Variety (Dec 1929)

Wednesday, December 25, 1929 MUSIC VARIETY 55 Along the Coast By BUI Swigart Piano Selling on Increase In Spite of Recent Collapse Of American Piano Company -r—. . ♦ ^ Los Angeles, pec. 21. Hollywood Boulevard was again emblazoned with a battery of sun- arcs and loud speakers amplify- Ip^ tliiB voice of KHJ to such vol- ume that it cotild be hisrard in Bev- erly Hills. Not a theatre opening, just ■ the premiere of Hillcrest Motors' new showrooms. By virtue of its affiliation with Don L6e and his netw'ork of radio stations along the Coast; It drew outstanding fig- ures In Hollywood's civic and film circles to put the event over. Two hour broadcast oyer the Pon Lee network included many film Aantes... '• -.. ■'— - —r, , There Is no other city in the world where radio stations can call upon BO many artists willing to make ^n occasional appearance gratis as Lbs Angeles. Some re- spond to the requests for the pub- licity, while the majority are seek- ing picture Work and will ask for a spot In the hope that , some pic- ture producer or director, listening in, will call them. Operators realize the condition and steer clear of the professional demanding pay for air work. De- spite this, radio opei-ators claim they are losing money. . \Vhile the" -new Red Star music publishing Company has been , or- ganized less than two months, it has B9 new: • songs created iat the Fox studio "to select froim for pub- licatibn. Some 31 of these are al- ready: spotted in Pox pictures, while 28 are being; held in abeyance; and will ultimately find their way to the screen by being spotted in forth- coming pictures. Titles iind authors of the num- bers yet to be selected for. pictures are; "Let's Do"- and "The Fairy- land Brigade," by Pease and Nel- son; "Nobody Home," "I've Got Everything But You," "My Love Song," "Riding on. a Moonbeam" and "Till vl Met You," by John Burke afld George Little; "Whisper Sw€et Nothings,", by James Mon- aco; "The Hotaie At the End of My Dreams," by Monaco and Joe Mc-- earthy; ' "Magic Carpet of My Dreams," "Look At That Girl," by Byron Gay; "The Little Blue Gate," by C. W: Cadman and Edward Lynn; "Lady in "Green," by Cadman and Kummer; "Love Dawn;" by Cadman iand Houston Branch; *1 Whiter At Twllight,v^ by Cadman and Eberhart; "Song of the Faded Flower*.' and "A Pair of Blue Eyes," by .William Kernell;. "When the Robin Sings After the Rain," "The Harp With the Broken String," •'The Song. That I Sing in My Dreams" and VWhere the Little Bridge^ Ordsses the Stream," .-Trifles" and "You Do, Don't You," "by. James -Hanley ^aiid Joe • Mc- Carthy. . - Songs to get the-best plugs over local air' last w'eek are tecorded liere in the order of the number of times played: : Shaplro-Bemstein'id ^'What Do I Care" was clocked 24 times iii one night. In addition to the 10 best sellers, playied . more or less each, day by popular demand, following new numbers, yet to reach the first 10 class, are'heard .quite-frequently '—-'jYou're Always in My Arms" (Feist); "You Can't Understand" (Donaldson, Douglas,: Glimble), •JEvery Now tind Then" (Sherman- Clay), "Gypsy Dream Rose" (ilemick), "Lonely ' Trouliador" (Santly), "Just Tom, just Me" (Robblns), ^'Wouldtft It ~Be Won-- derful" (Witmark), "Hello Baby" (Piantadosi), and "I'm a Dreamer" (DeSylva, Brown and !Hei\,derson). . — r 1 Eai'l Burtnett, Hariy. Ricliman •nd Paul Whiteihan have all re- corded "Singing A Vagabond Song," used in Richman^s, U., A. picture. Number " was compQsfed by Sam Messehheimer artd Vai Burton.'