Variety (Sep 1938)

Wednesday* September 28* 1938 MUSIC-DANCE VARIETY 45 REHEARSE CONTROL Not in the Script Although they had been distributed among members of the ; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers as a good ' will building stunt, autograph cards with the ASCAP insignia are being used by Broadway bookmakers on which to record their bets. The bookmakers got the cards from the ASCAP writers. Autograph card was E. C. Mills' idea. He thought that people meeting writers would be glad to get their autographs and, instead Of putting their monikers on miscellaneous paper, the writers could do the inscribing on neat little cards containing an embossed ver- sion of the ASCAP seal. On second thought, packets of these cards; were also sent to publisher-members of the Society. The latter are wondering who would be interested in their autograph unless it is on a check. Another Mills idea is that of stamping the words 'Justice for Writers' on envelopes mailed from ASCAP offices. Whiteman on 35c Decca Discs; New Attitude of Recording Artists Marking a comeback to the phono- graph records after an absence of Borne two years, Paul Whiteman will make Decca records, the first time he's gone on a 35c label. Even for RCA Victor, where he was long an exclusive artist, Whiteman refused to go on RCA's companionate Blue- bird label, because of the 35c price, although it's known that these priced disks outsell the "75c platters by far. Guy Lombardo is another Victor artist going back to Decca, although that band's radio sponsor at one time influenced the Lombardos to return to*Victor on the theory that the 75c tag and the RCA auspices gave the '^bahd greater prestige. : However, today recordings are chiefly looked upon by artists for their exploitation worth. There's also a vanity angle, although it's principally that of pride of achieve- ment. If a recorder makes a good waxing, it's a proud feat. Bing Crosby's Stance Bing Crosby is one who ofttimes tellj Jack Kapp, prez of Decca, that the mone^he gets from the record- ings isn't anything compared to the satisfaction from doing a good cut- ting. Still, says Kapp, Crosby today ia perhaps the top-priced pop record- ing artist, his wax earnings coming te around $35,000 Or $40,000 a year, oh a guarantee and royalty basis. Crosby, however, prefers to stay with Decca, although American Recording Corp. (Brunswick) at one time of- fered hiftl the heretofore unheard-of price of $3,000 a record, knowing it couldn't ctime" but, but relying on Crosby to be a standard-bearer and exploitation medium for the rest of the catalog. Whiteman will feature a swingo unit as pfirjt of his large combo, in* eluding eight jivesters, the Modern* aires quartet and Jack Teagarden. Latter wili also have a sub-unit of his dwn on Decca. Whiteman has already cut 12 side's, first of Which will be released Oct. 6. Jan Garbers Patch Up Pittsburgh, Sept.. 27. Jan Garber and his wife, the former Dorothy Comegys, were reconciled here last week after a separation of almost a year. Mrs. Garber obtained an interlocutory de- cree of divorce in Hollywood several months ago but parting wouldn't have become permanent until De- cember, reunion calling whole thing off. Maestro's missus is a sister of Claiborne Foster, former legit actress, and Katherine Comegys, Broadway player who last appeared in 'Whiteoaks.' PUBS' PIANISTS SIPPING PLUCS Complaints Heard Sustain- ing Singers Are Insulated Against Contact with Smaller Houses 'COACHING* AS IN Garber orchestra is current at the New York Strand, his first Broadway date in 12 years. ROCKWELL-O'KEEFE'S CLEVELAND OFFICE RacRwell-O'Keefe, Inc., proposes to o^tt a Cleveland office within the next 60 days. Organization has a number of dance alliances in that area which it thinks could be best M ^* lced throu gh a local branch. Manager for the Cleveland office will be designated after the lease for We offices has been closed. AVAILABILITY FROM AS IS All availability ratings for publish^ ers in the American Society of Com- posers, Authors and Publishers will have to remain as is until a special committee appointed last May- v: td study the question of availability system revision has reported its find- ings to the ASCAP board. Special committee will hold its first meeting the early part of October. Pfesent availability Committee de- cided last week to go into temporary retirement after It had heard a num- ber of protests from publishers seek- ing availability rate increases. As a result of this action the availability setup became frozen until, either the special committee submits a new plan acceptable to the ASCAP pub- directors or it becomes obvious that this committee will be unable to ar- rive at more satisfactory formula. Special committee consists of Johnny O'Connor, Henry