Variety (Dec 1940)

We^n^sdafr liecjeinber 25, 1940 MUSIC 59 ('VV'e^Jc ending Dec. 21, 1940) ; i: Nightingale" Saiig in Berkeley Sq. . Ferryboat Serenade • • • •,i• .'..•..>;,;..,.,.,,,.,, Vie Three'..... i . .,rv..-... .,...,>i., .i., .1.; ,•...'.^. ♦ipown Argentina W.ay ('Down.Argentine Way'):.,... ..Gbd Bless A^nierica.. |.. .. . V,.. ^There I Go .'., ■ • • • •,'.. .,i.., t..;..-.;. •Only Forever CBhythm on the River'),l.^.i...; ;fAlong the Santa Fe TraU: ('Sanla.?e-TraiV).-.. \Trade'.Winds ■:, . ;'V.y'< ^..'. .v.. v..i i ;;., .■.,..>. • ^"renesi' ;.:. v-...• . . •You'y^ Got Me-This Way /('You'll Find: Out').. >i.,.... y-Dreairv:'Valley. . .;V., ,.■ • .'.rA/.r ^v.". .vAV-^v. .■..■iv'.-^.'..'. Bli'eb;erry Hill .....;.. . ..,>;.. ;, .;..;::.;.>;'......,..;. I Give Yoii My Wbrd.., .;.;v:. r...v....; fLct's:Be'Buddies :^'Panamja Hattie'),,. ■. ... . .,.. ;::S-B • •' . Robbins .M-M. .Miller .Berlin ■ .BMi: .Santly '. ■.Harms. '■■, .Harmg ..Southern .Bve ..Feist : ..Chappcli .BMI .: .Chappell on er REASSURE ASCAP THAT M-G IS SIGNING; Evert tjidugh the break between the networks and the American Society of CompbserSj 'Authors .. and Publishers is.; but. a few days; away there are np-indicaiions ol. a . whole- sale letOut of professional men .or .other employees. artiiohg the. publishr ' Ihg hpuse^ . Some pubs say that they pot only retain their professional de- partments. Intact ]put add more men ;to take care of the wider spread of exploitation dutliets. with thc'eliminaT . tion of the networks, . . ; ■. . ■ ' Financial outlook for the, mu^ic Industry is described as even 'abov.e normal, The pubs will have avail- able to them their usual income fripm ASCAP. (based on 1940) fbr at least the first quarter of 1941. It's hoped as the break with the. webs becomes effective the Sheet ;muisic field will find the hits pretty well distributed among ASCAP affiliates. ' The question ho>tr facing the busi- ness is whether the exploitation ob- tained on these tunes will be strong enough to carry over the sheet sales for two or three months. •. ^^till . another, byproduct of the current .battle between ASCAP and the broadcasting industry is the en- trance bf ■Associated Music. Pub- lishers, Inc„ In the field of popular music. This organization since . its inception has confined itself to classical and operettic. music. Not 80 long ago it added a few hillbilly tunes. AMP'S pop catalog has. started off "Vrith the .publication of^ six tunes. They are 'I Remember^Don't You,' 'Skylark Waltz.' : 'I'm Allergic to f-ove/ 'There Are. Shadows on 'the Moon Tonight,* 'Just Believe in Me,' and The Biggest Word- i.<; Yes.' Fart Indian Bily Hai, Dies in Boston at 41 '. Billy Hill; 41, Whose- succession of sheet music hits between 1933 and 1939 rated hitil as one of the most successful commercial writers of his time, died suddenly of a heart at- tack in the Hotel Esspx, Boston, Dec, 23. Hill, had been ailing for some time, taking periodic hospitalization' in New. York and elsewhere. : ■ Hill assumed the nom-de-plume of George Brown at the start of 1930 in. order to get away frorn the associ- ation of his name with hillbilly music. ^ He went under contract to ■ Shapiro-:. Bernstein in 1930 and a year later switched back;to his own name: He had been under contract to the same firnl ever since. Among his songs are .'The West and a Nest and You,' 'Old Man of the Mountain,'"There's a Cabin in the Pines,' 'the,Last Roundup.' 'Old Spinning Wheel,' 'They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree,' 'Have You Ever Bieen Lonely,' ,'Wagon Wheels,' 'Empty Saddles,' 'Lights Out,' 'Glory of iMve,' 'Chapel in the Moonlight,' 'All .Ashore' and, his last number, 'Call of the Canyon.' : • ' Part Indian, Hill had;-up to the beginning of the 30's,. wandered all pver the world, working among other, things as a dishwasher, a door- man, a laborer and orchestra leader, A wife and daughter survive, . Burial in South Weymouth, Mas,s, Byron Cay loses Point, Gams Byron Gay, ppmppserj lost more bieayilylthan he wpfi In a N. Y. isu- prerne court decision made Thurs- day (19), by Justice Benedict Dineen, in connection with ..Gay's $100,000 suit against Rbbbins Music Corp:; Leo teist, In c;, and 2ptli- Century- i'px i'llna CbTp7~TlHintill Intd-sought to' examine Abe Qlman, assistant sec- retary of Feist and Robbins before trial, and William C, JUichel,- vice- .preisidenV of ioth'-FpxV. In Ite 'deciapn the court granted the examinatiph of Qlnian -on. Dec,. 