Variety (Jul 1937)

46 VARIETY MUSIC fi DANCE TOURS Wednesday, July ^8, 1937 Boom in Pianos, Other Instruments; Adult Hobbies Help; Small Towns Best Musical instrument business is basking in its biggest boom in years. Sales for the flrst half of 1937 are running far ahead of the same period ■ last year and are several times the volume of the 1933 low. Dealers ex- pect the year to approach the figures for the lush 1925-28 period. All time high was in the 1890*s. With pianos as the basic article, the whole field of instruments is sharing in the splurge. Visitors at the 36th annual music industries con- vention, current this week at the Hotel New Yorker, N. Y., report . various degrees of upturn in buisi- ^ess. Favorable reports, however, are unanimous. Piano manufacturers rate the sales volume for the first half of 1937 at anywhere from 20% to 35% over last year, while the smaller instrument manufacturers and distribs estimate the rise in their sales at from 140% It ^ II Br Er ^ W ill ///u/><.M-> l.ntrsi YOU'RE MY DESIRE PECKIN' The New Summer SfnwW/cn' IS THIS GONNA BE MY LUCKY SUMMER .Season's Loicliosl Ballad MOON AT SEA The Comedy Hif of 1937 TODAY 1 AM A MAN (ffjirinlly i pproird KtntSfi rlt-Dii Pont l.oi r Sonf: OU ARE THE REASON FOR MY LOVE SONG Mais Music, Inc MW.MlMtWAT Nnr TOW, H. T. Two N«w Instlmnental Kov«U ties by the Pnbllahers of . "Nola" and 'Tolly" , "CHINiTbOLL PARADE" "WHISTLING MOSE" Divtinctive Piano or Orchestra Specialties SAM FOX PUBLISHING COMPANY USO SUTM AVtNUL RCAOUiLOirxC n-AOlOvliTT NtW YORK to 100% over the 1936 figures. Deal- ers, particularly those in the smaller towns and less populated areas, are enthusiastic, but say the usual sum- mer lull is now gripping business. Even though sales are at a standstill during these hot months, rural deal- ers look for a greater boom in the fall. Factor in the" presence of improved business in the less populated areas, instrument men think, is the absence of other entertainment there. In the big cities, they explain, theatres, films, niteries and a host of other amusements are available, while in the smaller towns diversion i3 lim- ited and a'gre£\ter number of people play music for relaxation. Adult Hpbby Another factor in the increased business, particularly in regard to pianos, is that more people are now taking up music as ia hobby. Un- precedented number of growyps, business men and' mothers and father? with grown children are tak- ing les3ons on the piano or .some other instrument.' While piano sales are' cliiAbing to a high of recent years, player pianos aiid electric piano sales are 'just about 'at the %ero mark This is ex- plained by the convenience of radio for those who want music, for enter- tainineht rather <than as means. <>f seU-expression or releasie. Manufac- turers also' believe this is a healthy business sign, pointing out that peo- ple who buy pianos to play rarely tire of them, while player and elec- tric pianos are frequently a passing fad. Paradox o{ the upswing in musical instrument sales is that it Is expected to have little or no' effect on sheet music sales. That was illustrated last winter, when the boom was first noted. Former saturation point for sheet sales was from 400,000 to 700,000 copies, while the present top is around 200,000 copies. Reason of- fered for that is the present economic recovery slowup, influenced by labor troubles and the sumrner lull. Why those factors aren't flooring the in- strument sales is just one of those unexplained things, dealeris say. ' Actual flgures of the rise in piano (as the standard instrument of the business) sales are offered by W. A. Mennie, secretary of the National Piano Manufacturers Assri. Accord- ing to him, piano shipments for June totaled 7,409 units, sin increase of 33.02% over the previous June and a jump of 554.5% from the corre- sponding' period in 1932. Sales for the first six months of 1937 were 49,595 units, or 33.62% over the similar stretch last year, indicating that 1937 will see a total sales of 130,000 pianos, since the sec ond half of the year always shows much greater sales than the first. This will mean a gross of $60,000,000. In addition to the improved economic condition over previous years, Mennie thinks, mechanical iinprove ments and novel designs have been a factor in th6 business boost.. While a few distributors and deal- ers offer radio as one influence on the sale of musical instruments, few Interpret the effect of broadcasting the 5ame way. And the greifit ma- jority seem to feel its bearing on the business is negligible one way or the other. Most Played on Air Chicago, July 27. Most encouraging news for music publishers in many a day comes from the report of the National Piano Manufacturers Association which states that the first six months of 1937 saw the greatest number of piahos sold for any similar period since 1922. Piano shipments for the first six months of this year were more than 33% ahead of the same months last year and more than 350% ahead of THE nCTURE'S A HiT — AND SO ARK THE SONOS tOVE IS NEVER OUT OF SEASON OUR PENTHOUSE ON THIRD AVENUE From RKO-RiKllo'B "NEW FACES OF 1037" From BEN MARDEN'S SMART RIVIERA REVUE THE IMAGE OF YOU From THE PAN AiMlCKICAN CASINO REVlE .