... Box Rommel, former mtislcal direc- tor for Universal theatres In' Ger- inany, Is now here composing for TJ. pictures^..; Al ..Goodman is ex- pected to accompany Larry Schwab here around March 1 .when the lat- ter conies in to assist Piaramount' •n "Follow Thru." With the opening of "Show of Bhows" here (WB), the Kretis store, «n Broadway, devoted, a window display to "Singing in the Bath- tub." Placed a regulation tub in •the window with a girl -In a bath- ing, suit singing the song as. an jm- provised shower dripped over her. Song was carried to the street by a series 6f loud speakers. Cops had to keep the mobs inovlng. Buddy Valentine has been re- lieved of the Coast representation of the Joe Morris. No successor as yet named. Art Schwartz, Abe Blum and--ArtIe-Mehlinger-all-inade flying trips to San Francisco, Port- land and San Diego to take ad-: Tance orders on shee/t music for the new year. Steiner at Radio Holly wood,. Dec. 24. _Max Steiner arrived here with -William LeBaron and will be asso- eiate musical director at Radio •tudlos with Victor Baravella. B'WAY SAYS VALLEE SUIT SMELLS PECULIAR ft Info carpenters, who rivet the keyholes of Broadway's chambers, are looking strictly askance at the breach' of promise suit for $200,- 000 brought by Agnes O'Loughlin, Whoopee" valedictorian, against Rudy Vallee. Miss G'Laughlin's complaint, filed by her attorney, Julius Kendler, is as;brief and as terse as an unshelled cucumber. In about a page and a half of legal paper Miss O'LoUghlln, without resorting to definite dates, action or letters alleges in approxi- mately eight paragraphs that the baton wielder proposed a conibine with her for sometime In November but has forgotten to remember. Relying on such a promise,, she alleges that " in July she was taken advantage of by him. It's claimed the incident leaves her innocent but shocked.' When the suit broke Rudy was quoted as cracklingly pained that the girl should sue him, but when a mugg ' interviewed • the crooner, Vallee obliged him with a reference to his p. a. "P. a.?'? exclaimed the mugg. "Well, see Ed Heusing, lie knows all about It, and he certainly is sore about the suit." ' "Who wants to talk to him?" ' "My lawyers have ordered.me to keep quiet." Vallee couldn't recall just where Miss OlLoughlili lived or her phbne number. Furthermore, he's sore at Variety. He claims " tlie paper printed a paraigraph about a week or so ago, covering a "conceited*' band leader (unnamed) and that it referred to him. Vallee claims he's not conceited but very modest even to a fault, and can quote the trade papers to prove It. Victor-Columbia? Negotiations- for the control oi the Columbia Gramapbione C^o. are. reported to be underway between Louis Sterling, president and prin- cipal stockholder, and the Victoir Talking'Machine through its Eng- lish subsidiary, His Master's Voice Co. Victor, affiliated with RCA, Is said to be-dickering to take over 'all of sterling's interest in Colum- bia. Latter became " active head of the company when it went bank- rupt about -eight years ago. He -Is also head of the = NipponTprPhone company Jiapain. Paramount . has been reported after. Columbia .for a long linie. Bennett Band in Victoria ' Crash;^ Everytlung Lost Richard Bennett and his 11-piece orchestra were passengers on the ship . Fort / Victoria, • which was rammed and sunk off Sandy Hook ^last week. They were sailing to fulfill an engagement in Bennuda:. No lives were lost in the iaccldent. The boys lost all their instru- ments, clothing, and yarlous other personal possessiohs. '. Tbey . Nar- rowly, .escaped from going, dowii with \h© slnkinlr ship by pllinsr into the last available lifeboat- anjd were picked up by another ship and brought back to New York. Bennett and his band were sup- poised to open at the Hotel Berrau- dian, Bermuda, Friday for lah en-, Bagement of four /arid a half months. They spent two days . In New York puroh.nsing. new instru- ments and oth.rT pavajphernallia, and Saturday again sa-lled for Bermuda to fulfill the booking. ASH'S TWO WEEKS Paul Ash's return to PubUx as m, c. is for two weeks only. He was 'asked by/Ptibllx to open at the Paramount, on Broadway, Friday to fill in until Rudy Vallee returns Jan. 