Variety (April 1933)

SO VARIETY B ADIQ Tnesdaj, April 4, 1933 gllll«lKI»J«lMlHMKMMlllUlllBIHKlMH»MlHIHIimiTna n RADIO CHATTER East About $10,000 damage the result of a fire In the studio of WAMC, Anniston, Ala. Station in the Ala- bama hotel and blaze confined to studio. M. H. Aylesworth and his Chicago NBC chief, Niles Trammel, made one of those sudden trips together to Washington. Dave Rubinoff Is having himself routed for one-nighter dance dates. With Jeff Sparks at WAAT, Jer- sey City, no longer. Dale Kennedy, program director, and Walter Keller are splitting his spieler assignment between them. J. A. Murphy Is doing 'The Coun- try Store' show over WCAU, Phllly with Mabel Paige. Murphy Is also authoring the continuity. Radio Syndicate, New York City, has taken over the mike and vnude direction of Anthony Pescl and is billing him as 'The Wandering Min- strel.' Bob Taplinger, CBS p.a., la now delivering his squibs by taxi. Cecil, Warwick and Cecil is still auditioning the 'Old Bill' script for the Warner account, with NBC the LEONi BELASCO N.B.C. Wed. 9;30, E.S.T. Woodbury Hour C«B<S* Tues.! 12:30-1 A.M. Sat.: 11:30>12 M. I4I0HTI.T ST. MORITZ HOTEL, N. Y. Bole Dlreotloii HEBMAN BEBNIB 1619 Bioadwar< N«w York SOCIETY'S CHOICE EMIL COLEMAN AND HIS OBOHESTBA NOW APPEARING CARLTON ^ CLUB • lOO .WBST 64TH ST.. MEW TOBK THE GREEK AMBASSADOR OF GOOD-WILL GEORGE GIVOT OLD GOLD WABO EVKBT WBDNESDAT. 10-10.30 P. M., COAST TO COAST Sole Direction HERMAN BERNIE 1619 Broadway, New York KIT-CAT LONDON ROT FOX BAND B.B.C. Network Decca Records ABE LYMAN AND HIS CALIFORNIA ORCHESTRA Columida Uroadcastlns System PHILLIP'S DENTAL MAGNESIA Tues.. n rd., Thars., 8:46 to • r.U. E.S.T. COAST-TO-COAST W A B C destined release, it and when okayed. NBC is playins around with a 'Doodle Sockers' idea (a WLW, Clncy, origination), with hearings for the stanza given to Fields and Hall, Irene Taylor, Ten Eyke, a Tommy Bockwell discovery, and a seven-piece instrumental unit. Among the latest candidates for the Fleischmann Thursday night session submitted by NBC are Je- rome Mann, Olive Olsen, Bob Hope, Carlton and Ballon, Edith Evans and Loretta Saver. Mills-Rockwell, notwithstanding the release sent out by the CBS press dept., . say that the Mills Brothers will not go on as a sus- taining feature following their re- tirement by Chlpso. Westinghouse switches Its Oc- tavlus Roy Cohen mystery to 7:15 EST Mon., Wed. and Sat. nights beginning with April 10. Shift made to get In after Amps 'n' Andy. Another shuffle Is the Tasty Teast Jesters from Mon.'to Wed. 8:30 p.m. EST. A rep of the new Ed Wynn net- work has been In Clncy for the past week dickering for contact with a station her e. Of the five in Clncy all but WFBE, 100-watter, are lined up with NBC or CBS. Ij. B. Wilson, prexy of WCKY, Covington, Ky., went on a gold standard Ias£ week by releasing a new rate card for the 6,000-watt etherizer printed on gold stock. COLUMBIA PHONO'S SUSTAINING DISCS West Eastern Oregon Broadcasting Co., La Grande, Ore., petitioning for li- cense to erect 100 watter. KVOA, Tucson, Ariz., seeking per- mission to change transmitter. KROW, Oakland, Cal., requests jump In power from 100 to 600 watts and the facilities of KFWI, San Francisco. Kay Van Riper of KFWB, Holly- wood, leaves the hospltiil this week following a bfeakdown as a result of her Paramount theatre personal appearance. She will convalesce at home, but Is not expected back at the station for a month. FRC permitted KOB, Albuquer- que, N. M., and KOAC, Corvallls, Ore., to cut their air time about 60% until June 1.' Both are operated by agricultural colleges in their re- spective states. Pefmlt for KXL, Portland, Ore., to move Its transmitter rescinded be- cause not completed by required date; KFWB, Hollywood, has resumed its weekly picture gossip column under a new title, 'Studio Whispers.' Being Jiandled by George Fischer, p.a. at the station. Sara Lan gham, continuity writer, returns to KFWB after two months' Illness. KTAB changes In staff: Jlmmie Kendrlck rejpinlng as announcer, George Taylor coming on as m.o. of own hour, and Maurice Gunsky as vocalist. Russell Qsu-ceau from auditing de- partment Qt Coast NBC to produc- tion ofllce and assistant's desk. CBS has centralized all western publicity in the office of Harry El- liott, Frisco. Mid-West Clad In pajamas. Rev. Preston Bradley, Chicago broadcasting clergyman, united LArry FIsk, sound engineer, and Thelma Jasper, secre- tary to Bobby Brown, program di- rector. In matrimony during the wee hours of March 18. Couple kept their marriage a secret from other WBBMers for a week. Goodman and Jane Ace start broadcasting from the new WGN Studio in the Chicago Trib tower. Formerly did their stuff at the Drake hotel. Jack Brooks and Norm Sherr, a team nowadays, have grabbed an- other commercial over WBBM, the