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David at Midem 09 with Russian superstar Valeriya and husband/manager Josef.
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SONGLINK AT MIDEM 2010
David Stark says: "I'll be attending MIDEM in Cannes from January 24th-26th, as I have done for most of the last 34 years since my first one in 1976 as International Press Officer for Decca Records UK. We don't have a stand this time so it's best to contact me on the mobile or via the Cannes Palace Hotel. Looking forward to meeting up with many old friends and making some new ones there."
Contact David at Midem
e-mail: david@songlink.com
Mobile: +44 (0)7956 270592
Cannes Palace Hotel
Tel: +33 (0)4 93 43 44 45
Midem newsletter
http://bit.ly/4yPORT
Midem homepage
http://www.midem.com
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CHILDLINE ROCKS AT BONHAMS AUCTION
Childrens charity Childline Rocks hosted a special preview of items being sold at Bonhams' latest Entertainment Memorabilia auction in Knightsbridge, London on December 16th. The event was hosted by legendary DJ/broadcaster Bob Harris along with special guests including Childline chairman Esther Rantzen, ex-Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord and singer/songwriter Newton Faulkner who played a short set. Various items have been especially donated to raise much-needed funds for the national children's Samaritan-style hotline service, including guitars, amps and other items signed by various stars who appeared at Childline's Indig02 concert in June 2009, plus other items including a signed Ringo Starr drum head.
L-R: Tony Moore, Newton Faulkner, David Stark and Bob Harris.
Video link: Bob Harris, Jon Lord and clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8981mxdcKl0
Video link: Newton Faulkner performing live
http://www.youtube.com/user/starkyboy#p/a/u/0/EyN38glxJMU
Learn more about Childline Rocks:
http://www.childlinerocks.co.uk
Bonhams Auctions:
http://www.bonhams.com
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MUSICIANS BENEVOLENT FUND
SONG CONTEST 2009
Born and raised in South London, singer-songwriter Sherika Sherard walked away with the main award of £5,000 at the Musicians Benevolent Fund's annual Songwriting Awards Final. Sherika has been songwriting from the age of 14 and will use the award to buy new songwriting equipment and tour the UK next year.
Musicians Benevolent Fund Song Contest Winner Sherika Sherard
Sherika said, "I just want to say a big thank you for Thursday night - it was amazing! I am so happy to be part of such a great award and to be linked to your charity as an artist".
Jessica Staveley-Taylor performing with her two sisters, who are collectively 'The Staves', was delighted to receive a development award of £2,500, which she will put towards recording an EP and a 15 date UK tour...
Click here for full story
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SONGLINK PRESENTS
LIPA NIGHT 24TH NOVEMBER
SongLink is proud to present LIPA NIGHT at The Bedford, featuring seven new acts from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. LIPA alumni include Sandie Thom The Wombats and The Zutons. Come down and check out the current crop of artists and bands. The show will be hosted by Tony Moore and there will be a full menu available for diners. Doors open at 7:30PM and the show begins at 8:45PM. The Bedford (http://thebedford.co.uk) is located at 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, London SW12 9HD.
Two days later - Thursday 26th November - are the MBF Songwriting Contest Finals, featuring six acts from various colleges & uni's competing for the MBF £5,000 grand prize. Judges include Guy Chambers, Eg White, Alison Clarkson, Tony Moore and David Stark. There will also be a guest appearance by last year's winners, The Fables (LIPA). More info at MBF (Musicians Benevolent Fund) http://mbf.org.uk
The Bedford
http://thebedford.co.uk
Full show line-up:
http://bit.ly/a6Rv8
LIPA
http://www.lipa.ac.uk
Lead Patron:
Sir Paul McCartney
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GOLD BADGE AWARDS 2009
The 36th annual Gold Badge Awards took place on October 28th at London's Park Lane Hotel, hosted as ever by Guy Fletcher and sponsored by PRS For Music. The awards are presented by BASCA, the British Academy of Composers, Songwriters and Authors, to honour long-standing star names as well as some of the backroom people of the music industry (David Stark received his award back in 1995). This year's winners, listed alphabetically, were Procul Harum's Gary Brooker MBE (award sponsored by PPL), songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, EMI music copyist Vic Fraser, former BASCA CEO Chris Green, concert promoter Raymond Gubbay CBE, singer and presenter Aled Jones (absent on the day), violinist Tasmin Little, Warner Chappell MD, Richard Manners, Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin, record producer Hugh Padgham, singer/actress Ruby Turner and singer/songwriter Robert Wyatt (award sponsored by the MU).
