Songwriters Hall of Fame's new class

NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The National Academy of Popular Music announced Monday that Sting, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, Barry Manilow and Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Sting wrote such hits as "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," "Fields of Gold" and "If Ever I Love My Faith in You." As a founding member of The Police, he wrote "Every Breath I Take" and "Roxanne."

Jackson, whose "Thriller" became the best-selling album of all time, has written dozens of hits including "Billie Jean," "Man in the Mirror" and "Black or White."

Newman's earliest success came when pop groups recorded his songs -- such as Three Dog Night on "Mama told Me Not to Come." He developed into one of the more successful film score composers in Hollywood, and garnered more than a dozen Oscar nominations -- including nominations for songs from "Parenthood" ("I Love to See You Smile") and "Toy Story" ("You've Got a Friend in Me").

Before he became a pop star in his own rite, Manilow gained a following as musical director and arranger on some of Bette Midler's best known early recording dates, including "The Divine Miss M" and "Bette Midler." He charted with such pop tunes as "I Write the Songs," "Mandy" and "This One's for You." Manilow has won Grammy, Emmy and Tony awards and has been nominated for an Oscar.

Beginning with Ray Charles ("Let's Go Get Stoned") in the 1960s, Ashford and Simpson took their place among the most prolific and successful producers and songwriters in soul music.

With lyrics by Ashford and music by Simpson, the pair turned out such hits as "You're All I Need to Get By" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Their hit list also includes "Clouds" for Chaka Khan, "There's a Winner in You" for Patti LaBelle and "One More Bridge To Cross" for The Supremes and The Four Tops.

The class of '02 represents a decidedly contemporary era in American pop music, much as last year's group did. In 2001, the hall welcomed Dolly Parton, Diane Warren, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Paul Williams, Billy Joel (Johnny Mercer Award), Gloria & Emilio Estefan (Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award) and Dionne Warwick (Hitmaker Award).

After announcing this year's inductees, Songwriters Hall of Fame chairman/CEO Hal David told UPI admission to the hall doesn't come from lobbying or campaigning -- but only from spontaneous acknowledgment of other songwriters.

"It's as legitimate as anything can possibly be in a world where sometimes things are not," said David.

The hall's board of directors establishes a nominating committee each year, made up entirely of songwriters. David said the screening committee's membership reflection different generations, in the interest drawing from the largest possible selection of candidates for the hall.

The board selects 35 to 40 nominees each year, the foundation's membership votes and the top five vote getters are inducted into the hall. Membership is not limited to professional songwriters -- anyone can join -- but David said candidates for the hall must be seasoned professionals.

"Everybody nominated has to be in the business for at least 20 years," he said. "It's people who have longevity of work and a possible great body of work."

The hall -- founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond -- includes such top songwriters as Burt Bachrach, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield.

David - who collaborated with Bachrach on such pop classics as "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and "Walk on By" -- conceded that the hall is top-heavy with Americans. But he also said there's a good reason for that -- since America is where the best songs come from.

"Over the years, aside from the British invasion, here and there someone from Spain or France, most great songs have been written by Americans," he said. "It's something about America per se, because the same thing that happened with music that happened with film and TV. Our music is the most played, our films are the most shown and our TV is the most shown."

David also theorized that because so many great songwriters plied their trade in America in past generations, writers who came along after them benefited from their exposure to the music.

"We had Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George M. Cohan," he said. "Anybody who wanted to be a songwriter would listen to those songs and think, 'Migod, I'd like to write something as wonderful as that.'

"Just as people like me learned from the masters, hopefully there are people who are learning from Burt and myself, (Jerry) Lieber and (Mike) Stoller, (Paul) McCartney and (John) Lennon."

The 33rd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame induction and awards dinner is scheduled for June 13 in New York.