Hollywood Diet Corp. Johnny Davla, on WISN, Mil- waukee, could easily double for Doug Fairbanks, Al Gullickson and accordion now a Sunday feature on WISN. Don McNeill, over two years with NBC on the Coast, back at WTMJ, the Milwaukee 'Journal' station. Russ Winnie at Hot Springs with the ball team. WTMJ gets his dia- mond dope on the air nightly. Searching for Program William B. Warner^Co., respon- sible for the Warden Lawes series on NBC, is scouting for a program to carry the tag of one of its de- odorant products. Idea was offered to Bing Crosby, but no connection was made. Lawes show, plugging Sloan's Liniment, has been extended for a couple of broadcasts and will wind ' up as of April 23. New regime heading Columbia Phonograph has decided to branch into radio sustaining programs. Ap- propriation of (26,000 for the pur pose has been set aside with Henry V. "talker, formerly of the CBS sales staff, to handle the selling end. Ed Conne will do the talent booking for this division. Policy In mind calls for the pro- duction of almost every type of pro- gram on the air, with discs to be sold in series of 13 to stations. Though th-s majority of the record- ings will run 15 minutes, Ave and 10-minute programs will also be turned out. Recording outfit believes that stations are now more Inclined to break up the 16'-minute segments for advettlsers and also to charge for these lesser slices of the clock at proportionate rates. CHESTERFIELD MAY STICK Until June 1—Ponders Leaving Air to Competitors Though It has handed into CBS a cancellation notice, effective April 16, there is a possibility that Chest- erfield will remain on the network until June 1. With Lucky Strike maintaining Its Thursday night sessions to June 29, and Old Gold talking about a re- newal of Its Fred Waring presenta- tion. Chesterfield Is giving second thought to leaving the air. Viewpoint of Chesterfield Is that it will stay on with its present six- times a.week schedule or not at all. If continuing plans are to renew the contracts of both Bing Crosby and Ruth Ettlng. Radioes Ritz (Continued from page 1) lie's tastes revealed that of the 10 most popular radio stars, only one claimed radio parentage. That was Rudy Vallee. The others were all from the stagre, most of them hav- ing been stage stars before they found the air, or vice versa. Now the rush from Broadway to Fifth and Madison avenues has commenced In the exec end. Against the number of performers that have made the Jump the number of execs to have migrated thus far has been small, but the few 'hat have landed on the radio side of the fence have, on merit alone, shown up the non- showmen of radio with ease. Radio now exi>ects showmen to take over the executive posts of radio. Just as the stars of show business have captured the micro- phones, from all indications. The average theatre showman, finding his own business not so hot, nat- urally eyed the ether. Of the original all-radio talent, a scarce handful has survived the in- vasion from without. The Wynns, Cantors, Downeys, Smftha, White- mans, Pearls and the others have crowded out the biggest non-show names. A few have resisted the comiratlsb, such as Vallee and Amos 'n' Andy, but the majority has faded Even A. and A. trace their theatri- cal birth to the theatre, having been a small-time blackface team B. R. (before radio). It's getting so that radio's effete east side ether merchandizers now practically admit that their business needs Broadway's application of practical showmanship. Radio sell- ing is now considerably' more than a matter of sales graphs, high mathematical listener percentages and involved break-downs. The important thing now is how good is the show, how will it entertain, and will it Interest 'em enough to sell them product? That's where Broadway and Broadway's show- manship fit in. While those of radio who so loudly voiced their objections to the Broadway inva^on up to a year ago or so are still objecting, they can't stem the tide. Show business is moving in. The sad but true picture con- fronting the 100% radloltes is that of Broadway and Fifth avenue crossing once more above 23d street. Judy-Jill Quit NBC Chicago, April 3. Judy and Jill, otherwise Mrs. Ed- ward Davis and Mrs. Juliet Barker, after 14 months as an NBC local sustaining act, have switched to WBBM, local CBS outlet Sponsor- ship reported In sight Both ladies are from academic circles and deliver lectures to women's clubs, et aL Singing Hotel Mgr. Chicago, April 8. Possibly the only public sing- ing hotel manager In this coun- try is Joe Palise, of the Morri- son hotel here. 7hl8 trumps the old-time singing waiter. Palise yodels via radio as part of the regular orchestral broadcast from the hotel din- ing room for KYW. It is his maiden endeavor as a profes- sional entertainer. CROSS-THREATS IN L A. TANGLE OVER REMOTES