How did esteemed music scribe Bud Scoppa end up in the career backwater that is HITS? It's a long story, involving an unfortunate addiction to huffing copier toner and some Polaroids of a surprisingly agile donkey. But we digress. Despite being stranded in this trade-rag hellhole, Bud continues to write purdy words and in fact has been recognized for doing so.

This week it was announced that he'd receive a 2017 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award. Bud will receive the org's Paul Williams "Loved the Liner Notes" honor, recognizing his liner notes for Big Star: Complete Third (Omnivore Recordings). The Award, established in 2016, is funded by ASCAP Prez Williams.

The awards were established in 1967 and honor "outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music." Bud continues to hope they don't find out about his day job. Other award recipients in this year's batch include Lawrence Kramer, Rob Sheffield, Jim Farber, Alan Harper, Amir Bar-Lev and Douglas Shadle, among others. You can see a complete list here.

Congrats, Bud. We're sorry your talents are wasted on us, but we're glad to see you recognized.