Variety (November 1954)

Wednesday, November 10, 1954 MUSIC 51 Resentment against the smutty**' songs that have been getting disk showcasing is mushrooming around the country. Latest organization to step into the picture is Boston's Catholic Youth Organization. The CYO beef is aimed at the Hub disk jockeys who have been spotlight- ing the waxings at their, record hops. For the past few years, the dee* jays in the Boston area have been sponsoring juve dances with Waxed music and sortie of the hops have even, been CYO-Sponsored. T^e surge of the: allegedly sensual spngs oil wax has alerted the CYO Officials to the situation and they’ve: begun to police the hops, request- ing the jocks to cut these tunes from their programming. No official acti has. been taken yet, but ft’s reported that ..if the jdeks don’t clean up their turn- tables, a strict edict will be handed down. The CYO has enlisted the aid of. several jockeys in the Bos- ton area to pass the warning along to their colleagues in charge Of the hops. ... The CYO’s mai squawk stems from the fact that some of the hops have, been turning into orgies and they believe that the stimulant has. been the obscene tunes.: It’s also expected that the org also will have something to say about these records going out over the air on the dee jays’ regular programs. German Kids Choir Sets Concert Mark With Sock Short-Notice 100G Take The Obernkirchen Children’s Choir of Germany flew home from N. : Y. yesterday (Tues.), carrying with it one of the m«st unusual records in concert annals. Troupe was scouted abroad by Columbia Artists Mgt. prez Frederick C. Schang last spring. On June 15, when the booking season for 1954- 55 was over, announcement was made of a new, unknown attrac- tion, to start concertizirig In the U. S. Sept. 15. Nevertheless, group did 31 concerts in weeks, drew about $100,000 at an average $3 top in small concert halls (like N. Y.’s Town Hall), with about $50,000 for the attraction’s share, Success of the group, on such short notice and-to SRO houses, every- where, is almost unprecedented in the concert, field. Choir, composed of 30 girls and five boys, age nine to 18, was formed a few seasons ago by Maria and F. W, Moller, and attracted attentiort via a short British tour last year. Columbia’s Kurt Wein- hold took over personal manage- ment here, and booked three con- certs in N; Y;’S Town Hall the start of October; But the group had to give six concerts in all in N. Y., five at Town Hall, and one in Brooklyn, winding its tour Sun- day (7) in N. Y. Grosses were as high as $4,400. in Boston and $6,800 in Chicago. Group played on col- lege subscription series as well as open percentage dates, with the fee ranging from $1,250 to $1,750 (con- sidered high for unknown attrac- tions); Weinhold has been flooded with requests for repeats, and will have tile group returning next season. Tour Will cover more territory than this fall, with Weinhold hop- ing for at least a 10-week mini- mum stay. School, angle is in- volved, Which will determine the length of the return tour. Exclusive With Merrill Tunesmith Al Hoffman has inked an exclusive writing pact with Bob Merrill’s recently established niusic firms, Hoffman, who’s been freelancing his songs the past couple of years; was pacted by Mer-. i*i.ll for three ..years at a reported $20,000 annual guarantee. Merrill formed the Goldenbell and Rylan fiijms a few months ago in association with deejay Murray Kaufman. Hoffman currently is. rapped on the hit lists With “Papa Loves Mambo.” ' - Bob & Ray Debut On New Unicorn Label Unicorn Records, nejy indie label, is making its bow this week with an album by Bob (Elliot) & Ray (Goulding) radio-tv comics.. The Bob fie Ray • set is tagged “Write If You Cart Get Work,’’ Label also is pitching for the long- hair market in its first release with a 12-irich longplay album of Erwin Bodky’s “Music of the Baro- que Era for Harpsichord and Clavi- chord.” Diskery, which headquarters In Boston, will peg its album sets along classical, comedy and jazz lines: : Philadelphia, Nov, 9.’ An injunction failed to halt Stan Kenton’s “Festival of Modern Jazz,” which played two shows be- fore large audiences at the Acad- emy of Music Friday night (5), al- though. the newspaper and. radio publicity attending the court action undoubtedly nipped attendance. Two local nightclub operators, Lee Guber,owner of the Rendez- vous, and Bill Gerson, operator of Pep’S Musical Bar, obtained the injunction Friday afternoon in Common Pleas Court No. 7, aver- ring they had made an oral agree- ment to sponsor the concert here on . Sept. 10. Friday night's pro- grarhs were presented under the auspices of the Feld Bros.’ Super Attractions of Baltimore. . Much confusion resulted from the fact that the restraining orders were served on Kenton and Art Tatutn, who was featured in the package. Kdnton conducted the first show, but remained backstage after: opening the second perform- ance at 11 p.m., W’hen a lawyer, ex- plained the restrictions of the court order. The show went on, however, with Charley Ventura taking over the fronting duties. Tatum played both: shows. Guber and Gerson later explain- ed that their fight was not against the bandleader and the blind pian- ist, but with the bookers, the Gale Agency, of New York City, With . whom they claimed a verbal agree- ment /was reached. Kenton was mystified by the proceedings. He said Super At- tractions had been handling many of his promotions for several years and he was satisfied with