Music Society Salutes Its 75th

The history of modern American pop, jazz and film music will be saluted on stage tonight at the Shubert Theatre as three generations of songwriters and composers toast the 75th Anniversary of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

A highlight of the 7:30 p.m. program will be the reunion of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the team behind such classic pop tunes as “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.” This is believed to be the first time the pair, which will perform some of its hits, will have worked together in any capacity since the early ‘70s.

In addition, more than three dozen other writers or composers will be performing their songs. Among them: Sammy Cahn, Cab Calloway, Henry Mancini, Smokey Robinson and the team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, whose credits include “Like a Virgin.”

“I think there would be a dearth of composers and lyricists in America today if there weren’t an ASCAP,” said Hal David, an ASCAP member for more than 40 years, including six years as the society’s president.

“Seventy-five years ago ASCAP began to license the music composed by its members because their music was being played without (monetary) compensation. Without that, most of us would have had to go into other fields.”

Morton Gould, composer of “Pavanne” and the current ASCAP president, says that the technology explosion, which has brought on new ways of reproducing music, makes that central purpose of the society more of a challenge than ever before.