Phoenix columnist David Thorpe has been named one of the winners of this year's ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for writing about music. Thorpe won in the Pop Music Articles category for three of his "Big Hurt" columns published in 2010: "What Would Jesus Download?", "Music News in Brief: Bieber Fever, U2's Purported Fans, and Keane Hits Green", and "Deluxe Buyer's Guide: The Word on Seasonal Box Sets".
The awards were established by ASCAP (publishing-rights organization the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1967 to recognize excellence in writing about music. They are named in memory of the American composer, critic, and commentator Deems Taylor and recognize the authors of books, liner notes, and magazine, journal, and newspaper articles. The award has also been won by Phoenix classical editor Lloyd Schwartz (1990, 1987, and 1980) and arts editor Jon Garelick (2003 and 1993).
Thorpe, whose music coverage — which has included fearless muckraking reports on U2 and Oasis as well as comprehensive coverage of every ripple in Justin Bieber's career — is a favorite among Phoenix readers. He was characteristically humble in his response to news of the award. Via e-mail, he wrote to us: "I'm very flattered by this recognition of my work. My sincere thanks go to ASCAP for this great honor, and to Jon Garelick for putting my name on old Robert Christgau articles and submitting them for awards."
To read more of David Thorpe's "Big Hurt" columns, go to thePhoenix.com/bighurt.
Related:
The Big Hurt: Britney vs. bulls#!t, The Big Hurt: Bieber fever, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings | I Learned The Hard Way, More 
- The Big Hurt: Britney vs. bulls#!t
At the end of a grim year and a disappointing decade, the music press has become a particularly peaty slog.
- The Big Hurt: Bieber fever
Of the 45 headlines on mtv.com’s music-news section, nine are about JUSTIN BIEBER . That’s precisely 20 percent.
- Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings | I Learned The Hard Way
Just to prove how serious they are about their commitment to retro soul, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings recorded I Learned the Hard Way using an eight-track Ampex tape machine, the kind their heroes and heroines in Memphis and Muscle Shoals might have employed back in the day.
- Ruste Juxx & Marco Polo | The Exxecution
I feel sorry for the mothers whose fake thug sons were shot and stabbed in the making of this album.
- White Wizzard | Over The Top
White Wizzard circa 2010 may be a complete fraud to some.
- Dum Dum Girls | I Will Be
Kristin Gundred serves up a slightly softer version of the concise, lo-fi throwback bliss that the White Stripes perfected with “Fell in Love With a Girl” in 2002.
- Red Sparowes | The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer
Post-rock bands are like silent-film actors — bereft of words, they tend to use broad gestures to ensure that you get the point.
- Peter Wolf | Midnight Souvenirs
This Boston music legend’s metamorphosis from party animal to monster songwriter became complete with his previous solo album.
- Two and fro
It can be easy to get wrapped up in Portland’s pop and rock scene, the singalong stuff you hear in the clubs and on the radio.
- This bird can sing
For any artist, there comes a time when you must assess just what it is you have to offer the world.
- Prog wild
Let me just assure you, right off, that after this, I promise never, ever, to talk to you about this year’s SXSW again, but check it out: we passed by a tossed-up tent-and-chain-link venue with a long line jutting into the street, and from between the portajohns came one of the lowest frequencies I’d ever heard — you could hear their plastic locks rattle and feel it on the surface of your shirt.
- Less
Topics:
This Just In
, Entertainment, Music, Robert Christgau, More
, Entertainment, Music, Robert Christgau, The Big Hurt, ASCAP, Less
