Variety (Jan 1935)

i08 VARIETY TupdajTi Janiiaiy 1,1935^ British Miisic London, IJec, 21.'' . Surveying the Enpilah popular music business over a year bring? the comfsrtlnff reflection P®*"' haijs It isn't quite such a, dying In- dustry aftet all; in any case it still has a few healthy kicks in It, and It has been demonstrated that ft 'natu- ral* can stin sell a sXirprlslnB num- ber of copies and a; few phonograph records. Aithpugh the percentage Of Contihehtal ^successes is hot usu- ally hlirh, yet two out of three ' of the biggest . eiellera this yearr come from across the Channel. First, 't>lay. to -Me . dyisy ■ and later .'Isle of Capri,' the only big American success to compare being 'L/lttle Man, You've Had; a Busy: Day.' No irltlsh song climbed into big figures here, although Ilay No- ble*s 'Very Thoue;ht of Tou' held a place among the best : sellers In Amerlca for quite some time. ' Aithbugh the 'na.turar BtllI enjoys a. fairly good sale, the publisher's toughest prioblem is getting . over some of the not quite so good things which in former days gave him a steady catalog,; "and iinlciss he lias the ohe big winner or some • stead selling st«Lndard mat<;rlal he hasn!t much of "the love ballad,fox-trot.' Tlrt Pan Alleyl which has been get-: ting by In thiB: past with the i'm blue and tilled of you' kind of lyric, must think up some iiew ideas if it is to keep the Big :Bad Wolf from, the ■'door;^'' • "The - skid -in'-the ■ -sales-of- - phono- gTAph: records has further added to the publisherls. troubles.- Once upon a time if iie stood . ln . well with the disc manufacturer he could xisually reickon. to get hot oiily. his big hits recorded, but a few'dogsv aie well--r sdmetlmes coupled up with tije siell- ers;' biit today, with a limited butr i^put, the recording managers , wonlt take a chance with anythlilg biit a certainty. ' It's getting to be ari; oW story; but radio is still blamed, arid' la uri-~ doubtedly responsible for this con- ^fiition pf^ affairs it is becoming more than ever iaippiareht .tha,t if thei creators of popular music are to be kept aliVe tiiere must be _ a ...Tiuch, more generous contribution ; from broadcasting, which; after all; de- pends almost entirely lipoh a con- Biant Huyply ul uew mua i e fOr Ito the afr, awd ohly-br the B, B.- 0. experimenting wHl it be able to dis- cover new talent. , In America the time allotted to a eustaihlng bt^nd is usually 16 or 30 minutes, so, with a double hetwork and independent stations, radio listeners havO plenty of! variety. One great evil Is that; with the limited number of bands, too much power is placed . In . the Jiahds pf^ few people, timounting .Jp sL monopmy. .. Some—not iall-^lo hot hesitate to use'this poWer to their owii advahtege. A' w range of bands and artists would help to k$ep program from becoming monotonous and curb mbiioltoly. - ^ - ' lilgiit "operetta and mUaical .cbmr edy bias not produced anything this yiear that will make, history. Judged from the musical standpoint. Had Roberta' been produced here 'Smoke, Gets in Your Byes' woiild prohably, have be^n the biggest sbng of the year, as it's a perfect English mu- islcal comedy type of song. rer Marts a In L A. Next Spring ?Ii03 Angeles, Dec. 31. Otto Klemperer, en route east, tor a iwo-iday stay as guest Qonductbr of the' Philadelphia Syniphony, . be- comes bfRclalconductbr of the Los Angeles Phllha.rmonlc orchestra, next -spring.. . ,Prior . Jo. JLetuni.ing here, however, he will play a season In Milan, In addition to the Phllar delphia engagemeht. Contract with Klemperer, sighed here ;at' the conclusibn of .his local. sea.son with the-^T-hilharmhrilfi Jatft. last week, Is for three: years; It provides that he must speind at least: four months