Variety (Jan 1940)

Wednesday, January 3, 1940 Thi,ly.fo„rlh VARIETY Anni romary MUSIC 127 Addenda: Dorsey,Ken]p,Lyman,Bernie w<-fk Variety piiblish«;<l w rather lonK list, iintler various head- intt.S P'OKiams and personalities lhat had, durini; 1939, bet-n big tilUnlion-JJtllcr.'!. Xhis was offered as a qiiick-Kiance news sum- j^iiiy 111 the year in terms of the rad-(o talent achieving or holding major prominence, aclivily and popularity. - In'the case of the dance orchcstrg division the Variety list has bt-cn cholIenKft' score of incompleteness and a second Riiess suKKesls at least lour others should have been included in all fairness. Thc.>;e are: Tommy Dor.sey, Hal Kemp, Abe Lyman, Bon Bernie. The Proverbial Patsy, The Music Publisher By Jack l^obbins fHend ojf Robhtm, Fvisi unA Miller) Year." »;i<i, when Tin Pan Alley consisted of » sroup of hole-in-the- wall music firms located in the vfcinity of 28lh Street and Broad- way, the 'song pluKgcr' was borii: He was 1he individual who haunted the staiie doors of vaudeville the- atres; \vho would conspire with a movie theatre manager to flash a slide on the .<;creen with the lyrics of his Hrni's latest sonj; which he would sin(i from the state ciSvery- body, now, join in the .second chorus"); who would visit Mudisun Square Garden and sing the same lime to the. accompaniment of a tinny piano- aiul ihc whirring of bicycle . tires endlessly pushing around the pincwood saucer; who . could be found at a barroom lie- (juented by vaudeville folk, .where he would order the bartender to "set 'em up' time and liinc again as he sang, hummed and generally ex- tolled the virtues of hiii lirni's latest . Iiint". Many a publisher, operating on the proverbial sliocviiino. found it e.\- prdicnt, at ihc beginning, to be his own "song plugger." M()>t o( Ihc im- portant executives ii| 'fin Pan Alley today started in .that maimer. Today, a paradox without precy- rient is presented by Tin I'an Alley. Despite the fact that it is highly in slrumental in creating in radio and in films. We select a song and invest our money to pro-■ mote it and yet, w ith One gesture of j negation, a non compos mae.vtro. or' a screechy band vocalist or a movie, producer, whose knowledge of music i.s confined to ofT-key rendition.'! of 'Sweiet Adeline' in the wee hours of the morning, can ruin an-invcslmcnt of from $10,000 to J'in.OOo! Script writers and gag m<?n are paid fabulous fees to keep the. r.idio shows in . the high ..Mirvey brackets. -Yet we, who prov ide the major por- tion of the more- significant shows, remain outca.sts, subjected to the au- tocracies of the agencies and this dic- tators of the band world. Artie Shaw wrote an article titled 'Music Is B Businc.'i.s.' which ap- peared in the Saturday Evening Post almost the same day that Shaw gave up. his band, l-lc expounded on the trials and tribulations of a band leader, and how even top ranking and the monetary relurn.';. com- mensurate, with an exalted position in the band world, weren't w-orth the tortures and hardships that came before. Shaw wrote about being be- leaguered by music publishers who wanted him to ■push" their frequent- ly inferior output! He even at- tributed his succe.'is to the fact that a couple of im played old tunes in new dress: that he completely disregarded the current crop of tunes and played 'oldies' .<;o as to escape the pestifer- ous attentions of. the .song plugging coterie. He added that music pub- lishers were often a ha/.ard to a youtig orchestra leader who wanted billion dollars worth of amusement industries, it is still in the piker .stage and continues lo get treatment regularly accoidcd to the family .black .sheep. Visualize, if you can. a Ford or a ; niry.<!lcr silting humbly and ab- j jeolly in the antci-oom of an «tilo | .^^ hi.s. cho.-en profession. He di.