Variety (Aug 1940)

ust 28, 1940 MUSIC 41 MUSIC PUBS ALIBI N. G. BIZ Mi's l^actice^ M Broadcast Mu9i<?'s 'I^actice M Pirtect' tied for first place with Tli Never Smile ■ AgalriV ih net performances fot the past week.. Also for the first time sirice^^ t^ song was introducedi the sheet sales on ' 'Practice' started-Monday (2i^^^^ ■; gding sbmie Pilace. Galls frpirri retailers weria strblig and thisy the job* bers figure^ may have, largely been attributable tb, the dealers' inclina* tioa to stock lip oh'something that was getting top plugs; It'ji top 'cariy,' \ say the jobberis, to tell whether the tpniai ha^ hit pbssibilities.. :;'ipractice,'. likewise, roiajSe the Lucky, Strikb Hit:OParad^ (CBiS) lajst weekend. .It wais given ninth pliace. . Obviously/this was based .almost - : ehtiriely :0n; its performance rating, sitice the tune's sheet .sales hadn't . vgot underway, or Its,phonograph record versions, released,. The Lucky v Strjk(e cpmpilatibns are ■. supposed to take all three iEact'brs into cori-. • . sideratKm... ■ >r . '■ Oberstein Iii Mi Cittim Orch Witk Pubr : li9hihK Sideline Chief; , S6r<e> Spot ~- Either; Chiefly ■;P|iiig Own TMneSy or Lbg- roli Other Maestros' iSonflrs romWBTS. Fisher to devev kcal Asks Boost OVER-ARRANCmG Pifticviities in., which the U. S, Rejc- oxd: Co. : is now: involved are ^ de-. fCnbed with iri the phpnograph . - ord arid music publishing..trades, as Btricliy/ due to the flight Which twb factions are waging .for control of the organizatiPn.; On. \qne side* are the TNew. Ypric bankers, bh the other is the group which owris the Scrah- . tori plant which dries U.S;'s: pressing. Oauglit in the middle .is Eli Ober- Stein, the operating head .;6f the corii- pany,. and the $3Q,006 of his owii ; money th^t he has invested In the cbmpiany. ' . The New York bankers in U, S; Record of the. ppihiQa that the project would rnake much :more of B.proftt it jt'didn't'have, tb: pay big proportion, of the pperating. cbsts fbr pressing, while the Scrantpn- •group of stockhblders In. If, S. waiiits the price to. .remain as' is and the^ work to be continued at that p^lahti: Meanwhile one faction has beeii try- ing tb/freeze but the other.. • While this .attempt at fteezihg out ■ hias been going on, Oberstein has been holding conversatiohs with J- C. Stein, of the Music CPrp. of America, on the subject of the latter coming Into the venture as a ri^ajor : stock- holder,. If this /deal goes thrbugh there may result , b.n6. Of the most (^rastic realignments of band affilia- tlbns that,the phonograph recpi-d ihr dustry has. ever experienced. As for the suits for back royaUies; recently, brbuight by 34 music ptib- lishing firms against U. Record, the inusjc industry knows that U. S. Record is thoroughly solvent, but it figured that court action ; might . not .Only serve, to - protect. its! accumu-. lated royalties, butprecipitate a solu- .lion^pf. the . ihtra-organizatibnal fight .which would, in turn, piit an end to the present freezing of U. S. Rec- ord's funds in the bank. KenMy's Faihyy Here . Wife ' fend two children /of Jimrriy kerinedy, the; songwriter, arri ved • in New York from Xiohdpn Monday (26) to remain for the dutatipn'of the .wiaif..:. .-. ■ y . .Boy Is' five , years old arid the girl, three years. BMI, METRO BUNNY BERIGAN AGAIN OUT OF DORSET CREW .All deals with radio 'interests for all or part ftf the Metfo-Rbbbiris, mUsic catalogs are completely cpld. Metro Is back to where It was sev- eral months agb on the question of disposing of ;it» performing: rights after- its, present cpntract with the American Society bit . iQpmjposerB, Authbts and Publishers expires Dec, 31, 1940. If it doesn*t re-sign :;with ASCAP', it has but one alternative, licensing Its own righti direct io^ usicrs. Metro isn't expected tp-extend its agreement wth. ASCAP until it isees what dispbsition the'U. S, Depar;t- ment