here eiach year. South- ern Calif brnla Symi>hohy Ass'n is the engaging outfit . ; ■ patrons. ■Phe British Government collects from over 6,000,000 honest users of radio . sets something:, in excess of $15,000;op6, - The average, libehsee innocently thinks that most of this finds' it way tb the British- Brbadi. tasting Go. and expects full value for it; As a matter of-iact, about 60% is retalned.for handing out the iicehse, use of,, land wires, income tax, etc. From the balance paid to the B. B, C. for the maintenance of staff; artists, copyright -fees; ..etc., ab'9ut.$500,000 is paid to the: Per forming ]Right3 Sbcletyi^ Ltd,; for the right, to use the riepertolre of copy- * rlght-muslcrof-therwbrldi--In-other- w;orda, the amount received by copy- right owners Is less than 7% of. the amount retained by the government ifor merely handing out a license and rendering a few other services. This —IgTte it to b e l Hoigical-and7<;aithet-^H-^^"'^^ flef ended.' ' The writer formerly received hlfl reward in the shape of royalties frbni the sale of sheet music and —irhfMift crfiph fp ^'ord fl , Tftiifly hl n product is taken into 6,000,000 homes over the. ether, and he feels he la €tlll entitled to ah equally adequate return. ■■ ■ The policy;of"the bandslls^so^aAly^ the Unilted number of hits, bec.iuse if only three leaders turn a riiimber dbwhi the i>ubllsher might Just as well make up his mind to scrap .it In AmericiEt : there .are , plenty , of others to try it on. At about 10; 30 rh the announcer Jntorms or 11. F the llstehing world that from Vkjii luntil midnight -there : will ho dance niuslc ipilayed by Joe Doe's Orchestra from the Blixrik hotel, ..says 'Good night, everyone/- and leayes It: at that; -and If you don't like Joe Doe' big doses there is nothing left but to wind: up the-alarm, put out the cat and go to bed; whlcli the aver age good citizen, liclhg an ea,r]y rlserj-, usually, does after about minutes. " iThus, , w^^^ the- leader fades out'on his 'signature tune' a: midnieht, he is probabiy playing to a few dance music faii$, some nlight owls and rival band leaders,, because no matter how good Joe ; Doe is, solid hour, or an hour a:nd a half of him and hls^bartd playing dance music,': interspersed with 'You , iare nbw llstenlne to' Is likely to cause musical indigestion., -. V There are plenty ■ of other good bands anxious ,ahd willing <o go on. Cornelius (Cpdbl.ban and his Gypsy orchestra doing .the. luncheon music in the Terrace Room of the Hbtei New .Yojpker..: - Ray : Noble has .depalrted' from Paramount after spending t h r e e Dfbhths at the studio composing, and arrangbig.'-.. SammyFain and IH/ing Kahal will .write the tUnes. for the next Mae West pic, 'Now I'm a tady.* , Margaret Blaekmar. 'Is with; the Edwin W. Scheuihg office. STORES SET FER 4^ COUNTER DEADLINE Saul KushnePr I)on Bestor's man- ager, liasv quit the ailk buainess al- together.,/.' ■ Syndicate stores have agreed to refrain from shutting down more sheet music counters pending the working out by thetpublishlng^.trade of ways arid means of giving the chains the . central dl^trlbutinjs channel they have ciemarided. Stlpur' latlon made by the syndicates is tha;t they will wait uhtU Feb. 1, and If by. that time there is evidence of the publishers getting together on a solution the period of grace will be extehdied another mOnth; Of the miljor publishing firms the only, ones which haye jiot committed themselves as favoring a central ^hipping. channel for c hain stores are those: in tlieT^^arhtir '^ros grOup, Warner Bros, prefers to postpone ihakihg a decision until Edwin Morris, gen. nigr. of Remlck and Witmark, has .returned "from StiU . an Important aiigle. in the problem facing the , trade' is the agreement obtained 'by Max Mayer from nine major publishers during Irlal Of his antl-truat ttetloh wiilch bars these publishers from, eniermg Into any distributing combines for five years. Sari Francisco, , Dec . 