Variety (April 1933)

28 VARIETY RADIO tiiies^ay, April 4, J933 Air line News By Nellie Revell Three In 10 Years Frank Black, NBC's ffeneral musical director. Bays that during the 10 years he has been hearing auditions, only three radio aspirants ever reached the top as a result of these hearings. Sings, Too Eleanor Holm, Olympic swimming champ, may return from Hollywood to appear on a radio series sponsored by a bathing suit manufacturer. The champ now sings. Scattered Former personnel of the NBC Artists Service Is pretty well scattered. Phil Ponce, Ed Scheulng, Mort Mllman, Herman Schaad and Ken Dolan are in business for themselves; Bill Murray is with the William Morris office, and Bill Card is with Mort Milman. The only one remaining of the original set-up la John Babb. Official Frown When Commissioner Mulrooney came to CBS for his 'Inside Story' broadcast, six announcers appealed to him to have speeding tickets squashed. The commissioner frowned. Air Vet at 12 Lester Jay. appearing on WOR, WABC and WEAF, is only 12 years old, but has been on the air five years. In the Family Tommy McLaughlin has eight aunts, living in towns between Seattle and Bucyrus, O. Each sends him fan mail after every broadcast, making suggestions and requests. You can imagine! Just a Picture All the Four Eton Boys ever saw of that famous English school was a picture of an Eton jacket. They hail from small towns around St. Louis. Half the quartet are brothers, Charlie and Jack Day. Art Gentry and Earl Smith are the other two. Short Shots Weber and Fields will be the next guests of Edwin C. Hill...Floyd Neale, that announcer at WOR with the pure white overcoat, has ac- quired a bright blue roadster—so what?.. .Johnny Marvin Is playing Mlddletown, N. Y., this Week.. .Morton Downey, the Irish tenor, likes to sing 'Ell Eli'... Annette Hanshaw can't read a note of music and sings t^jxiir&ly by ear.. .Ruth Etting has a 160-acre farm near David City, Neb., her birthplace.. .Frances Langford will be Abe Lyman's Luclcy Strike vocalist every second Thursday.. .Charlie Carllle, Columbia warbler, has one of the toughest assignments on the air. He's on six programs, three of them commercial, each reauiring a different type of song.. .William O'Neal, tenor, is the prize hat-loser of Columbia studios, always remem- bering to forget where he left his headpiece...Ben Alley's middle name Is Deber, given him by his elder brother.. .WINS' 'Jazzless Sunday' isn't any more, the Arcadia dance orchestra furnishing rhythm twice on the Sabbath.. .Ben Alley and bride axe seeing the local sights and the shows, now that Ben's temporarily divorced from air work...Blng Crosby, Kate Smith and Morton Dovimey never took a singing lesson In their lives... Barbasol, with Singin' Sam, goes from three to a single broadcast weekly for the summer...The quartet on the lew Richfield Oil program Is the Four Clubmen formerly featured exclusively on CBS...Jess Pugh, who was the,Old Hunch on Prince Albert, is in Chicago appearing on the Northwestern Yeast program... Tony Stanford, NBC production man, is back on the job after a tonsllectomy.. .Bourjols is changing to a musical program, having auditioned last week with Shilkret, Mary McCoy and Frank Parker.. .Evelyn and May belle Ross, New York girls, are Do and Re of Columbia's 'Do Re Ml Girls', and Ann Balthy of Brooklyn Is Ml. They are former vaudeviUlans.. .Fritz Kreitzer, Guy Lombardo's pianist, is now called "Enemy' by the bandmen.. .'Sleep', Fred Warlng's signa- ture song, was adapted from an old- hymn, 'Visions of Sleep', written 40 years ago. Renewak Bayer's Aaperin. Has added another IS weeks, effective April 16, for Its Album of Fa- miliar Music on NBC. Sunday night schedule retains same setup of 46 stations and talent. Worcester Salt Co. Extends its Saturday s. .nza (Paul Vlc- torlne's band) on the blue (WJZ) link for six weeks. Takes the contract up to May 16. Union Central Life Insurance of Cincinnati. Has renewed through CBS' Chicago office its 'Roses and Drums' programs for 42 broadcast^ starting April 23. National Tea. Renews dally program over WBBM, Chicago, for 13 weeks starting March 27. Remington Rand. Has slx- natured for another 28 weeks over 16 CBS stations. Retains its thrice weekly spots and Cowboy Tom Roundup. Chappel Bros., Inc. (Ken-L- Rations). Contracted for an- other 62 weeks on NBC's basic blue ink. Makes it the fourth year for this commercial's 'Rin Tin ,Tln' thriller. Reid Murdock & Co. Whole- sale grocer of Chicago has ex- tended its Sunday afternoon 'mystery tenor' affair to Oct. 24. Pads the-run on NBC to 39 weeks. Union Life Insurance Co. of Clncy. A 52-week CBS con- tract expired last Sunday (25) but is continuing 'Roses And Drums' to June 18 when olf tlie air for the summer. Program due back Sept. 3 with an in- crease of from 17 to 26 sta- tions. Luft & Co., makers of Tan- gee lipstick. Four additional weeks on CBS, which takes the program with Keller, Ross .