Variety (December 1954)

n ~l.ifgdaT, December 15, 1954 MUSIC 51 IETJUL DISK BEST SELLERS o U) 3 s CO 3 £ 3 0 U 1 u e (0 u Ua C (0 / W) TJ O o O & u g > c G Q g > s v O 0 U >* co U 1 c co E u Oi JC C/3 CO G C/3 T O T A L P 0 1 N T S ROSEMARY CLOONEY (Columbia) 15A 10 "Hey There” 7 71 53 53 50 33 31 23 22 9 10 10 16 FONTANE SISTERS (Dot) 15B 16 "Hearts of Stone" JAYE P. MORGAN (Victor) 8 10 16 Kay Starry-Eyed at Two New Pacts; 800G 5-Year Guarantee in Las Vegas Hollywood, Dec. 14. If the first seven years as a sin- gle are the toughest, Kay Starr can look for some sock years ahead. For the initial span of seven, difficult at first, is winding up with a pair of contracts that rate as about the best ever handed * girl singer. One takes her over to RCA Victor as a disk artist, be- ginning Jan. 1, at "the best con- tract since Vaughn Monroe." The other guarantees the onetime band singer $800,000 over the next five years in the longest contract yet signed by a Las Vegas hostelry in the mushrooming trend to tie tal- ent down to longtermers. rile Victor contract continues the virtual autonomy in selection oj material and release dates that Starr and her manager Har- oid Stanley have enjoyed for the iabl few years at Capitol. Only Second Disk Pact f 11 s °nly the second disk contract , '* iss Starr, who has been 1 1 Capitol since she branched *t on her own seven years ago and proceeded to climb the cafe It, u r ‘ For better than five years th : , s been consistently One of top disk sellers in the busi- Available records indicate at n ot since "Hoop Dee Doo" in 1950 has she had a platter that | went under the 200,000 mark in sales. Figure is the arbitrary guidepost for a hit used in the music biz. In the seven years she’s been with Capitol, Miss Starr has sold more than 10.000,000 records —although her annual release av- erage is four records. Curiously, only one of her disks, "Wheel of Fortune,” has gone over the 1,000,- 000 mark. The big Victor contract was quickly followed by the pact with the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, where she has long been a top attraction. It calls for a flat $20,- 000 per week for eight weeks per year over the five-year period. Un- der its terms she probably will henceforth work cafes only 12 weeks a year, supplementing the eight weeks in Las Vegas with four at the Riverside in Reno. Brubeck’s Frisco Deal San Francisco, Dec. 14. Dave Brubeck, who has been working at the Downbeat Club weekends only this month in order to be near his family for the holi- days, has set a deal with club op Helen Noga. This will allow him to use the club as home base six months out of the year and in addition free him for concerts and lucrative one- nighters even during the time he . is at the Downbeat. I Donahue Back on Cap Label for Second Time Hollywood, Dec. 14. Capitol signed sax man Sam Donahue to an album deal which will be included in the label’s “Listening Jazz’’ series. It’s Dona- hue’s second time on the Capitol roster. Donahue recently has been front- ing the Billy May band on tour around the country. Deal set by artists&repertoire rep Francis Scott leaves the way open for fu- ture recordings after the album is released. Vet Songsmith Jimmy Kennedy hat written a revealing cloteup on London and I\oiv York's Tin Pan Alloys * * * another outstanding editorial fea- ture in the upcoming 49 th Anniversary IS umber of ^SrIeTy OUT SOON VICTOR BACK INTO R&B MARKET; CLARK NAMED RCA Victor is getting back into the rhythm and blues market un- der its own banner with the ap- pointment of Ray Clark to handle the r&b chores. Clark is a vet- eran field man for Victor, having most recently been posted in the southeastern division. Since the exit of Danny Kessler early this year, Victor’s r&b activ- ities have been limited to the Groove label, which is distributed for the most part through Label X, the RCA subsid label. Eddie Kissack, assistant to Label X artists and repertoire chief Jimmy Hilliard, has been handling the r&b output for Groove. Sal Peruggi is moving into the field spot vacated by Clark. Just Rambling Along Hollywood, Dec. 14. New lease on life given the standard "Muskrat Ramble” by re- cent vocal treatments has cued the inevitable switches. Mickey Katz is already out with lhe "Moscovitz Ramble” on Capitol i and Gaby Bruyere is prepping a Gallic version for Trend. Her disk ; will be tagged "Montmartre Ram- 1 ble." Evans Needling RCA Via Como HMV Gossip' Redd Evans, publisher of the tune "Idle Gossip,” is needling RCA Victor by importing the Perry Como version of the tune from England for distribution to jockeys in tne U. S. Como cut "Idle Gos- sip” late last year, but the side was never released in this country. The Como version, however, was issued in England under the HMV (His Master’s Voice) label, and be- came a bestseller there. In the past few months, a few copies of the Como HMV disk have been making the rounds of the dee- jays. Evans now has decided to send the platter to any jockey who requests it. It’s figured that if enough consumer demand is gen- erated by the jockey spins, Victor may release the Como disk here. Juggy Gayles once similarly at- tempted to force a Victor release of an Eddie Fisher side. "A Fool Was I,” which also was issued in England but canned in the TJ. 3- Gayles did not succeed. Some Victor distribs, according to Evans, have been squawking to the jockeys over their program- ming of the Como "Idle Gossip” side. The Victor distribs don’t have any of the platters to sell and they fear that it may cut into the cur- rent Como hit, "Home for the Hol- idays.” COAST PLATTERY TO STRESS SONGS FROM PIX Hollywood, Dec. 14. Artbffs Records, a new platter subsidiary of Arwin Productions Inc., launches operations this week and will concentrate on etching songs from films, especially pix produced by Arwin. Latter is the indie operation headed by Marlin Melcher, husband and manager of singer Doris Day. First artist inked by the indie waxery is Frank DeVol, who’s cut four sides this week. Two of them will be vocaled by Tabby Calvin. First of the four to be cut will be "There’s A Rising Moon for Every Falling Star,” Paul Francis Web- ster-Sammy Fain ballad from the forthcoming Arwin film, "Young at Heart,” which costars Miss Day and Frank Sinatra. Talent signed by Artists Records will be pacted on a non-exclusive basis. Disks, according to Melcher, will be "pinpoint exploitation rec- ords.” Kenton to Re-Form Band; - 1st Frisco Cafe Date Set San Francisco, Dec. 14. Stan Kenton, currently resting in Hollywood after his cross-coun- try concert tour, will re-form his band in the spring. Kenton is cur- rently planning a two-week break- in date in April at the Downbeat Club, preceded by several one- nighters in the Valley on the way north. This would mark Kenton’s first night club appearance in San Francisco. His last location in the town was a week at the old Down- town Theatre several years ago. Russ Morgan to Go Hula in Decca Set Hollywood, Dec. 14. For the first time in many years, Russ Morgan will dish a Hawaiian beat on records. The old coal miner is currently on the Coast vacationing before taking to the road again. Closest he has come to the island music before was when the band first started it in- cluded a Hawaiian guitarist as a sideman. - ' Album of Hawaiian music and an album of polkas will be cut here this month and Morgan also will cut some sides with Bing Crosby before taking to the road. Mean- while, Morgan’s family has again taken up residence here. Bernice Park* to Coral Songstress Bernice Parks has been inked to a term pact by Coral Records. Miss Parks formerly cut for Mercury. Bob Thiele. Coral artists and repertoire chief, also added the : Twin-Tunes, a vocal duo, to the I label’s roster.