31. : Albert Groohbaum .^ w a$ l ant - wp i ek elected president of Musicians Local 6, A. F, of M.,: defeating the IncUin- bent, Wallace A. Weber by 15 votes. Urieniployed vote, nosed in ,Green bauni; who ;has been secretary;; for years.-;'-. ■ -V . Reported that Greenbaum will work for radical .new ;ppllcy, for union, with posslbftlty of pay ■c^^^ and less stringent demands on num bers of men :required for theatre and leglt.-house briis.^,;, ~ - \ Hoofers ^ Replace Gypsies Nate Kramer has dropped the Jb seph Szigeti gypsy band from the Green room^ of his Edison hotel New York,: and added a straight dance combo. . - Also-Jerry Blanchard arid Hal and Murray Ifano.: Most Played on Air To lamiUarize: the trod<i with f Ae (un«a.«u>atonihe 0i[r AfOlfrMi New York, the follotiHnff ia the liatinff of the aqnoa moat plapei on the crdaa-couiitrv networka laat: week, in relative atanding, accordinff to the numher Pf oomlined pluoa on 'WE ATP, WJZ; WABO and WMOA:, Winter Wonderland Objtet of J(i/!y Affection ScntaV Comino: to .Town An E«rful of :Muaie ^ Danoiho with My Shadow Stay- Sweat Aa You Ara CbntlnahttI V:-..'^^ _ - '^ c- invitation to • Daooa: -: Handa-- -' .i--^;./ It'a Juno in January Flirtation Walk Be Still My Heart : Love ia Just Around Corner; Talce Number One .to T«n ; You and Night and Muaie Am i to Blame? :Biue Moon Beoauao Once Upon Tinia : With Every Breath T take P;S^I Lbya You " . Where'a Smoker There's Fira I'll FqIIovv My Secret Heart Pop Goea YburiHeart; ::-Ybu'ro, tha Top'; ■': Believe It, Beloved -What difference a Day Made Harbld Stern brchestra signed for Earl CaiTull'B Palm Island Caalnb, Palm Island^ Florida, commencing Dec. 27; by Ferd Simon. Arthur Johnson goes to . Fox f rbiri: Paramourit to write the score for Private Beach.': Harold Nagel's band has suc- ceeded Herb Gordon at the ' Ten Eyck hoteli: Albany. lieb'.Relsirifttri' 'orclieHtrg/"8^^ N ew,; York, on; a hew three-year contract; ran . Iritd complications with Al Howard's. Embassy; club^ Miami, where Reisman was all set for iM9 winter, but that has been adjusted, and Reisman starts at the Casino^ Jan.".16. :■■;■■". '■ :;■• '" ."'"::■-.:'■•■ ■-'-^''. -■ :■■-■-;.—■'■■..■-■-•.' - ..■. -■ -' ;/.- Sid Sblomoht who.rUris the Casino, wants Reisman for tiie big sea,« son's busirielss, giving him tlma out, when ,requested, for : barnstorroilng , arid other dance dates which Relsriian prefers to fujlfill. TUuii he re- ma:ins froni Jan. 15 to Aprir 16, for the. wlnter-sp.Hng run.^and returns, May 16 until Oct. 15, for .the peak sumriter, patrofiajge its the park retreat gets d heavy midsummer play. : ; ddy p'uckin, trho fb^^^ Reisman into the Casino; may come; la '|tt|e JnUbpriiedlary., period now started qU his darioe t<iiur, eiy^itote' la .givbh the ."Victor reissues as the fllmuslcai versions of bahowi?) such as 'Gay Divorcee,' 'Sweet Adeline,' 'iuiusic In the Air/ 6t ali 'have been relei^^ Although (Leo Reisman Is how an . exclusive tirunsv/lck recordihg artist^ Victor reg.ularly has been releasing reissues; of tunes which Rels^ man:made-for Vic sohie -seasons ago,;^^'^^ .