Variety (Jan 1949)

44 ORCHESTRAS-MUSIC Wednesday, January 26, 1949 Col. Agrees to Full Royalty Rates On LP Use of Copyrighted Music .Columbia Records has agreed to f discard the "experimental," royal-1 ty-free blanl^et licenses it secured i from all major music publishers) last . June m relation to the mar- keting of its Microgroove Long- Playing disks. Company has agreed to pay fulV royalty rates to pub> Ushers for the use of copyrighted music as of Jan. 1, on the usual quarterly basis eveff though, in the majority of cases, its royalty-free agreements with pubs are not due to expire until June 31 next. Harry Fox, agent and trustee for publishers in mechanical matters, WizelFs Own Pub Firm Murray Wizell, former profes- sional manager of Famous Music and other firms, has set up his own publishing business in New York. Titled Murray Wizell Music, the new firm starts off with a tune labelled "Ho Hum, It's Spring," by Jeanne Burns and Harold Mott. Wizell had been connected re- cently with Joe Davis in another Murray Wizell firm. He left the outfit and sued Davis on the basis arranged the new agreement with 9* .the 25% interest lie held in it. n-,..^.,;- Ti„ *„ii...„„.i u«» «f This action was settled about a Columbia. He followed the line of reasoning taken by many music publishers that CRC's LP disks were beyond the experimental stage in view of the number of such disks sold. Publishers, how- ever, AVill not realize any sizeable revenue from LP sales in view of the fact that the vast majority of sales in that category involves pub- lic domain classical selections. Co- lumbia is, however, marketing nu- merous copyrighted standard tunes by its top artists. They will be the source of most of the income , pubs derive. At least until CRC's seven- Inch LP disks get rolling on a larger scaiie. They will carry pops atid standards and clas.sical. Move tc secure royalty payments from Columbia on its LP's may also have been designed tp stymie a plea by RCA-Victor for its new 45 rpm disks, which won't be re- leased until April. It's very prob- able that Victor anticipates re- questing royalty-free experimental agreements from pubs on the new venture, in view of Columbia's having such a deal. Whether Vic^ tor will Ve able to obtain such an objective now is anybody's guess. Philco LP Players 'Go For Free With TV Sets In Bid for Circulation In an effort to get as many 33% rpm turntables into consumers homes before RCA-Victor debuts its 45 rpm disks and machines, New York dealers were offering Philco players for free last week with Philco tele sets. Big ads in dailies cited a combination of the $349 Philco video model plus a changer for the same $349. That's an improvement on the initial bid by Columbia and disk dealers two weeks ago, the day after Victor showed its 45 develop- inettt to tradesmen and newspapers. Then, a combination of a $29.95 turntable, plus - two CRC Micro- groove Long-playing disks worth $4.85 each, were offered for $19.95. N. Y. disk people are more con- vinced now that once Victor's changer hits the market, (it's due in April) there'll be a battle be- tween the two factions to give the. players of- each away for JEree. WOOLERY TO BIG THREE WITH ACCENT ON TELE Big Three (Robbins, Feistt Miller) have taken on Pete Woolery to handle the standard catalogs of the three firms, a post formerly handled by Phil Kornheiser, now doing the same thing with E. B. Marks. ■ Woolery's job also will be to contact television' pei^prmers. : All major music firms are pire- parlng - to- seek television plugs; They either are assigning contact men now on staff to the new me- dium or looking for men specifically for that purpose. week ago. RCA's Top Promotional Hoopla on Como Disk; Cuffo Trip to Italy ' Perhaps the heaviest promotion on a hit disk to take place since the recording business