«. DON'T YOU KNOW OR DON'T YOU CARE LEO FEIST. Inc. • 1629 BROADWAY • NEW YORK Combined plugs on WEAF, WJZ and WABC are computed ■for the week jrom Sunday through Saturday (July 18- July 24). It Looks Like Rain (Morrla) tWhere or When (Chappell) Merry-Go-Round Broke Down (Harms) Sailboat in Moonlight (Crawford) So Rare (Sherman-Clay) First Time I Saw Tou (Santly-Joy) *I Know Now (RemlcK) ^Good Morning "1 (Famous) *Wht9oers in the Dark ' (Famous) Ton and Me Tliat Used to Be • (Berlin) Stardust on the Moon (Marks) *Tomorrow Is Anotlier Day (Robblns) *They Cant Take That Away . (Chappell) . ■-. ^Love Is Never Out of Season (Foist) Miller's Daofhter Marianne (Shaplroy Toodleoo (Shapiro) You're My Desire (Mills) ' Gone With the Wind (Berlin) *Sweet Leilani (Select) *AI1 God's Chlilun Got Rhythm (Robbing) .Stojp, Tbu're Breakinf My Heart (Famous) *Cause My Baby Says It's So (Remick) • • Caravan (Exclusive) ^September in the Rain (Remick) Me, Myself and I (Words & Music) • Indicates filmusical song. t Production Number. . CASA LOMA'S TOUR the same period in 1933," wHich marked the lowest piano sales in the entire history of the keyboard indus- try. . - ' . Sales for the six months of 1937 totalled. 49,595, with unfilled orders on hand at the end of June of 3,164 units, an increase of more than 143% over the same time last year and more than 193% over the backlog for July 1 of 1935. YALE 'WHIFFENPOOF STATUS INTO COURT Dispute over ownership rights to the famous Yale 'Whiffenpoof Song' which Rudy Vpllee has been plug- ging on the air in 'recent months came to a head Saturday when the Miller Music Co, filed an infringe- ment suit in federal Court, New York, against G. Schirmer Music Corp. Plaintiff seeks an injunc- tion. Miller Co. claims the 'whiffen- poof ditty was originally written by Meade Minnigerode and George S. Pomeroy and that the late Tod B. Galloway wrote the music. Plaintiff bought the composers' rights. Lat6r Vallee resurrected the song and it -has become widely popular. ■ Schirmer people, it is claimed, published a book entitled 'Songs of Yale' which they claim is an of- ficial university edition. It contains the disputed song. -.Miller asks the court to decide whether the book Is an official edition. If so, they ask that Schirmer be restrained from distributing the tune in any other manner than through the book. LA. AFM in Campaign For Fed RerEmployment Hollywood, July 27. Local 47 of the American Feder- ation of Musicians has launched a campaign for reinstatement of 100 of its members recently dropiped from the roster of the Los Angeles Federal Music Project, Local's efforts will be an adjunct to a similar campaign, started in the east with the same objective follow- ing curtailment of federal funds for the FMP. Brissitt's Fill-Ins Don Brissitt's orch is the house band at Bal-a-lair, 'ballroom near 'Worcester, Mass., this summer, work- ing the spot in between one-niters played by nafne aggregations. Brissitt has let loose 35 evenings to date in the outdoor rug-cutting emporium since its, seasonal opening on May 27. Playing San Francisco For. First Time—$1,000 Guarantee San Francisco, July 27. Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra will play at the ' Dreamland Audi- torium In Sah Francisco, Aug. 1. This will be the flrst engagement of the band in San Francisco. Doing a series of one night stands on the Coast following engagement at Los Angeles Palomar. In on a guarantee of $1,000, plus 60% of aU over that. High School Bands Muscling In on AFM Combos in the N.W. Minneapolis, July 27. ' Minneapolis' older crop. of musi- cians and thosQ who are in the big time are wondering what effect the recent trend among high school kids toward forming dance bands will be on their' ham and eggs'. The most interesting part of it is that the youngsters are jprietty,. good. They seem to have music in their souls, or something. At high school