Variety (Oct 1933)

44 VARIETY ADIO-MUSIC Tuesday, October 31, 1933 Acts, Sponsors Jockeying for [eous Greatest' howl among radioites, both sponsor and performer, Is the question ot spotting. Problern used to be the bane of existence for the vaudeyillian; it's th6 cu-: % or bless- ing of the radio. program and air performer. Spotting" has "been known to make and break performers aiid shows, which knowledge is marking air showmen extremely careful in picking their hours. Both commercials and performers ache for the chance, to follow Amos 'n' Andyi knowing that In such , a spot they are sure to hit . a .majority audience. Same goeg for shows be- hihd the Guy Liombardd ride. To be 3pottfi<^-JT| '>tw^ftn A&A and Guy LiombardO wouid',b6 a iradio para- dise; an iact would need little to click in such, a niche. Statistics and check-up by both networks dis- close that es. perceht of the tuners- in have fallen into the habit of turning to one spot ojti the diial ^nd letting It ride. The old-fashioned dlzizy turnings and twistlngs frorii station to gtatipn .is no mprei Spotting has worked to build iip certain stations for certain nights WMAQ, for. instance, has the radio audience on . Thursday nights with the three big one-hour shows in succession. WGN aa Its Tuesday nights for its consecutive programs of high calibre on CBS: To be on following a baid program means that the oncoming program finds itself without an immediate audience, but must build its own listeners. It must overcome-a'-ter rifle handicap since the listeners ui»must voluntarily tune out. some other station. All this I9 done away with when rldlpg behind ia, sock period which can gather a majority audience. Spots Haven Spot commercial accounts are particularly hep to this fact. Thoy Insist on having their pne-minute spot Just behind OE. before a Wayne King, Ben Bernie, Rudy Vallee.^ Qn the same line of reaisoning, com mercials and performers are caus Ing plenty headaches for &ta]:Ion^ and networks by refusing to go on a station or network at thie same hour a powerful ji.rograiji Is riding over a rival web or transmitter. Stations have about given up at tempting to sell local accounts on their, own transmitters when a powerful program' is on an opposing station. They flgure that even if they do sell an account that all they'd get would be Ill-will because of the slim chance of doing a good selling job. Rather than risk this the stations are letting it go at that and spotting sustaining programs to oppose. Radio Reports, (Continued from page 38) the lead role, laibeled Uncle Luke as part , of the revamping. • Kopper'a Coke takes appreciable Ime out for the sales palaveTP. When, .he ahnbUncer Isn't there peddllng.lt. lengthy dialog Interjpblatlpns praise the product. By the time this half hour frame Is over ,there's no doubt left as to who Is footing the bill. Odec. HAR^V SOSNICK ORCH Edgevvater Beach Hotel KYW, Chicago In two years Harry Sosnick has come up from a pianist spot at WBBM to the head of one ^of the neatest orchestras on. the air. • As it stands, the Sosnick combo Is the next orchestra due for ai ride, to the higher brackets. • •Sosnick has supplied, his musi- cians with slickly intricate arrange- ments that mus:t make his music stand out; As for breaks there's nothing neater than the present Sosnick eetr.. up. On both networks; over CBS for 30 minutes \<reekly with the Ol- sen & Johnson show, and here over an NBC wire. Only fault noticed was the evi- dent spotting' of musicians around the mike. Sosnick. has the banjo too close, so that the plink-plank takes too strong a role in the ensemble, the, .thumping • occasionally being louder than the rest of. the music. CHARLES FLEISCHER News Commentator 15 Mins. Sustaining WBNX, New York Fleischer Introduced as a writer, publicist; and niaii of the world, compares favorably with the average hasher-over of the day's doings. His department is ticketed 'More Than News.' the more, referring to Its'In^ terpretatlpnj- a personal slants He. lias a fairly liberal viewpoint, al- though iself-confessed, as a Republi- can. Tends to take the mpre en- lightened as against