& Sargeant to April 27. Spratt's Patent, Ltd. Added three more weeks to its Don Carney's dog chats, or until May 8. R. L. Watkint Co. (Dr. Lyon's toothpaste) shifted its half-hour stanza to Sunday night (0 p. m. EST) (and added 13 weeks to the net- work's contract, effective with April 2, Musical affair, with Gene Rodermich, Jean Sar- geant and Frank Luther, stays as is. Radio Reports Scrambled Notes Marie Gerard writes that she had to give up something for Lent, so she gave up her husband.. .George Beuchler has been making records since leaving the Columbia mike.. .Arthur Tracy has an accom- panist lug around that accordion.. .Pauline Alport, pianist, and Aland Lee Reiser, piano team, have been signed by WOR for a year.. .H. V. Kalten- bom doesn't prepare a script. Speaks extemporaneously, referring to notes... Manllo Ovidio, WOR baritone, is accompanied at the piano by his maternal grandmother.. .Dick Mansfield, CBS band leader, is a ringer for Vallee... Elsie Hitz dons horn-rimmed specs to read her script... A new commercial goes on WOR April 16 sponsored by Edros Natural Products.. .Edwin C. Hill has never talked from a platform and won't be lured onto one...Dick Powell Is going to play vaudeville around New fork...The Wheatena program leaves the air In May...Jane Pickens vlll have an afternoon solo spot on NBC... Solly Ward's Esso show on CBS will have a new author. ..Henry Lloyd, of The Sizzlers, has written a fox-trot ballad: 'You Took My Breath Away", dedicated to a mouth wash.. .Philip F. Whitten, formerly in the sales department of CBS, is now with WINS...Ruth Cleary, Johnny Marvin's accompanist. Is a brunette double for Janet Gaynor.. .Frank Luther writes radio columns for the fun of it...Champ listener among air artists is Slngln' Sam (Harry Frankel) who spends hours dally glued to a receiver.. .Floyd Thomas Buckley played with Pearl White in th6 movies.. .'Masters of Lieder' is the name of a new program on WEVD which features Robert Norton, baritone.. .Don Hlggins Is now CBS night news editor.. .Herb Glover, CBS director of newsbroadcasts, was granted an audience with the Pope last week in Rome and persuaded His Holiness as to a special broadcast for the U. S Eugene Lerl, of the Villa Eugene, was once head waiter at the St. Regis, and is an accomplished musician.. .Ted Husing has coined a new word, 'sportrait'. Says it's a word picture of an athletic event...CBS international remote broadcasts over the week« end brought religion from Rome, sports from London and music from Honolulu.. .Guy Lombardo will play the Ivy Ball at U of Penn April 7. Howard Petrle, NBC announcer, and Alice Wood, hostess of tho same network, will be married April 21 at the Little Church Around the Corner ...Frank Parker for three months at the World's Fair.. .Immediately after the broadcast Friday night of the 'Charlie Chan' program the entire cast sent a telegram of good wishes to Earl Derr Blggers. who Is dangerously 111 on the Const. RENEWALS LEAP IN TOP WEEK SINCE FALL Paige Moves Up Los Angeles, April 3. Raymond Paige, musical and pro- gram director for KHJ,. becomes musical director general for the Columbia Don Lee Coast chain. He will continue to operate from KHJ. Mahlon Merrick, formerly with KPRC, comes to KHJ as program director. ALLEN COMPLETES 26 Linlt retires the Fred Allen Pun day night show with this Sunday's (9) program, completing a 26-week run. Corn Products Corp. had been considering shifting the stanza to some other night In the week for the summer, but finally decided to use the coin for the plugging Its Kre-Mel dessert product on a three times a week afternoon schedule RICHFIELD COUNTRY CLUB With Ernest Glendennipg, Alex. Morrison, Betty Barthel and Jack Golden Talk, Songa, Band 30 Mins. COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York If there was one thing the debut program (31) of this series drove home it was the commercial con- nection. There was no escaping it. Within the space of every five min- utes listeners were reminded that Richfield Oil, its service stations and Golden Rule dealers were respon- sible for Ernest Glendenning's over- exuberant m.c'ing, Alex. Morrison's two or three minutes' expatiatlon on the golf swing, Betty Barthel's