Variety (Jan 1935)

42 VARIETY RAD in Tdesday, January B»~ 1935 ; PhllMelphla, jttn. 7, ^ . Conservative Phllly tlerlcs, foli- lo^inB in the footsteps of their less orthodox brethreili, have taken to' : the air with a riish. yTVP has ear- nered the ,greater , percentage 6t the ■ business, and the town is wondering where the '. djough is • comiA« from. . Chlirchesl contracted ■ at card rate, have signed for. total Slims roineln^ as high as-$30,000. .-Erices are, a . step-up over previous 60% pollcyi ' . Locai religious'shows have. obvl> pusly followed in the footsteps of such network alrcasters as FtftHer Coughllh. Contracts no\? running .-(oh -WIP- aro the ihost-extensive In the studio's recent KTstwy, with one 3 minister's parish .financing a 90- r'niiiiulu'period dully fpr. D2 weeki • $100 per hiour: less time discounts oh a 7 a.m. broadcast. ■ Limitations on calls for local, cbn- . tributions are hot. iis stringept as / those which apply-to web broad- \-- casting. Clerics use varied forms '. in appeals for funds, sonie.dlsguis-' ine and others more and deflhitiely .blatant. The fblloWihg iare ex-, ^ amples " of contribution; appeals . .made :in .representative; prpgranis:. • 'Dear frieivds, the 'cost of this :iJMiaaAcftst.;.n)UfltJie.j shared_by_ ■ us. Amateur Circuit MORE AMATEUR Fifty-two dollars and fifty cents is needed by; us so that we may be back with you next week and carry J 'on ' this work of salvation. . . ,.'. " (This cleric, fbjp, every . monetary . oontributipn, sends the donor a photo .of himself and wife). 'Next week, it by your generous contributions and gifts, you make """this broadcast again possible,; my topic will be . . / . 'To everyone who sends In a gift • o f two dpUaV s or more T will sfind < a membership card. to....... and send them „the ...... hymn ■ book -r-withrtheTianae-embossedjlri^old bli- the cover. . < .' . ; Other alr-mlnded clerics have ■ * outside endeavors conniected with their broadcasting which' have ' proven very lucratlyei..' One estab-? lish'Ps a summer religious camp at a nearby mouiitalh resort ($6 a week);. .another plugs the sale of . self-vn'itten holy books of text and - -story, nature; while - a- third-pleads . for support of his newly established home for unwed mothers. .Ftw-Flopii^--' Pan mail and mail contrlbutlonB -^ Ott. the majority of these programs .have grown tp such prppbrtipns that -" - large ppst-oflice. - boxes -have .- -been . Irented to accomtnodate the letter Infiux; ' It is not unusual to find —^mahy^^-^eceymen.. who-^Btarted_oji . small indie stations lii Philly at little cost arid worked themselves up to larger outlists'at terrific cost and corresponding Incomes. But iirhat Is unusual, hp\r)eyer, is the fact that rarely dp^k a radio re ligious venture 'of ■ this nature fail The ether public rallied 'round the radlol^^rpulplt to such an extent that ministers, are devoting their beat .. efforts tp what they sermonize on the air. Rarely, too, does one cleric differ, from another in sermon top ics. . None of the local broadcast ers mentioii political subjects as _ dMs .Fathjer adhere solely to the purely religious text. Each succesaive day's, or week's program is rhuch like the one previous to it—a constant exhorta tlon for those in the darkness to see the light. ^-J-^'---;---:-- provldericei=^an. v7. Bamby bakery amateur show which broadcasts from the Metro politan theatrei here is drawing 4,600 people every Saturday.'. WPRO, which originated the stunts requires police aid to handle the. trafllc. Meanwhile another bakery cpm pany,'. Gorman's, has gone radio through "WPRO twice weekly with children's hour called Buddy and the" Gang. . Miltendod W Chicago, Jan, 7 Eugene MittendPrt joins the Ralph Atlass; interests here to be come gjiEsneral manager of the WIND station in Gary. ; , Mittendorf was fbrmerly manager bf WKRC In eihcihnatl. Jim Harkins* Job Jim Harklns from vaudovilie handilnj? the amateur contests ;for Fred Alliiri. ■ on . the • Bristol-Meyer show on NBC. HarkiiiS was pt the stand team of Jim and Marion Harklns. . ' Broadcasting: In the metrb- politah area heui developed an amateur night circuit fbr mike asplrtmts. With the programs npw! available to them they can be kept on the go