New York, June 19, 2008 – There was lots of pop music nostalgia at this year’s Songwriters' Hall of Fame induction ceremony, with honorees like the Coal Miner’s Daughter Loretta Lynn, the Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian, Canadian pop music queen Anne Murray and composer Alan Menken, who wrote the songs for Broadway and film musicals like Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.  Inductee Albert Hammond, who wrote household-name ditties like “It Never Rains in Southern California”, had his son, The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr., cheering him on at the gala.  These famed musicians did not have to sing on the big night; they were treated to top-shelf entertainment from the likes of John Legend, Lee Ann Womack and Natasha Bedingfield. 

Photos: Caroline Torem-Craig