of Justice makes of its investi- gation of ASCAP,; Within ASCAP circles it ii readily accepted that indictmehts.' will "be h$nded down against the , Society's officers. A date for such action . is' eyen cited. It's been given as Oct. 8, or some time during that week. It is. reported that William . S. Paley, CBS prez, was prepared, to acquire at least the Feist catalog, b'tit the deal struck a snag when he insisted that he be given a war- ranty on the thousands of copy- rights embraced by the Feist cata- log. David .Bernstein, Metro treas- urer, it is further reported, rejected I this provision as; impossible. Paley Bunny Berigan and the Tommy Dorsey band have parted again..! ,. , . ^ Attet;being..on ribtice ^»nce or twice ^ - i^f^f ^^"J f /k °^ ^iSf befpre,.Berigan was: let gb" last Tubs- j .^^e catalog and - at the ^ s^me t^ri^ day night (20) followini.the Dorsey f'^^" Broadcast Mus^ Ina an^op- unit's broadcast for Pe&dent. ^Uh. h^'^". ^r^^^f^f^ clerstood Berigan.wiU igain attemptl ^^PMrchase the^ a band of his-bwn. He <5sbahded his "5'*^^^ ^^^^ ^"^i ,.Snri^ last one ^^henVhe. rejPined Dorsey: fi'>"^ :^r"?'^^ *everal mPnths aeo - original : $3,750.0Q0 dicker for . ;Shprtly after he-came ^back; 1)0^ c atalogs, .*>egari paying a certain percentage! ' of ;Berigan's salary each week to the ; musicians' union to go toward jpaying; off debts Berigan accurnulated iwhen j operating , band of his bwn. He | was the trumpeter, bn Dorsey*s ar- rangement of 'Song of India)' which, [ backed up with was the, step^ j •ping stbne to success for the Dorsey -Traditipnaliy/ when business is bfid, th^-music publishers take stock of. themselves and seek the solution fjpi: : it'all.. -They- hava-. seVe^ at the mpment. . . y . ^ Major sore, spots are the bandlead- ers • whrii-are ialso ' music i.pubiiiishers and, when -not plugging their own tunes, logroll the other maestirps in exchange for reciprocal plugs. The jrnusic. jobbers are also on the pan for allegedly cutting into the pubs by. featuring their own copy- righted reprints. ; The mechanical rnen also are charged with having a 'piece' of. this that indie music flrrh, or band; of 'backing up' hits with:.thieir own 'dog tunes,' etc. sWhen a. ballad hit is created, just to name one more peeve, the pub- lishers squawk that the leaders so over-airrange or .distort the original melpdy it quickly kills off .the tune. It'is for, that reason that they endorse what Irving Berlin did by restrict- ing his 'Ood Bless America', in order that this anthem shPuldn't be dis- torted by syncopation, or Other 'spe- cial', arrangement. On. the other hand, a limited percentage of. tunes can be so 'restricted' urider the ASCAP license. ./ V; Cleveland, Aug. .27.''" Hptel execs are going into a hyd- dle; next week with; LeRoy Repp, head of ' local musicians' ' union, to discuss letter's request for crease in scale foi: hotel .musicians.: At: present they are scaled at $2 per hour foir first twelve hours and $1.50 lor every hoijr after that..^ '.. . ITS 1ST band fiy6 .br. six year.s ago.. eats in . Chicago, Aug. 27. Ben Pollack's ox;ch has been set ^Pra ftfturn . engagement at the Trpcadero, Henderson, Ky., starting Sept. 4 lor an indef stay. :'. Pollack's band played there earlier this Eumriier, Before retUrriing, Pol- lack will db a week's stand at the Tunetown ballroom, St. Louis. . Columbia Records has quietly gone about'the i>rpductiori of pprtable^^^^ home table nipdel phoribgraph.<!, and last week-marketed the first .series of itiachihes turned but. It's the first tiriie Colunibia, or its parent com- pany, Columbi •BroadcE^stirig. has dabbled in such items, though Decca Recprds has had phoriogi:aphs bf its own. available, for some. tirne.. RCA- Victpr, of course, has always manu- factured radios and phoriograpbs. ■; Colpmbia is selling three rriodels—. a reg'plar portable, another' .from which Ihe speaker can be detached and hung on a wall fPr better repro- duction, and a small home table, set. Fred Guss/Freed On Murder Rap, Goralling New Flying Orchestra Cleveland, Aug. . 