Variety (Aug 1932)

42 VARIETY mHlMMlPlf.|l«M.ll^lMBMilliMlllHMBt«m RADIO CHATTER ^■^■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■iiHimmBTjnnni* SMlward Raymond of Ware, Masia., member ot the Walklkl Serenaders «;nd leaider of Raymond's orchestra, both WTAG and WORCJ'^featureo, walked down' the aisle with Miss Helen M. Stelleer of Bayonne, N.J., on Aug. 8, ■ Pollowlhe the merger of the 'Standard' and Times.' a twice dally program of news Items Js being broadcast by WNBH. New Bedford. L. C. (Buck Private) McCollum has made a hit with hla weeldy fea- ture on WCAX, Burlington, Vt,. en- tiled 'Highlights of the Uost Bat- talion.* _ ^ William Scottl's Pierre Roof. N. orchestra are on the air five nights a week: Tues. and Friday, WOR; Wednesday over WJZ; Thursday and Friday. WEAF, . Jerry Branon, tfehor, who nad been touring and broadcasting (on a WEAF-NBC network> with Hal -Kemp's band, jguested with <3brdie Randall's orchestra over WGT. Branon was a.regular w'W'bler oyer; WGX at one time. Phil Rapp collabs with Georgle ^Ice on his comedy ^riateriaL Eddie Conne, the Sound Studios: *xec, and his wife, Bemlce Petkere, aongwrlteress - of liUllaby - of the Xioaves.' etc, are now slumming In' a swank apt In the Delmonlco's ' hoteL' : The CBS Funnyboners drove In from BaltHrribrfe to "New York all night Thursday to make their•T'rl- day ' a. m. Oxol broadcast. Theyj closed at the Hippodrome, Baltl- ihore, Thursday nl^t. Han-let Cruise (Kemmer). KFAB, lias gone CBS for the PennzoH pro- gnsti' ■ ■ ■ ■ KXyz, Houston, ftanted permla- rmUMPni fkttNTAI. MAONBSIA FRAHCES lANGFORD HAMHATTAIf taSLOmOSS. W0»—W!ifl—<t>y« M r. M. Ato» Wmpin fluto mOf. slon by FRC to take over KTLC and Increase power from 100 to 250 watts. KL.O, Ogden, moving to Salt lAke City, Don Smith, isringer on KGW, came to Seattle for a week on the stage with Jack Crawford's band presen- tation and was held over for second Henry Francis Parks leaving Oroheum, • Seattle, as organist, readying to go on air at local sta- tions lii organ numbers and Coffee Dan Idea of outside talent partlcl- ritlng. Hours to be midnight to a.m. probably over KOL and KVI. Harry <5olub, ex-RKO , mgr. at Salt Lake, now director of public relations with KDTIi. appointed chairman of music and arts com- mittee of local chaml>er of com- merce. Golub sings. " KSIi sponsoring 'Green Cathe- drals* as its share Of 'Around the Network.' Hook-up Joins four sta- tions. Sidney Fox, president, and Phillip G, Lasky, director of broadcasting of KDYli, flew to San Francisco to complete Aet-up for NBC. Beth Whitney, former KDTL Breakfast Club entertainer and songwriter, had a small part la 'Big Broadcast;' Par pic. , Marvin Scott, local piano wlz, will lead the band ,at the Green Dragon- Nlte spot opens Aug.. 81. Scott is- present band leader at Saltair. Val Valente will wield the baton when the Cocoanut . Grove dance ballroom opens. Valente Is at pres- ent in Portland. ' Day after she was handed her walkLig papers at NBC, Rita Lane, soprano, was recalled, and remains on staJC. Saul Slett lias joined KBFC as piano soloist. Qualwr Oats - retdrns Van and Don, "The Two Prof^sssors.' to the air. via NBC, Fxlsep; Aug. 29, after two iponths' absence; Pair liave been vacatlonhvg Sn the east. Into vaude and fell Into radio worK In Detroit. . ^ Everett Cobb, formerly .WISN, now with WTMJ. Charles Merceln, WISN, Is an ad- vertising man when hot appearing in radio plays. His wife, Eleanor Butler Mercelp, Is dramatlft coach for the station. Marjorte C^rossland, known to Broadway, appearing in WISN plays. Bob Stevenson, playwright and- Minneapolis'Community Fund piub- llcity manager, broadcasting Over WCCO on Intimate local news hap- penings as plug for fund. WCPIi has signed two singers, Carl Formes, tenor, and Loreria An- derson, winner of Atwater Kent con- test Miss Anderson Is a repeat mtesdnf,' Aagii0tv23, 1932 Sondi J. B. Roberts, WAPI. Birmingham, announcer, has high hopes of going around the world on a freighter. Delia Dean Orr has returned to her old Job at WKBC, Birmingham, as program drector, taking Jimmy Merrill's place, latter to devote bis full time to standing before the mike. Giene Austin made personal ap- pearance over WH AS during Ws engagement at the Rlalto, Louis- ville. Norman Albee added to WHAS staff Of operators. ARRANGERS OUT AMONG FRISCO STAFF CHANGES ar- Mid-West ' BfiMidlck, tiowuslng Columbia fa- cilities, will possibly switch to NBC this falL Conversations are In process. WTMJ now using the .moving CoU mike. Jack Bundy, WTMJ, started out to be ah en^neer but flnatly went JARRETT NBC ARTIST. THIS WEEK (AUa 18) NEW YORK AND TO BE HELD OVER 2nd WEEK Selected as Leading Juvenile in BROWN and HENDERSON'S New Musical Production "FORWARD MARCH" San Francisco, Aug. 22. . NBC wOl drop Its staff of rangers, letting some out entirely and putting others In musicians' chalr^. Only new arrangements to be used wlU be on commercials with the advertiser paying the fee. Jerry Stewartsoa is the first to get bis i blue sllp.