This Week on Vintage Favourites: June 9th
Jun 03, 2024
By Gene Stevens
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DIANE WARREN & The Johnny Mercer Songwriting Award
She might not be a household name – although more people have heard about her in recent years because of all her Oscar nominations and all the songs she’s written for major stars. How about 15 Academy Award nominated songs – without a winner yet! But that’s more than made up for, by the sheer number of hits – major #1 hits – she has composed. Diane Warren has been familiar to music industry people for decades, and she’s becoming more familiar to the rest of us.
I’m saluting Diane Warren this Sunday, just before she receives the most prestigious writers’ award there is – The Johnny Mercer Award from The Songwriters Hall of Fame. She richly deserves this accolade after the dozens of hits she’s written for a dazzling range of artists: imagine Celine Dion and Cher, alongside Aerosmith and Chicago, Toni Braxton and Taylor Swift. They’ve all sung Diane’s songs.
In fact, Diane Warren is now tied with Lionel Richie, having written 9 #1 hits – the most by any solo songwriter ever.
I’ve got a second – equally fascinating – feature, as well. Toronto’s Massey Hall opened 130 years ago, welcoming its first-ever concert June 14th, 1894. Since then hundreds of performers have entertained millions of fans at the venerable music hall – entirely refurbished in recent years. I’ve selected four music legends who have recorded live albums at Massey Hall as part of my salute: Gordon Lightfoot (of course), plus Neil Young, Ronnie Hawkins and Blue Rodeo.
Sounds like a pretty good show – not to mention the first-hour feature: ‘The Sunday Sock Hop‘, with the best tunes from the Fifties and early Sixties. Please tune in this Sunday (June 9th) between 2:00 and 4:30pm.
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