Click here for more photos
More info here:
http://www.basca.org.uk
http://www.goldbadgeawards.com
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Ronnie Wood, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols)
and David Stark
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PRS chairman Ellis Rich, Lorna Marshall
and Georgie Fame
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FACES REFORM FOR CHARITY SHOW
Legendary 70's rockers The Faces made a triumphant return in aid of the PRS For Music Members Benevolent Fund at London's Royal Albert Hall on October 25th 2009. Ronnie Wood, Ian MacLagen and Kenney Jones reunited for three numbers without Rod Stewart but with Bill Wyman on bass and Mick Hucknall belting out finale song "Stay With Me" , along with Paul Carrack on "Cindy Incidentally" and Andy Fairweather-Low on "Ooh La La", plus Kiki Dee, Chris Difford, Georgie Fame, Rick Wakeman and many others who played at the special show to mark the Fund's 75th anniversary.
At the end of the show, PRS chairman Ellis Rich presented an Icon award to the Faces, who are hoping that a full-scale reunion with Rod Stewart will take place next year. Hosted by UK Music boss Feargal Sharkey, the line-up also included Jan Akkerman, Melanie C, Mike Lindup of Level 42, Lee Mead, Mark Read, guitarist Martin Taylor, and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings who acted as house band for the evening. SongLink's David Stark was also at the after-show party where most of the stars mingled until 1.00am.
Click here for more photos
More info here:
http://www.prsformusicfund.com
http://www.helpingtheheartofmusic.com
Video of "Stay With Me"
More video (by Sylvan Mason)
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Tony Moore, LaToya Jackson and David Stark
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DONOVAN, NATASHA BEDINGFIELD
& OTHERS RECEIVE BMI AWARDS
US rights organization BMI honoured some of the UK and Europe's top songwriters, composers and music publishers at its annual BMI London Awards on October 6th. Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocket Full of Sunshine" earned the prestigious Robert S. Musel Award for Song of the Year as well as BMI's College Song of the Year. The song was co-written by Bedingfield and Danielle Brisebois and published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. BMI also named Donovan as a BMI Icon, and the folk legend performed two songs live at the end of the ceremony, which can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/starkyboy
click here for full story
More at www.bmi.com
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BOBBY GRAHAM R.I.P.
Bobby Graham, top British session drummer of the '60s who played on over 15,000 tracks for the hit-makers of that period, passed away on 14 September 2009 in Welwyn Garden City, Herts, UK after a four month battle with stomach cancer. Aged 69, he was born Robert Neate in north London and started his career playing at Butlins and with The Outlaws (in effect the house band for legendary producer Joe Meek) as well as Joe Brown and The Bruvvers, Marty Wilde's Wildcats and the John Barry Seven. His drumming prowess with these bands drew the attention of the top record producers and session fixers, and Bobby began his unique career as a leading - if unsung - musical pillar of the Swinging '60s. The artists he accompanied on record read like a roll call of '60s stardom. They include The Animals, Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, The Kinks, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Petula Clark, P J Proby, The Fortunes, Cilla Black, The Pretty Things and Gene Pitney among many others. Bobby was first choice for the prominent musical directors of the time such as Les Reed, Charles Blackwell and Arthur Greenslade. Bobby, who described himself and his fellow sessioneers as "musical stuntmen", went on to produce records himself in the UK and on the Continent. His last activity before illness intervened was recording and performing with his band The Jazz Experience. He is survived by his wife Belinda, son Shawn and younger brother Ian. For more information please see his website, and that of the publisher of his biography "Session Man."