the standpat side of the issues of the moment. He progressed from Hitler and the Nazis to Ropsev^lt and the NRA and then piassed along tp the New York mayoralty contest. He takes the responsibility throughout, for a clear-cut ppinipn, fprclbly expressed; Vpcally, his style Is agreeable. Land. Canadian Set License Gets 2nd Court Rap Ottawa, Oct 30, Npbpdy In Canada la required to take out a ^2 annual licence for the ownership and pperatlpn of a radio receiving set as a result of the de- cision of the cpurts for k .secpnd time in the prpse.cutlph of a radlP bwner Ph a charge of unlaWful and unregistered use" of i set. The de- cisipn was handed dpwn by Magis- traite W., A. Smith in. a test action by the Government against A, F. Gignac,. Sandwich West toWnshlp solicitor. Outcome Is that ..the Government finds Itself unable to: enforce Its statutes governing the. lleenisInB of privately-owned receiving sets but the law will be substantially ajtfiended at the session of Parliament next January tP wash put the; shortcom- ings In the act Stations TeQ lat s Coming In Mt Hour Lincoln* Oct. 30. With the steady decrease of news- paper, space in this section being devoted to radlp prpgrafti listings,, the statlpns cpncerned havei resprt- ed tp their pwn methpds pf getting the highlights pf the day Tjefpre the listener. KPAB and KOIL are heard at varlpus times announcing about 45 minutes to an hour ahead what the prpgram will be to keep the. lis tener hplding pn< There hai3 even been spme f uccess In getting gppnsprs fpr an aniipuncie- ment read twp Pr three times a day telling the full, schedule pf the day's entertainment. AKRON'S CANTON STUDIO Canton, p., Oct. 30. J. Walton Blount has been com mercial manager of the new Canton studio of WADC, of . Akron. Merve Robertson is program director of the newly op.'ned studio.^ A staff of eight will be maintained In the Hotel Cortland offices of thie Akron station. OLGA VADINA with Boris Cogan 15 Mins. Sustaining WBNX, New York Russian °sources supply the songs delivered by Miss .Vadina in a voice of. rather low range. Cogan pro- vides musical accompaniment. Program follows the station's hour and. a half devotion to Yiddish and Gerrhan languages, sp the audience Is limited tp the foreign, element al- most altogether. Seems no reason to believe an uhhighllghted program of this calibre can ever be more than a filler-inner. Land. GIIDA IN CLEVELAND Phil Selznick, Cleveland nite club operator, wlip has fpiir sppts'there; Is In New Yprk lining up attrac tipns. Gilda Gray Is set tP ppen Npv. 3 for two weeks minimum at $500 guarantee and 30% of the gross at the Madrid. BILL BAAE NBC SHOW Chicaigo, Oct. 30; Bill Baar joins NBC this weelc to do a sustaining show known as 'Big Tpp,' a circus series fpr the kid hpur; Will be pn WENR at 5.: IB p.m Bear spent , a seasdn with Hagen- bach-Wallace trick tp get Ipcal cplpr. Host Played on the Air Last Week To familiarise the rest of the countrif with the tunes most sung and plajfed on the air arouM Ifetp York, the following is the com- pilation for last ireefc. This iabulatidn wilt continue regiilarly, tii answer to inquirOes; these plugs are figured on a Saturday- through^Friday week, regularly. . . , . 4, . Tabulation in turn is broken doicn into two divisions: Number of plugs on the mafor networks (WEAf and WJZ of the NBC chai and WABC, key station of 0B$), along with t^e total of plugs oh jfcic York's two most importaM iridependmt stations—yvOR dn^^ WMCA, Title •Talk of the Town' •Dinner at Bight; .. •Heaven Only Knows' •And. Sp Goodbye' •Alntcha Glad' •Day Tou Came Along* •Thanks' . v ..... ^ * v •Goodnight tilttle Girl' •By a Wtiterfall' *ypu've Got Everytijlhg' •Big Bad Wplf .. -^MomentHt-i»ookedi •I'll Be Faithful' .... < .,.... ... 'tK5Ve IS the Sweetest Thing' 'Honieymoon .Hotel' .......... •This Time It's Love' •I Want Ypu' •Bless Ypur Heart; NIGHT CLUB REVIEWS Spot Program Producers Hal Moffett and. band has moved to the liValthall Hptel, Jackson, Miss, Section, has not played orchestras In hotels in several years. reetings to TED BLACK AVho'-.onenecl at .New York".