-- ; Xelrose Muslo Company arid Shaplro-Bernstein are feuding pver the 'orchestratlbri rights; to , 'The^ P^^^ Latter,'.flrhii which recently acquired the, copyright renewinl of the. college tune, has cautioned Nielrose against continuing to publish arra^ngements, Melrose conterids, that It , has, a valid right to do so arid cites the cbntract;lt made with the Theodcre Pressor firm. S,hapiro-BernsteIn's retbrt- is that the right acquired frorn the Presser. Conipany; was, clr- : curi'iscrlbed by the duraOori origlnar grant of copyright. The first grant; avers the Shapiro fli*m, expired in October, 1934. ,, By Abiel Gr^ - -- Cole Porter - - This Is the Cole Porter year. Al- raost every platter, chanter and radio gives out. . something ., by Porter. And when that doesn't happen Poter. maizes sure by doirig it blmself on Victor No. 24825, for example, coupling 'Anything Goes', from his smash musical of that name and the saucy. "Two Little Babes In the WoOd,' which-; was originally In the show in Boston, but elided when an embarrassment of song riches eventuated.' Per usual it's not so much how Porter does it. but what he does, i.e. the song material in_^hand wlilch. lyric- ally. Is usually more than adequate to offset his vocal shortcomings. ; 7819..; John JCcotter. at the ivories, stands out in the novelty 'Widow' Jazzlque which cbmes to America by way of Brltialn aithbugh it's In the ultra-modern- native idiom of: Jazz composition. Skinny Ennls and Bob Allan are Kemp's very busy vocal Interluders. 'Anything Goes' Foursome . This male quartet, has been 'canned' on Victor 24817 doing their 'Lady Fair' sailor's chanty In the same liOvel manner as In tneir oiio specialty In the production, back- ing It with 'Grypsy In Me,' another Porter ditty. Little Jack Little , Little's unique whispering style In the vocals which are more than averagely adequate distinguishes the Little brand r t dansapatlon. It's .well exerinplifled on Colunibla 2978 with 'June in January' and 'With. Every Breath. I Take', both by Robln-Ralnger from the CrOsby pic- ture, 'Here Is My Heart'. Also from the same filmuslcat, 'Love Is Just Around the-Corner^ and 'I'm Just a Little Boy Blue' (Col. 2984) consti- tute ultra brands, of foxtrotology, not. the least charm of which Is Little's own brarid of vocalizing. Thin hlntin mnlrng f>^la i ^ nn*"^ /.Awi. blnatiori one of the true novelties In the field. Art Ralston added to the Caaa Loma band at the Colonnades, N. Y, Oliver Wallace wrote the score and Cliff Vaughan did the arrang- ing for U's 'Straight from the mart.' - —--^ -- . -. —— Paul Specht has opened at the Sherman House, Chicago. Red; Tompkins unit in for a run at the Roselaind ballroom, ttrooKiyn. Mort Dixon and Allie WrUbel dishing up the. tunes for |Callente' at Warners. Lew Pollack and Paul Francis Webster giVen a termer by Pox. Pair are due on the Hollywood lot on Jan. 16. - ■ :■- Al K< Hall ; operating liTs-jBtv'h 'Chateau' in Baldwin, L. L ' Tunes for Evelyn Laye's picture, 'Love While You May,' at MOM, will be written by Naclo' Herb Brown arid Arthur Freed. ; Cole Porter, writing music in New York for Fox's 'Nymph Errant' and 'Adios Argentina,^ will drop off at Hollywood on a trip round the world late In January. " Ray Henderson is writing music ifor a Fox musical, which will co feature Shirley Temple and John Boles. He is also doing tunes for 'Song, arid Banco Man,' in which Fox will spot Alice. Wye and James Dunn. KENIN MMA PRES. ; : : / Portland, Ore., Dec. 31. Herman" Kenln was elected presi- dent of the Miuslchins'. Mutual Asso- ciation! - ■:'.■ - -, - ■; ':;. Konln was for devbral yeiit's, leader of his. own orchestra. He Is now a member of a Portland law firm. Enrie Madriguera With his Hotel Weylin (N. Y.) orchesti'a- Eriric Madriguera - com-; pletes the 'Anything Goes' mara- thon by digging up 'Blow, Gabriel, Blow,' Ethel Merman's novelty ditty,, which Tonny Saccb and . a trio do in a manner not quite . Mer- man but plenty okay. • Same goes for the Weylin .maestro's captivr ating dance style in the backer- upper, 'Where . There's Smoke There's Fire/ a smooth foxtrot bal- lad,, again featuririg Sacco.. Victbr 24818.— - -.: .:_ .