prac- tically v every night , of the ^weiek.;'. ;:' i - Sunday nli5ht._haa_its. Efifiii=i a-;mlnt tryouts pn CBS-tVABC, jabrday night WNEW, Tues- day, - rilght'WHN, Wednesday niglit - Bristdl-Myer's'; Fred Allen-To\\ -v Hall Tonight- on - - NBC-WKAJb'. Thursday night WMCA.'s Harlem Opera House, masiy^iT^irwORrTmd-Satur- day night WBflX. - - . ,. Ml lwaukeB, ' Jaii. 7. Station WISN launched an ama* te ur sh ow Sunday (6) at noontime; Hearst station thereby had" the : ump oh the Milwaukee Journal's WTMJ. Latter started Its amateur frolic at 9:30 p.m. the same day. Hollywood, Jan, 7 KNX will revive Its 'amateur night' radio gag. Will spot the slmon pures for a weekly Saturday matinee startirig ; Jari^ ~TLZ'. Show will ■ run .two_hours.-and_a half divided Into sections to allow for 16-niin. cbmtnerdal periods, it will start as a station affair but if pulling enough listener interest will later. bp ...ispotted in an aiiditbrlum as irfreb" weraniJ-hearer Ehtrants Will be subject to audi tibrilhg before being allowed in front of-^the-mik«r'ahdi-will-bsr.cpmpetinjg- for three caish prizes at each broad- cast WLW-WSAI Staff Sliifts Cincinnati, Jan. 7. Turn of new; year attended by hew tags and title changes in exec staff of Crosley's WLW and WSAI E^on Becker, contlnuitlst, IsV now assistaint general ma nager in chargei of programs.; v ' Ed Wegert advanced from biz, mgr. to-sales mgr. .Edwiard Bauer, formerly V in ' purchasing dept. company's radio set mgr. dlyislbn, shifted to biz. riigt; of broadcasting •for both - stations. . He . succeeds Wegert.. James Krautters transferred from traffic/mgr.. of WLW to .program director , of WSAL ClMsic ExAinpiea of Fodlith Air Pubiidj^ ItenM^^^C^ tiiMMi to Flow Into Trash Basket 9 Via Editors^ Desks—Makes Saps of Act«^Clients P. U. AS P. A/S Phoney and tobllBh piii)llbity cbn-- tlnuea-tovfiow--undiininl8bed-iii-radlo.: 'ris/i>lcjal examples of the .flapdoodle spQt out in tuoK «nveiop«r dally or pfterierTitUr^arbiiM wbnde^^^^^ lack of realism dlspIayecL .That many bt tbe puns or fppble Jokes attributed to actors represent their. inentsJities as sub-moronic seems not to disturb the headlineni^ That mpst of -IJje pubUclty.tii^terlal'h^ graduates firom mioaeograph is a further Pyetslght oh - the part pt the' actors. ^Itodlb ttfilsts sei^ the neeii for publicity, but their comprehenslbn of the. mechaifIcs of propaganda ends with this dim realizatipn pt thb; desirability of getting • their names in print. Legitimate news items are welcomed by the press but jiewspapertnen . in: . general, .. and editors Ini paiiiculari have only con- tempt for tnanufactUred fiction. And of this there Is a. great deal in the torrential floods pt radio publicity. fSlHftat AnA^M Irnnwrt t o profflB- ' ■■■■.'^"•sblngtpn,. Jati^ .T.^ V'- Slx requests for new trahsmittera and four iipplications for power i>bpsts for existing stiatiPris were filed with Federal Communications Com-; mission last week< ^Granting of license for 100-watter bn 1370 kc., to T. H. Barton, El Dorado,, Ark.j was recommended to commish; by Examiner R;, H. Hyde; fpnbwiug irivestlgatibn, but denial of p|lea of A. R. Montg;omery, Plndlfiyy p.i. for cPnstrUctlPli perriiitvior i kw. experimental statibn on lB30 Avas urged by Examiner Ralph L. Walker.: ; Applications received included:' New stations:; Ashland! BroadcastlTif; Co., Ashland, Ky".,, 1310 kc, 100 watts; Price Slever, O. L. Bayless, and J. W. Steele, Jr., Duncan, Okla. 1500 kc lOO watts; Springfield newspapers, Springfield, Mo., 1120 kc, 250 watts; Mississippi Valley Broadcasting Co;, Jefferson City, Mo., 1310 kc,; 100 watts; Brownsville Broadcasting- Col,- Brownsville, Tex., 1370 kc, 100 watts; and Dallas Radio Research Enf;l- neers/Dallas, Tex., 1560 kc, 1 kw (experimental). —Power lncreasesra8ked:- K-XL,-Portland,-Ore., from 100 night and 250 day to BOO with shift in frequency frpm 1420 to 1410 kc; WW J, Detroit, from 1 kw day and night to 1 kw night and 5 kw day; WPBM, Indlnn- apolla, from 1 to 5 kw day; and WHFC, Cicero, HI., from 100 to 250 day. telephone in James Melton's New Yo rk apartment Is Mrs . , M ^,A question of etiquette was sub- mitted to Fred Allen 'last weelt, written on a shirt. The writer- wants a Town Hall answer but Mr. Allen