began lag^ ging is being applied by RCA- Victor to Perry Como's "Far Away Places." Como and Victor are un- derwriting the cost of a two-week trip via Pan-American to Lake Como, Italian resort, and the selec- tion of a winner is to be done through disk jockeys all over the country. Trip will start from New York March 31 and be preceded by and followed by a guest shot on Como's Chesterfield broadcast. Jocks, contacted by Victor disk distributors, will ask- listeners to write in 25 words or less, "\vhy I would like to visit Lake Coino." Sectional winning letters will be culled to decide the trip-taker. Distributors are setting up vari- ous prizes for the regional win- ners who do not achieve the top prize. Look magazine is set to do a pic- torial coverage of the winneir's trip: Contest starts Feb. 7 and runs for six. weeks. Promotion of this sort on either pop or classical disks was hot riec- e-ssary just before and since the start of the war LAURIE RAINE Most Beautiful Girl in Radio Laurie's been dubbed that—and her records (Coast) prove her one ot the moiit beautiful sons stylists. L.itest hit is "Can't'.Sleep." Mark Warnow discovered her; also starred In Rudy Vallee'a "GoUege Days." Miss Raine and Tim Gayle, her publicity manager-husband on R.adio-P.A. tour, scouting new songs, new talent. TIM GAYLE (Pub-MGT)' ^ Temporary Mail Address: HOTEL STATLER Detroit, Michigan Alfred Drake in Middle Of Two-Way Dilemma On 'Kiss Me, Kate' Disks RCA-Victor's signing of baritone Alfred Drake, now in the cast of "Kiss Me; Kate," to a term con- tract caused an unique situation Monday (24). It puts Drake In the position of . haying recorded the tunes from the show for both Vic- tor and Columbia Records. Columbia several weeks ago completed arrangement.s with the producers of "Kate'' under which it would record the score with the show's cast. This was done over the weekend before last .(15-16)), but was not completed. Some'work was left until Monday (24). Drake recorded at Columbia With the full JockSf Jukes and Disks —————— By Bernie Woods _ Coupling of male and female art- ists on new recordings made since the end of the disk ban six weeks ago is being given wider attention by . major manufacturers/ Colum- bia Records' successes with Doris Day. and Buddy Clark apparently has had a lot to do with leading rivfil companies into the same groove. In the case of Miss Day and Clark, however, their work together has in the past been con- fined to new pop tunes that clear- ly called for dualing. But, lately,; the thought is being applied on a wider basis. For example, Capitol Records' latest releases. There are coup-^ lings by Pegrgy Lee and Dean Mar- tin, Jo Stafford and Gordon .iMaC", Rae,' Margaret Whiting and Jack Smith, and it's possible that Mar- tha Tilton will be grooved in' tan- dem in the future. Dualing is not new to Cap; the company has done it consistently in the past. But al- ways using a top star in company with a new one as a buildup pro- cess. . Both Miss Whiting , and Smith are top names on Capitol, however, and their .first dualed is- sue is an arrangement of "Frankie' and Johnny/' hardly, a new so^g,: plus a tune from "Where's Char- ley," which is new. Columbia itself is following the dualing line further. It recently paired Jerry Wayne and Janette Davis . on four sides, not all of .which demanded such treatment. "A Little pird Told Me" isn't in that category. CRC is said to be so satisfied.with the pairing that it will continue to work Mi-ss Davis and Wayne together. Neither are what can be called established disk stars^ Wayne was aboard "You Can't Be True, Dear;" superimpos- and nieed not be confined to non times the lyrics of which lend themselyes to such treatment BasicsiUy, what results,!