Variety (Dec 1934)

Tuesdiayt Pecfmber 18, 1934 It A P i d IIE VARIETY HARVARD UNIYERSltV BAND SO Mini. ; ■ : WABC, N«w York Apparently the new era In enstr ern college bands Is being placed by fiarvard. It's; been a Ipne time coming but now seems deflnitely here, and either those Big Ten out- fit^ or. 'Nyarlng's Pennsylvanlans may be responsible. The spiir, how? . . ever. Is probably a cross: betwieeri Iwth; Waring bias >een glee-club- ' biiig .those collegiate medreys: on. air and istage for some ■ year^'and put in this! Conference, aillndls has, been, expertly rendering . worthy uhder- giaduate orchestratlbris for so long that it lis generally recognized as ' the prize Instrumental group amonE- the; uhlvierEilties..' So much so that those radio 'gridiron announcers who ignore the Illini instrumental- ists between .ht^lVes; in favor of■ .their personally conceived Inter mis alon rtbveltieis, give their, audience the worst. of It, ■ Granting, this niidwest leadership, It lis worth' mentioning that the p6- : sltioh is finally being challenged, ' arid riot so. faintly, by Hatvard. : Yale probably can toes. in a' few conclusions for Its own band. Bldn't the Elis play a date for Lo^w in New York and unveil a bagpiper .this fall? But the Yale musicians marchisd. into Palmer stadium last November taking therifiselves seri- ously enough to blare that fact by playing well coiicelved Iriterpreta-. . tlons of tunes Which had absolutely . nothing to do with the day's matir nee. .Indeed, it's easy to' riote thie iind^rgraduate bands which fancy _:, themsely-es4:theso. ida,ys.^Do , -they. . march on the field tooting dehance via ^dhgs which have echoed within college Walla for, half a century? : Do they rally the cheering section ■ between halves with honored melo^ dies which may alsoi' seep: into the dressing-room of the team? Verily, . the bands now come In ^through the field portal on the wings of 'Sw^tie ' Pie,* and in: thiat half circle between ■ halves are Just as apt-tb-oifter- 'Pop Goes Your Heart* ^ so that the home team, rlghtrend,: groggy on the .rubbing table; can be heard' to mumble, Tm going to ask that: left tackle for a dance next quarter.' The. band boys are playing with one eye oh the leader and the other .. up in the stands looking for some body from a network. AH of which is .'taking .the long . .way 'jound to say that .this Har , Ta.rd bunch nianages to predoini nate While musically staying within .. the collegiate backyard;, . and for which they deserve due credit. The ; Crimson trotted, but around 70 irien !f behind a drumrmaJor this year , and It is, presumed that as many were .■ In '. on this Saturday afternoon —^-broadcastvTHelplng7no7little-was-the pace.making of Johnny Green, who attended the Cambridge school, and .'Who, of coursfi, .-therefore; knew what he was trying tofjsay-and^ald It very well. : As far a;s the reviewer is con cerned, he bumpied into the program catch-as-catch-can in « dbwntown- .bound taxi. ■ He neither heard, the .. Btar.t nor the flriish of;.the session, but "the park seemed pairticularly pleasant to the strains of 'Fjaj Abov<j Cayuga's Waters! and 'Har yardariia,' while 'Oh Brave, Old Ar.my_ Team' ga:ve 6 9th.; street south Bomething it doesn't , always posr" Bess. In fact, the only Jlckirig :the program took was from the trolley cars. Going crosstowh accompanied by Harvard'j» paraphrase of 'Win tergreen for President'^ was also no hardship, and' Wouldn't that be the one time a cab would Catch every .—green^^jight.?- This Harvard gi'oup is not Just so much brass blasting fcway. They're as adept in a studio as a stadium More BO, of course, because the --^niceties :-p£--orchestratIon,.-Instru- mentation and voice are more __JBlearijLldeflned^_lJ!liey_jing._:_aM , without any apology needed.; - , ^3 ifar as. heard it was an all .