age kids, are really music-conscious and cah spot corny stuff a mile away and won't have any part of it. In this section the boys (and girl vocalists who are plenty good, too), are pro- ficient enough to take a lot of biz away from the small-time cats. They go in for swing and jam stuff in a big way. Playing tor high school dances and small private parties are their specialties, the bigger things not coming their way because if non-union affiliation, age, etc. Because of the already high/jqual- ity of their mu^ic it is predicted in these parts that the future will bring forth a high-grade of horn- tooters and drum-beaters. RUDYVALLETOLA. AMBASSADOR OCT. 5 Rudy Vallee orchestra booked into the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambas- sador Hotel, Los Angeles, Oct. 5, by the Rockwell-O'Keefe Hollywood office. Deal is the first non-MCA set-up to go into the Grove in four years. Nab George De Horth Philadelphia, July 27. George de Horth, orchestra batoneer, got in a jam" last Friday when pinched for allegedly passing a $38 check of pure Para. De Horth would give no home ad- dress to detectives who picked him up on the street. Dorsey Ballyhooed Date Crimps Frankie Masters Clear Lake, la,, July 27.. Jimmy Dorsey's swingsters grossed around $1,000 at the Surf ballroom here July 22,, Frankie Masters, play- ing the Surf the week preceding, pulled in 'anaemic gate largely be- cause of the .counter-attraction, Dorsey, billed weeks in advance. Donna Dae of the Masters crew leaves the band in week to take screen test for Warner Bros. Glen Gray Trek , Hollywood, July 27. Glen Gray and the Casa Lomans pulled out over the Week end for a to,ur of coast engagements through San Joaqi^in valley, San Francisco and. Portland, thence to Cleveland and New York, Unit made six recordings for Dec- ca under supervision of Joe Perrjr just before departing. Glenn Gray and Casa Loma or- chestra play 20 dance dates on way east between San Diego and Denver, Colorado. Band plays San Diego^ Calif., July 24; Balboa, Calif., July 25; Fresno, July 26; Oakland, July 27; Sacramento, July 28; Santa Cruz, July 29; Reno. Nev.. July 30; Stock- ton, Calif., July 31; San Francisco, Aug, 1; back to Oakland Aug. 2; Eugene, Ore., Aug. 3; Portland. Ore., Aug. 4; Seattle, Wash,, Aug, 5; Bel- lingham, Wash,, Aug. 6; Tacoma, Aug. 7 and. 8; Spokane, Aug. 9; Butte, Mont., Aug. 10; Twin Falls, Idaho, Aug. 11; Salt Lake City, Aug. 12, finishing at Denver, Aug. 13, Tour set by Ed Fishman of Holly- wood office of Rockwell-O'Keefe. UNION PICKET THREATSTWO BALLROOMS Philadelphia, July 27. Successful in winning some quick victories in its battle to put union hands in all the city's niteries, the tooters' local here is branching out into the ballroom yard. Negotiations have begun with operators of Oakes and Temple ballrooms. A. A. Tomel, proxy of the Union, has threatened to begin picketing, the places next week if they don't replace present outfits with union bands. Negotiations also being continued with hotels to get pacts guarantee- ing that only: union bands will be allowed to play at functions. Latest battle Is with Stephen Girard, Rit- tenhouse. and Lorraine Hotels. LARRY LEE SQUAWKS ON LONG TOOT SPEl Ft. Worth, July 27. Larry Lee, No. 2 bandleader in Casa Manana at Fort Worth's Frontier Fiesta, is squawking be- cause ■ of Paul Whiteman's three weekly NBC' airings between first and second Casa shows. Whiteman's stint. in the new Gulf studio on the showgrounds forces the Lee band to play an hour and 35 minutes for dancers without a rest. On other nights the Whiteman outfit shares the dance load. liCe says the grind is tearing up the.lips of his brass section. Ralph Harrison's, engagement at Webster Hall's Spanish Garden, Pittsburgh, extended for remainder of the summer. Band slated to re- turn to City Club in Erie, Pa,, in the fall. GORDON and REVEL Songs for the forthcoming Darryl Zanuck-^Oth Century. Fox Production: "YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING" The swell score follows: AFRAID TO DREAM THE LOVELINESS OF YOU YOU CAN'T HAVE EV'RYTHING PLEASE PARDON US— WE'RE IN LOVE DANGER- LOVE AT WORK Also, Gordon and Revel's great waltz I HUM A WALtZ from 20\h Century's "This ts My Affair" KITCHI-MI-KOKO ISLE England's Novelty Hit Mi'LLcm Inc. iei9 BKOADWAY • NIW YORK.^ Two New Hits! "OVER NIGHT" an«1 "MY SECRET LOVE AFFAIR" From tli« fortlicuminff 20tli Century-Fox Musical, "THIN ICE," starring Sonja Hcnle ir MOVIETONE ^ MUSIC CORPORATION' SAM FOX PUBLISHING CO .SoleA9<>n 1250 SIXTH AVENUE k. ncft ftuiLOiNt ;ri\diO cnvl