-- Cat^ .'t.oyale last night wlUi . JiJa.i.. luaiikL. . auper -..sw«ll ' music, gertalnly h^'U. play "DINNER At eiOHT" •'VLL FAITHFUL" "YOU'VE dOT EVERY- THING", "GOODBYE AGAIN" "SITTIN' ON A LOG. 'FTTIK' MY DOC.' ROBBINS —=M U S=^I C^C O RP^O R AT 1 ON= nil 199 SEVENTH AVENUE |||| III • NEW YORK * • * nil GAY LORD RAVE^4AL Singer 15 Mi . Sustaining WBNXi New York Nice voice singing semi ^classical numbers. An effort lai made to Inr ject some continuity, through atmps-. pheric cpmmenb that leads Ihtp the numbers and threads them tpgether. Oh late in evening (9:30) and the first program in English since, so the set.-up Isn't very gopd. from the performer standpoint.. Title, of Course, is ii pun on G^iy- lord Ravenal, the gambler hero pr 'Show Boat.' Land, TOM BRAPFORD 15 Mins. . COMMERCIAL WBRC, Birmingham.. Good program oyer a Birmingham station is an exception, since the stations have the Ideia the public wants bunk. Bradford Is going good for Goodrich tire stations at 6.: 45 p; m, with peppy songs. In his own style ! He* also does his own announcing, I which isn't so-hot, but better than hwDst="of^the==stencotyped=spot=an- nouncements. For miasic he uses an accprdipn and planp'. American Broadcasting System 341 Madlspn Ave. New Yprk City. American Radio Features Syndicate 555 S. FlPwer St. L1PS5 Angeles, Cal. Scott Howe Bowen Chrysler Bldg. New Yprk City. Broadcast Advertiser 8 Newbury St. Boston, Mass.. Brunswick Radio Corp. 066 Lake Shore Drive Chicago, III. Byers Recording Lab. 1780 Broadway New York Cityi Columbia Phonograph Co. •Ill N.. Canal St. Ghlcagp, III. Freeman Lang-C. 0. Pyle 210 N. Larchmpnt Blvd. Los Angeles. CaU MacGregor & Solli 865 Mission St. . TSan Friahclscoi, Cial. RCA Victor Merchandise Mart Chicago, III. ioart Guild of America 122 S. Benton Way Los Angeles. Cal. Recordings, Ltd.^ 5505 Melrose Ave. Hollywood, Cal. Starr Pi^no. Co. JiicliniQnd,:.JtOLd.i VANITY FAIR, N. Y. That curious ' which gpvern3 night club ups and dpWns has sud denly decreed thiait this sppt be a success. After , a cPuple pf. weeks pf just, abput getting by, the late heur" nripb has begun patrphlziivg" the place, .-with business at near, peak That's spmething these days. Reaspn Is pbvipus enpugh after a glance- at the talent lineup. What they seem to want In nitery's Is comedy iarid they get It here. Plenty of laughs, plenty of Show, a smatter- ing of nudity and the rap's not tpp tpugh to take. It jells well. Ben Blue is the head nian. It's his first New York nitery showins: aiid he's set tha:t way frpih npw pn He has everything his pwh way Four or five stooges work with him for some nice clowning, but it's mostly his own easy and hard work- ing personality that wins through. He manages to be funny, In a rough way. without being offensive to any of the customers. . With him Is a strong lineup of tialent headed by Gertrude. Neisen. who has soiiie draft strength on her own. Her slinging Is getting better with her every appearance. Rita Riay does, some tap dancing, three Ambassadors are a .clpwnlng spng and dance outfit. Titlna sings, Thais dpes a nice fan dance. that manages tP reveal SPme .pf these ■andl.thnflft, .DnrQj;hy.^J^a^tia§L4a5S£a and Julie Rey is still anpther dancer, Last named girl, by the way, has ia, highly ncvel stunt In a bPlero number which she dances with a skil- fully handled, cloak Instead of a Good dance music is dished out "by' Emil Newman's orchestra. . Show Is praiitlcally contlhupus. Blue mixing up numbers and keep- ing the thing moving practically all the time. Some dancing, some show, and some more dancing. It's a good. Idea because always allow- ing for some amusement for the dropper-lnners. Kauf. that are sophisticated, which is po- lite for slightly dirty. Thkt's all the show, except tliat sometimes the guests .of honor do some entertaining. Webb and Miss Miller didn't like it, so didn't. That's the tipofE tP the whole thing. Polite and easy. . If ypu want tP entertain "ypti dP. bpehlhg lilgh't everybody was in evening clothes. From now on It's not ;necessary. If you want to wear a dinner jacket okay. If not, okay again. There'5 some excellent dance mu- sic by a Cookie