27. Paroled recently from Ohio State penitentiary, and exonerated bf a murder charge, Fred Guss, ex-band- riiaster, is go.ing back to his former trade by organizihg a il-piece or- chestra ;patternedjfter his old outfit. The Cleveland musician directed a troupe of 'Musical Aviators' up to 1938, when he was involved in a 16-year-old stickup murder by cir- cumstantial 'evidence thjit was later discredited. . In 1929, Gas.s, whose real name is John: Kbsinski. sold the idea of . a flying band, to boPst .. ayiation to Casey Jones, prez of Curtis-Wright. Jones became the angel of his unit which toured the RKO circuit and played at Park Central hotel. New York, for about 18 months in 1931- 32, with a Columbia hook-up. , : While fighting his c?[se from be- hind prison bars for two years,',Guss spent his-tiriie cO.nposing, getting in touch with his former bandmeh and advertising fpr new bnes;; Seven of ihis- original- men will form the ' nucleus of his new 'Mii.sicaT Avia- tors,' id the leader, who plans, to streamline the band to glorify An)er- ica's n at ib n a 1 d e fen."se spirit and the U. S. flying corps. _ . An expert flyer himself, one of.his novel r^q'iiirertien.t.f . is that? every member of the outfit must be a trained and licensed pilot. So far he has 10.applicant.<!..- Guss is now hold- ing, musical auditions and grabbing off some publicity space by staging flying ti'youts' for them at Cleveland A i rport next week. A fte r fl ve week s of rehe'arsal.s he .Intend.s breakirig in hi? clpiid'jumping band.., Also shop- •ping. fqr: a large cabih:_pl.ane to re- Ipla.C.ie his..old Condor, which c.arriecl, I his.: ■ brigirial .. .uhit : until, it Was wrecked in a .cra.eh. . . •■ \ Sydney, Au^.' 7.' . Current war has brought a yen from the public for " made popular around World War 1. Com- nrtunity sings, both on the air and in theatres, only maintain their com- plete popularity with the masses by the ■ presentation of sUch . oldtime numbers as 'Meriiories,' 'This. Is the Life,' 'St. Louis Blues,'.'Pack Up Your "Troubles; 'Pretty Babj^,' .'Roses of Picardy,' 'Oh Johnny,' 'Indiana,' 'Alice Blue Gown,' 'Long Long Trail,' 'Tipperary,'. 'Keep the Home Fires Burning' and 'Sylvia.' ■ Next in favor are such numbers as 'I'll Pray .for You,' 'Wish. Me Luck,' 'There'll Always Be An England' and 'If a Grey-Haired Lady.' Most popular local efforts appear to be 'We're Marching On' and 'The Bold Bad Boys of Ingleburn.' In this sector there is a community cbncert every day and night of the week. Theati-e managements have started audience singing ;pri6r to start bf regular film bill, and . in every instance the old songs carry the most appeal. Even dance man- ageriients are having band leaders dress up in 1940 style the numbers pf yesteryear. DASH-CONNELLY'S NEW CORPORATION CHARTER Albany, Aug. 27. pash-ConhelVy, Inc., has been chartered to conduct a general mu- sic publishing business in New York, Capital stock Js 100 shares, no par value, ' Bernard L. Miller was filing at- torney. • : ' ' Irwin Dash and Reg Connelly were partners in England. Dash, who i,s an American citizen,, came over here several months ago to set .Up a' busine.ss with Connelly as partner. They have? purchased the datalog of the Superior Music Co, the. nucleus of: this nev/ petup, which will publish current relea.ses of Gon- helly'is British firms. well as • American tunes. Robbinn publishing the ^'Ice- capades'■ and new , SbnjEi . Henie- Arthur Wirtz ice V revue". , scores. Former written by John Latouche and Peter deRope, . '.Impprtarit; te.