-... ' Richard Tauber For a change of pace, Eu- rope's foremost tenor, Richard Tauber,; haridleis Garine's' 'Extasse' ('Ecstasy') in German with a cork Irig orchestral accompaniment Dr. Frederick Weissman. , 'Madchen u.nd Traume' ('Damsels and Dreams') by Hollander, this time with the Dajos Bela orchestra fnr »niig<pgrh ackgrourid. rounds out this exceptionally worthy IriipOtted disk on Columbia No. 4096. Lucienne Boyer The French dlseuse's catalog of Frenph faves, some • of which al- "reirdsHsre ;iaa3Brttng-:t terriatlonally, is generously rep- resented ori the Columbia; lists. jNo. 228 couples r 'Si: Petite' and 'Sans Toi'; 'J'al Laisse Mon Coeur' and 'Parle Mol id'Au'tre Chose' on No. 23,0; 'Mol J'Craohe dans i'Eeiu' with "Tourne/et Vire' on Coi. No. 229, all in Mue. Jbsoyer s superb marinef of sbng interpretation which brooks little linguistic handicaps, such Is the appealing, melodic style. . Ruth Etting , Tve Got an Invitation to a Dance' and 'Am I to Blame?' ; com- prise Miss Ettirig's. sbrig burthens arid a pip pair of torchers they are, top, ' especially as this songstress sells 'em on Columbia 2985. Brunswick has been keeping the Hotel .Pennsylvania (N.^ Y.) /'dance maestro very busy, judging 'by the following: No. .7323. offers 'One Little Kiss' from 'Kentucky Ker nels' and 'Inyltatibn to'a Dance'; 'All Through the Night* arid 'You're the Top' from' 'Anything Goes' (No 7322); 'Flirtation Walk', from that WB picture, coupled with 'Hands' from 'Continental Varieties' on No. 7317; and the odd 'Serenade fof a Wealthy Widow', (by Reginald Fore sythe) coupled with 'Got a Date With an Angel' on Brunswick No. Harry Rosenthal Prom the dnooty Place Plqualle, N. Y. nitery, coriaes Harry Rosen- thal's pip dance orchestria,. a vet bf long standing, which shows its'real form by the manner In which It records 'All Through the Night* and 'You're the Top' from 'Anything Goes' on Columbia 2986. Helen Ward Vocalizes. v • Lud Gluskin This : continental-vlntaged maes- tro does, his stuff with 'Sweet Music' from the WB, film: (Wa,rreri-I)ubln) of the ^ame name. Reverse is 'Just Mention Joe', one of the Lew Browri-^_ Harry Akst sbng hits from 'Calling All Stars'. It's a foxtrot In the rumba idiom. Buddy Clark Interpo- lating Vocally. Leo Reiiiman -Rei ainau goes 16 . two "Bruadwi musicals; .and a WB filmUsical for his, Brunwick ai.d Victor terp chores. From the Inevitable 'Any- thing Goes' come the title song; and 'Kick Out /of You' (Cole Porter), an d fruiii ' R e v e nge W-fth—^tsie^ (Howard _>letz-Arthur Schwartz) are culled the melodic 'You and the Night and the Music' coupled with 'When You Love Orily One'. Phil Duey and Sally Singer do their stuff vocally. - . 'Tfom 'Sweet AaeTlrie'^XKevn-- Hammersteln 2d) Is rievlv^ed 'Why. Was I Born?' and 'Here Am I', lat- ter a new number for the WB film version. It's Victor No. 24803. Jack Jackson Mor e 'Sweet Adeline* music, this. time : by the DortiheBter hotel, Jj o nr - don, maestro who lias the American ■ style down pat. "Lonely Feet' Is backed wlth 'Don't Ever Lealve Me', also from the same fllmuslcai, which The; High Hatters, American conibo, featuring Harold. Lambert, handle very capably. Victor 24802. , Jabksori: agalri, Iritrbductrig 'Old Faithful' tb America. This Is Brit- ain's current version ,«f "The Last: Round Up* arid Jackson knowis how to handle It on Victor 24828. Backup is . Eni-lc. Madrlguera's :, .'A Little Angel Told - Me So' (Co^low.) from 'One Hour Late'. ^^Okay to o., Rubin! in Ariz Los Angeles; Dec. 81. Jari Rublnl and a. locally recruited dance combo opened over the weelci end at the IVestwalrd J^^^ Phoenlx, Ariz,, night spot. .• Bunny. Norton's band went Into the 833 club which opened Christ- mas night. , ,;,'•'