Variety (September 1954)

54 MUSIC Variety Wednesday, September 8, 1954 inside Stuff- Music Gordon V. Thompson, Ltd., Canadian firm 1 making Gavotte records, continues to specialize in LP platters featuring former outstanding phono artists. Few months ago Gavotte issued disk of song recital waxed by late Reinald Werrenrath, Met baritone, four months before his death. Latest offering'is eight-song LP by Charles Harrison, who ranked as topnotch tenor for 20 years beginning in 1911. Critics who have heard plattering say fresh, vibrant quality of Harrison’s voice is virtually unimpaired. Understood, Gavotte’s recording director, Ed Manning, means to take another tape recorder to New York and catch the Voices of more surviving artists of acoustic recording era. Warner Bros, film, “Strange Lady in Town,” has. its own mood music in the title tune which producer-director Mervyri LeRoy is utilizing during the actual filming. LeRoy plays the tune, written by Dimitri Tiorrtkin and Ned Washington, during the shooting of the non-dialog scenes. These are the scenes in which the tune will be heard in the finished film, LeRoy believes that utilizing a special recording of the number on the set helps put Greer Garson and Dana Andrews in the proper mood for the scenes in question. Columbia Records is Using the personal touch on its cover for a | new Mitch Miller album of longhair selections played with the Daniel Saidcnburg Orchestra. Longplay platter has been packaged with a pictmre of the longhair Oboist, who’s pop a&r chief, together with his nine-year-old daughter, Margy. Picture was taken for a mag lay- out a couple of years ago when Miller’s succession of pop clicks for Columbia made him a hot story property. Big success of recent “Doggie in the Window” led Ray Walker to hope there, might be a revival of interest in “Fido is a Hot Dog Now,” whose music he wrote in 1914 to words by Charles McCarron and Tom Gray. Feist Music publishers agreed to put some promotion behind “Fido." Couple of weeks ago Walker got his royalty statement from “revival.” Two copies had been sold, so he got a check for 2c. Jazz pianist Joe Bushkln and director Garson Kanin have become a new songwriting team and one of their first efforts, “Boy Wanted,” has been cut by June Valli for RCA Victor, among others. It’s Kanin’s debut as a songsmitlj, although Bushkin has several numbers to his credit. To date, they have written 13 tunes in collaboration. “Boy Wanted” is being published through Bregman, Vocco & Conn. Columbia Records’ promotion department has come up with a “how to win friends” disk package designed for disk jockeys and - station librarians. Diskery has compiled about a dozen of its recent top releases into a 12-inch longplay platter and is distributing them to radio station personnel with a notation that the LP is not meant as an addition to the station library, but for home consumption. “Madalena,” recent “Carnival in Rio” tune click, has racked up its 30th wax workover. RCA Victor alone has cut the .tune seven times. Latest Victor workover of “Madalena” is by Fafa Lemos for his “Dinner in Rio"Jongplay platter. Tune is published by Rex Music. Bernie Wayne has penned the official tune for the Miss America Pageant. Song, tagged “Miss America,” was picked up by Vinton Freedley, pageant’s producer. It’ll be preemed at Convention Hall, Atlantic City, Sept, 11. BILLY ECKSTINE sings YOU LEAVE ME BREATHLESS MGM 11803 K 11803 OLAY, OLAY (The Bullfighter's Song) 78 RPM 45 RPM M G M RECORDS THE GREATEST NAME IN ENTERTAINMENT 701 SEVENTH AVE. NEW YORK 36 N Y PfiniEfy 1. SH-BOOM (8) 10 Rest Sellers on Coin-Machines 2. HEY THERE (7) t 3. HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (4) 4. SKOKIAAN (2) 5, LITTLE SHOEMAKER (10) 6. 7. 8 . 9. 10 . THIS OLE HOUSE (2) LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT (19) IN THE CHAPEL IN THE MOONLIGHT I NEED YOU NOW (1) GOODNIGHT, SWEETHEART, GOODNIGHT (3) ( 8 ) Second Croup \ Crew Cuts ... Mercury / Chords .. Cat \ Rosemary Clooney .... Columbia } Sammy Davis, Jr. ........ Decca ( Johnny Desmond Coral LeRoy Holmes ....... M-G-M Victor Young ... ..Decca Les Baxter .Capitol j Four Lads ......... Columbia | Bulawayo Band ....... Columbia l Ralph Marterie ........Mercury \ Ray Anthony . Capitol l Gaylords ,. .Mercury I Hugd Winterhalter Victor Rosemary Clooney .....Columbia Kitty Kallen ...Decca Kitty Kallen Decca Eddie Fisher ; ^, T Victor (McGuire Sisters ........ Coral \ Sunny Gale Victor 44- l X WHAT A DREAM I'M A FOOL TO CARE THEY WERE DOING THE MAMBO THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN IF I GIVE MY HEART TO YOU AM I A TOY OR A TREASURE I CRIED FORTUNE IN DREAMS . . m I UNDERSTAND JUST HOW YOU FEEL DREAM IFiaures in parentheses indicate number of weeks 4444+4+4-f++444 444 4444444 44 4 + »44444»-++ +♦♦+•♦♦♦ Patti Page Les Paul-Mary Ford Vaughn Monroe Four Aces .... Doris Day ........ Kay Starr Patti Page Kay Starr Four Tunes Four Aces sona has been in the^Top . . .Mercury .... Capitol Victor Decca ,. Columbia Capitol Mercury Capitol .Jubilee ., Decca 10 ] COL RUSHES ‘STAR’ PIC ALBUM TO BEAT PREEM Hollywood, Sept. 7. Eighteen months after the initial work Was begun, the “Star Is Born” soundtrack alburn was completed here over the weekend and the tapes airmailed to Colum- bia Records headquarters in New York. Covers for the package have already been printed and pressing will get underway this week. Columbia expects to have the albums available for local stores approximately one week be- fore the world premiere of the film at the Pantages Theatre here Sept. 29. Columbia’s deal for the sound- track stemmed from the plattery’s conti'act with Judy Garland, who stars in the Warner Bros, produc- tion. Plans for the album were launched more than six months before the picture went before the cameras and production took al- most a year to complete. During that time, the plattery kept almost abreast of the changes in the score, editing and eliminating where necessary. Coast recording director Paul Weston worked with studio’s music chief Ray Heindorf to cut the soundtrack of the 3- hour film down to disk size. Billy Shaw to Tour ‘Mambo, USA’Package “Mambo USA,” a new Latino concert package has been set for an eight-week tour by the Billy Shaw. Agency. Bash, which will kick off at Carnegie Hall, N. Y., Oct. 22, features Joe Loco and his Quintet, Machito’s orch, singer Carlos Ramirez, the Facundo Ri- vera Quintet, Tun-Tun, Horatio Sc Lana,- Mambo Aces, and Barry Sc Tubee. Other acts are being set. Show is being produced by Irv- ing Schacht and George Goldner, Tico Records’ prtfxy, Norman Granz, producer of ,“Jazz At the Philharmonic,” , will * promote the concert in about 15 cities. Mercury Artists Corp. is setting the talent for the package. Doris Day Song Pic Set for British TV London, Sept. 7, A 40-minute film, compiled from some of the songs made famous by Doris Day in Warner Bros, filmusicals, is to be aired by BBC- TV next Tuesday (14), This will be the third BBC program of the kind, the others having been “Hollywood Hit Parade,” and “Rita Hayworth,” and will be followed by a Bing Crosby feature end of the year. Among the films featured in next week’s telecast will, be “Tea for Two,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “April in Paris,” “I’ll See You In My Dreams” and “Lucky Me.” Latter is scheduled for general release a fortnight after the airing. Decca Preps Paris Trio For Andrews Sis Niche Hollywood, Sept. 7. There’s apparently no longer any prospect that the Andrews Sisters will ever work together again, so Decca has come up with a new sis- ter trio it hopes will step into the Andrews’ niche. Plattery is so op- timistic that it has even turned the initial recording session tonight (Tues.) over to Vic Schoen, whose backing launched the Andrews Sis- ters before the war and who con- ducted for them on many of their peak records. New trio is the Paris Sisters. They .come from Oakland, Calif., where they’ve done radio and tele- vision work for the last few years. WELK PULLS 51,000 PAYEES IN COAST DATE Hollywood, Sept. 7. Alltime record attendance for a one-night dance is claimed for the Lawrence Welk appearance last week as headliner of the Marines’ Emergency Polio Fund Dance at Santa Ana. Total attendance hit 51,090 at $1 per head. Dance was held in a blimp hang- ar at the Santa Ana Marine Air Facility Base—a site so large 49 loud speakers were used to carry the music to all dancers. Prompters used two and one half tons of corn meal to make the cement floor danceable. Welk got a glad $1,500 for the date. Francis, Day Gets Rights To Two New Slade Hits London, Aug. 31. Francis, Day Sc Hunter, British pubbery, has acquired rights toi the music of two new West End hits, “Salad Days” and “The Duenna.” Scores for both productions were written by Julian Slade. v “Salad Days” is a Bristol Old Vic production, and Slade coauthored the book and lyrics with Dorothy Reynolds as well as writing the score. “The Duenna” is Sheridan’s 18th-century comic opera. Victor’s Wanda Merrill A new thrush, Wanda Merrill, will debut on wax via RCA Victor which parted her last week. Her first session has been set for tomorrow (Thurs.) in New York. Iuterlochen Interdites Jet Noise From Air Base Detroit, Sept, 7, Dr. Joseph F. Maddy, president of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Mich., has been as- sured by an Air-Force inspection team that a proposed $9,000,000 jet 'airplane base near the music camp will not interfere with it. Last year, Maddy won a battle with the state by forcing it to abandon plans to build a prison camp near his music camp which attracts young musicians frozh all parts of the nation pach summer. To Milton Deutsch: Dear Milt: Thanks for the word that wo aro now booked solid 'til Sept. 6th, 1955. Please con- vey our thanks to Mike PePeano for his confidence in holding us- over at the NEW GOLDEN HOTEL in Reno. Regards, WILL OSBORNE P.S.: Again, you forgot our 2 weeks vacation! I MGT. Milton Deutsch Agency FOR SALE 1945 Flexibl* Bub, 29 Passengers, Re* dining Seats, Baggage Compartment, GA Engine, Fully Reconditioned, Ex- cellent Shape, Good Buy. Palmer!'* Service Station, OLinville 5-9610. America's- Fastest ^ Selling-:Records! ’WHrtrnnrn