^ manship On ww, more entertainine listening for record buyers and disk jock dialers who easily get fed Uip With, the more or less linut- ed impact of an individual artist Too, a tune cut by a single artist depewds foy sales success largely oil the success of the song itself fact that has l?een jftiirifully proyeiv time and again to even th6 biggeSt artist..'; ■ ■ ■ ■;■ . . By cpupling artists on arrihgei ments written with some irnagina- tion the chances for sales subcess are improvedl since the interpreta- .tion has a better: chance of being ?L factor. The entire load is not on the tune itself. In brief, expanding the dualing idea is something that can only do the lagging disk business a lot of good. It can't possibly do it any harm. It's a form of showmah- ship,. And that's shoW business— on records or: in amy other phase Sammy Kaye "The Rosewood f P'S^KrT-i'^' a Gal in Galves- ton" (Victor)i An excellent coup-: littg which dispenses the best of what Kaye can lay on the lihte for jukes and jocks. "Spinet" ar- rangement is almost identicai t6 that of Kaye's tailorihg of "Oli Lamplighter,'' a hit for him and the same writers and publisher a few years back. It calls for choral vocalling by the band in back of Don Corhell's vocal. It should do vfery well- If s backed by a novelty lyric cut 6« a beat beam that's good jock material in itself. Dbij. Cornell and the Three Kaydeti tackle the lyric. Doris Day "I'm Beginning to ^, ^ Miss You"—"Don^t Gamble With ing a vocal over Ken Griffin's, Romance" (Columbia). Latest tune organ (Rondo) solo, and Miss | from the pen of Irving Berlin. Wayne is nationally known be-1 "Beginning" has a lot to recoin- cause of here connection with I mend it, including Miss Day's per- Art.hiir f^ni1fi*pv*« rnrlin chnu/c Tint fnr'r^nnnn tt--' ou„ . i... „ii „i cast that morning, and the same hn„„ 1 J «^ . , ''^'^^ I afternoon appeared at Victor's have sloped off fairly sharply from | N. Y. studios to do four "Kate" wartime figures occasional stunts figure to pop up. But the job being done on Como's recording goes be- yond the usual scope of such pro- motion. tunes, two solo and two in duet with Jane Pickens. Columbia's disks will be released in album form, whereas Victor's will be issued as singles. - Arthur Godfrey's radio shows. But neither is top name. Mercury .is also going deeper into dualing. John Laurenz and Anne Vincent is its latest coup- ling. In the past Vic Damone and Patti Page have worked together often. , Decca of course,, has al- ways used the idea. London, the British Decca label in the U. S., has ijsed it extensively, too. Th<at the dualing idea is good goes without saying. It can be used even more often, than now :: 1. :: 2. -^2^10 Best Sete on Coin-Machines 1^!^.^^^:^, -LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME (10) (Bourne) {^:S^rw^:::::::::su^ SLOW BOAT TO CHINA (13) (Melrose) { fe"n\X'odman!!!! i! ^. Ca£l FAB AWAY PLACES (6) (Laurel) \ Perry Como Victor /...r .. ............. \Bing Crosby.. Decca MY DARLING, MY DARLING (9) (Morris) ..; i Stafford-MacRae Capitol " [Day-Clark ........... .Columbia '• . 5. BUTTONS AND BOWS (15) (Laurel) {Dinah Shore ».r..i...CdlttwH ^ Evelyn Knight... .Decca -'■' 6. I'VE GOT MY LOVE TO KEEP ME WARM (4) (Berlin) Les Brown Columbia 1. GALWAY BAY (3) (Leeds) . i Crosby Decca . . {Anne Shelton. .....London 8. YOU WERE ONLY FOOLING (6) (Shapiro-B) i ^'"^ Barron M-G-M I Ink Spots................Decca •' PUSSY CAT SONG (1) (Leeds) | Andrews-Bob Crosby Decca ■ • ■ '•'( Perry Como Victor " 9. 