says that's a 'tall' for an- other day. ; East and Dumke, 'Sisters of the Skillet,' number among their close friends sbme of the most serious writers In New York literary circles. Roth are college graduates and are regarded aroiind the studio as au- thorities. Pn ancient history. Pat Barnes, narratpr on the Lom- bardo Land programs, is one of NBC's proudest artists these days. Pat is displaying two artistic testi-< moniietls from residents of Illinois and' Wisconsin crediting him with providing the most entertaining style of announcing on the air today. HarkinsVNew Old Biz Philadelphia, Jan. 7. Tom . Harklns, local broadcaster, has che.cked out from all station .en- tanglements, to rtsopen his Broad- casting. Service Co. Outfit had been dormant." sjhco 1926. , Harkjns. was former commercial manager o£ WCAU, later beginning WPEN, hw:e, as prexy. Latest sta- tion connection was with WIBG; aS' manager. Associated with him will be Edna Rau, former exec of N. W. Ayer and the Ayananiaker; .storie. . Company Is now placing time for Johnson and Johnson; the flnip- flrm. and Cushmnri's BokerlVi."); . slonal publicists and long since hooted out- of pictures, vaudeville, and-leglt are going strong In radio.- Sheer fabricated incidents without even a germ of truth for basis, are released as gospel Clarinet players are quoted sbleninly on some scien- tific problem of the day cpncorning which they obviously know nothing. Every trifling observation or petty experience is dished up with all the embellishment of an Alexander WooUcott- anecdoto. Unconscious humotJajthreaded throughjmany of the pomposities of official releases. One of the most amtuslng manlfes- tatloos of the. radio publicity yen still remains in the painful efforts to' sex up ladies .with swell voices and. .square . jaws._ JKlles. jot trick make-up and filtered photography are employed in a desperate try to supply~Bilken—istlaiMour—where" it: ain't. Sbme of the results are worth framing. _.. Samples Of the mimeographed stuff that gets swept up by the Janitor Va- RiBTT has collected a second as- sortment, about on a par with a similar compilation of a year ago. Here are some samples: Jerry Cooper, CBS baritone, should enjoy immunity from speed tickets if he taices an automobile trip of the country. Numbered among the Cooper fans are eight chiefs .of police. George Reyer, su perintendent of pplice of New Or leans, files a weekly letter of com- ments and criticisms of Jerry's pro grams. Charles P. Hughes, producer ol' Talkie Picture Time, popular NBC dramatic program, has produced some 300 radio plays in his time, but it wasn't until last Sunday that, he let one of them get him down It was during Talkie Picture Time and the actors portrayed a sad, sad story BO realistic that Hughes broke down and cried. Dave Apollon, radlo'd musical master of ceremonies, now being heard over BBC in London, has ad dressed four orgetnlzatlons . of ad vertislng executives in England on commercial radio in America. Apol Ion, \vIio has made a. study of al branches of radio, reports that there appears to be a concerted campaign being planned over there to substl tute sponsorship ' for the current system. . . • Ch.armlng person who answers the rial for the air waves. Frank No- vak, the orchestra leader, purchased this week si complete cbllectbr's iriu-" sic library from the widow of a man who had spent 40 yearfe in. compil ing this collection. In it are several unused original musical comedy scores, Harrlgan and Hart lyrics, and other valuable musical and col lector's items.. The collection is valued at $40,000. . While Waterloo_ bridge _is going up in London, Giiio Severl's orchestra in Los Angeles will -play a sym- phonic arrangement of 'London Bridge Is Falling Down.' Jolly Coburn's music is good for what ails you. For, in case you haven't ■ hear d, there's a doctor in the'band." Which lielps lexplalri-why those captivating' Coburn tunes put you on your feet. GHaffar Khan—DJalalr, Persian I Dr.