■ collegiate half lioiir which could ; Stand an evening playback. Ah idea . might be to grab these Illinois and Harvard bands for a combined ■■ ■ broadcast. On a memory- basis there's not so ;much to choose be- twccn the t wo and both aro capabl e- of turning in ah interesting 36 mlh- tites, Hunch would be' to alternate ..them tor an hour as the best in their respective sections. That should be an InViting prospect for almost any ear, and let Johnny Green handle it . Down ieouth some, schbols have banda they like to . tialk about.; But . they've a tendency, to be unorthodox ; in primarily being coneerned With giving Imitations of daiioe prches- . tras. ■ There are other examples of the commcrclaily minded college bands Btretchihg ;b^yond the limits for . which suited. . A cry for de- emphasis probably won't go, tip uni til NBC and CBS become the 'iHter broadcasta and Navy, moirches In to 'Lpst in A FPg, So, Bhed. a.: tear for the old grad whp Is back for the big game, has , had a couple of drinks aridi wants to sing what he sang when ; he ' could sing.. According to the rieW era, he'll sing what's No. 1 on the •ir, or Just cheer; MORtON DOWNEY Giiy Bates Post, Ray Sinatra's ■ Orchestra- '' - 30 Mins. ■- ■ COMMERCIAL WJZ, Neyy York Guy Bates Post has turned doctor. Actor In the script Is represented as having visited the, Carlsbad spa on more than one pccasion and now rieady to tell the world about it. He coraieayon frequently tb tell the mar- vels pf the viratersi and. sbmctinies oven breaks into whimsy so pow erful, is the remedy's appeal. His deep: cultivated , voice, is in direct contrast to Morton, Downey's high-pitched tones. 'Wabash Moon* is stlli the latter's thfemer. 'Dear litttle Boy Of ](llne' was the plain- tive song which caused Post to read ah A, A. Milne poem in thb midst of this ,musical cure. Ray Sinatra's music iS good but hot distinguished.: His best offer- irig was a bolero arrangenicht ot •Wonder Bar,' None of the new hits played by the band. Carlsbad gets^ most :of - the ; attention here, thanks to Post's concentrated plug- gihg. Pbst is a fine voice for radio but this script ' slops over badly , on commercial coi>y. Post is a star; hot a brick-layer, but his trowel wor'k is a lot better than the copy. This is the Kiesewetter program that chang;ed program 100% in the midst of ■ a, 13-week contract. In Downey, of, course, Carlsbad; hais. a radio headllner of reputation, Dow- ney was one of the tops not long ago and, still commands attention and dough. He and Post are the makings of a fine cbmbinatipn, • HUM P H RE Y 'S HOUSE.HOLD '* CIRCLE' ' ■-^' With May BreiBh, Peter be Rosef, " .Bofa 'Emery ■ IS. Mihs.:..--::--' - '— - COMMERCIAL WGY, Schenectady . : Patience has. its rewards; Breen and De Rose are npw: wprking on a commercial after doing a morn ing sustainer over the NBC red loop since the memory of the average listener runneth . not to the con trary. The' singing ukulele lady and the piano-cbmppser air their smooth,- polite—brand. of ..vocal hai'xnbny and instrumental special ties on a four-tiriies weekly swing for Humphrey's Remedies, Bob Emery, 'the Household. Counselor,' m.c.'s the program; It rides the waves a half hour later than the time at which the team's music floated out on the sustainer. , : iSreen and De Rose showed to better advantage cm the non-spon sored than they do on this com- niercial—at least their 'fans' prob- ably will think so. Here the duo's act is . cut, up, in order • to permit Emery, to recite poetry and to spiel for Humphrey's Remedies (ditto the :announcer on the advertising) Furthermore, the number-announc- ing assignment has ; been taken trpm^LMiss Breen , for ho good rear Son, atid handed to Eniery. This