quavering over the blues and Jack Golden's llstenable danoe music. There was also a quartet for a cou- ple of peppery number? and to sup- ply the background effects for the country club Idea. What Richfield has here in the way of talent could be built into a snapplly entertaining show. At least the Initial broadcast gave such indication.' Essentially needed is comedy material to fit into pro- ceedings, the applying of the brakes upon (glendenning's effervescent style, a little instruction on how to eliminate the wheeze from mike de- livery and a more subtlety contrived weaving in of the plug. It's Glendenning's first air try, and that probably goes for Morri- son, too. With a little experience there Is no reason why the legit player shouldn't make his person- ality felt on the air. As for the golf pro, his remarks about swaying the hips sufficed to combine a tidbit of instruction with a contribution of atmosphere. Morrison also made mention of a golf Instruction book or something to be obtained for the asking at any Richfield service sta- tion. Though not so impressive on the warbling. Miss Barthel has a down south dialect that could be capital- ized for comedy, with the proper material. The knack is there. The episode at the service station, coming midway In the program, was too talky and draggy for sock ef- fectiveness. Tacking on of a blow- out bit not only made it a double muff but made it tougher to dove- tail the sales interlude into the en- tertainment sequence. Same talent setup carries this Richfield message over a Columbia hookup Monday nights. Last night (3) was Its CBS debut. Marks the first time a commercial has* used the repeat program Idea on the two chains for 100% coverage. Odec. Hope that beer will nudge busi- ness Is still strong in the ranks of the air advertisers. Network clients, who since the banking moratorium have been holding back on renewals, fulfilled the wish to some extent last week by staging a little busi- ness rush of their own. NBC and Columbia garnered 11 extensions, the largest number achieved during any one week since early last fall. In addition to the renewals were two new accounts, Philip Morris clgaret and Kre-Mel, an output of the Corn Products Corp. NBC has three other accounts it deems hot enough for possible signaturing this week. One is a household furnishings account, the second a food package and the third a deodorant. In the Columbia sector negotiations are on for a summer proprietory drug requisite, an eat- able brand and a paint account. The sharp spurt came after three weeks of doldrums for both chains. PAT BOMACHELLrs ORCH. Sustaining WGY, Schenectady Orchestra has been broadcasting recently on luncheon-hour pro- grams. -Apparently a local unit, it is smaller than the hotel bands usu- ally heard on this feature. Plays fast numbers In snappy style, but is not so forte on the slow ones, which predominate. Neither instrumenta- tion nor arrangements click with the slow stuff. Effect obtained is not smooth. Pianist sounds good, and Billy Sherman and Ted Wolgat do the vocals. A trio also sings, but this seems to take too much away from the orchestra's instrumental strength. Combo should realize Its limita- tions and forget what the larger bands do. Jaco. JEAN WAKEFIELD'S ATTEMPT San Francisco, April 3, Jean Wakefield, blues singer, got herself into a publicity mess last week when she became despondent after a few drinks in her apartment and took poison. Before swallowing the lethal dose Miss Wakefield made a few. phone calls and tipped off friends who dashed to her place and hurried her off to emergency hospital where she was treated. She will recover. Singer was formerly staff mem- ber of KFRC and was last with Tom Gerun's band at the Bal Tabarln here and Korrest Club, New Orleans WOODBURY'S RADIANT REVUE With Al and Lee Reiser, Jack Arthur COMMERCIAL WOR, Newark Woodbury's ad story here revolves around its brand of Radiant face powder and to entice the femme fans into giving it an attentive ear the manufacturer has had whipped together a fitting and pleasant melange of entertainment. Though framed along conventional lines the program shows good balance in the allocation of the numbers. To the barytonio Jack Arthur are appor- tioned the romantic ditties while the livelier pop tunes get their innings during the Interludes shared by the studio band and the Reiser duo's pianos. It all makes nice listening for 30 minutes of a late Sunday afternoon. Both the smooth, melodic pipes of Arthur and skillful Reiser digits are well known on this indie kilo- cycle. Mere announcement of their