Variety (Aug 1940)

Wednesday, August 7, 1940 MUSIC 33 : By HARO^p^W^ ■■■■■ ' : Pittiburghi Aul^! 6. • The: old gag about the bankrupt Vho asked "the guy who didn't Xndw he held the mortgage! 'have you ever been in the restaurant businessV^ then replied to his own question, 'well,, you are npw»' practically fell Tight into the. lap; of Jack Meakin, 'the band leader/ 'Ijere; last week; Meakih'is personal • itJSTiager, Ham. Baron, arrived in town for what' he thought was. a. d^ Willows, only to discover: that ; the Willows, ■bad decided to hold oyer . the ,Lani .Mclntire; orchestra, and 1 had: told Stan ZtiCker, who neglected to inform, Biii^h;- ■' . That ilrteaiht there was no.th ing inl;. sight for: the outfit ;until ■Prpvidence,.; Hi li, late iq. August,, and Baroh, and Meakip, toci, know the value of keep- jng a band working, particiilarly a new ■ harid^^^w^^ the right bfeakl. ' They.: looked over Xh e Ibcjal field, heard .there wras a. spot hamed . the Ri^fier^^, which had a KDKA wire, and that spuhded good, to them. . Baron cpntacted Carlo ^ Pugliese, .the\new pwner. of the Rivieia, '>nd he wais definitely interested. . They discussed terms arid reached an agree.meht. Then Baron and Meakin , had their: first look at the " Riviera. They found , a run-down, biadly-ne- gleeted outdoor patio, terit-eov^red, B far. cry .frPm the Van: ClieVe hotel, .Daytoh, Qi, and theVVirgihia Beach" spot they had j Ust come.; from. P.ug- 1 iesie merely ■. shrugged his shoulders, told them; that the gPing hald been tough and the money to clean up the dilapidiated spot wasn't available; , Barbn; and Meakin went; into- coh- terence. Thfey /figured "they had something, to .sell in. their band, but filsp ; r^lized they neieded . a :mbre fawrable bkckgrouhd in which to . sell it. The two of thiem wondered ;Wheithe(f PugUes* cpuldn-1. ■ firid. a' Jew. huridred bucks with which to make the room more presentable.; Pugliese said . his backers' wPuldn't hear of such a thing;; X " ■ So Baron and Meakin took matters Jn their own hands. The next morn- ing, every member oiE the band, iri-: eluding Patricia Nprmain, 'this fea- tured vocalist, showed up bright a|>.d early at the Riviera, - arrped with biickets of paint/ balloons, bunting- caindles and light-shades, ;For hours. ; they swept and brushed and painted and decprated, on their hands;, ird knees, on ladders arid by pole-climb- ing. By riight-f^ll, the Riviera didn't look- the same. - It had' Achieved - a certain annount of atmosphere, as against, the drab settings of only a short time before. ^ Then Biaron/ whp had nevei* done any publicity before^ took over the .ibb of.explpitatioh from Piigliese, a newcomer to the nitery ranks and not very Well; versed .in thP ways of selling via the public prints, lyieakin .and Misis NPrmaft pitched in, too;; In ' ^hree .days, Pittsburgh ..was ; .very Meakinr-consfeiPus-and NEW Riviera^ cbriscious,. too, Vfe.w result: Meaklri's : first: weekend y/ais the biggest' the Riviera has had since it opened. Pugliese said he. should; take Meakin, Baron & Go. in .as partners; They told him ■ they're, iri'terested only in'music;. ' ;; PENNSYLVA|ijlA TOUGH-- Latest Regulations ;.Hard oh Danie . Music In places Selling ;iBooxe. Pittsburgh, Aug, 6. tatest: State Liquor B^ tipns make .'.it ; plenty tough ;.pn the piitd.opr dance spots'.For one thing, musiP isn't; pprmitted ;t.o be heard be^ ypnd- .the cPhfihes. of the pavilion it- self, the result of many cpmplaihts froni people living .near the open-rail" dance places. . • AnPther rule rhakes it mrtndatpry for' fioPr.s to he .sufficiently; enclosed so dancing cpiipiesf aren't ■ visible to .apybpdy , Pp -Ahe outside. . . Several siirnnier .dancerie? will be affected by new mandates, arid'" wilV cost ..them plenty .tp. reriipdei 'suflicie get :a Board okay.-'■ ' Cpliimbiia ■ - Records.; has . sliced /its; pHees in; half this ; wieek . on- all ciassical and semiVclassical recprds, at; the: same time aririouncing a radio 'and. magazine explpitation driye to cost afaoUt;- $300,000 during the next, four mpnths. tJrider the revised scale, - top price for all rec- ords - will: be $1 each, includirig ail inventpry now on hand las weU;. as fprthcPrtiing output. ; Radio ; cariip.aign will include ■ spot annouricerriertts ■; . . . fpUr-^a-day, five-daysra-week schedule . in .