erases, or. blurs, the intimate, per- sonal touch which has trademacked -the_tW-Osome's wprk pn_the. .air,_; Sponsor would do well to give Breen and De Rose the straight a.way. for their turn, allotlng a sep amte reciting, coluriseling.. At ; the sia^me time, the . number of plugs shpuld be reduced and the practice of having Emery follow the . an houhcer, and vlOe .versa, with ad t vertising, should be dropped. It's pediculous. Tandem spieling niakes for confusion; there are too many voices cuttlngr iriL. tpp .fceaufijxtly. on astanza which . runs only 16 minutes, De Rose's position as a composer m ight be stressed to the program's VICtOR MOORE'and WILLIAM VGAXTON'' ^ : Comedy Team 30 Mins.: COMMERCIAL, WEAF. New York Gaxtbn already In the fllo3| but this Hall of Fanie date is the first tline for Victor MPpre tb gp pn rec- ord as an air entertainer; *Mr, RPbinson, of .Louisville,' was the- story oh which the two played back and forth; Not top hpt, either, Moore's retarded apeebh and his shy : utterances given ample play, but situations hotTeally soke ehbugh fpr the sppntaneous reaction he so easily obtilhs oil the stage.. Both click, hpwever, and appear like nat- Airal air bets, though their script must be up to snuff. Grace Hayes filled in with ^ a, femiihe role. She alsb ; sang 'Twb Clgarets in the Dark.' Al Gpodman's sprightly ccn- ception of 'Yo^'re the Top' from the Cole Porter shPw. waa excellent. Didn't,quite cpme off as entertain- ment. Script was farcical arid syn- thetic.;'' ■- ' : ■" FUN FESTERS With Dave Williams. Hovi<ard An- derson/ Paige Ziegler and Conrad ^■■■Rice ^ Personality burlesque , 30 Mins. COMMERCIAL WDGY, St, Paul-Minneapolis Here's a stanza brimming over with good, clever, clean fun. Pro- gram, started a year ago by Arthur arid.' Harold Slncock, George Curtis and Conrad Rice, recently changed its personnel when Harold Slncock quit to Join up ,with WCCO's Triple Tlireat vocal trio. ': Present llnerup is equally expert, however, the boys trotting out Ne- grb,-Swedl8h, British^ Jewish, Ger- man, French and Italian dialects in, their travesties on famous historical figures and events. Recent tomfool- ery has been directed at and about George Washington, Paul Revere and Daniel Boone, and while it may cause history teachers to squirm somewhat, in the spirit of fun all Is forgiven. Rice directs, does the continuities and announces the program. Stanza is a great mail-puller, popular with both kids and adults. Sponsor is Town Market Furniture Co. of Minneapolis, bne of the northwest's largest radio advertisers. Program airs every Sunday, 1:lB-1:45 P. M. RascMck. NEWS WITH A KICK Lynn Willis and Ed Daviea .. 5 Mins. COMMERCIAL WIP, Philadelphia Catching the title of this nightly news aircast from the sponsor's slogan fPr Londonderry Ale, WilHs and Davies manage to rattle off five minutes worth of headlines at breakneck speed. Spielers alter- nate in yelling the fiashes, occa- sionally throwing In one for the sake of good old Londonderry. -Al- though Willis has been doing the news shots via WIP on sustaining ifor several moons, Davies Is newer, to the station's mike, having left as Program Director two. years ago. This is his flxst; air Job since, the tie-up being Davies' : connection with the client's agency. , Choice of newis. selections: on the show Are passably fair, but contin- uity and presentation rank , much lower. With five such programs across the board each week, this team should aim at more of an intimate style,- slightly, more wordy and with less March of Time em- phasis. The way it stands now, title of the aircast may seem to originate in the fact that several high-powered but imaginary nub- lans, are standing behind each broadcaster and administering the necessary kick themselves