^ - Piano team of Dell Perry and Os-: car T'oung, on air. locally for three years. Is also off NBC. with Edna Fischer and Newell Chase replac- ing. ^Bapry Thornpson and. Bill Kuser, ex^^KPO announcers, out, with Roger Krupp ^mlng. from KTAB Sept 1 to Join the NBC spieler staff. 'Caltana Chrlstoph and Louise Gale, .former KFRC vocalists, are now doing a program apiece for the network. Rita XAhe, recently g^yen her notice, was recalted after one day and is back as staff artist Little Bits fhi^m the Air CBS sequences of programs on WABC stand out. Whether by de- sign or accidental, the commercials aM sustaining, as -assorted on WABC, shape \xp better In variety and quality. While radio audiences have their favorites, and twirl dials at will— they used to flsh around for Rudy Vallee during hi* brealc-lns on WMCA. and the lesser stations-- there's no: question 1>ut that the general quality and routining ot one or another key station la an advan- tage all- around to that company. IC WABC manages to first command dial-in attention, and If the radio Is left operating so thait the quality la on the same pai*, It's a break for the rest of the commercial sponsors thAt evening.: . The public's inherent laziness was the downfall of phonograph records, as is Well Jcnown. It's too easy to tune In on a- station and let It rest there; too much trouble changing disks. And similarly,, the bridge players or comfy-chair newspaper readers will Just as leave nofbother getting lip to twirl dials If one sta- tion services satisfactorily. Jay C. Flippen and his Fllppen- cleiB on WABC are okay light com- edy for IS minutes. Flippen will land commercially sooA, or should. That goes also for' those energetic 4 Etop Boys in support ; TIm Chestsrfisld Street Singer, as Arthur Tracy Is now billed, more than satisfies during hi* lS.«>mInute radio stint on CBS. The program is smoothly, paced, sans much in* terruptlon £nd ballyhoo,- and is su- perb Institutional ballyhoo for the ciggle firm. . That 'Merry Widpw* medley was a 'corking orchestral Interlude, as was 'Allah's Holiday' and the finale 'Star Dtist,' which Tracy revived vocally. fl« also registered with the Hebrew chant 'Rachem.' delly. ered In floe voice. There Isn't much ostentatious showmanship about this Friday night Interlude, but It's. showmanly delivered none.- the less. That cheerio finale of 'see you then,' In breezy, colloquialism, upon herald- ing Ruth Etting on the morrow. Is as effective a come-again JnTltatlon a« If It had been superlatively heralded. They're learning, these radio ad- vertisers. Chicago. A!ug, 22. Ralph Wonders Is In town giving the. local liranch of the Columbia Artists Service the onc4 over be fore making several contemplated Changes. Particularly slkted for an overhauling Is the - band depart- men. managed at the present time by Bob Sanders. Wonders figuring -on splitting the' band selling assignment be tween two men, whicU'Would keep One around Chicago and the other constantly on the road making prospect contacts and scouting for likely mike material. Airiiig Soidi . Chicago, Aug. 22.' Eddie South, colored maestfo, gets his first network station airing over WMAQ with Ills booking Into. Via Lago cafe. Previously South was heard over the independent WIBO. NBC Ousts Kb^ Chicago; Aug. 22. Jean Paul King, one of the vet eran announcers of the Chicago area, was suddenly let out last week at NBC. He will freelance. ANSON WEEKS' BAD GAM San Francisco, Aug. 22. - Anson Weeks Is hobbling about on a cane suffering from an Injured foot. He directed his recent Lucky Strike program from a wheel chair parked In front of the band, at the Hotel Mark Hopkins. Francis, Day &, H unter have taken Bolton Music's 'When We Ride On the Merry-Go-Round' for England 'We're Alt With You, Mister Hoover/ by Robert Mack, is one of the first campaign