«!t, .' on an inter-, esting phase bf cojpyright renewal!? may develop from . the controversy .' now going on between the Warner Bros, publishing group arid the Fred Fisher Music Go, over,the rights to •When Irish.Eyes Are Smiling.'Mills'" Music, Inc., may alsb be nanrted by . MVB in thie litigatipn; which would primarily be. ba.sed on a power of attprn/y which .Warner claims was signatured by George Graff, Jr., one ; of 'Eyes' writers, 13 years before the ■■' right to renew became effective. . ■■ Oh the advice bf .John Schulman, who is ■ also Counsel for the Song- writers Prdtectivb Association, Graft: in 1939 assigned his right of. renewal . to Pisher. WB charges, that • this a.s- signmerit violates the 1917 power of attorney under; which Graff, granted: ; the original publisher, Witmiark; au- thority to take out a renewal! The original term of the copyright ex- pired this month.• ;:;■ . Graff: wrote ..the lyrics • of : 'Eyes' .' with ..Chauncey Olcotti and W B holds- a similar power of attorney from tl)«.; - latter's estate. "The song's melody was written by EIrnest R, Ball and ■ the renewal rights to it were ob- tained from the latter's widow by Mills Music. Warner now alsb. argue.s that,Mills had no right to take out a separate renewal in behalf bf Ball, since the . latter's name-Was not on the brig- ' inal copyright registration .card, and that, if anything. Ball's widow must look to an accounting on the song from Graff, who registered the copy- right.in 1912. It hias been indicated thait WB will move to restrain both Fisher and Miljs from publishing thei r pWn versions of ithe number. , ControverBlal i^heoi-iea ' Underlying this . controversy are two legal theories which has. caused considerable argument among indus- try lawyers. . One fiaction of attprV- neys has held that a writer has no right under the law to assign his re- ■ newal rights before they become due, while another faction contends that these rights may be assigned at any . time and that the Only chance the ■ assignee, takes i.s on the survival. of • : the writer at the time the renewal . becomes due. The renewal other- wise belongs to the writer's estate. The former legal faction also takes the position that it was the intention of the 17, S. congress, which passed the 1909 copyright law to prevent the ' writer from disposing of the heritage: - of his mature years wliile still en- joying the flush of . youth. In other words, the writer was not to be per- mitted to transfer .something that , wasn't legally his until at thb end of 28 years, and by virtue:: PI such re- straint he might on the reriewa] giet ' a better break than had beien his dur- ihg the run of the original copy- right, ■'. Grew; 4 Going Out Bob Chester orchestra is. currently undergoing a shakeup of personnel. Four of ■ the crew's rhen,; some bf whom have been with the .band sinc.e it • started last' year,, are ' on notice. Only one spot so far has been filled; Al Stuart, tirumpeter' arid novelty singer; ; Garner . Clark,- trumpet; George Brodsky and Ed Scaki, sax men, those being let - go. Mario Mariarii, sax and clarinet, replaces Brodsky. Chester is currently at the I Dancing Campus, New York World's ' Fair. V , ::-^- ■ ■ BENNY GOODMAN DUE INTO Benny Goodman will begin to re- . hearse for his return to the band business about the end of September^ He and his reformed ,band will in all' ■ probability resume operations at the Shermari . hotel, Chicago, Oct. 4, a stand irito which he's been set lor. sorne . time. ■ ■ :\ • • ' • • Goodrnah has given \ip the idea of a . mixed band entirely. .? However, he'll continue to u.«e colored Char- ley Christians on electric: guitar arid Teddy, Wil.sbn; who left .him la^St year to form his own. band, may re- turn. : Lionel Hampton will definite- l.v have his own crew, though ho aci tibn ha.<? a's yetv been: taken tp\vard' ■ getting the group under way. Leader, after recuperating at Bianff, Canada, from the effects oC the operation performed on him at I the Mayo Clinic, is back in New i York. ■ . .