<:lnbntcr, hopm^ that wilhin he j,;,,^^ 'subsidi/.aiion- - in- next hour-oi two It m.ght sui lhc| . i ^ (l .str.butors ai.cy to .vcc him for a^ , nece..sarv ca.-=h to brief moment or wo. Pry lo >■>,- approach a Bgine the auto dislribulor .•■ayiiig, , i- > , .1 i brusquely. 'AH right, now. leave 1 ""'■"'"^ publisher f.n- li.e money. In your blue prints and photo.^ new moriel.s. I'll let voii know some lime whether 1 like then) or not.' We meek souls who make it pos- sible for bands to survive, for sing- ers to have fresh and adequ:ite ma lerial, for film companies to (iuce lavish imisieals, for adver lising agencies to :".)llect huge coii'i- mlssions and for spon.sors to sell their cereals, cigarels and coOoos. have become the palies of the show bnsines.s. It lias been ascerlained. fairly correctly, that o\er 'IS';, of radio shows are based on music and yet, in the plainiiiig of an air pro- duction, the publisher is given ab- solutely no consideration. In ttiis tnlightened ;,ge he still humbly carries hi.s orclieslralions under his arm, takes his hat olT to the pro- gram director ami beats his chest lor a plug. He will wait patiently- - jor hours on end—for the. orchestra leader or the singer to finish a rc- hear.<Lal. Then he will be rewarded with a ;Hello there, r in in an awful nurry. stop In again soon.' Many a PUbIi.«her who.se product .sells food Ooe.snt have any in his cupboard. H«sn't ChanKefl with (he Vrars While there is a completely new seneration of artists in show busi- "KS and while the entire induslry underwent a metamorphosis with Ihc a«vent of radio, (he legend of. the ™Jsic publi.'^her. the .song pluggcr i-elationship between tho.se y*!^ publish siMiKs and those who til II P'^ofe-'isionally vemoiiis vir- "Wlly the same. Oi-ganization, high (ieals that involve hundreds "thousands of dollars, catalogs that Zr valuable, intrinsically and ™nirnercially than the Hope and u JL ''lamond.s, hasn't enabled us 10 Change our status one bit. ^v, an intolerable cKiiidition with ««n ^' ''"^■'^ t" tope. I" Pi-ai-- ™My no avail. 'We remain the fall niiTM, ^^^'^ business, and if we .so vm^ 'et out a .slight murmur of aM . .^^ endanger our busincs.scs to • PL°-"'''"'blcexile. .f*."^l'=, Di'-'^ine.s.s, in (his writer's •l-simisHc opinion, has degenerated ™ 0 special material writing "cy for songsters and bnndmcri. of the i """^ way, the band leader bee;ime ' beholden lo the music publisher for- ever. Not only did he pay - b.ick his loan, but lie remained in the clutches Of the publisher who made his fame and success possible, by pi-„. \ having to constantly play his tune.s. To say that we of Tin Pan Alley take i.^^sue with Mr. Shaw would be putting it mildly. Our output of .songs doesn't vary with the years. The year 19:19 will have produced as many hits, and perli.;ips more, than any of the years preceding. Shaw's theory of pla.viiig old tunes in new <lre!-"s was basicall.v sound. He w;i.-; helping us by doing so. Inevitably, people—his public—would i.sk T\ir llie newer tunes, loo. He had to play tlicni. whether he desired .so or not. .Songs Thai Made the Artists We have often been responsible. Ihrough the medium ol a single turn.', for establishing an artist or a group of artists. Bing Crosby was coni- parativcl.v unknown iinlil Tin Pan Alley gave him a lune titled Musi One More Chance." which he record- ed and which made him. The An- drews Sisters became proininenl on the musical horizon on the .sti-ent;tli ol one tune. Tunes like 'Begin the Beguine.' •Indian Love Call" and •Donkey"s Serenade" catapulted Arlie Shaw into f;mie. The Ink Siiots. after years of obsourily. beeaine an important attraction because of one tune. I could go on indefinilely naming people and tunes identilied with them that made iheni—and the song.s—lamous. Publishers go out of their