BMI Sings the Praises of Radio and TV Songs

The Scene: BMI’s Pop Awards Dinner at the Regent Beverly Wilshire on Tuesday. The annual black-tie gala honors the songwriters and music publishers whose songs were most performed on American TV and radio between October, 1990 and September, 1991. BMI (like competitor ASCAP) is in the business of collecting the royalties for that play. One veteran joked that the initials, which represent Broadcast Music Inc., actually stand for “Brings More Income.”

Buzz: Not one person had a bad word to say about BMI. It must be doing something right.

Who Was There: A crowd of 550 whose lyrics are much better known than they are. Among them were songwriters Michael Kamen (“Everything I Do, I Do It for You”), David Foster (“After the Love Has Gone”), Brian and Eddie Holland (“Baby, I Need Your Loving”), Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann (“Somewhere Out There”) and Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds, who was songwriter of the year; plus singers Melissa Manchester and Michael Bolton, who attended with Brooke Shields.

Dress Mode: By music industry standards, conservative black-tie; although the woman in the green leotard with silver metallic pullover and the gentleman in the hooded black-and-white jacket might have stretched the definition of formal wear.

Fashion Statement: Stephen Bishop came in a purple suit (“Prince loaned it to me.”) with a black polka-dot shirt. “If it clashes, wear it,” is the way he describes his wardrobe philosophy.

Accessory: Award winners were given medallions on red ribbons to wear. “It looks like you should be coming out of a pool in the Olympics,” one guest said to Julie Gold (“From a Distance.”)

Quoted: “The fame truck comes in a lot faster than the money truck,” said songwriter Even Stevens (“I Love a Rainy Night.”)

Observed: When the hotel’s fire alarm went off with a high-pitched whoop-whoop , songwriter Jeff Barry (“Da Do Run Run”) pointed toward the ceiling and yelled out, “Hey, Song of the Year!”

Underlying Reality: “The awards are nice, the royalty checks are better,” said one manager.