http://www.bobbygraham.co.uk
http://www.broomhousepublishing.com
permanent link
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NOTTING HILL TO ADMINISTER
ROBBIE WILLIAMS' PUBLISHING
Robbie Williams has announced the launch of his own music publishing company, Farrell Music, to be administered by Notting Hill Music. All of his new and future material will now go through Farrell Music, including songs from his forthcoming album "Reality Killed the Video Star", which is released on November 9th. As his existing copyrights revert to him, they too will go through Farrell Music. A groundbreaking new agreement has been struck with independent publisher Notting Hill Music who have put in place a unique structure whereby Robbie Williams will be paid directly from collection societies on a global basis. Notting Hill Music will broker the relationships with collection societies and will provide administration services in return for a fee from Farrell Music. Andy McQueen, Chairman of Notting Hill Music, said, "Robbie Williams has been and remains one of the defining UK artists of our generation and we are honoured to be helping him with the launch of his new music publishing company. This new agreement utilises our experience and expertise in the music publishing field while giving Robbie complete ownership and control of his songs. We are looking forward to working with Robbie and his management team and feel sure that this new venture will be a big success."
http://www.nottinghillmusic.com
permanent link
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THE NEW SONGLINK
CD IS PURE GOLD...
The latest SongLink CD 'Gold Songs' is a dazzling collection of new songs, masters and demos available from some of our writer and publisher subscribers, plus David Stark's special Beatles tribute song and a handful of potential hits from talented graduates of LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts).
If you're looking for high quality new tracks to cover, license, sync or publish, check out these pure gold babies now by clicking here.
Read more about the CD here...
permanent link
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David with the SongLink winners
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Good Companions meet at LIPA
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SONGLINK PRESENTS PRIZES
AT LIPA GRADUATION 2009
SongLink editor David Stark awarded the annual SongLink Prizes at LIPA Graduation Day 2009 to Michael Halls and David Wilson, in the presence of Sir Paul McCartney at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall on July 24th. The two writers both have their own bands, Fables (Halls) and Untouched (Wilson) and also both have tracks on the new SongLink CD. David commented, "The standard this year was so high it was incredibly hard to choose two winners out of so many talented students, but despite Michael and David having totally different styles, their songs are just superb with enormous potential." L-R: David Stark, Ellie Redhead (Fables), Michael Halls and David Wilson.
In addition, record producer Tony Platt (Bob Marley, AC/DC, Foreigner etc) was made a Companion of LIPA at the ceremony, along with Will Young, actor Joe McGann and others. L-R: Tony Platt, producer Steve Levine and Paul McCartney.
Click here for full story
Click here for local news report
permanent link
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SongTALK DEBUT EVENT ON JULY 30th
The inaugural SongTALK launches on Thursday July 30th 2009 in the heart of London W1. This exclusive all-day event at RIBA is presented by Tim Fraser and Andy Duncan and is supported by SongLink. The star guests will be the legendary hit team behind Robbie Williams, GUY CHAMBERS and STEVE POWER. SongTALK offers a unique opportunity for aspiring songwriters to meet the cream of UK and USA writing and production talent in an intimate and relaxed environment. Delegate numbers will be strictly limited to 29 only, per event.
For further information, ticket prices and online booking go to: http://www.songtalk.co.uk
permanent link
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DAVID FERGUSON R.I.P.
Former BASCA chairman David Ferguson died on Sunday 5th July after a courageous fight against pancreatic cancer. Passion, determination and grit were the hallmarks of his term as Chairman of British songwriters association BASCA from 2002 to 2008. A successful TV and film composer himself, he put BASCA on the political map and fought for the rights of all music writers in the UK and European markets.
Click here for BASCA's tribute page.
permanent link
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MICHAEL JACKSON R.I.P
Michael Jackson has died suddenly on July 25th aged 50, at his home in Los Angeles. Ironically he was due to start performing exactly 50 comeback shows at London's 02 Arena next month - extra tickets for the shows went on sale only this week. The financial implications of his passing for promoters AEG Worldwide will be considerable, as Billboard has reported online. Jackson was also in the process recording a new album which will no doubt be huge posthumous hit, while his back catalogue is already zooming straight back up the charts.