by. proxy. . Gosch. NEWCOMER'S IMPRESSION OF HARTFORD Talk; 6 Mins. COMMERCIAL WDRC, Hartford •A Newcomer's Impression of Hartford' is the means used by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Com- pany to break down any resistance localites may have against a chain Drganlzatiorir-^Receritly- opening- -a new super-service station, the company sent its manager on a rampage around town naeeting^ cit- izens " and" seelng'slghfs. The man-.' ager goes on the air for fi-ve min- utes four times a week In which he gives his impression of the faces seen and the things done, In his wanderings. Clever enough to hold down -on superlatives, the slpeaker -works hie way into a listener's feelings when he picks out characteristic things that are uppermost in a locallte's inind.;_ Well .handled. but.>:th.e .pro- gram yells cpmmercialism without being too entertaining. JOSEF CHEKNIAVSKY ORCHESTRA Congress Hotel ■ Sustaining 30 Mins. WMAQ, Chicago " After 18 months, at the Chicago theatre, class, house of the midwest, Chernlavsky gets himself another jtttcliestra_and_doubleaifcpm..tlxe_thej atre to the Joseph Urban room at this class: Ch icago hostelry. For 'Chernlavsky this dance bahd'T?U?t=" hess is no new angle. Before he came to the Chicago theatre he had dance bands " of" 'sympHb-syricopa: tion' in Cincinnati and New Orleans. 'Symphp -syncopation' is Chernia- avsky's original musical. twist and it's a twist that should aid him in radio. His music la alive; it hag rhythin, swing and tempo. Intricate and hovel orchestrations but infectious both for the ears and the feet. Qold CARBORUNDUM BAND Arthur Pryor, Guest Conductor 30 Mins. - „. ■ ,'. COMMERCIAL WABC, N. Y. : ■ - Now in its fpurth year,. Has'had the same type of band program since its institution, with the com- pany's advertising chief, JTrancis Bpwman. writlrig the copy and do- ing the spieling. Originates from Hotel Niagara,' Niagara Falls, N. Y. This time s.electlons by Herbert, Bizet and Sousa played.., Also par- ticular compliment paid to the city of Los Angeles on the occasion of opening Wilshire boulevard straight throiigh to Santa Monica. Thus the opening tune was 'California, Here I Come.' Copy palaver was all about abrasives, Including , grinding wheels and their application to auto construction. A regular Saturday night program which has kept its listeners year after year. WANDERING VAGABOND Wolfe Schwangart '. 30 Mins. ■ Sustaining ■. CKWX, Vancouver, B. C. ' Wandering ,■ Vagabond Is ex planation in song Pf how the rest of the world live and "what the peo pie sing. Idea, of program is to explain European folk songs. While many of his , legends originated in earlier centuries, many are still "told arid "sung "by the present-day Europeans, while others are among Upon leaving Munich. University, Wolfe Schwangart made" a special study of folk lore and music. He got his. information by traveling up a|id down the Danube, mingling with the natives and learning, their languages. His , Sunday, eyenirig programs contain not only descrip- tive music of the times, but also many revealing facts of the char- acteristics and customs of the 4if-^ ferent peoples. DONALD.. MCGIBNEY News Commentator 10 Mins. WMAQ, Chicago COMMERCIAL They can't or won't find anything differeht. ; McGlbney's iPcal sponsor Is RCA Victor' radio, and the pub- lic is likely to think of Boake Car- ter arid his program on CBS for Philco^ Because the public is bound tP~fhink-in^ust" strch a- mariner, - this type, of show is rather a case of :bad—Judgment-on—the-part-of. NBC and Victor. • That's the advertising fumble of this- program. Otherwise- the-show can stand up anywhere. McGibney delivers 10 minutes of news and comment every evening imriiedlate- ly following the NBC press radio dispatch, which makes it