3 when Harry RIchman opena at the Paramount, Brooklyn. Ben Black, who went out of the Paramount two weeks ago^ is to be farmed out by Publix, ' it Is an- nourilcedr^He-wllimrre Loew house, from reports. Ray Back in Louisville Louisville, Dec. 24. Happy Ray's band Is back at the Savoy (pictures) after "being out during the summer. Ray played the house for seven years, but was let out. when the management installed sound. Wife With a Heart! George Walsh, of the original "Y^acht Club Boys, reorganized and appear injg In the new Yacht club, is back on the Job after spending a week in the alimony jail, West 37th street. New York. Walsh's wife is professionally Josephine Davis. Mrs, Walsh averred he was in arrears $6^000. Then she \ went to visit hirii In thei hobse- gow and relented. It seems Walsh didn't like the bill of fare and was on a potato diet. He said the beds were terrible . and he had to sleep on a bare spring covered with a blanket. Miss i)avi8 said she couldn't see him suffer like that. Disc Reviews By Bob Landry V Rudy Vallee (Victor 22193) "A Little Kiss Each Morning" and 'Til Be Reminded of You" are both well-established via radio. With the additional plug of Radio's picture, "Vagabond Lover," n6w added. Indicating enomious sales for this disc. Paul Specht (Columbia 2066) iSpecht gets only ordinary representation from "I'm Sailing on a Sunbeam" and "Txjn Following . You," both from Duncan Sisters' picture, "It's a Great Life." Fair for dancing. ' Vernon Dalhart. (Columbia 206i> Vocal stuff team- ing "Song of the Condemned" (rerj.-^ dered poetically as "con-dimmed") frohi - Sammy Goldwyh!s photoptey and a Pollyanria ditty admonishing against the evils of wagging tpngues, entitled "Be Careful of What You Say." "Condemned" has a certain feet,- stbinping rhythm better'ajlapted for instrumental than vocal rendition. M6ra!,l tune .is limited to .moire sen- tlmentdl circles. . Irene Bordoni . . (Columbia 2Q27) *'Believe Me" Is in the Bbrdonl manner with lyrics to suit. "Just an Hour of Love" calls for humming strains and high range • vbcallzing, not the French star's strongest dejpiAftment, _ Sir Hamilton Harty - (Columbia 2020) E>iand leaders, when cilcking In Amterlca, become m.ci'B. In England thfey get knight- ed. . Sir Hamilton hajs nicely per- formed Hungarian dancietsi Nufiiiberjs 6 arid 4; seriil-cliassic, better Icndwn in America, by ear than by title. Repressing for ^yer, here, na-ttirally doesn't help thfcs^ foreign records^ Eddie Waltefs (Columbia 2035) "iTlo Baby/! froria First National's "Forward Pass,'^ is a peppy hot-cha collegiate,' and combined with "Singing in the Bathtub*'-'Shouldn't aceurimulate shop dusti Gene Austin (Victor 22223) Pair of eftr-sooth- ers are "My Fate Is In Your Hands" a-rid '^All -That^Tm Asking-Is-Sym-: pathy,^' with Austin giving it "that." - Piano ' accbiril}ariiriient best; al- though incompletely, described as bizarre weaves a fantastic .tattoo' throughout. ' . .. . The Old Sexton (Pathe 32601) Clarence Gaskill*s words arid music capitalizing th6 Maiden miracle appears;. about a month after the Boston; cardinal ordered -the, cemetery closed, but not before It had attracted Wide publicity that will probably help "At Father Power's Grave" sell in Catholic neighborhoods. Lyrics are sweetly innpcuous. Vincent .Lopez (Pathe 3707) Pathe's ace recorder has a pair bf pips In "Aren't We All" backed by "The Shepherd's Serenade," a 'siriiple melody of haunting appeal likely to buU's-'eye when M-G-M's "Devil May Care" gets into general clrcultitlbn. ' Roger Wolfe Kahn ' (Brunswick 4583) Agreeable dance stuff are "Here Am 1" revfersed by "Why Was I Born ?" Irving Mills (Brunswick 45«7) Irving Mills, one of thei most prolifle recorders in mechanicals and Brunswick's busiest "disc - cMlei*," BtTOggles^^vali^ antly to make "Stardust" sound like class and doesn't negotiate the