Spitzer, Lou Diamond, Walter Kramer, Gene Buck, John G. Paine and E r ,C. Mills. Robbins Ambles West * bobbins is" en route to the <~oast by easy stages, stopping off in •everal keys before making his Hol- lywood contacts. »jX?? ter Do ™»l<ison, a staff Metro- w&bbins writer, left Monday (26) for quiver City to resume tunestering Wr M-G. ufc i!? Pokr ass and Walter Bullock wrote two ditties, 'Song of th« «tusketeers' ahd 'My Lady,' for 'One '<* All' at i20th-Fox. Welk's Engagement* Milwaukee, Sept. 27. Lawrence Welk closes his three- week engagement at the Hotel Schroeder in Milwaukee Thursday (29). From here he goes to Chicago Friday (30) to make eight disks for Brunswick. Saturday (1) he plays at the Coliseum in Greensburg, Pa.; Sunday (2) one-niter at Cleveland, and Monday (3) due for return stint at the William Penn, Pitts. Welk will play there till Jan. 1, '39. This is his third stretch at the William Penn, making & total of seven months during '38. Schroeder bills Eddie Varzos and a new floor show Friday (30). 'My Heart Is Walking,' being used in the show at Queens Terrace, Jackson Heights nitery. has not yet been published. It was written by Walter Seligman, of the N. Y. Criterion theatre staff. Smaller music firms are complain- ing that the practice common among publishing-house piano-players of swapping plugs among themselves for mike singers they regularly re- hearse shows signs of developing into a serious evil. This logrolling angle stems from the circumstance that most sustaining vocalists lack their own coach-accompanists and must depend on pianists on publishers' payrolls for this service. Out of such alliances there has, it is charged, evolved a peculiarly in- vincible 'closed .shop,' with the chances of outsiders getting a plug' becoming tougher as the networks continue to reduce the number of sustaining singers. This ring, it is said, operates on the procedure of a publisher's staff pianist offering a plug on the programs of the singer he regularly rehearses if the piano- player with another firm will do the same thing in the case of the singer that the latter is handling. With five or six of these pianist-rehearsers joined in a swapping setup it would become practically impossible for any outsider to crack the repertoire of a sustaining vocalist. Some of the rehearsing publishers' pianists, their paycheck sources and the sustaining vocalists they have under their wing follow: Freddy Cohn (Harms) Nola Day. Walter Fleischer (Famous) Del Casino. Terry Shand (Shapiro-Bernstein) Rose-Marie, Barry McKinley. Moriy Howard (Robbins) Ink Spots, Fred Phillips (Leo Feist, Inc.) Dick Todd, Carol Weyman. Ticker Freeman (Miller) Barry .Wood. ?■ George Schottler (Remick) Ray Heatherton. Davis Wholesales Sheet Music To Kresge at 9-10c; to Retail at 15c Musical Sequel Something new in music, a sequel, is being readied by Al Feldman who wrote *A-Tisket, A-Tasket.' Second addition will have Ella Fitzgerald singing 'I Found My Yellow Basket.' Will be recorded, Oct. 5 by Decca with Chick Webb's band and Miss Fitzgerald vocalizing. Robbins will publish. NAB MORE SONG BOOTLEGGERS Investigations conducted by the copyright protection bureau of the Music Publishers Protective Associa- tion resulted last week in the return of indictments by. a Federal grand jury in Philadelphia against 10 alleged peddlers and distributors of bootleg songsheets. Arthur Hoffman and John Wiener, operating for the MPPA, turned their evidence over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the latter after doing some prob- ing of their own relayed what they had to the office of the U, S. district attorney in Philadelphia. Group indicted consists of Morris Fisher, Sidney Fisher, Abraham Rosen, Hyman Rubin, Lawrence Malare, William Calvin, Herman Lis, Harry D. Nadler, Joseph Feldman and Anthony Bombaro. There have -been several convictions against Mor- ris Fisher on similar charges. In Special Sessions court, New York, Murray Eisenberg last week was sent to the workhouse on charges of peddling contraband song- sheets. It was his third conviction. FRANK TRACT BOOKING Frank Tracy, who batoned under the name of Tracy Brown and for the past three and a half years pro- duction manager of the Tower, Kansas City, has opened a booking office in Oklahoma City. Donaldson, Piqued at Title Similarity, Moves to Halt New Blue Heaven Walter Donaldson has started pro- ceedings against Shapiro, Bernstein aiming to estop the publication of a song titled 'There's a New Star in My ^Blue... Heaven,' which he charges- impinges upon the lyric and title of 'My Blue Heaven/ George Whiting will probably be coupled In the ac- tion, being credited with collabora- ting with Donaldson who has been ih New York for several months. Stated that he is encouraged to pro- tect the property by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Jack Robbins, head of Feist, Inc., which has u een handling Donaldson numbers is understood not to have protested the publication of the Sha- piro, Bernstein song of similarity and there is tension between the composer and Robbins. Donaldson proposes to Withdraw his copyrights from that office, either Irving Berlin or T. B. Harms getting them. 