10. MAYBE YOU'LL BE THERE (25) (Triangle) i Gordon Jenkins Decca \'''''''''''''' lEddy -Howard.. .Majestic Coming Up CLUB PLAYHOUSE With Bert Dilson Dircutor-Producer: Bert Dilson ■ 15 Mins.; Mon. thru Pri., 11:30 p.m. American Motors Inc. WJW, Cleveland Bert Dilson twirls the disks for 15 jolly minutes of mu.sic featuring ons band a night. Against a night- club background and gimmick in- troduction by recorded voice of Jane; Stevens, the: program mov«s . through a fast stanza of .nicely sel^ ected music. Dilson's mike technique is com- mendable, although overplay of commercials keep program from rating as highly as it should. Mark, POWDER FACE WITH SUNSHINE (Lombardo) \ Evelyn Knight Decca ■ • 4 \ Prima Scala London J 4 DOWN AMONG SHELTERING PALMS (Miller) ... Sammy Kaye Victor '.. . ; , ■ . -; ( Jolson-Mills Decco ;; BRUSH THOSE TEARS (Peter MaSrice) ) Evelyn Knight. Decca I' ' XBatry Green Rainbow LAVENDER BLUE (Sanitly-Joy) (Dinah Shore ColMmbia I Sammy Kaye Victor SO TIRED (Glenmorc) (Buss Morfifon Decca: I ::—.Z:::''S£r'i;i;;;--"::.:X ^ GLORIA (Rene) ' " * •. i w.......;. i. : I Mills Bros. '... . V.;.; ^ , .; Decca + I Ray Anthony :Signature , ....... ♦,,;.. Jolson-mils:. ■.....,.,.. .Decca i......... i-^^^''" Forrest ... M-G-M ( Dinah Shore Columbia ' ■:• •• •• ••'• Brother Bones.... .... .Tempo K"''-" Spots .Decca (Anne Shelton London AGAIN (Robbins) f/"^ Eckstine M-G-M VOU. YOU, YOU ARE THE ONE (Campbell)-.'i " i! .V i^ 1; "^ts Bro"" .\\\\\\\\\\\'^.Cot'; ^ mgures in parentheses indicate number o) weeks song has been in the Top 10] ' ^^t^ ; } IS IT TRUE ABOUT DIXIE (Caesar) . •■ WHAT DID I DO (BVC) , SWEET GEORGIA BROWN (Remick) SAY SOMETHING SWEET (Mills) ... FOOLS RUSH IN (BVC) ;; formance of it. She works all of the wax personality she has lately shown into the enticing ballad, as- sisted by a male quartet and whis- pering background under John Rarig. It's good jock stuff. Flip- over kicks into two-beat on a tune that's pleasant, helped along by the same accompaniment. Guy Lombardo "Red Roses for a Blue Lady"—"Everywhere You Gp"; "Down by the Station"— "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Decca). First sides made by Lombardo since the end of the ban, and there's good jock and juice and counter sales potentials in each. "Red Roses" is a tune right up Lombardo's style, and he does well by it in the usual tempo, with a vocal by Don Rodney. "Every- where" is a new melody that gives a good account of itself; it could happen. Rodney and The Trio cut the words. "Down by the Station" is almost identical, in a fashion, with Tommy Dorsey's (Victor) ver- sion, using the Trio and a chorus. It's not quite up to the rival disk, however.. "Georgia" is gauged to take advantage of the renewed in- terest in the tune. Lombardo's ideas on it are okay and the di.sk makes good listening. It's prob- ably from Lombardo's Decca wax files. Cliff Grass vocals. Nellie Lutcher "My New Papa's Got Everything"—"Say a Little Prayer for Me" (Capitol). Neither side seems a likely candidate to hit as hard as past Lutcher pieces. But jocks will get good use out of "My New Papa," a tutte akin in idea to "Fine Brown Frame" and deliv- ered with all the verve and bounce of which Miss Lutcher is capable. It moves solidly on a medium beat. "Say a Prayer" is a ballad. It pro- vokes indifferent reaction. Ray Anthony "Passing Fancy"— "Peace of Mind" (Signature). Ray Anthony's orchestra is one of the very few of the younger band, names who seems and .sounds like he might have some b.o. potential. Band works nicely on both those sides, in conjunction with vocalist Ronnie Deauville; now on his own for Mercury, but, unfortunately, neither tune seems to have mucji^ "Peace of Mind" is the better side from all viewpoints, and jocks ought to spin it oflerf Deauville does the vocal well and the band gives him good support. , : Eddy Howard "Careless'-'—"I've j Lived a Lifetime for You" (Mer- I cury. Howard is one of the writ- ers of "Careless," and it's one ot I his best vocals. Since the guy is a I disk fave, jocks will need this disk ' for libraries, in addition to possi- bly making of it a revival hit. ue does a b.o. chore on . the reverse (Continued on page 47) ,