In- cline. "Melancholy," by Joe Rlnes, the mate, is much better. Jack Denny (Brunswick 4604) Prom the Mount Royal Hotel, Montreal, this group nicely handles "Congratula- tions" and "Climbing the Stairs." PUBUX CONVINCED ON MUSIC SALES^ENLARGiNG Following satisfactory experl- nienjis in selling of sheet music and. records on a comparatively small scale in the lobbies of a handful of houses throughout the country, mostly de luxers; Publix is laying plana for- immediate expansion in the music-record field. More elaborate stands at which music and records will be sold, with ample space for- display, are. under consideration for all theatres in the Publix chain in cities arid towns with a population of 50,000 or more. Publix is experimenting at the Paramount,. Brooklyn, with a larger music couriter. At: this; house Publix has a girl in .charge,, instead of a man, .with the stand located in the outer lob- by with a larger display given to songs, and records. Publix started the idea among picture houses of selling music and records in lobbies, Loew's and otheris following suit. Convinced that the idea is a payihB proposi- tion, Publix has determined to go ahead the. expansion, but before do- ing that has checked the angle of opposition to the local music and record dealers^ . Dealers feel that while the the- atres riiight represent a certain amount of opposltibri, on the other hand the extrA plug - given Sbngs" through the sale of shieet music and records during-- the run of the pic- ture riesuits In •Increased demand f or those numbers.. With every new picture, Publix changes the songs it 9ells In the theatres. Whether a Paramount, 'VFarner Bros, or the feature ef ariy ■ oth0, cpnipartyi the same plug is iriad^. The records iPiibliz sells are made by themselves, and are .knbWn as Pu^jllx ISecords. ''Biid" \^iiig Killed Altbona, Dec. 24. Monroe "Bud!' IVaring; 34, brother of Tom and Fred Waring, ,'?W«u:- irig's Pennsylvahiaris," .was fatally Injured fViday evening- wjhen his. automobile was= struck-by a Pennsyl- vania, train at % grade, crossing, in Tyrcne, hbme^tpwri pf the Warings near here. ' „ His wife, Lois, was s,eriously in- jured in tlie .<:tash arid a woman employed by; the railroadi as cross- ing watchmari; was' al^p Irijured when struck by the >wrecked 'auto- mobile. Both are expected/to re- cover. Waring lived three hours after the accident. Bud. Waring formerly traveled with "Waring's Pennsylyaniaris" In a~busIne8S capacity but at the time of his death was eriiployed in Ty- rorie. ■ On the sariie day at- the Waring sumriier home near- Harrlsburg, T^TIl- liiam Shutter, ' Jr., was shot ■ and killed as he fled after being chal- lenged by. a state .policeman. He ^Is allejged 16' hav6 atteiripted to force entry into the hprine.-. Chi Union's Assessment Chicago, Dec. 24. To avoid a raise in annual dues,' Chicago' Federation of MusIcianB has vbted a 2% weekly assessment against all members holding steady jobs. -This will increase - yearly revenue $60,000. . , Tax - does not affect theatre or- chestras, which have been making a 2%: contribution. Levy applies to scale wages only. ' Assessment affects about 800 mu-' cisians, "Steady Jobs" construed as work three days a week. Dues remain at ?i6 a year. . Lyman's Chinese Engagement Abe Lyman's band has been hook- ed"^ through •'Tai5§""f6Fir5mrffi6iTtira^ at Sid Grauman's Chinese theatre, Hollywood, beginning Jan. 10. Lyman closes at the Club Rich- man Saturday night and Tuesday leaves for the coast. . Reported Will Osborne and band will replace the Lyman outfit. Os- borne also under exclusive broad- castlng contract to Columbia (WABC). ' ; Despite the recent receivership for the American Piano Company, the latter embracing three of the gi'ade br&nds of pianos, piano sell- ing of the medium priced instru- riierits is on the increase, a manu- facturer of that type of piano de- clares.