-Jo"seplr=Ja8trow For Immediata Release, Pleaael Artists will go . to the ends of the earth t o l o cate n e w a t fd nov e l mat e Rosario Bourdon guy to. play any- thing he likes, but to lav off 'The Continental.' I use that for an Opener,' and I don't want'it crabbed!' ' Reminiscent of the habits of the- rural areasthey portray in their broadcasts, Lum and Abncr have a Chicago office' with a desk that's solely for the purpose • of whittling. While they sit and figure out pro- ^ram material they carve the desk to amuse.themselves.: - • ■'' Special Survey I . NOTE:—Realizing '.hat the. sea- son" for colds, influenza,- grippe and- similar maladies is! at hand, and that no other grpup Is so much af- fected, financially as well as phys- ically,' as radip artists, we haye undertaken an extensive survey of important air . personalities—not necessarily exclusively our clientis—; to ascertain their favorite remedies for these seasonal conditions. : CW'o feel that this will be of Interest to your readers from a therapeutic viewpoint as well as of gcner.al ■ reader interest.) . . One of the newest bits of fun Is going to masquerade parties dressed as Mary Lou or Captain Henry. It was an odd break of fortune which won Seville his engagement for the program. Roxy had definite- ly decided upon another singer but discovered that his choice was abroad. R"o5ry was resting in the lounge of a Long Island country cfub after a hard session of golf. "Tlie radio T'was tuned to 'tt "small" mettQpolltan.statlQn.and_Roxx_sud -.. denly became aware of the singer then broadcastlhg, Roxy signed him for Grand Oppra Cavalcade on the spot. Poss ibility of deterinlning the iji- nocence or7 gulltljjf~BxurioIIBlcirard7 Hauptmann through the use of a lie detector will be discussed by Minister to the United States, ap .peatlne.in-honbr.,bf4he J.,MO.th .arinii versary of the birth of the great Persian poet, Abul-kaslm Flrdausi, will be guest on the Women's Radio Review. They call him. 'The Englishman' arOund the. studios, and, oddly enough, he was born in Hull, Eng. So-and-So is conducting experi- ments with a machine which, ac- cording to its Inventor, can cure certain cases of insanity and which could also be developed as a death ray. 'When So-and-So asked one of his less serious friends what he should do with it, he was advised to try it on the inventor. At a recent Christmas benefit in New York In which many radio and theatrical stars appeared for char- ity, a well-known..: song-and-dance man was to go on at nine o'clock, so as to get to a bf oadcastlng studio for his radio program later that evening. ^-.i..;'. As he waited In the wings he no- ticed a modest yet important-look- ing man walking to and fro/ with ah air of impatience, on the other side of the stage;. 'Who is that guy over there?' he asked the stage manager. r \ 'Why'—the manager looked sur prlsedr^'why, that's Rosario Bour don, the hotied coriductor. of the Cities Service radio program.' . 'Does, he go on here tonight?' ■ Sure he does. He Is going to lead the orchestra in. alcouple of popular song hits.' . 'Well,' said the song-and-dance man, a. little sourly, 'tell this here Pick and Pat are , celebrating -their-sixth •«.nnlyersary-at3-a-team in bang-up fashion. With their pockets ':bulglng with telegrams of congratulations /the burnt-cork comics dashed from NBC studios and pushed off for wildest Maine, for a week of hunting. After all, the boys said, six years together Is a record to shpot at! ; Joe Relchman, CBS orchestra leader, has the privilege of using, the piano on one of the largest yachts in New York harbor for his special arrangements and recording . rehearsals. Joe niet the owner as a result of his current broadcasting ; series. Del Campb Is one of the most talented, entertalriers ever to. join the a:ir. orchestral contingent. In addition to leading the orchestra he also sipgs and makes his own an-: nbuncements. Ed Lowry .neveiv thi\ow3^ a letter or telegram. .Wherever Ed- die gbcs. four trunks full of letters, telegrams and cables accompany him andit is the duty of Dave Walker,. his secretary, to see to. it that they are so arranged that Ed can get to any letter he has re- ceived ,at any time in the last 10 years. .. • 'Ma'rrlage makes life fuller and broader. .. It makes one less sel- . fish,' cpritlnued Miss Grace Moore. 'No. ca,reer.. should . be ; .allowed to come; before it. I love all the little things about • horheniaking. . .Oiir home la truly a haven of our own."