way to 'play ball' w ith up-and-coming bands by giving them lop tunes to reeoril. Often as not, il will be the tune that will make the leader, instead of the other-way around. We have adx'ised. niir.sed, coddled and given the ben- efit of years of background and ex- perience ill the music world to these young hopeful.s. We have pointed out the pitfalls and the praltfalls. Too often, however, I have watched a young leader w-ho approached us hopefully aixl huinbly with hat in hand literally bile the hand thai Je<l him whtii ht achieved 111* vt)}' things for which he came to us for help. The u.se of the expression 'play ball' indicates .skullduggerv and> chicanery. Nothing of the sort" hap- pens. There are no 'reciprocal agree- ments." All we ask for is an even, business-like break and a little of the Oonsidcralion we showed him when he needed it Ihc most. We have wilnes.sed leaders 'mii- smarl' themselves by . ij;noring the people of Tin Pan Alley who were largely re.sponsible for their succe.'is. We have .seen big heads inu.shi-ooip where 110 head—or no grey mailer —existed,before. We have learned., through experience, (hat. the best thing to do is to leave tlieni alone when they reach this slagc. Can anything be done about'this',' I doubljt. There are orchestra leader's and singers who know of our probltms. who treat us with busiiie.ss-like cour(e.>.y. There have even been in- .s(ances when an orchestra leader would advise us regarding punitive measures to be taken when a eol- loague of his became too olislrepcr- ous and too difficult to dc!;! wilh. People of that s-ort, who work with you—with all ol us. and not a f;;- vorcd few—are vastly in (he minor- ity, In practically every instance, they arc on the top ot the hi-; p i.wd have been, there tor some time—all because they have, in addition to li.l- ent a know ledge of human relation- ships. Where KilmusicalR Miss Out Some examples of the other .school of thought and action? Certainly. Just try to (ell (he producer of a film lo use a song with commercial ■pos.sibililies instead.of the monstros- ity he heard at la.st night's fiesta around his swimming pool, and you're as good as a refugee from Hollywood from that point on. Vou .see. his daughter, just down from finishing school, thought the lyric was 'cute.' and .so we're licked. If. by .>:onie miracle, a song with even vague commercial po.ssibilities is ac- cepted, just a few bars arc u.-od. or llie camera shoots away fronv the artisl. .so that the efi'cct of the num- ber i>- lost completely, or the .long isn't reprised, or a dozen other thin-js occur to completely stifle any chance the song had to reach any degree of significance. Tell (he lad.■^ oiit there that our songs mean added boxoffice for the pix and you are informed, in no un- ccrtjiin terms, that they are nol in- terested in Tin Pan Alley and thai they will always consider songs as merely a by-prodilct. But there has been much of this before, so much, in fact, thai it- has become sheer jive. Consider radio, for example. We have to invest thou- sands upon thousands of dollars and subject oiirsehes to every, form of humility before a spoii.>:or will play a song on his program. We make it. at .our expense, and Mr. Toasted Reefer, or what-have-you ca..;hes in on it. Of cour.se, (his is an old .s(ory to us in the music business, and we'll probably continue to mutter darkly and mumble to ourselves about what we would like to do about it. and get nowhere. British Music Business Good Now That the Hysteria s Abated; Sentiment Displacing War Songs British Best. Sellers iPiliiiriii Hurt Li.'.-i) ' Tm Writing a X.eller to Santa. Glaus:' 'There'll Alway.<i Be an Kngr land." Wish Me Luck.' "We'll Meet Again.' 'I'll Remember.' ( V. S.) "\Ve"re Gonna . Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line.' "You Can't Black Out - the Moon." 