As well as being the King of Pop and an incredibly gifted songwriter himself, Jackson was also co-owner of Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the prized Northern Songs catalogue, containing nearly all the Lennon-McCartney songs recorded by The Beatles and hundreds, if not thousands, of other artists, which he famously purchased in the mid-80's. His death will have a huge impact on the global music industry as well as his millions of fans around the world, on the same level as the deaths of Elvis Presley and John Lennon.
permanent link
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Lead singer David St. Hubbins with Tony Moore
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Spinal Tap pose with the Classic Rock crew
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SPINAL TAP, LITTLE STEVIE
AND WOODSTOCK AT HARD
ROCK CALLING IN HYDE PARK
Spinal Tap presented the Classic Rock awards nominations at the Hard Rock tent in Hyde Park on June 25th, ahead of their UK appearances at Glastonbury and Wembley Arena in support of their new album "Back From The Dead."
The Hard Rock tent also contains an exhibition of Woodstock memorabilia and other items to mark the 40th anniversary of the famous festival, including clothing and instrument owned by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Richie Havens, Graham Nash, John Lennon, Joan Baez and many others. SongLink's David Stark bumped into Little Stevie Van Zandt at the launch, the guitarist being in town for Bruce Springsteen's headline slots at Glastonbury and Hyde Park Calling.
Click here for video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Db-TOCD_YI
permanent link
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THE BIG O, SONGLINK,
DS5 AND HONEY RYDER
The new July edition of Record Collector magazine has a nice piece on the recent Roy Orbison birthday bash (even though they got the date wrong) with a great pic of the Dave Stark 5 with Billy Burnett & Kaycee Cole. Also, UK band Honey Ryder's new single is their superb version of "Love In Time" which they performed at the show, one of the best Roy covers we've heard in a long time - and in the video you can see Honey holding up a copy of SongLink at 2' 55"!
Watch it here: http://www.honeyryder.co.uk
Click 'Select Video' at bottom right for Love In Time
More Roy stuff here: http://www.royorbison.com/news
permanent link
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SONGLINK AT THE IVORS
Manchester band Elbow were among the big winners at the Ivor Novello Awards held in London on May 21st, scoring a double whammy in the two most prestigious song categories. Also honored were Smokey Robinson, Vince Clarke, Edwyn Collins, the Ting Tings, Eg White, Steve Booker and others, while Don Black and David Ferguson were made Fellows of the BASCA, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors.
click here for full list of winners
click here for more photos - permanent link
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SONGLINK SCORES A HIT AT LONDON SONGWRITERS WEEK
On the eve of today's Ivor Novello Awards, three iconic British songwriters gathered at London's Gibson Studio yesterday to play and talk about their hits at a London Songwriters Week event hosted by SongLink editor David Stark. "Stories Behind The Songs" featured Chris Difford (Squeeze), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) and Scottish legend Jim Diamond playing "in the round" Nashville-style....
Read more...
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NORWAY'S EURO-WINNER, UK PLACED 2ND AND 5TH!
Congratulations to Norway's Alexander Rybak (actually from Belarus) who won the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow on May 16th with a record-breaking 387 points for his excellent self-penned "Fairytale." Congrats as well to veteran British songwriter/producer Chris Neil (Celine Dion, Sheena Easton etc) who ended up in 2nd place....
Read more...
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LEGENDARY SESSION DRUMMER BOBBY GRAHAM FIGHTING CANCER
SongLink has just received the sad news (via Gloria Bristow of Fenix Media) that legendary session drummer Bobby Graham has been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. His doctors have now confirmed that he has a few weeks, at best, but the end could come at any moment...
Read more...
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SONGLINK / DS5 AT ROY ORBISON TRIBUTE
SongLink editor David Stark's band the Dave Stark Five were among the specially invited guest artists at the recent Roy Orbison Birthday Bash and iTunes/CD launch, held at the Gibson Studio in London on April 23rd, which would have been Roy's 73rd birthday. The event was organised by Roy's widow Barbara Orbison who introduced the show, along with their two sons Roy Jr. and Alex, who hosted the evening...
Read more...