-aft riiajbr markets, throughout the .couri-.; try/ starting Sept 3 arid contiriiiing', until -Christmas. Series'. of flve-a- wPek ;■ recorded 'Masterworks of Music* programs will also be spotted On various local outletis. ; In most .cases the business, will gP to CBS statiPns, but may be given tp others if necessary to. pbtain propier coyeraige. Bentpn;& Bowles is plac- ing this and .the .magazirie; busipess. ; . According to the new price sched- ule, -records .formerly at -$2;; $1.50 and $1 will be scaled at $1, 75c and ■ 50c, : respectively.; Alburns pre- I vjousiy. $12. and $iO .will .be $6 arid: [$5.56, respectively. Company claiins [that increased sales, plus new and; [ improved . equipriient costing $600,- 000 and perfected oyer a period of two years at its Bridgeport (G&riri.) plants make ppssible the drastic re- ductiori.; .... , Victor somie time ago issued a new classification of Black. .Seal classical, records •' at . $1 ..top. wjth a .r.semi-. ciassical record ait .75c; At the sariiie time; Columbia announced its new price slash, the company announced it had sighed Leopold Stokowski's neW Youth Orchestra and the New York. Philharrtionic-Symphbny . Or- chestra, with John Biarbirolli, to ex- clusive contracts. All Sorts of ,Musical Instru-^ - liients Now Wired foir Sound Airhplifi^ aiid the Result Widens Orcheai- : tratioii ;Manipulatibii On Crest of Hit Song But He Still Says Vs LET DANCERS CLOWN And . the Recording Is News^Bu§l- ■■'■'v-' .'ness-Hypp. Idea CHI EXHIBIT ; Chicago, ;\Aug. 5. , Amplification has moved in on the miisic instrument industry.;;' H crept in here and there during the past few, years, radio amplification has since made notable inriovations. The scope of these change? were in- dicated, by the- exhibits at the Music Trades .Conventiori .dri "thp Stevens hotel here last 'week. Anything with a string now has a radiovattachriient to giye the iristru>r mentis-: new tonal qualities. Elec- tronic treatment of these instruments has opened lip new hiiisical horizons that ridust, charige the- future course riot prily of musical interpretations but also of musical compositions. The new writers, cognizant of the :iristrumerital flexibility, must be in- fluericed iri ; their composing. For- merly, restricted and hemmed in by the musical; iirnitatioPs of'the instru- ments- themselves, coriippsers will find thesb limits and fences brpkeri dpWri with the . resultant musical vista remarkably enlarged. Violins, guitars, ukeleles, banjos, zithers, pianps. and others are '"all available with ' electrical, amplifica- tiori. - :-;.';; ]■;'. Story ;& Clark Piiano Co. is hitting the market with a piano amplified by.; RCA'- Victor radio' systeni and tagged Story tone; : It makes it pps- sible to -adlust the piano to: sound like a; harpsichord or a celeste. Spmer times it even spunds like a piano. It is possible to sustairi note indefl nitely and to get diminuto Pr ere sceridp' effects on a single nptief; or chofd. . Hammond's; Solovp Laurens Hammond has invented a new Hammond musical contrivancis called a Solovo, which is attachable to any piario. It is a small keyboard that is played through ; electrical amplification aind gives eflfects simi liar to; those of the organ, though making it possible to simulate yari ous instrumental effects with the right harid while carryirig left hand accompaniment op the pianp. Ansley Radio has its DynarTone an amplified pianp, harpsichord, ra- dio and phoriograph combination Everett Piano offers its Everett Elec- tronic Organtron. Krakauer Bros have an electronic piano. "Trio-Art comes up with a piano-radio corii bination that does everything but cook. . It is a grarid piano, aiutomatic phonograph,; .recorder,: riiicrophpne all in one piano case, and contains i corilrols which niiik6s; it possible to change the torial expressions' of the piano, phonograph or radio. Schiller Cable proudly displays its console pianos ; which have an .riori-felectric amplifier. Gene Krupa Not Booked Jamestown^ N. Y., Aiitj; 6. Gene Krupa band had a night off here recently when it appeared at the Celoron Park Pier and found that, according to the management, • it \vas not 5 :boPked.