Variety (April 1954)

56 MUSIC Wednesday, April 21, 1954 The comedy kick on disks is still growing, mostly under the impetus of Coral Records. Latest to be signed by Coral is dialectician My- ron Cohen and he joins a comedy stable comprising Buddy Hackett, Phil Eoster, Joey Adams and Al Kelly. Capitol Records has also been, sporadically active in this field. Following its spectacular click with Stan Freberg’s "Dragnet” parody last fall, Cap released additional Freberg satires and, more recently, came up with Andy Griffith on some talking comedy disks. Disks by comedians are relative- ly inexpensive to make, since they involve no musicians' cost and no publisher royalties, except in the case of "Dragnet,” which is an Alamo Music copyright. Since the talent, works on a royalty basis, it takes a relatively low sale for the diskery to recoup its investment. HERMAN BAND HITS SOLID 1-NITER PACE The Woody Herman band has been setting a. hot boxoffice pace r fpr the first quarter of this year. Orch, which wound up a two-month one-nighter swing before taking off for Europe early this month, topped the grosses of its peak year in 1946. Ballroom rnd location dates ran close to 25% and 40% ahead of last year’s take with the brch grossing over $100,000 through March. Dur- ing February and March band aver- aged a weekly gross of $7,325. Composers Wanted Robert Russell Bennett, prexy of National Assn, of American Com- posers & Conductors, is inviting composers to submit works for per formance at a series of Town Hall, N. Y. concerts during the 1954-55 season. Compositions must be entered by May 30. 10-hch Longplays Give Way ,in Pop Market To 12-Inch and 45 RPM’ers The 10-inch longplay platter, once the most widely-used size for the pop market, is now giving way to the 12-inch LPs and the 45 rpm EPs. Trend has been„most marked at RCA Victor, where the 10-inchers are now used on only 5fi% of, the pop albums where once they constituted 90% of the album releases. George R. Marek, Victor artists^ & repertoire chief, is projecting further expansion of the 12-inch LPs for pops. He favors the larger size because it provides more flexibility in the repertory of pop bands for dance and mood music. This is especially so in the case of jazz combos who can cut concert jamming pieces on the longer-running disks. Another factor favoring the 12- inchers, according to Marek, is the .consumer’s bargain psychology, Although slightly more expensive than the 10-inchers, the larger- platters give more proportionately for the mongy. More music at lower prices has been the key to the click of the 45 rpm EPs too. Finally, Marek believes that a more attractive packaging job can be done on the 12-inchers from the viewpoint of the album cover de- sign and the greater scope for the liners. Cover designs have had impact in the longhair field and it’s now felt that pop sets can benefit from the same type of treatment: I Allen to Promote N.Y. Jazz Concert Steve Allen is moving into the jazz kick with a concert at Man- hattan Centre May 9. Allen will produce and* emcee the bash which will feature such jazz names as Yank Lawson. Bobby Haggert, Billy Butterfield, Teddy Wilson, Ray McKinley and Lou Stein. It’ll be an afternoon affair with tix priced at $3.30. Allen is pro- moting the concert via his evening NBC-TV show. , /'"'''A - ✓ '/*/' '' * y s * /s y £ // / / v. , v v v * y s/yy ■ - J, . '//' • • . / o.W'/Avav.wv^.v/,'/.: ' Y S V/iwY-yfr KEN REMO sings QUANTO? ABOVE SUN MGM 11698 K 11698 78 RPM 45 RPM MGM RECORDS T H E w A v E NEW L? IC ^ \ Disk Companies’ Best Sellers ♦♦♦ CAPITOL ARTIST Teresa Brewer ... Jackie Lee 1. I GET SO LONELY .F<jur Knights I COULDN’T STAY AWAY FROM YOU 2. MAN UPSTAIRS Kay Starr IF YOU LOVE ME 3. ALONE TOO LONG ...•*. .Nat (King) Cole IT HAPPENS TO BE ME 4. YOUNG AT HEART Frank Sinatra TAKE A CHANCE %' 5. I REALLY DON’T WANT TO KNOW .. .Les P^ul-Mary Ford SOUTH COLUMBIA 1. MAKE LOVE TO ME ........ . ..... Jo Stafford ADI, ADIOS AMIGOv 2. BEER BARREL POLKA * ... ...Liberace TWELFTH ST. RAG 3. UNTIL YESTERDAY ................ ., *... .Tony Bennett PLEASE DRIVER • ' 4. I SPEAK TO THE STARS Doris Ddy BLUEBELLS OF BROADWAY 5. SECRET LOVE Doris Day DEADWOOD STAGE CORAL 1. JILTED LE GRAND TOUR DE L’AMOUR 2. ISLE OF CAPRI BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON 3. BELIEVE IN MR Don Cornell LITTLE LUCY > 4. MAN WITH THE BANJO Lawrence Welk UNTIL SUNRISE 5. WHO Jack Richards-Marksmen HERS AND HIS DECCA 1. LITTLE THINGS MEAN. A LOT . Kitty Kallen I DON’T THINK YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE 2. I SHOULD CARE . Jeff Chandler MORE THAN ANYONE , 3. JILTED '. Red Foley PINBALL BOOGIE 4. IF THERE’S ANYBODY HERE . Bing Crosby-Don O’Connor BACK IN THE OLD ROUTINE 5. TRUE LOVE GOES ON Burk Ives-Gordon Jenkins BRAVE MAN * LONDON 1. HAPPY WANDERER FROM YOUR LIPS 2. IF YOU LOVE ME Vera Lynn C’EST LA VIE 3. CRYSTAL BALL .Johnston Bros. MY LOVE, MY LIFE, MY OWN 4. I LIVE FOR YOU .......... *... Mantovani LUXEMBOURG POLKA - 5. LITTLE MUSTARD SEED . Lee Lawrence MY LOVE FOR YOU MERCURY 1. CROSS OVER THE* BRIDGE MY RESTLESS LOVER 2. FROM THE VINE CAME THE GRAPE Gaylords STOLEN MOMENTS 3. CUDDLE* ME itonnie Gaylord OH AM I LONELY 4. MELANCHOLY ME Eddy Howard - I WONDER WHAT’S BECOME OF SALLY 5. ISLE OF CAPRI Gaylords LOVE I YOU M-G-M 1. AM I IN LOVE , .Joni James MAYBE NEXT TIME « 2. BLUE GUITAR Sheb Wooley PAVA1UA PFTF J 3. LOST IN LOVELINESS Billy Eckstine DON’T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE 4. THERE’LL BE NO TEARDROPS TONIGHT .. Hank Williams MINH YOUR OWN BUSINESS 5. JOEY Betty Madigan AND SO I WALKED HOME RCA VICTOR 1. MAN WITH THE BANJO Ames Bros MAN, MAN IS FOR THE WOMAN MADE 2. WANTED perrv Cnmn LOOK OUT THE WINDOW . ry Como 3. A GIRL, A GIRL . ANEMA E CORE 4 ' PHILOSOPHY. T ° ny Marti " 5. UNDER A BLANKET OF BLUE Three Suns GIVE ME A LITTLE KISS .Frank Weir .Patti Page .Eddie Fisher GEORGE LIBERACE INKS OWN COLUMBIA DEAL Hollywood, April 20. Columbia Records has signed a separate contract with George Liberace, who has heretofore ap- peared on wax only as conductor of the orchestra backing his brother, Liberace. Batoneer will do a' number of albums for Columbia, conducting 30-piece orch. For the time being, plattery has only album plans for George Liberace, but he may later do a series of singles. Initial session, featuring arrangements by Gordon Robinson* will be held Thursday (22). Fielding to Double For Trend Label in N.Y. Orch leader Jerry Fielding will double as recording artist and musical director for the indie Trend label. Fielding had been waxing fpr Trend for the jiast couple of months. Fielding’s first assignment as musical director was supervising sessions with Herb Jeffries and The Hi-Lo’s, label’s new vocal group. total 802, WOR Still in Impasse Local 802, N. Y, wing of the American Federation of Musicians is still in an impasse in its attempt to reach an agreement with the management of WOR, radio and tv. TaRs between the two parties were held again on Monday (18) but 4ed nowhere, since WOR is adamant $gainst establishing a quota basis for staff musicians. Un- til the expiration of the old pact in February, WOR had 40 tooters on staff. While negotiations are Still con- tinuing sporadically, Local 802 execs are maintaining their picket lines around WOR studios and of- fices in N, Y. Meantime, Local 802 execs have sent their recommendations for ac- tion on Leopold Stokowski to the AFM international board. Stokow- ski was called on the carpet be- cause he passed through the 802 picket line around WOR to do-an interview show. Stokowski’s reply to the Local 802 board and the latter’s charges were forwarded to the AFM national headquarters. PROJECT MANTOVANI U.S. TOUR WITH COLE London, April 13. Plans for Mantovani to go to the U. S. to conduct a 50-piece U. S. orchestra are now being final- ized in ^London. The deal envisages a package show with Nat (King) Cole, and discussions are at pres- ent taking place between Cole's 'manager, Carlos Gastel, and Man- tovani’s agent, George Elrick. • Tim Gale is interested in the booking from the American end, and is prepared to book Mantovani whenever he is free. In Septem- ber, Mantovani has an offer to ap- pear in Canada and the States. Tour may be lined up to follow the Canadian stint. I SPEAK v TO THE STARS Recorded by: DORIS DAY Columbia 402 1 0 M. WITMARK & SONS TERRY GIBBS QUARTET Featuring Miss Terry Pollard Currently, STREAMLINER, Chicago May 10. CRYSTAL LOUNGE, Detroit Starting May 27 for Four Wtfks BIRDLAND, New York CORAL RECORDS Exclusive Management ASSOCIATED BOOKING CORPORATION JOE GLASER Pres. New York j Chicago PI =.JJ0C 2:i Ns Wobj'i Hollywood 3 1 9 Su n 't'* E 'd