their sponsorship. He said he knew of no deal involving Guber and Ger- son. Guber filed a similar action in April, 1953, to restrain singer Joni James from appearing at the Latin Casino. He contended Miss James had a contract to appear at his Rendezvous at that time. The .suit was Withdrawn by agreement sev- eral days later and Miss James continued her run at the Latin Casino. Principal sufferer from the un- expected legal hassle was Super Attractions, and Irving Feid, co- owner of the Baltiinore firm, is consulting with his lawyers to seek redress for the damaging news stories that ran during the* hours preceding, his shows in the Philly dailies. Feld, said his contract .to present Kenton was signed earijf in the summer. The Sautef-Finegan orch Will get an unusual longhair showcas- ing on an RCA Victor Red Seal platter release of their perform- ance of “Concerto For Jazzband And Symphony Orchestra,” a new piece composed by Rolf Lieber- man. The pop orch will -debut' the work Nov. 18* at Chicago Symphony Hall. Victor will release the plat- ter in February, Lyricist Kennedy Quits ‘Parce’ Legit in Hassle Jimmy Kennedy has withdrawn as lyric Writer-for the upcoming legit revue, “Hello,. Paree,” due to a contractual hassle with the show’s producer, William L. Taub.* Row stemmed from a difference over whether the writers or pro- ducers would control th" tune copyrights." Music for the show is being writ- ten by Charles Trenet, Michel Emer and Alex Alstone. Show is slated to open in N, Y. Dee. 14, although no house has been set 'as- yet.- O' ; •’ — - ... ——* Jenkins, Decca Huddling; Going to Another Label? Gordon Jenkins, Decca Records "musical director; is currently talk- ing with the diskery about a hew pact; His current deal winds up at the end of this year and there's a possibility that he may wind Up \yith some other label. Jenkins, besides cutting disks and backing other Decca artists, is a Iso a composer. His “Manhat- tan ToWer” album Was a bestseller for Decca and last year he cut an- other one of his major Works, "Seven Dreams,” for a Decca set. San Francisco, Nov, 9, * The Duke Ellington-Daye Bru- beck - Gerry Mulligan - Stan Getz package grossed a big $15,000 here in two shows over the weekend. The concert played in. the Frisco 'Auditorium Saturday (6) to 3,100 customers and in nearby Berkeley Community Theatre the following day to' 3,300 payees, both at $4 tops. Norman Granz, who pro- moted the concerts, called in a de- tachment; of special police to han- dle. the kids, but it proved un- necessary as the audience was the best behaved of any concert ever held here. .Gross was surprisingly high i view of the short-term pro- motion of less than two weeks caused by the uncertainty of the availability of the Frisc Audi-' torium, After Wrapping up, his final con- cert date in Los Angeles Monday (8), Ellington is heading back‘east vi a series of one-niters and cafe dates. Ellington said It’s likely that the same package will go out again next year oh another concert swing. While several other jazz concert troupes had to Cancel dates because of bad biz, the Ellington package played every scheduled auditorium since opening in N.Y. Oct. 16 at Carnegie Hall. For Decca Disk; Huston’s Hollywood, Nov. 9. A glamorous disk background, chorus is in the. works .as a result of talent discovered by John Huston during the filming; of “Moby Dick’’ in. England. Chorus Includes actors Gregory Peek, Richard Basehart and Leo Genn. i/iiv * ■ vui 11 vi An obscure resolution recently passed by the N. Y. City Board of Estimate has now turned into a tax bite of the wired music serv-. Jces and similar operations, using transmission lines within the streets. Under the resolution, all such operations have to appiy for a franchise from the city, with a fee of $150 to Cover the Cost of fil- ing. ‘ The N. Y. C. Director .of Fran- chises asked the following firrns to apply for such franchises: Auto- matic Fire Alarm Co., American District Telegraph Co., John An- drew's Music of Distinction’ Inc., Super-Market Broadcasting Sys- tem, Muzak Cprp., Central Station Signals Inc. and Personal Music. The resolution directs all outfits “engaged In the transmission of music, burglar, alarm signals, fire alarm signals and other telegraphic signals or information through the ownership, operation or v leasing of transmission lines and conductors within the streets of the - City of N. Y, without haying secured the consent of ;the.city, to submit peti- tions to the Board of Estimate, Bu- reau of . Franchises, for the right to use ;the streets, of the city in reference to such services.” It’s feared that the resolution will eventually require all radio and video stations, press services artd all other firms using telephone lines for the dissemination of in- formation or music to file for N; Y. C. franchises. Huston used the tliesps as part of a chorus to background a group of sea chanties sung by West Indian folksinger Edric Connor in the film. Writer-director then placed Connor under personal con- tract—Huston’s first venture into personal management—and sent a dub of the. chanties to Decca, sug- gesting that the platiery might get an album out of the material. Deal' now is in the works, with Decca considering a "Moby Dick”, album for release next year in con- junction with the opening of the film. Huston, as personal manager, also has offered Decca an album of West Indian folksongs by Connor. Best British Sheet Sellers (Week Ending Oct. 30) Hold My Hand . Wood My Friend. ......Chappell