- There was , no' advance. advert^Isirig for Krupa so *)e and the boys, .sailor-like, visited thp local nightspots "and; enjoyed; a short vacation. ; Morrie Brennan house band played -tor the dancers. '; ' . J. DORSEY, ANDREWS BIG AT STEEL PIER RESUMES 1918 CONNECTION J. Russel iRobinspn Re-Jbiris W. ■■■;^, . Handy Firm . C. Canadian National Exhibition (lates, in TorPnto are -a,*! follpws: puke Eliirigton, Aug. . 23-24; Jimmy Dorsey, Aug. 26r28; Benny Good- man, (with Eddy ;Duchiri; optional.), Aug. iJ9-31; Samriiy Kaye, Sept. 2-3; Tommy Doifsey, Sept. 4-7. Atlantic City, Aug. 6. :. With cprtibinatipri' of. Jimmy Dor- orchestra .and Andrews Sisters, i arid about 500,000 people here for : the week-end, the ' Steel "Pier drew largest crowd Saturday arid Sunday :(3-+-)—f orr-; .'»frver-al4-yeap played week-end and was followed by Mitchell Ay res, for week's stay. Orrin Tiicker orchestra with Bon- nie Baker skedded if or Sunday. (11);; ' Larry Clirito.n's. band also; tp play ; this (ia.v and for week 'following, J-Alex Bartha arid^hi£;house ofch will , alternate, ; ~ - .J. Russel Robinsbn, cPmpo.ser. .oi; 'Margie'' and other turies,. has joihec Handy . Bros. Music. Corp.. as gerieral I prPfes,sional manager, reestabljshirig aicprinectiori. withi 'W. C, Handy, tha ;. dales back to 1918. At that time the great Negro songisriiith first brought Ofay Robinson east f.rorii Indiariapp- lisi where / the'. laU^^ 'iE!cciBntric'v;-.v/ith. . Seidel, an indie firm. Under Robinson's deal with ■";. Buffalo, Aug. 6. Hypo - to. diili Thursday trade is recording stunt; inaugurated last week at Glen; Casirio, iri suburban Willlamsville, which plays Bernie Sandler.orch. '. . '.\. Three patrons sing or clown for platters, which are played back pver p.a. system, . Tyro takes home the disc. ■' ■ BMI-ASCAP .-; Bridgeport, Aug, 6, First casualty of. ASCAP-BMI grief in Connecticut * Juistin Stone's band at Seven Gables, Mil- ford, pfl WieC sked following nori- coiripliance - with; station, order that fenibte orchestras include two BMI. tunes on each shot. Stone took a strpng stand against WICC,' stating that : nothing in station's contract with nitery gave exhaler right to dictate songs to be performed. 'It costs a band a lot of money for arrangements, and it ppssible to do only a; few a week,' said Stone. 'I ti:y: to make up arrangements of songs I think will be popular. . I dpri't pare whether they're ASCAP or BMI tunes. I will have to be the judge of what ; arrangements I do and what songs I cari play with my band.* YANK ASCAP CARTOON FROM N.Y. WORLD-TELLY CartoPn kidding radio's attempt to get along withput ASCAP music ap- peared in the N. Y. World-Telegram last Wednesday (31),; It vanished, however, after the first edition. W-T execs declared removal - resulted from heed; for. the space for neyirs. Reports, nevertheless, were '. that something more: pressirig than cable dispatches from< Europe might have accourited for the ousting of the comic strip on. Page 1 of the second section. It was pointed out that Scripps-Hpward, which owns the World-Telegram, also operates four riadip s^tions and rieedling their ef- forts to subsist on ancient tunes may not have appeared to. be good business. Scripps-Howard stations are WCPO, Cincinnati; WNOX, Knoxville; WMC arid WMPS, both of Memphis. .'- • Some even more cynical folks also were wont to tie up Merlin H. Aylesworth' and the missing qairtpon. Aylesworth, now an attorney in pri-. yate practice, wa6; up ;uritil about a year ago the . publisher of the W-T. And before that he was NBC prez* . Cartoon, by Will B, Johnstone, had six panels, first of which depicted an apriourice.i: at staitiori NG spielirig;: 'Kate Smith will now sing 'Yes, We Have No Good Music, We Have No Good Music Tpday'. Radio program iri another box included: -Rhapsody in Old, Exjjircd Copyrights' apd 'Melodeon Flops v of 1864'. Gene Krupa, further along, was playing 'Drums Along the Mohawk' in the 'Hit Parade