2005 Surround Music Awards Gallery – Part One

Surround Music Awards 2005 – Our first exclusive gallery of photographs of the ceremony held in Hollywood last night… Jackson Browne accepts his Surround Artist of the Year award from Elliott Scheiner while his “Running on Empty” band looks on.Everything I know about obsessive behavior I learned from these guys,” Browne said.

Jackson Browne accepts his Surround Music AwardJackson Browne with his band and Elliot Scheiner

E.T. Thorngren (aka “E.T.”) and Jerry Harrison collected four awards for their Talking Heads ‘Brick’ Dual Disc collection. Alluding to playback problems with some DVD players, Harrison said simply “I hope it’s a successful format, and I thank you for this honor.” Ironically, the disc’s mastering is responsible for most playback issues, not the DualDisc format itself.

E.T. Thorngren and Jerry HarrisonE.T. Thorngren and Jerry Harrison

Producer Gary Briggs accepted our HFR Listener’s Choice Award for John Hiatt’s ‘Master of Disaster’. It was a close-run thing, and special mention must be made of runners up, including Talking Heads’ ‘Brick’ and the outstanding 20th Anniversary Re-issue of Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers in Arms’.

Gary BriggsGary Briggs

An SMA ritual – the traditional banter between emcees Ed Cherney and Al Schmitt – seemed in jeopardy this year due a Schmitt schedule conflict. After colleague Elliott Scheiner had gamely stepped into the emcee breach, it turned out that Schmitt (center) was able to participate after all, in the role of presenter and gadfly to Cherney (left) and Scheiner (right). Continuing a running gag from years past about the lack of compensation for emcee duties, Schmitt explained, “This time I asked for double what they paid me last year, which is why they didn’t hire me…

Ed Cherney, Al Schmitt and Elliot ScheinerEd Cherney, Al Schmitt and Elliot Scheiner

The last thing Phil needs is another award,” began Al Schmitt (left) by way of introduction to this year’s Surround Pioneer Award recipient, the multi-award winning Phil Ramone (right). Countered Ramone: “This reminds me of the time Thomas Edison said to his assistant, Al Schmitt…” Although he had known about his award beforehand, Ramone was genuinely touched by the recognition of his efforts in promoting multichannel experience. “I hope we can get a program in to schools to get our young people aware and interested in what we’re offering,” he said.

2005 Surround Music Awards Gallery – Part Two

Phil Ramone and Al SchmittPhil Ramone and Al Schmitt