TV Radio Mirror (Jul - Dec 1961)

THE LISTENING POST Astaire's new venture: records. • Well, here we go, putting a needle to the groove for the first time. If that sounds like a pun, it's only partly true, 'cause mainly we'll be applying the needle to the record, in order to listen and report what we hear. As you probably know, there's a lot of noise in the record business, but what you will read in the following paragraphs is, as nearly as possible, sound. Van Cliburn, one of the few American phenomena the Russians can rightly claim they discovered, has a new RCA Victor LP out this month, called "My Favorite Chopin" (LM 2497). Victor is proud to announce that it's his first solo album and that it features the wellknown Chopin "encore" pieces immediately recognized even by pop music lovers . . . they predict huge sales and increased adulation for the young pianistic Texas genius. If you can believe in surveys, Jensen, the phonograph-needle and what-not manufacturer, has polled the nation's teenagers and come up with the fact that 78 percent of those in their early 20s have turned from rock 'n' roll to music they shrugged off as "square" when they were "digging the real sounds." At the same time, a report from Philadelphia has it that over 500 middle-aged adults turned out for a "Twist" dance contest, and night-club band leaders have been forced to include the r & r novelty in their repertoire, sandwiched between "Tea for Two" and "Night and Day." Bobby Rydell has been learning show business from no less a performer than George Burns. The long-time vaudeville entertainer and his apprentice did a soft-shoe routine at Las Vegas' Sahara Hotel that wowed 'em. Incidentally, a panel of disk jockeys was asked recently what teen favorite of today they thought would have the stature of Crosby or Sinatra by 1970. Two of the four picked Bobby. Sam Cooke has a new LP out this month called "My Kind of Blues," for RCA Victor. Sam is gaining new fans every day, especially with his more mature style. If you'd like to catch him in person, fly down to San Juan for his opening October 25 at El San Juan. Chips off the old blocks this month include Jim Mitchum (son of Bob), who's now recording for 20th-Fox, and Peter Duchin (son of the late pianist Eddy Duchin), who will be sitting at the 88 for Decca. Fred Astaire, durable dancer-singer extraordinaire, has formed his own record company, and his first LP, just released, features the sound tracks of his three award-winning TV spectaculars. Titled "Fred Astaire Medleys," it'll be released on the Choreo label. Other artists signed by Astaire include Carol Lawrence, star of Broadway's "West Side Story," and a new singer, Bill Cunningham. Stereo on FM radio is the talk of the record industry. With over 80 FM radio stations figured to be broadcasting in stereo by the end of the year, record men are looking hopefully, even jubilantly, to the new medium as their best salesman for stereo records. There's only one hitch: Even though you may have some fancy FM tuning gear, chances are you'll still have to buy an FM stereo adapter at a cost of roughly $50 to $150. But once the ball gets rolling, watch out — 'cause stereo broadcasting is definitely here. And it sounds great ! Bobby Vee, seventeen-year-old Lib erty singer whose "Take Good Care of My Baby" is "On the Record's" Pop Single of the Month, will be featured in an upcoming movie titled "Swingin' Along." The film originally was called "Double Trouble" and had no music, but the producers decided it needed tuning-up and that Bobby was just what the doctor ordered. The Chipmunks — Alvin, Simon and Theodore — star in the new TV show which debuted October 4 on CBS-TV. Called The Alvin Show, the half-hour animated cartoon feature will bring to the home screen one of the most successful recording trios in history. Brainchild of David Seville (real name: Ross Bagdasarian), Alvin and his friends will be cutting more records for Liberty, and previous Chipmunk LPs will be re-packaged to reflect their new TV personality. Well, if you're in this crazy music business long enough, you'll hear just about everything. The latest is a staggering announcement from Mercury records that they've signed a new artist with a $40,000 wardrobe and blue hair! His name is said to be Ali Baba and the wardrobe consists of thousands of rhinestones on silk and satin. Mercury execs are not yet sure whether he can sing . . . but they figure, with blue hair, how can he miss? My hair's turning white already. Elvis, the Big E, hitting top again after two so-so-records. 80C