a clever ■ t ie- in on that pnint LET'S DANCE ^ . Benny Qoodmanp Xavior Cugat, Kel ,- Murray, Phil Duey, Frank Luther. Carmen Caatillia, Connie : Gates, Halon Ward, Louis Alvarez Three Hours COMMERCIAL WEAF, New York V . Whait during the . preliminary :, pother had all the earmarks of a . swell idea and pretentlbUs under- taking has simmered down into a costly but maladroitly handled at- tempt to cash, in bn the average listener's entertainment preferences for late Saturday, nights. Obviously, the prograrri's underwriter,, the Na- tional Biscuit Co., and the agency • cpncerncd, McCann-Erlckson, have,.-' been motivated by the; credo that as long as it's three hours of con- tinuous entertainment they'll listen, regardless of the nanie value and rinuslcal level of the bands involved. Chances are that the cpmrhercial . will in another twp or three weeks realize the spurlpusness of this viewpoint arid do some drastic scrambling. ; Account has already put the copy , palavering staff through an over- hauling. With the third broadcast (IB) Don Carney was out. Carney, Who officiates as Uncle Don for the kiddie listeners of WOB, Newark, tried to "impart to: this program the same Pverunctuous and • yummy- yummy style that he uses on the youngsters in working UP a liking for the milk pr codliver oil that he peddles, but apparently reports niust have come to the blscut distrib that tuner-inners after the third or fourth drink, took to Uncle Don's bedtime manner with a little too much guffaw. Comriaercial is still leaving itself wide open with its representation of a sqeaky-voiced nilss as 'The Spirit of PrlsciUa' and two other grown-ups as the spirit, v of John Alden and Miles Standish. This resort to personification a^ a means of associating three of the compariiy's cookie brands doesn't re- flect a quite fertile merchandising mind. It's primary stuff. Agencies ' in radio haven't used it in years. Of the three bands picked for thC:,... Let's Dance marathon, which calls for five hours pf continuously al- ternate . playing. Kel^Murray (nee Murray Kellrier) was first violinist for . JPsef Bonime, musical director k for the McCann-Erickson agency, Benny Goo'dmari can lay clfiim • to a hot flute a.rid his connection with Coluriibla Phonograph recprds, while Xavlar Cugat, one of the better tango and rumba interpreters, represents, the only organized unit in the three- some. Both. Kellner and Goodman also are alumni of Richard HImber's' brchestra. PlPtted against them on the Blue (WJZ) and Celumbia netwprks are such cpmbps as Casa Loma, Hal Kemp, Enric Madriguera, Emil Cpleman, Freddy Martin, Earl Hines. Henry Rusie, Claude Hpp- kins, Ozzie Nelson and . Dan Russo. . From the angle as to where they're more likely to tune In, the cprapara- tlve llsta speak -for - themselves. Serving to ease things for the Na-' tipnal Biscuit setup, at least for the, time being. Is the fact that such riTaestrps Paul Whiteman, Guy Lombardo arid Ben Bernie, are cur- rently on theatre tour arid without the usual Saturday night sustairiing pickup. . . . : During the course of each of the three-hour spans, .assigned 'to the country's .eastern, midWestcrn and farwest izones, the'sweet,'.'hot',and . 'tango' units are merged to do a concert number, with Bcnlme di- recting. This . Interludes take the program out. of the tootsle-warm- Ing class, but it's quiet likely that, by this time, lie they're really inter- ested in dance music, the switch has been made to some oth er-icilpcyeler^ w;arbllng on the biscuit show is uni- formly igood.