Los Angeles, April 3. Threat of the Los Angeles' mu- sicians' union to. stop remote con- trol musical programs . over any station which discharges all Its musicians has been met. It is re- ported, with a Counter-threat by local broadcasters. The outlets are said to have agreed that should any one station lose its remote period by this means, all stations will Immedi- ately drop their hotel and cafe hook-ups. KFWB's Amateur Kid~ Search f or mJinks' Hollywood, April 3. Kids between 12 and 17 wilt be given a crack at radio by KFWB, which has Issued a call for young- sters for auditions with the Inten- tion of spotting the passable ones on a Junior 'Hi-Jinks' program. Broadcast will be a one'timer as substitute for the weekly 'Hi- Jinks' vaude program, but kids who show signs of talent will be prom- ised spots on future programs. .It's the first instance locally of a station looking for talent from the amateur field. COUNTER-PROPOSITION NAB Meeting Mills Today—Nevirton Baker Not Attending National Association of Broad- casters has worked out a counter proposition on the music tax, with its copyright committee scheduled to meet B. C. Mills and discuss It today (Tuesday). It will then be up to Mills to relay the details of his pourparlers to a meeting of the ASCAP board of directors Thurs- day (6). American Society on Jan. IS In- formed the NAB that the. ASCAP members were as dissatisfied with the 'formula expressed In the pres- ent license agreement as tbe broad- casters can possibly be' and offered to meet with NAB reps for the pur- pose of revising the sustaining fee and commercial tax setup. At' today's get-together Newton D. Baker, legal headman for the broadcasters, will not be present. Representing him will be Joseph Hostetler from Baker's Cleveland law office. Marlboro Cig Pluggers Switch to Another Brand Los Angeles, April 3. After plugging Marlboro olgarets for the first five weeks of their six- month contract, Sam COsIow and the Raymond Paige orchestra were switched by the Philip Morris To- bacco Co. to the Philip Morris clg- gle, which has reduced Its price from a quarter to 15c. Marlboros stay at 20c. Program originates at KHJ for the coast CBS chain. BUCHANAN'S NEW SPOT Hollywood, April 3. Stuart Buchanan, loaned by KNX for the principal part in the weekly 'Charles the Second,' English Cor- onets series at KFWB, is out of that part to fulfill a previous set weekly engagement at KFI. Gale Gordon, who was 'Henry VIII' in an earlier Coronets series, replaces him. SWEETEN AT EFBG San Francisco, April 3. Claude Sweeten, for years conduc- tor at RKO's Golden Gate and Or- pheum here, becomes musical direc- tor at KFRC, Don Lee-CBS chain. He succeeds Walter Kelsey, out last week. Another KFRC change is Mel Venter, ex-KFBK, Sacramento, as announcer. He supplements the va- cancy left by Walter Bunker, Jr., who has left for Europe. ASKFORDETAIUIN RICHARDSON VS. WYNN T. W. Richardson's suit against Ed Wynn and the latter's Amalga- mated Broadcasting System has reached the bill of particulars stage Justice McCook, in the New York Supreme Court, last week agreed with the comic's attorneys that Richardson should make his com- plaint more specific. This particu- larly refers as to how, when and where the contract, which the plain- tiff claims was violated, was agreed to . by Wynn. Richardson, describing himself in the complaint as the originator of the plan on which the Amalgamated hopes to operate, has asked the court that the comedian and Ota Gygi be restrained from disposal of ABS and also for an accounting of the salary that Wynn, he says, agreed to pay him. Richardson al- leges he was frozen out of his 26% Interest in the network,, declaring Wynn informed him that this in- est has been turned over to a group of 'out-of-town business men who would test out their theories of chain broadcasting over a few sta- tions between Baltimore and New York.' "Since Richardson originally filed his suit Wynn, at a cUiinor for newspapermen, announced himself as the active head of this new idea in ohain broadcasting, and Lehman Brothers, bankers, have priess bul- letined where Amalgamated will be housed. VINCENT and HIS ORCHESTRA COCOANUT GROVE HOTEI, WAI.TON, PHRLA., PA. BxoluBlve Manasement COLUMBIA . BroadcattfnB System WOAV-WABO "Lady o' the Radio" JANE FROMAN IN SONGS Direction, Morrison ft Winkler, Park Central Hotel, New York City I Direction, I Park 1 — 'Creating a Neur Style In Music PAUL SABIN And His Orchestra Every Tuesday and Thursday WEAF (NBC) at 7.30 P.M. E.S.T. OHRBACH HOUR Also Featured In Columbia 'Shorts' (Hal Skelly Series) FcTsonnI Managament HARRY MOSS, leso Braidwfty. New Ysrk I Sole/ So/e/Mi The Gags All Here! At our prices even Milton Berle saya they're a steal! GAGS by Al Schwartz-lrv Brecher "The House That Joke Built" Rtim 1210. 54S 5tk Av., Ntw Yerk, MU 2-4»76