Falrchlld band and sufficient dance floor space for most tiriies. Very, fine food and the tax only $2.50 per person, supper in- cluded. Kauf. CLUB VILLA, SEATTLE Seattle, Oct. 28. Opening Pf. this club last night gives Seattle anpther. night spot. Lpoks like a boom, with biz reported goPd all arpuhd. But situation is bound to settle down with those that ^ive the- most, with the take toned to the era of as Is, likely to survive. Most elaborate flppr show i town Is set. in here. . Also, there ia a cover charge, varying from 50c to $1. Whether the local spenders are In the mood to gb for this tap reerularly remains to be seen, Cafo seats 500, danq.p flppr is largest in a. ■ctft£6-^ln~tQBai,-.,accdmniQda,tjl]ag,^.lM BIEET YOtTB FAVORITE STAB OF STAGE AND SCKBBN AT MIKE FRITZEL'S CHEZ PAREE America's Smortest RestBurnrtt nnd Sapppr Cl«b CHICAGO itian Production Co. 1040 Geary St. San Francisco, Cal. Betty VanDeventer 1050 Graybar Bldg. New York City. Midwest Broadcasting Co.. West Hotel Minneapolis, MinA. World Broadcasting Corp. 60 W. 67th St. New York City, AlgonquiA Supper Club Not quite a nite club, this twice weekly affair will nevertheless get a considerable twirl from the show mob. Rose room-of the hotel is [used for the gatherings every Thurs- day and. Saturday. It's dancing* eiting, some entertaining and,, more than anything,, a- gathering of the clans. For the opening last Thursday (26) practically everybody Whp is anybpdy in showdom. (mostly legit) was present. It was a party in honor of Cliftbh' Webb arid Marilyn 'Miller, , idea beint- tp have a,;gU(6St I of honor for every gathering. ..AisP Constance Collier .was present to act as mistress of honor, also in honora;ry capacity. Room was crowded to overflowing with considerable turnaway; Peggy J Woods bumped into Coride Nast and IFania Marinoff bumped Into Ann Andrews. . Prince Matchabelli. was In one end of the. room and Molly , Ricardel In . another. A good deal l;oi=^_the^snoity:.niPb,JbLuJL^;the=grfi^^^ percentage ■ from the theatre. There's: a show but it doesn't riiean very much. A girl named Mary , Charles sings a few numbers. iShe's an American girl, quite pretty, who previously sang In Piris and Lon- don.- Then a young man named I Russell Johns sings a few numbers. He's anpther American whp's. ap- peared almost entirely In Europe thus far. He's qiilte clever and I capable, having a, swell sense pf hu.> mor and a nice collectipa of .spng^ couples, but only half that for free movement. Jules Buffano leads the 12-piece band with Jules having a real fol- lowing in this burg, due to his mu- :slcal and m. c. work at the theatres when F. & M. Ideas held forth here- abouts. Harry Levinspn and Chester Chastek. . are bairikrolling, with Buffano oh that alao^ This club Is going In for class trade. Frothy stuff on tap and m bottles. Show runs 40 minutes m two sections. Eight young girts are in the line, with nice dance routme. Dolito De. Soto is a Spanish gal frpm Cuba and she knpws her rhumba, this being a standdut number. Mar- Ikp Takaypshl, yputhful Japaneae girl, sings blues, fpr results, her voice unusual, her dictipn excellent. Carlos Scaring! Is a youth who tenors aind pleases. Mildred : BlaiT is a . standout, having a lot of stuiz in her acrobatic dance and contor- tion number. , George ■ Gifford, an' oldtlmer in variety, brings on the coitredy relief., in dance act. Myra. Gregg has a gypsy tambourine number. Trepp. ST. FBANCtS SPEEADING Sari Francisco; Got, 30. What with repeal and prosperUy jiist a,round the corner. Hotel St. Francis has budgeted a sizeable chunk tp doll .up its dining-dahcing roorri. Plans have been comiE>leted to knoQk out the present columns in the center of the Enibassy room, which will fold up meanwhile,. Ted FioR '^'s barid will take leave of absence^ within two weeks,, and may go ihtp the Cpcpanut .GrPve pf tK6^Los^ATtgel?ffrAT«bass^^^ shprt stay, . immy Gri in Texas Galvestpn, Oct. 30. Sam Macep, baclc frpna trip e.is,st. ppenlrig Sul Jen Cafe fpr winter sea- spri Npv. 8. ' Jimmy Grler orchestra augmented by Gpgp. Delys, Harry Pester, Aber Twins, Geergie Tapps, Darlo and Diane.