'Man wilh the Mandolin.'- lU. S.'< "Ki.ss Me Goodnight. Scrgeaiil Major.' By mwiN DA.SII .i/liiiericoii inK.iic iiinii, iioic iiiniinH- iiKj Director of /nciii Diish Mii.sic. Co., Ltd., 0/ Loiidoiii Kdiior, Vakietv: . When the war London..Dec. 20. started.- (h( Texas Hoofing Can't Make Up Its Mind- HilibbiHy to Waltzes Ft. Worth. Jiin. 1. Any orchestra leader headed for Texas ballrooms these days must be ■ prepared to. play < 1) . waltzes i2) the .schollische i.'t) the first week.s things weren't too good. The blackout was something ne\0: people felt a little-panicky and busiia>s was not loo. grand, and as the second week started the music business was shot for keep.s. Cafes and rtstau- rants' got rid of their h:.m\<. not knowing w'hat w-as going', lo happtn, and there was nolhinu for the song- pluggev lo do at iiiahl. As conlicU nce returned, the bands went hi;cl( to w.oik: the pluggers went around to see the different loaders, niul busi- ness became terrific f(n- tluw who had great son.gs. It also was \ciy gfiod in the cafes and rcstaiir;.nts. What really helped (he niu.-ic and gramophone record business wa.'i the fact that people had nothing to do at I night. They stayed home and had to provide Iheir own cnlcrlaiiimenl. re- , suiting in a smash music busiiie.ss. Naturally, there was a. positive Viennese- deluge of war songs, but we don't benefit immediately, as the BBC polka and (4 J the vaisovicniie. To , i,a„sferred their entcrlainmcnt de- , -Liltle Brown Jug' ahd other Ozark I ^^l^-dshWr a"'wh 1 'u^^ . items in his repertoire. The crowd ; straightened out. Plight want to do some old-fashioned I .square dancing. Around ^5':„ of the broadcasting vas gramophone records, and ihey Thc.--c ballroom exercises, borrowed : were songs anywhere from three from the parlor days of giandm:;. aie , months to a year old. Gi;^dually the rage in San Antonio. Houston, however, as live entertainment crept Dallas and Ft. Worth. Swankier ' ]„, our new .■songs attained a good the ballroom, the more likely you hold and the public siarted biiving are lo find the dancers doing <he | All firms have sent mo>:t of (he "song var.sovieime ( Put Your Little Foot'). pUiggers (o this town '.somewhere in They are doing the fast, old picture England' to contact broadcasting arl- waltz to Stra'u.";s music when they ist." and producers. My mi'n leaves can find a band leader to co-operate, here Tuesday n^orning and returns They love the .schollische. The ;.t- , Friday of every week. Cannot give cpmplished debulanie; is no jitlerbug .you the napie of the town, and il by liiis .'^ea.son. She docs the varso- 'chance you happen to know il. which vicnne and the hei;l-aiid-loe polka. 1 doubt, please do not montion it. as It's a question whether the rage j would not want the censor to think r llic^e old dances slarled in .San | betrayed what is supposed to Il would be a very for >. Antonio, where folk dancing has. confidence long been a hobby wilh the arty . •'''^'"'""•"' "iren.'-e. crowd, or in Dallas, where .Joe Reich- ' - - Enfflish .«:on man and Henry King stepped down off the bandstand to become daiic.n:; teachers in the Hotel Baker's Mural Room and the Adolphus' Century. 1 — Claude Lapbam eompo.sed the .score that the band is playing at (he Beachcomber, new Broadway niterie. Songs include 'Song ot the Beach- combers.' 'Sainoan Serenade" and 1 'Zombie.' Network Plugs, 8 A.M. to 1 A.M. FolloiciDii is a Kitiili-.alion ol the coiiibiiicd pliios of current KBC iWEAf uiid WJZ), uiid CBS iWAliC) coiiipii/ed for the u Sdliirdfi]/ l)/ro«(;li.Fridnj/ (Dec. :'J-2Uf. lOtilt; for llii.v iccelc. due pre.-'-.siiiiie hccniise 0/ this i.^siie I. Totnl rcprcseiils (ie< i(iiiii/fii('(/ uiicvs on Ihc (n o iiidjov iielirorl-.'.- jrom S a.m. 10 J u.m. Sinnbol /idit .'