Gary Picks Up BMI Multi Million Award For 'True'
- Leading UK songwriter picks up BMI award in London **
- Spandau Ballet’s TRUE hits 4 Million Airplays in the US **
- TRUE becomes one of most played songs in history **
Last night, Gary Kemp, songwriter and guitarist of Spandau Ballet was awarded the highly prestigious BMI Multi Million Award for airplay in the US for his 1983 song True.. This makes the song one of the most played songs on US Radio and TV and extremely rare for a recording from the 1980s.
True, Spandau Ballet’s global smash hit single has recently hit the astonishing landmark of 4 million plays on American radio and Gary, the iconic British songwriter behind other global hits such as Through The Barricades’, To Cut A Long Story Short’, ‘Only When You Leave’ and ‘Gold’, is honoured to have been given the award at the Dorchester Hotel in London.
4 million airplays is a huge achievement for a song released in the 1980s. True goes in to the list of most played songs at a level way above massive hits from the 1960s and 1970s and artists such as The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John. To be included in the Multi Million Award, a song of an average length of three minutes – must have been broadcast over a million times. This is over 50,000 broadcast hours, equalling more than 5.7 years of continuous airplay. So, True gaining 4 million plays equals a staggering 22.8 years!
As Gary says: “I am extremely proud to have been honoured by the BMI for what is a mind-boggling 4 million airplays of True. As well as being immensely proud of Spandau Ballet’s success in the US, it shows the strength of UK music over there during that second British Invasion in the early ‘80s and beyond. The continuing airplay over the past 30 years is testament to the longevity of good songs. To have reached 4 million airplays since the 80’s is a great feeling as many other songs at that level date back to the 60s and 70s.”
The popularity of the song is backed up by the multitude of uses in films and TV shows as well as cover versions and samples over the years. True has been used in films including Sixteen Candles, Charlie’s Angels, The Wedding Singer, Hot Tub Time Machine, Crazy Stupid Love and in massive TV shows as diverse as The Simpsons (twice), Spin City, Spaced, The Office, Skins, Ashes to Ashes, Ugly Betty, King of Queens and Modern Family. Most notably sampled on PM Dawn’s 1991s US #1 hit Set Adrift On Memory Bliss, True has also been covered and sampled by artists from The Backstreet Boys and Black Eyed Peas to Paul Anka and Nelly.
Hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant; Phil Graham, BMI Senior Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations; and Brandon Bakshi, Executive Director, Writer/Publisher Relations, Europe & Asia, the BMI London Awards recognize the U.K. and European songwriters and publishers of the past year’s most-performed songs on radio and television in the United States.
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