The 2010 Songwriter Hall of Fame nominations have been announced with Lou Reed, U2 and Elvis Costello up for the award.
About Elvis Costello, the Songwriter Hall of Fame said, “One of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of the modern rock era, Elvis Costello burst upon the scene in 1977 at the height of the New Wave and has been writing songs, many of which have been covered by artists from Linda Ronstadt to Johnny Cash?at full throttle ever since. But rock is only one of the many genres he has conquered. The indefatigable Costello has also written country and classical music while collaborating with Burt Bacharach and Paul McCartney and earning his way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”.For Lou, “Lou Reed began the songwriting side of his influential music career as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records, delivering a hit in 1964 with the novelty dance hit “The Ostrich.” The Primitives were formed as a band to support it, and also included Welsh musician John Cale, with whom Reed would form the Velvet Underground in 1965 along with Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker. The historic group helped pave the way for the punk rock explosion of the 1970s, with songs like “Heroin” and “Sweet Jane.” They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, long after Reed had established himself as a major solo singer-songwriter thanks to such titles as “Walk On The Wild Side” and “Dirty Boulevard.””
About U2, “Together as U2, Bono (Paul Hewson), The Edge (David Evans), Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen have enjoyed unprecedented success as songwriters, recording artists and concert performers. Their catalog includes two No. 1 hits, “With Or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Other hits have been used in movies (“All I Want Is You” from “Reality Bites,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” from “Batman Forever”) and have tributed Martin Luther King (“Pride [In The Name Of Love]”) and Billie Holiday (“Angel Of Harlem”).”
The Songwriter Hall of Fame is broken into two categories - performing and non-performing songwriters.
Here are the nominations:
Performer/Songwriter category nominees:
Garth Brooks (If Tomorrow Never Comes, The Thunder Rolls, Ain't Goin' Down (Til the Sun Comes Up), Papa Loved Mama)
Leonard Cohen (Suzanne, Hallelujah, Bird on a Wire, Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye)
Elvis Costello (Alison, Watching the Detectives, Everyday I Write the Book, Almost Blue)
Dion DiMucci (Runaround Sue, Donna the Prima Donna, Love Came to Me, Lovers Who Wander)
David Gates (Make It With You, If, Baby I'm-a Want You, Everything I Own)
Tommy James (Crimson in Clover, I Think We're Alone Now, Mony Mony, Crystal Blue Persuasion)
John Mellencamp (Pink Houses, Small Town, The Authority Song, Jack & Diane)
Lou Reed (Walk on the Wild Side, Sweet Jane, Rock & Roll, Heroin)
Leon Russell (This Masquerade, Superstar, A Song For You, Delta Lady)
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen (Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Beautiful Day, New Year's Day)
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) (Peace Train, Wild World, Morning Has Broken, The First Cut is the Deepest)
Maurice White, Phillip Bailey, Verdine White, Larry Dunn, Al McKay (September, That's the Way of the World, Shining Star, Sing A Song)
Non-Performing Songwriter(s) nominees:
Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart (Come a Little Bit Closer, I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone, I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight?, Last Train to Clarksville)
Jackie DeShannon (Bette Davis Eyes, Everytime You Walk Into a Room, Put a Little Love in Your Heart, Dum Dum)
Luther Dixon (Sixteen Candles, Soldier Boy, Boys, I Don't Want to Cry)
David Foster (I Have Nothing, You're the Inspiration, After the Love Is Gone, The Prayer)
Mark James (Hooked on a Feeling, Suspicious Minds, Moody Blue, (You Were) Always On My Mind)
Robert John "Mutt" Lange ((Everything I Do) I Do It For You, Photograph, Get Outta My Dreams Get Into My Car, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman)
Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones (My Cup Runneth Over, Try To Remember)
Johnny Mandel (The Shadow Of Your Smile, Emily, A Time For Love, Suicide is Painless)
Jerry Ragovoy & Bert Berns (Cry Baby, Twist and Shout, Piece of My Heart, Time is On My Side)
Billy Sherrill (Stand By Your Man, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, My Elusive Dreams, Almost Persuaded)
Joe South (Rainy Night in Georgia, Hush, Games People Play, Down in the Boondocks)
Paul Vance & Neil Pockriss (Playground in My Mind, Catch a Falling Star, Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Tracy)