■•oiifi. leyit. (ill olIiVTs arc ))0;). TITI-E l>|iRI.ISIII>K 'Balalaika .'Gulliver's Travels... Al the Balalaika. Faithful Forever Careless AH the Things Vou Arc. ..-iVery Warm for May. Stop! It's Wonderful.. .*Mask and Wig Show. . Scallcrbraiii , I Didn't Know What Time.. .-t 00 Many Girls.. Speaking of Jleaven Oh. Johnny. Oh . In.an Old Dutch Garden. Il"s a Hap-Hap. Happy <iiiy... 'Gulliver". ravels Lila^cs in the Rain.... Ind'an Summer My Prayer. South of the Border El Rancho Grande.: ; In the Mood .. Who Told You 1 Cared".'.' 'ighlingalc. ... Can I Help It Ciri Biri Bin Little Red Fox...'That's Right-You're Wi-ong. This Changing World Darn That Dre<lm.. .<Svvingin" (he Dream Does.Your Heart Beat for Me? Goody Gciodbye Holy Smoke.. Last Night Are You Havin' Any Fun'.' Little Street in Singapore. After All.... ,' Bluebirds in the Moonlight Do I Love You. ..-iDu Barry Wa.<- a Lady..... Hello Mr. Kringle Honestly '- . • To You Sweetheart Alcho Winter WondnJand , . B?nefi( It. IK only natural that Engli!-h srings were those which .iumpcd lo (he fore. Il was a beUer break for ^. ^^'^ publishers, becau.v-e (here i^ only ; Anv'how,'7ncoming"band""'u .one .-dalion broadcasting, win re we 'it is a Texas phenomenon. ' \" ^"^^ •"^^•"v'"- Al:h-,u.!/h we only have one British B/oadcasl- ing Corp.. formerly there mi-ht have been three or four stations in dilfer- ent parts of the country broadcasting at the .same time, but now everyone hears this one broadcast. And speak- ing for myself, if you have a hit song you can make il wilh five or .-ix broadca.sts a week. Our firm is' very luckv to have two .smashing hits. 'There'll Always Be an England' jumped lo the Iro'nt as one of the biggest things in (he couiKry, and you will iioli<e in (he h.'-t of best sellers hcrewilh -dial (here are few Americ.iii soii.t>. Three .songs in (his list j>re a shill- ing: -Wish Me Luck as Yon W.ive Me Goodb.ve,' 'F.D.R. Jones.' and 'There'll Alwa.ys Be. an En-.laiid.* You m"u.st. remember thai ij vou lake 'Engla'ntf,. for instan<;e on the Pitman Hart ksl and diTiibU i(, two for one, it i.s"--as good as WriCn^I a I^(tei'w(o Santa CJaii.-.' Tin'.'!'Il«( ineans copijss .>.old, ;iol ;,s to |,j Ice. This means an awful lot to a pub-^ h.-her (o have a shilling hii as- you can readily undersland.. The difference between th war ;i.id the la.'t is that in lUH it was Ihrce months before Engl; nd nnt any soldiers lo 'Fvahcc- an<l: in the meanwhile, the publishers weie get, ting busy on songs like "Tipper;iry.' Keep the Home Fires Burning," etc We can .say that thc.<-e .songs were made by the Army. In this present war soldiors left for France imme- ^'J'tf'y and naturally left •. ;,|oi„,. Little Sir Echo,' 'South of the" Bor- der—songs (hat.were hits of (he mo. ment. These songs wtrc gradually pu.shed lo the background and now a.s you will see by (he list a new ' group of .«ongs gradually sliowtd Iheir superiority and arc the big .sellers today. As an American, I-can only c()n-• elude that the English an niiieh to be admired. I ha\c i-ever .vten people .«) calm and collected. They may appear .slow in our eyes, but be- lieve me they are a great nation. .'fScaiidals. 'Gulliver's Travels . Feist ..Famous ... .Berlin Chappell .. • Spier ,.BVC .Chappell .. .Miller . .... .Forster ... . Harms ... . ..Fanioii.- ... .Hobbins ... .Witniark .'. ..Shapiro ... .Shapiro ... .Marks .... ..Shapiro . .. . Wilmark .. . R em ick ... . Paramount . Feist .Robbins ... . BVC .Mills .Olman .... . Santly .... .Feist .Crawford . ..Shapiro ... .Sun ..Famous .. . .Chappell... ,Fei.<;t .Santly .Santiv .... .BVC' (lOICS oil cc\; (loiii 1 (o earlier per for m- ' dexoic:; GK.ANI) TOTAL (il S7 i rjs - . . . . . :tfl wi ?.-). 2S| 24 ' 23 2.') 22 i 21 i . .... 21 1 1!) 18 . ..... 17| .1" . .... IB I 16 16- 16 I 1^1 12 I 12 ..... 11 10 10; 10 I 10 1 10 10 .