songs out steal comedy fa,vorlteB; such as 'Te^ for Two,' 'Say It With Music,' etc» Vhloh don't hurt. The Burns ad spiel has also evolved a rather cute libretto of a thumbnail dtalog sketch, .laid at th« N. T. Yacht Club, wlfh, sundry; -voices engaging In a not too artlfl^ clal bit of' palaver which Ingenue ously, yet not too subtly, works itx the plugs tor the Beega,rs, Jaolc Bsnny was In jbHoA form on last week's program, having evolved sundry effective gags for pjugging^ Canada Dry; In line with the recent trend toward a humorous plug for; the sponsor, he Is sugar-coating and making palatable what la usually a boresome Interlude In the best 6t programs. Sucli a crack as when he paralleled the backfield members of a football team and added 'a nlckelback for yoyr eihpty bottle ofl Canada Dry,' serve their purposo satisfactorily without bothering anybody. E:thel Sfautta also did well by T Lost the Man I Found.' George Ol- sen's music istarted off nicely, too. with a foxtrot arrangement of 'Llebestraume,Mncluding a little ot 'Samson and BelUah' In the ar- ransrement. ' However, thosS. prop liaughs by, the studio personnel still ring blaiu It's strictly an Intra-istudlo bullder> upper, and highly artificial In its audible microphonic . effect The stuff doesn't need that pulmotorlnff to register. Cbunt«M Olga AJbani's Til Never Be the Same' on ClUes Service wa« plenty pkay, too. Paul Whtteman's Pontlac halt hour was chock full of variety. Everybody had an inning. Roy Bargy and Bamona 'at the grands, JAck Fulton, Jr., Red McKenzte, the Rhythm Boys and the rest, not forgetting the maestro'a own re^ markable orchestrations. All the arrangements wer« par- ticularly noteworthy. Jacques Fray and Mario Brag.- giottl are a bit too Choplhlana for best pop appeal on WABC. That was Just what they did, with a long Chopin Introductory when,. If they lightened It np a llUIe, as with their flnallng, Tou're Blae^' and 'Hold My Hand,' they'd more, than hold their own .against the lighter competlsh at that late hour of the evening. At 10;15-10.30, the stayer-uppers are partial to the more rhythmic stuff and, while it might 1)e deduced that anything In contrast to the bands had a chance on that very fact alone. Ifs too tough an assign- ment tor Just two pianos. After all there's lots of good late boiir full symphony stuff so they're not filling a void along those lines. Frey and, Braffflottl axe still In herently of the lighter school and their formula programing of "heav ler' opening stuff ought to be eased up. However, there can be no dis- pute with their corking arrange ments. Burns and Allen have made their 'dumbness' a fine art: While close analysts of their style of delivery and material may wax captious over the certain formula puhclies when the cute Gracie Allen socks home a kicker, the fact remains that this tealm has won dial-concentration for the Robert Burns cigars in a highly flattering degree. That the material must be con- stantly fresh Is the more to their credit, and of course George (Nat) Burns' swell foiling for his partner- wife is not the least of it That goes double for the Guy Lombardo dahsapatlbn, It's as amazing that the comedi- ans ha-ve maintained their excellent pace aa Is the distinctive unction with which the Lombardos Invest the Burns programs. Unction and dance music may sound somiewiiat awry as a coupling for a dance com- bination, but nonetheless it applies, as the band at no time permits It- self, to dfviate from a high standard of program and performance. Ttiat's no easy task with the highly com- petitive clance band field, but the Lombardos evidence judtclousneas In the selection of their songs, In- cluding certain time-honored mu- ANSON WE{KS An4 His ORCHESTRA . MOW nr Stal TKAB AT HOTEU MARK HOPKINS SAW FBANCHiBOO B(M«eMttt«* Ml*iitly c.ii.a. coAisv.. mcTwoBK ' X«eky StrlkA Daaee Hotw Benl-Keatlilr Exclusive MBtiagaamBt Vsale CorpontloB «t Anmlea JACK DiNNYi AND ORCHESTRA Waldorf'Astoria HoM ' Victor Rscerds Qmm 8af«<y Rssor ProBram Lueky fttriit* Dane* Ho«f ' Management M. C Jk. Uaster Without Cerenumy' «a tiMt ' D«nt Tmmm' '• B«T«e M. B. C 0tatlofk0 CoMt: Network • • Marie The Biggest Smallest Attraction on Radio and Slage MwOlllilnfl—Sttti Clilcaii*, Aao. » ■ IMr;: WGBEB-SIMOM lOHN HEVLl (TENOR) After 18 weeka on WOR, am tak- ing a vaoatlon. 1o resiioM mr aotlvUtM en ^e air labor Day. Fermimeiit AddiaM: 729 AmstW- inm A»e., Now "gortt