Native New Yorker * Opus 17 (Don’t Worry ‘bout Me) * Workin’ My Way Back To You

A much-awarded songwriter in England, Tony Macaulay was a staff producer at Pye Records, where he supplied The Foundations with his co-written song “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” and follow-up “Build Me Up Buttercup.” Other hits followed for the likes of Herman’s Hermits (“I Can Take or Leave Your Lovin’”), The Hollies (“Sorry Suzanne”) and the Flying Machine (“Smile a Little Smile For Me”). His hitmaking ways continued in the 1970s with songs like “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” (Edison Lighthouse) and “Here Comes that Rainy Day Feeling Again” (The Fortunes).
Key songs in the Macaulay include: * Baby Now That I’ve Found You * Build Me Up Buttercup
* Don’t Give Up On Us * Last Night I Couldn’t Get To Sleep At All * Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)

Dan Penn, who co-wrote “Dark End of the Street” and “Do Right Woman” with Chips Moman, partnered with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sideman Spooner Oldham (organ player on hits like “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “Mustang Sally”) to pen some of the most memorable pop and r&b hits of the 1960s. For The Boxtops they wrote “Cry Like A Baby,” and they supplied James and Bobby Purify with “I’m Your Puppet.” Aretha Franklin had a big hit with their “Do Right Woman,” while Janis Joplin’s recording of their “A Woman Left Lonely” is among her top album cuts.
Key songs in the Penn & Spooner catalog include: * A Woman Left Lonely * Cry Like A Baby * I’m Your Puppet * It Tears Me Up * Sweet Inspiration

Singer/songwriter/producer Linda Perry has written and produced numerous hits including Pink’s “Get The Party Started” and Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful”—both chart-toppers. Prior to establishing herself as a major songwriter and producer, Perry was known for her big voice on the global hit “What’s Up” which she sang and penned for her band 4 Non Blondes. Other top artists whose catalogs include Perry compositions are Gwen Stefani (her hit “What Are You Waiting For?”), Courtney Love, Celine Dion and Alicia Keys. Most recently she has fronted the band Deep Dark Robot and published a set of acoustic cover songs recorded with her iPhone.
Key songs in the Perry catalog include: * Beautiful * Superwoman * Get The Party Started * What You Waiting For? * What’s Up?

Don Robertson had a million-selling gold record in 1956 with his whistling tune “The Happy Whistler.” But he also had a hand in writing hits for artists like Elvis Presley—who cut over a dozen Robertson compositions—as well as Jim Reeves, Hank Snow and Les Paul and Mary Ford. Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, Robertson also wrote, with Hal Blair, Hank Locklin’s classic country chart-topper “Please Help Me, I’m Falling,” as well as Lorne Greene’s 1964 novelty pop recitation hit “Ringo.”
Key songs in the Robertson catalog include: * Born To Be With You * Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger * I Really Don’t Want To Know * Please Help Me I’m Falling * Ringo

Motown A&R director/songwriter William “Mickey” Stevenson co-wrote some of the greatest songs to come out of the Motown hit factory. Among the most memorable compositions were Martha & the Vandellas’ “Dancing In The Street” and the Four Tops’ “Ask The Lonely” (both with Ivy Jo Hunter Hunter). Stevenson also co-wrote Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels’ “Devil With The Blue Dress On.”
Key songs in the Stevenson catalog include: * Beechwood 4-5789 * Dancing In The Street * Devil With The Blue Dress * It Takes Two * What’s The Matter With You Baby

An All-American quarterback at the University of Mississippi, Jim Weatherly opted for songwriting over football, and it paid off handsomely when his songs were recorded by artists including Ray Price, Brenda Lee, Lynn Anderson, and Bob Luman. But the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer—honored as ASCAP’s Country Songwriter of the Year in 1974—also excelled in the R&B/pop realm, what with his Gladys Knight & the Pips hits “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)”, and “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” Also an inductee into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame, Weatherly has recorded several albums of his own, and had a Top 20 pop hit in 1974 with “The Need To Be” as well as a Top 10 country hit in 1975 with “I’ll Still Love You.”
Key songs in the Weatherly catalog include: * Midnight Train To Georgia * Neither One Of Us Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye * Where Peaceful Waters Flow * You Are A Song * You’re The Best Thing (That Ever Happened To Me)

The leader of KC and the Sunshine Band, Harry Wayne “K.C.” Casey wrote some of the biggest and most enduring songs of the disco era. He wrote George McCrae’s 1974 No. 1 hit “Rock Your Baby,” and also wrote songs for Betty Wright and Jimmy “Bo” Horne. His hits for KC and the Sunshine Band include the chart-toppers “Get Down Tonight” and “That’s The Way I Like It.”
Key songs in the “K.C.” catalog include: * Boogie Shoes * Get Down Tonight * Rock Your Baby * Shake Your Booty * That’s The Way I Like It

Ray Davies is the lead singer and chief songwriter for the Kinks; with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, one of the seminal bands of the 1960s British rock invasion. He authored widely-ranging rock song classics like “You Really Got Me” and “Lola” in a historic career commemorated in 1990 by the group’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Davies has also written and performed as a solo artist, mixing Kinks material with his own along with stories from his written works in a “Storyteller”-type format.
Key songs in the Davies catalog include: * Lola * Tired Of Waiting * Well-Respected Man * Waterloo Sunset * You Really Got Me

Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan arrived in 1965 in the Pop Charts with his first   Hit “Catch The Wind”, for which he received the Ivor Novello Award for songwriting . Donovan followed this with huge hits like “Sunshine Superman,” “Mellow Yellow” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” These songs, and others like “Atlantis,” “Catch The Wind” and “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” have been covered extensively and used in films like GoodFellas and TV shows like The Simpsons, as well as major Ads. Donovan was designated as a BMI Icon in 2009, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. (Photo: Jermey Loscher)
Key songs in the Donovan catalog include: * Catch the Wind * Hurdy Gurdy Man * Mellow Yellow
* Sunshine Superman * Wear Your Love Like Heaven

One of the most celebrated songwriters—and artists—in country music history, Vince Gill first came to fame as songwriter and performer in Pure Prairie League. After going solo as a country artist, he broke ground in winning three straight CMA Awards for Song of the Year from 1991 to 1993: “When I Call Your Name,” “Look At Us” and “I Still Believe In You” (he won it again in 1996 for “Go Rest High On That Mountain”). Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, Gill, who was also named the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Songwriter/Artist of the Decade for 1990-1999 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007, has had his songs covered by many others ranging from Alabama to Rosanne Cash.
Key songs in the Gill catalog include: * Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away * I Still Believe In You * If You Ever Have Forever In Mind * Never Knew Lonely * One More Last Chance

Born Steven Demetre Georgiou and now known as Yusuf Islam following his conversion to Islam, Cat Stevens was one of the most successful singer-songwriters of the 1970s. After securing a U.K. deal with his song “I Love My Dog”—which eventually charted there in 1966—he wrote “Here Comes My Baby,” a hit for the Tremeloes in both the U.K. and U.S. P.P. Arnold’s 1967 British hit of Stevens’ ”The First Cut Is The Deepest” would later be a U.S. hit for both Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow; meanwhile, Stevens became a major star on both sides of the Atlantic with his version of “Wild World,” which was a previous hit for Jimmy Cliff in England, and such follow-up hits as “Moon Shadow,” “Peace Train” and “Morning Has Broken.”
Key songs in the Stevens catalog include: * Moonshadow * Morning Has Broken * Peace Train * The First Cut Is The Deepest * Wild World

Cyndi Lauper became a superstar on the strength of her 1983 debut hit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” but she followed it with her own co-written hits “Time After Time” and She Bop.” Her estimable songwriting collaborators have included Essra Mohawk, Jules Shear, John Turi, the team of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, Mary Chapin Carpenter and even Hugh Masakela. This year she won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots.
Key songs in the Lauper catalog include: * Change of Heart * High and Mighty * She Bop * Time After Time * Sisters of Avalon

The best-selling female artist of all time according to the Guinness Book of Records—and cited by Time as one of the “25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century,” Madonna has had a hand in writing most of her hits since “Everybody,” her first, in 1982. Ever since, the ever controversial artist has also hugely influenced fashion, music video, record production and concert presentation, thanks to her vaunted ability to keep reinventing herself. The multiple-Grammy winning cultural icon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
Key songs in the Madonna catalog include: * Everybody * Into The Groove * Like A Prayer * Lucky Star * Vogue

Finding fame first as rocker Johnny Cougar, John Mellencamp gradually reclaimed his real name while staking out his own singular rock sound. Indeed, songs like “Small Town” and “Cherry Bomb” embodied the genre of music now known as roots rock, or Americana. Together with massive Top 40 hits like “Hurt So Good” and “R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.,” they propelled Mellencamp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—one of many honors bestowed on him during his venerable career.
Key songs in the Mellencamp catalog include: * Jack And Diane * Lonely Ol’ Night * Pink Houses
* Small Town * The Authority Song

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant—together with bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham—embodied and defined the emerging rock genre of heavy metal after forming in 1968. During their heyday in the 1970s, Page and Plant contributed such classic hit songs as “Stairway to Heaven” to the singles charts and history books. They were rewarded in 1995 with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
Key songs in the Page & Plant catalog include: * Babe I’m Gonna Leave You * Immigrant Song
* Kashmir *Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman) * Stairway To Heaven

With the late Bernard Edwards, fellow producer Nile Rodgers formed Chic—one of the most important bands of the disco era. Both “Le Freak” and “Good Times” went to No. 1 on the pop charts, prompting Rodgers and Edwards to produce and write for other artists on their Atlantic Records roster, including Sister Sledge, whose “We Are Family” was a huge hit—and remade by Rodgers as a benefit recording for his “We Are Family Foundation” after 9-11. But Rodgers and Edwards also wrote and produced for other artists including Diana Ross (her hits “Upside Down” and “I’m Coming Out”), and Rodgers went on to compose soundtracks while continuing his songwriting and production efforts.
Key songs in the Rodgers & Edwards catalog include: * Good Times * I’m Coming Out * Le Freak
* Upside Down * We Are Family

England’s Nigerian-born, jazz-tinged vocalist Sade Adu, as frontwoman of the adult contemporary pop/R&B group bearing her first name, gained international stardom in the 1980s thanks to such quiet storm format classics as “Smooth Operator” and “Hang On To Your Love.” So distinctive were her initial hits that Sade won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1986; she herself was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2002 for services to popular music. Her and the group’s lasting appeal was proven in 2011 when they received their fourth Grammy, for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, for her composition “Soldier of Love.”
Key songs in the Sade catalog include: * Diamond Life * Hang On To Your Love * Smooth Operator * The Sweetest Taboo * Your Love Is King

Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson have been the heart of Heart, respectively on vocals and guitar, since 1974. Two years later their compositions “Crazy On You” and “Magic Man,” from debut album Dreamboat Annie, brought them the rock superstar status that was consecrated this year with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hugely influential as female hard rockers, the Wilson sisters were awarded ASCAP’s Founders Award in 2009 in recognition of their songwriting achievements.
Key songs in the Wilsons’ catalog include: * Barracuda * Crazy On You * Dog And Butterfly
* Dreamboat Annie * Magic Man