- Mason & Hamlin, Knabe and Chickering, looked upon as class makers of the higher price instru- ments, were the subsidiaries - of the. American Company as the holding company. Several reasons are ad- vanced in. the piano trade as to the failure of the eoncern. Most prom- inently Is mentioned the business direction that centralized the sell- Irig agericy of the three concerns iri any town where each had had in-- dividual representation thi'ough a long established local music house. Tills centralization placed the thi^e brands, closely priced, in one store, allowing np real conipetltive sales talks - as previously in. separate stores for ekch, and. making the opposltlbn. instrumerit of; the saine avera,ge cbst, usriaily th© Stelriway, the bnly actual local competition to the sale-combined brands, This procedure in-time, it is said,- gradually reduced the rangp qt sell-- ing amongst the three American Pontrolled'pianos. o 1,60p,0<)0 Sheet Sale That theire has been a planp sell^ Ing Increiase: of quite recent yeax9 appears to be boime out by the phenomenal tecord sale of. the sheet music of "Sonny BoyI" from the' - Warner-Jolson picture arid publish'^ ed by Harnls. That I'eached a net of 1,600^000 cbpies,- an /unheard of ; high in the ' PbpUla;; muisic trades. The nearei^t fbrmerly ' reached was the sale of: ^Hamona," Feist ptibr lished, ta 1,200,000.^ Other highti were around $0O<60O cbrisidered big. At present ar© a , coupip ':o£ talker isbng' hits that threaten, to reach the' second high leVet p£ sheet m'ur isic'sai^S.'-'. : ^ It 'vijras 'the planp''ahgie in: con- .nectlbrt'^%ith, the American's coir lapse anl^ the sheet rimsic ppssi'* biiitles in sales that prpmpted the. inquiity pf thd, ^ctt^al cbnditibh of the piano Industry, At the PlBbe pie tile r American Piano Cpthpariyi^ 5t wad stated there is tipp mtiph of a- rusih onstraightenlijir ovit thiri|;:$ .under the: receivership for any prib tp .go-Into the . causes pf that com.T. patty's . disaster. a?he. information therefore i nebessarliy comes' -frpm the coriipariy'fit; cpmpetitors, but is considered trustworthy. ^ ^ ' Piano Nayino A presumptipn that radio! discs! and self-playing pianos have in the matter of coursb decreased the de- mand - for plain piano -playing In the. home IS decried by. the mediutt' price makers. ^They .say the ■them'? -songs of the talkers serid the buyers intbjJtpres-for the sheet riausla which they want to play at hbme. They. aisb assert, that there ,.are more plarios Iri the hpriie .currently fpr the young to practice 6h than everi*^ and that piano teaching'is stiil fore- most among the youthful In the paflpr. ' •■: - '.'.• " ; The ' fl©lf-playlriif, pr. player at- tachirient In pianps. has^ faded away as' a loss, tp ~ sheet niusic sales is another etatement.. It is said^ that but two grades of. self-players have' been on the market, the "Ford and' the Roll Rpype.'' The cheaper kind is of the foot wprK bperatipri,-whilib the highest piriced and folirid bnljT in the honies of the' very well to do are the electrically - operated players. With the gradual dlsusp of the foot puriiping kind; that piano became a, straight: played In- strument, ' whll©^ thb' VRblls Rbyice'* sort, the makers aUege^ are not of sufficient quantity, to cause any music publisher worry. • over sheet, sales. An estimate of the number of pianos in American homes would not be made by the piano man. He said there are no reliable figures available. Upon being Informed of the prevailing high record sales of Bheet iHVBi?!, :«s^arew"^ft6irti5ii=^^^^^ the variance between the record of 1,600,00 for "Sunny Boy" as against the more usual high of, between 500,000 and 800,000 sales, to bring out that there may.be hundreds of thousands more pianos than these sales at their liighest indicate, and that the music publishers have not discovered as yet what their peak sale can go to.