- ; : Odec WLW's Big Music Dept. ."Cincinnati, Dec, 17. Ed Fitzgerald has been appointed arranger in chief of the newly en- larged music department of Crosley'a - WLW. and WAAL He Joined tho -erbsley-Eta«-sI»-mpnths -igPv com-— ing from Boston, Where he served WBZ and WEEI. ScPrtrig iristruriieritals: and vocals under his direction are Phil Dayis, •Ken - Knott, Joe Brattaln, Pa:ul Desmond, Clllf Shauflfert, Nick Augenstein, ' Lloyd ■ and Frank Basham; —' '■''. ■ '■ ,,'' ' .'■" benefit. Copy of the poem (of popular genre) recited by Emery is. offered free. A booklet which, it is stated, will help the ;.llstener ;t.o identify, from symptoms, various cpmm"»n ailments, a.nd the Humphrey's nied- icine to be used in treatment there- for, is spieled as obtainable at drug stores. Program changed. lay-out should be • . Jaco, RADIO PLAYBOX Children's Program 15 Mins- Sustaining CkCL, Toronto Marks the only kid program on the Cariadian ether in which the UHual serial form has been ftban dbned fbr complete dramatizations Aimed at youngsters, 'Playbox' series brings the charapters of the fairy-tale classics into the living rppm pr nursery fpr. the early.-to beds arid will l.ave no trouble with : mothers pr women's clubs Direction is by Phylis Grant, active iri chlldi-eri's theatre work She also -writes the scripts. Uses a cast of fifteen child-actors pro- fessionally trained. Non-amateurr Ish performance evident when pro- grarii caught, .Kid.q. have clear dic- tion, seem to be ! well coached in pitch and emphasis, sound natural and plclc up cues much quicker than is expected from youngsters of 6-12 years. ■ ■ '- . '■' ■ - ■ Finish la clever enough to have the. kid listeners anxious to hear the next in the series. Station feels progi-am has . strong commercial possibilities.' Series will -include such faves as 'Cinderella,* 'Ilansel and Gretel,' .'Jack and the Bean- stalk,' 'Sleeping Beauty,' etc. ■ Mtatav. VIENNESE PROGRAM With Josef Hornik Orchestra 30 Minutes ' : Sustaining KGO, Sah Francisco. This program gets three big breaks. It's on a perfect spot, 8 p. m.; It caters to thoso, whb ^llke light classicg at a time when there are few light classics being played; and it has a.s director a true Vlen- riese, Jorief Hornik, Horhik knows music, arid orchesti-atlon and with hl.s accent, broadened it must be as- sumed, he turns out a soft, senti- mental program that ia somewhat a relief for Jaded liisteriers; • Hornik announces his prograrii adding nostalgic reminiscences Pf the: gay city on the Danube. , Would seem this prograni Is a natural for a beer account. Popp, McGibney speaks clearly and cpn- cisely with a sense of surenesa that makes it convincing over the loud- speaker.' He rarely takes a stiff at- titude on any subject, particularly on international politics but com- ments deftly on the various colors of the picture. McGibney ia the program's real asset and only rea- son for being. Gold, • GOING HOLLYWOOD Reed Chapman ; " 15 Minutes CJOR, Vancouver, B. C. , : COMMERCIAL Reed Chapman, sport broadcaster, la:, on new iprogram far reriioved from the realm of sport. News from Hollywood screen personalities and forthcoming productions, AJab gives listeners inside information- about celebs which, seldom creeps intp print. ■■■■ ■ .- : Chapman lived in Hollywood for 10 years and worked at Warner Brothers for aeveral years. Newspapers Scowl at KFAB Lincoln, Dec, 17. With the inauguration of th§" Trans Radio news service over KFAB. early this week, another step in the local nowspaper-radio- fight cpmmences. The station plans tP be on the air . for l'5-nilnute periods, five tlnies a day. ■:.--r"'-: Foster May^ who's beert the news caster fpr both KFAB and KFAU here for nearly a year, wUl do the talking. Expected that the spiall pcrtlbn of . radio publicity which. finds ita way into local dailies at present will go to the basket hence^ forth. . '■ Do I Brissette's orchestra belntf aired several times weekly, over WtAO frprii Silver Grill of Hotel Bancroft. Worcester.