'My Blue Heaven' is among the best sell- ing songs ever written. Composer also intends seeking in- junctions against the radio chains, restraining them from using the 'Star' song. He.is being represented by attorney Frederick E. Goldsmit'i. Infringement claim has been made against Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. in connection with the tune, 'Cry, Baby, Cry.' Through local counsel, William Weiss, of Pittsburgh, last week noti- fied the publishing firm that the melody of 'Cry, Baby, Cry' was similar to a song, 'Cry Baby,' which he has on file with the Register of Copyrights in manuscript form. Weiss also claims that he had at one time submitted the manuscript to this publishing house. Shapiro-Bernstein In return of- fered to leave it to any musical au- thority selected by Weiss to decide whether the melodies were alike. It also stated that there were over 50 songs with the title 'Cry Baby' copy- righted in Washington, one of these being a number by Lucky Roberts which it published itself in 1923. Shilkret, Jane Froman On RCA Gershwin Memorials RCA Victor is issuing a special memorial album of recordings of the late George Gershwin's tunes. Set includes 32 waxihgs of hits the com- poser wrote for various stage mu- sicals and pictures. Platters were cut by Nat Shilkret's orch. with Jane Froman doing the vocals, seconded by Felix Knight, Sonny Schuyler and a choral group. Shilkrat did the arrangements. Max Steiner finished musical score for 'The Sisters' at Warners. At the solicitation of Joe Davis the Kresge store chain will introduce 15c sheet music on its counters. Floyd Hitchcock, Kresge buyer, while on a visit to New York yester- day (Tuesday) said that he had agreed to make 'Shame, Shame, Go Away,' a number which Davis has both written and published, the in- itial step in an experiment to force down the price of sheet music. It is apparently Hitchcock's intention to show what can be done in stimu- lating sheet sales if the 1 price is right. Davis will wholesale this tune to Kresge for 9-10c which will allow the chain to take care of its 40% gross markup. Wholesale prices which now -prevail in the industry are 20c, 22c and 25c, with Kresge retailing them at a flat 35c. Davis has been assured by Hitch- cock that he will receive the maxi- mum of window and counter mer- chandising" displays for his tunes. It is'also Davis' intention to retail orchestrations at 25c. DISC LICENSE UNIFORM AS OF SEPT. 30 Publishing firms affiliated with, the mechanical tights bureau of the Music Publishers Protective Asso- ciation are under instruction not fo> issue any licenses direct to pho- nograph record manufacturers after Sept. 30. It is on the following day that this bureau, acting for the en- tire pop trade, excepting the Metro- Robbins group, will put its new li- censing form into effect. This new license will cover not only the right to manufacture but the right to make an arrangement of a copy- righted work. MPPA's heads last week ex- pressed the hope that the record manufacturers would accept this amended license in a co-operative spirit and that if the latter elected to make an. issue of it the MPPA was prepared to go into the courts and vseek to establish the right' of the copyright owner to license any arrangements of his work. There will be no added fee asked for rec- ords made for home use, but it is proposed to enter into negotiations later with the record manufacturers for the payment of a special royalty for discs used in coin-operated ma- chines. BLIND BENEFIT IN MADISON SQ. OCT. 31 Combined third and fourth Blind Musician concert, originally sched- uled for Sept. 14, will be put on at Madison Square Garden, N. Y., Oct, 31. Idea for this one will put jitter- bugs who find it hard to resist hot sending in the arena, and allow 'em to go to town for the edification of more reserved payees in the balcony. Bands which are sought for the affair, most of which are not definite- ly committed as yet are: Larry Clin- ton, Tommy Dorsey, Raymond Scott, Count Basle, Cab Calloway and an- other strictly dance outfit for smooth rhythm for after show terping of the customers who'll watch the jit- terbugs swing out. Tariff will range from 50c to $2.50. War Scared Bill Bardy Bill Bardy, singer-maestro, back after eigh^ years ji Etjroj^i W-»'-3« of the war scares and refusal of consulates to extend visas. Formerly on NBC,