Things Mean a Lot .. .Robbins Smile ...Bourne Story of Tina... .Macmelodies I Give My Heart.: . . . Robbins My Son . . .Kassner Coins in Fountai .... Feist, This Ole House . Duchess Must Be Reason.; Connelly Sky Blue Shirt...... . Wright Cara Mia .....Robbins Second 12 Lieberson Winds Southern Trek With ‘Confederacy’ Goddard Lieberson, Coluriibia Records veep, returned to his New York desk last week after a six- city swing through the deep South plugging the label’s new package, “The Confederacy.” Lieberson, who had been boning up on Civil War. stuff for the past year, kicked off the album on radio stations, lunch- eons and lecture platforms in Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas and Memphis. Lie- berson’s goal is to hit the 100,000 sales mark the first year. Reorders already are coming i from Rich- ; mond and Baltimore. j Lieberson,. \yho last went .on a personal exploitation trek a few years ago for “I‘Can Hear It Now,” expects to; tackle several key cities in the midwest in. a few weeks to help launch the album north of.the Mason-Dixon line. Album, which retails for $10, is a compilation of Civil War songs by Richard Bales. The 12-inch disk has been packaged with 32 pages of pictures and; text. The essays were written by .historians Clifford Dowdey and Bruce Cation. Happy Wanderer . Bosworth | Sway Latin American Gilly Osserlfeffer...:. , . Spier Sh-Boom . .,., ..,. Aberbach Wait For Me.. . Lafleur Little Shoemaker .. .. .Bourne Never Land.... Keith Frowse Make Her Mine . . Wood High-Mighty .Harms-Connelly I Love Paris ....... Chappell Idle Gossip ... Bron West of Zanzibar,.. .Bluebird ,! Decca Inks Mae West Mae West will have her fling on wax. She’s been inked by Decca Records and will likely slice part of. her’ nitery song repertoire for a disk package.' La West is currently playing at the Latin Quarter, New York. ly VVI IVI Viyt/VVyVVV In a precedental challenge, to the' 2c, royalty provision of the Copy- right* Act, Remington Records last, week filed a $1,500,000 suit in N. Y. Federal Court against Harry Fox, publishers’ agent arid trustee, and. RCA Victor and Co-; lumbia Records. Donald Gabor, head of . Remington, charged that the major publishers, represented by Fox, and the disk companies are conspiring; to. put bi£ low : priced record operation, out of business by refusing to give him a royalty rate less than the statutory 2c, per tune, Gabor claims he lost $500,- OOp on this basis and is suing for treble damages. Remington’s difficulties with Fox go back to last year when attorney Julian T. Abeles, representing Fox, won a summary judgment against Remington for 'royalties due to publishers. Amount of coin volved is being set by a court-ap- pointed master. After the publishers won their action, Remington initially filed suit against Fox last September in N. Y. Supreme Court for breaqh- of-contract, claiming that it had an oral agreement with Fox un- der which the disk company would get a lower royalty rate. Abelea said “Remington offered to drop its suit if we made a settlement on the summary judgment due the publishers.” Abeles, however, re- fused to make such a settlement.' Issue of whether publishers have to grant rates to diskeries may be determined in the Remington ac- tion. Diskery is claiming that both Victor and Columbia, have con- spired with the publisher defend- ants to drive it out of business by Way of insisting on the highest permissible' royalty. * Diskery is suing under the restraint-of-trade and conspiracy provision of the Clayton and Roblnson-Patman anti- trust laws. Gabor also operates Plymouth Records, which sells at even lower prices, than Remington. ‘Can-Can’ Disks Open Up Policy of Show Tunes On Continent Before Prod. London, Nov. 9. The first breach has been made in the established American policy which places an embargo on Eu- ropean recordings of Broadway and Hollywood show tunes prior to actual presentation. Through the initiative of Robert Weiss, Eu- ropean representative of Capitol Records, agreement has been reached for the release of “Can- Can” tunes in a number Of Conti- nental countries. Weiss launched his campaign last summer, using as his main argument the fact that the major- ity pf Broadway tuners did not ever reach most European capi- tals, and that Operation of the embargo involved the exclusion of hit disks from,key and profitable situations. In the arrangement made with Feuer. & Marti association with the British music pubbery of Chappell & Co., authority has been given for release of the “Can-Can” tunes in Switzerland, Austri , West Germany, France, Bleigum and Holland. For the meantime, the pact does not apply to Scan- dinavia, as there is a likelihood of the production being staged there. Cabled instructions were sent Off from London last week to all Capi- tol’s manufacturer - distributors, giving them the green light to re-. lease the records. The masters ar already available in these terri- tories. Although . Capitol has done the. actual, pioneering, its action will benefit the record industry as a whole. According to Weiss, it was just bad business to withhold po- tential hits from any territory. Even if .the shows concerned eventually reached the affected countries, he felt sure the boxiffice would bene- fit by the pre-selling done on disks. Polly Bergen’s Platter Polly Bergen cut a special ses- sion last week and personal man- ager Clarence Freed has a platter- pact-cooking on the basis of the custom biscuits, ' Johnny Richards arranged and i conducted.