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KEITH MOON BLUE PLAQUE UNVEILED AT LONDON'S WARDOUR STREET
FOLLOWED BY CHARITY LUNCHEON AND HISTORIC HOLOGRAM DISPLAY
The unveiling of the Blue Plaque for rock drummer Keith Moon at the site of the old Marquee Club on London's Wardour Street on March 8th was a big success, being the culmination of years of lobbying by longtime Who fans Gary & Melissa Hurley, in conjunction with the Heritage Foundation and Westminster Council.
Attendees included Roger Daltrey, Kenney Jones, Zak Starkey, PJ Proby, Dougal Butler (Keith's PA) and members of Moon's family including his mother Kit (now 88), his two sisters, nephews, nieces, friends and many others, along with the Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Louise Hyams, who revealed she had seen The Who in their 60's heyday at a London college gig.
Read more...
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SONGLINK SUCCESS STORY: GORDON POGODA
"I've had more cuts through SongLink than through any other method."
Los Angeles subscriber Gordon Pogoda has had worldwide success in several mediums and has achieved many of his cuts thanks to leads published in SongLink over the past few years. In film, his credits include two songs featured in the Academy Award winning motion picture "Little Miss Sunshine", the top 5 film "Josie and the Pussycats", a Disney film starring Lindsay Lohan, and several others. In television, Gordon's songs have been featured in over 45 shows including "Sex and the City", "Hannah Montana", "CSI: Miami", "ER", "Will and Grace", "King of the Hill", "Everwood", "Samantha Who", and the Disney shows "Kim Possible" and "Suite Life of Zack & Cody"
Read more...
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HARD ROCK CALLING: 40 YEARS OF ROCK IN HYDE PARK
AS WELL AS MARKING THE LAST-EVER UK PERFORMANCE by The Police, who are set to headline the second day of this weekend's "Hard Rock Calling" in Hyde Park, the date of Sunday June 29th also marks another milestone anniversary in rock history: it will be 40 years to the day since Pink Floyd headlined the first-ever free concert in Hyde Park on June 29th 1968, along with Tyrannosaurus Rex (aka Marc Bolan), Roy Harper and the up-and-coming Jethro Tull, who hold the honour of being the first band to take the makeshift stage, of which more below.
Music industry veteran David Stark attended that first concert as a 15-year old schoolboy, just a couple of weeks before he gate-crashed the world premiere of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" film in July '68 and ended up sitting directly behind the Fab Four... but that's another story. Jeff Dexter was the DJ and master of ceremonies at most of the concerts in Hyde Park, being a seminal figure on London's underground music scene of the 60's. Together Stark and Dexter have researched the history, line-ups and some of the stories behind every one of the 16 free concerts which took place from 1967 - plus the "one that got away", a spectacular that was to headlined by Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Grateful Dead in 1969 but which was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
Read more...
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LENNON "PEACE" LYRICS AND BEATLES ITEMS DRUMMED UP FOR SALE
16/06/08: SongLink's David Stark is pictured at London's Hard Rock Cafe with Gail Renard, owner of John Lennon's original handwritten lyrics for "Give Peace A Chance", which will be auctioned by Christie's on Thursday July 10th, along with the original hand-painted Sgt. Pepper bass drum and many other iconic rock & pop memorabilia items.
Renard was given the lyrics by Lennon himself after the historic recording of the famous peace anthem at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel on May 26th, 1969. Gail was a 16-year old student who sneaked into John & Yoko's hotel suite and ended up running errands for them and looking after Yoko's daughter Kyoko, and subsequently stayed in touch with Lennon over the years. Click here to read more about her fascinating story and the upcoming auction at Christie's.
Gail's escapade was very much in the spirit of David's own encounters with the Fab Four - just a year earlier, on July 17th, 1968, he gate-crashed the London premiere of The Beatles' Yellow Submarine film - hard to believe it's 40 years ago.. Click here to read more about this and David's other Beatles connections.
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SONGLINK AT THE IVORS 2008
David Stark - aka the "Zelig of Rock" - proved true to form at this year's Ivor Novello Awards, mingling with the likes of Robert Plant, Diane Warren, Trevor Horn, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of Squeeze and Mika among others. Other winners at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on May 22nd included Phil Collins, Amy Winehouse, Gabrielle and David Gilmour. Click here for all the results.
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