of 1776'. Final burn for . By ABEL GREEN \^ Tomrtiy Dorsey finds that his set- ' up with Mrs. Milton Weill in the Sun Mu6ic CPrp.i despite the fact that Dbr^ey's firm now has the No: 1 song of the country, 'I'll Never Smile Again,' is too much of a head- ache and he'll probably bow out of the publishing business. In taking pver the Weill catalog from the widow of the Chicago music; pubj Dorsey (Sun) guaranteed her $5,000 a yeair drawing -account and 25% of the business. . It's .np secret that the Pld estab- lished music publishers have frowned upon ' the ideia pit. dance maestros becpming heads of their own music ■. businiBsses for rtxpre: than one reason. , Basically, it's an economic* dread on' the theory , that for every pet song: plugged by a maestro-publisher— whether it's his own song, or. ;as a logrolling exchange with other. maestros whp have their own angles with songs—that liriiits the plugs for the business at large. But beyond that is, the. be.lief that the- Dorseys and the Liombardos, Warings arid Gpodmiaris and -Scotts—to name some who have a piece of a muisic busi- riess-^shpuid stick to their batoning chores and leave music publishing and -sPng-h it . making to those alr ieady in. the business. Just about the time that a few of the baridleader-pubs were thinking V of quitting the piublishirig end of it, several of them got hold of hits. Notably DPrsey's ■ 'Never Smile Again,' ; aridi also the Lombardos . (Olrinan, Music)- and Fred Waring's . (Words & Music) each had a couple of promising songs.. On the Crest Dorsey now feels that if he's gonna bow put, hie'll do it while he's a success, and on the crest of the biggest hit in the country—not when he's flopping as ^ song-hit picker and maker. His 'Never Smile' has gone 100,000 copies exactly and that means it'll hit 200,000 at least, having been put over almost single-handedly by the maestro from his Hotel Astor Roof (N. Y.) sppt, and with but one professipnal man on his Sun Music staff. Dorsey's own RCA Victor (75c label) recPrding sold 118,000 platters. Dorsey, incidentally,: answers the captious music publishers who have* operily expressed, antagonism. to the bandmen-music pubs by observing, '■ 'Why isn't it natural for me or Waring or Lombardp or ainy of the others turning to the music busi- ness? It's about the only other thing we've been trained for, be- sides leading a band. As conductors we kriow, or at least should kriPw, few things. about what makes for song hits. Considering that you can't always stay up on top, why wasn't it a wise thing for me to fortify myself by tackling a modest little music publishing business? Now that I've done it and proved I can make it a hit, I now .find that there are other ramifications and perhaps- it now suits me; to bow out, espe- I cially as I'm now hooked up with my I partner. But that doesn't mean that I music publisheris should resent the basic idea!' Handy, his. copyright reriewals will 'fair iiifavthariciri^rrog;~ lished riiany of his cpririppsitions be fore,. . ■•'■ •'../■. ■;.;. :" i. ■'•:.- ■;; . Robinson is one. of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and, in between, has . been profp.ssioriiil - , rhart. with Wate'rson, iBerlin fit Snyder and other .firnrii."!. ■ ."" FREE CONCERTS ISSUE ON CIVIC AND LEASE blaring; 'Weinow .bring, you .the ama- teur: hour with works of cbmp.psers controlled. by the /networks. We pause a irionient. for you-tp.turie? out.' ;, Cartobpist Jphnstorie is . also an; ASCAP member by virtue of past musical comedy librettos. . St. Louis, Aug! 6. * Execs of the iSt. Louis Symph So- ■ ciety'are balking at dishing out two / cuffo concerts if it has to pay $12,500 annual rental for. the opera house In. the ?7,000,009 Muriicipal Auditorium and a contract for - the quarters is still up in the air. The symph execs, said they Would give the two cuffo i CQncerts__apn.ually during ai three- year contract ait$10,000 bpt city fath« ers wanted the cuffo coricerts at • .-' ' $12,500 rental. . :. ' .; ■ ' ' The society's two • yesar contract ' e.xpired la.^t April. It calls for a ! rental of $10,000. for the first year . nnd $15,000 for the second.-