names assures the commercial a substantial following from the start. And the piano team particularly can always be depended upon to come through with a performance rating it on a par with the best of them seeping into a loudspeaker from a New York point of origin. Blurbs are smartly couched, with each intrusion tellies of the com- ing fashions In hats, textiles or gowns and then preceding to dove- tall the point that Woodbury's will make It easy for the face to be in keeping with the changes in hat and garment styles. Sample box of the powder Is offered for the writing. Odec. Adams' $3,706 Verdict Over Dutch Masters Jack Adams' two years of litiga- tion with the Consolidated CJJgar Co. over the cancellation of the Dutch Masters' program, culminated last week in a verdict of $3,706 for the Adams Broadcasting Service, Inc. This is a producing organization Adams previously operated. Award was made by Justice Valente in the New York Supreme Court. Adams Is now in charge of the artists' service at W-MCA_Naw Yorlc Adams contended that Dutch Masters had contracted with him, through Young & Rubicam, ad agency, for production of 62 weekly programs on CBS and that with the 35th broadcast the commercial sud- denly decided to call it off. Move, said Adams, left him holding the bag full of a sheaf of contracts. By shifting several people to other shows, Adams averred he was able to reduce the original obligation of $20,000 to $G,000. It was the latter sum he brought suit for. Following the verdict for Adams the defendant asked for a 10-day stay and got It. STORY OF COFFEE With Henrik Willem Van Loon Talk COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York A&P has taken a special series of evening Qpots pn NBC to plug cof-> fee brands and has brought in the author Van Loon to glorify the cof- fee bean. As usual. Van Loon makes his subject interesting. In the first series (31) Van Loon traced the history of the mocha particle back to the Romans and Saracens, and as his tale wended through the centuries he kept re- peating his theme—that the coffee bean was the 'most social little creature that ever happened on this globe of ours.' The history of Eu- rope of the past three centuries, h» opi;iedj was written in the coffea houses, where the aroma ond quaff- ing of the brew released the fiood- gates of the Intellect and spurred the free expression and exchange of Ideas. Not only that descanted Van Loon, but certainly three-fifths of the world's literature 'rose- from coffee cup's.' Van Loon : terspersed his history tracing with some pungent bits of humor, such as his retailing of the coffee snoopers and sniffers who prevailed in Germany in the 18th century when that country made the bean a government mq^poly. A colorfully romantic tale this popu- lar educator spun through the 12 minutes he was on. Balance of the quarter-hour Is taken up by the colonel and the judge of the A&P air staff to put the bee on for a contest the chain stores had hooked up with this spe- cial series. Prizes offered for the best compositions on the theme of why A&P can sell Its coffee so cheaply. Even if they don't win some cash. It's a Jigsaw puzzle re- ward for all participating. Odec. GABRIEL HEATTER News Commentator Sustaining WMCA, New York Only handicap to keep this fellow from progressing beyond the small- time air ranks is his delivery. It's a combliiatlon of blustery diction, which causes frequent stumbling and faulty articulation, and a tla?© of dialect. Otherwise he offers a frank analysis and attack upon the news topic at hand, a deft facility for ripping aside the bunk and sham surrounding a current problem, and an incisive grasp of the facts con- nected with a subject. Heatter's comments take him over the day's news highlights with an occasional dip into some human in- terest item. His viewpoint on local, national and international politics Is liberal. For that listening ele- ment which makes a habit of this kilocycle Heatter will be a neat fit. Spotting usually given him is 10 p.m., E.S.T., and it's every night in the week. Odec Wheatenaville Off April 20 Frank Knight's Wheatenaville sketches will call It a run with the April 20 broadcast, Juve serial has been on NBC since, last August. CHAUKlCEY PARSONS 'Songs for Sale' Sustaining WIBO, Chicago A pleasant 15 minutes Is provided by Chauncey Parsons, a tenor with a romantic note In his voice. This program Is unpretentious, but weaves a bit of continuity through the songs. It's a Friday night 7:30 local. Parsons sings with the Sinclair Minstrels and is pretty well known in Chicago radio circles. Land,