23, but denied the plea tp' examine the filrn company executive, declar- ing- that since the suit sought dam- ages for alleged unauthorized use of j a. cppyrighted composition, he' hkd i .no jurisdiction pyer^ the• film com- corfipany. \ . Plaintiff Is, the composer pf; .the. sprig,"The Vaimp,' which was pUb- lished: by Will Rpssiter, who hiad Phljr. the miechanical rights as well as the publishing rights..' Everything else reniairied vested in ithe: author. Rossiter turned over, his rights to Fejst, and it is alleged;. that. 20thV Fox used the song withbut authorir' zation. 'Rose of Washirigtoi^ Square.' Film Gompiany's Breakaway Would Have Been Body Blow—Bernstein of Loew-s, Inc., Frowns on Any ; Consent Decree—Jack Robbins Pledges .... Divided Family AS(:AP-radio fight has now a diaughter-yersus-father sidelight, Joan Whitney, nightclub singer, who has had several of her numbers published by Broadr cas t Music, is a daughter bf Zoel Parentea u, a member of ASGA'Pt" two of her tunes ° Eire 'So You're the One' and 'High on Windy . Hill.' Her father : is . formerly musical director of KDKA, Pittsburgh; Before, the ^ advent of BMI the daughter was . unknown to the trade as a song- writer. n JOBBERS IRK ASCAP INTEREST IN With the music biz beset on all sides,. the publishers are becoming increasingly annpycd by the jobbers who are now in the 'PD' (public do- main) field more than ey6r, with reprints of nPn-copyrightS or songs in the public domain. After the first of the year the ma- jor firms intend to take action against these jobbers in some fprih. . ' Boston, Dec, 24. . Boston music publishers' reps are romancing jukebox operatiors since radio outlets have cut down on music of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Results have been most, promising,, they, report, for the operators are q^ilite willing to cboperate, and at same time are siir- prised at this sudden shpw'^of atten.r tion. ; - The .boys are also contacting the girls, handling controls on new juke- bdxeis connected with microphones to central office, where requests are .an.swered. Want girli to suggest their tunies,. Ben Selvln, recording manager, of Associated Recorded Program Serv- ice and program director for-Muzak, left Friday (20) for a.two weeks va- cation in Miami. Irving Mills to L A. Irving Mills left Thursday (19) for. Hollywood to negotiate for the scores of a couple of prospective film • musicals. Also to try to spot the | writing team of Ed. Cherkose and , Jacques Press,in one of the 5tudio,s. I He went by way of Dallas so that | he could meet with Cab Calloway | in that city. ASCAP nCDRES BOTH SAM FOX, MOVIETONE IN Looks like Sam Fox and Movie- tone Music, a 20th CjEnturyrFox sub- ,sidiary, but in which Sam Fox also has an" interest, will renew with ASCAP. They're expected to sign, .up tomorrow (Thurs;); along with the Metro-Robb.ins group. ; The.,se firms, along with the Metro- Robbihs group, Were the majoi: holdr' o.uLs, but BMI has reportedly cooled to. any rnore rnusic acquisitions. BMI's attitude is that if a consent decree comes. to pass it will hot heed any further amrnunitiori against ASCAP in, the forrrj of addi- tional catalogs. son Coast ASCAP Publicity .• . Lbs Angeles, Dec. 24. . ..Morfoh.: Thompson,' local rte\vs- paper columnist, has been named public relations coun.scl under A. P. waxmah of New York for the Amer.> lean Society: of Cbnnposer.s. Authors flnd Publishers,, for the; entire. West t-oast: area. Appointment was an- ,nounced by Gene. Buck, prexy of: ASCAP, who at the. : same tiriie.. ..named a coordinating committee that Will function with Thompson. ^ Conimittee is headed by. Jerome T ^^I"' ^s .chAirmtih, and consists ot- ^- Wolfe Gilbert. Gus JCahn. Sigmund Homberg and Harry Warren. ^ All .Cpast publicity activities of ASCAP Will clear through this committee winch starts its .work imniediately, Rudy Block is BMI's Coast p.a. " .MlUs Musio, 'liic, has licensed Metro for th^ production use of 'Mr. ^allagher and Mr. Shean* in 'The Ziegfeld : Girl.' . Same pub] ishing has obtained the rights to Re- public's.. 'Barnvard Follies.* of Usual Advertising Rcit^s ReservaHons and Copy May B© Sent to Variety Office ■ v NEW YORK 154 W. 46th Sl HOLLYWOOD ^ CHICAGO 17Q8 No. Vine St. 54 W. Randolph St. LONDON 8 St Martin's PL The Metro group of music pub^ .■ lishers. Robbing, Feist and; Miller, Is officially in the.ASCAPifold, having- declared Itself in at Priday's (20). board session when David Bern- stein, president ipf the! three firms, ttendedr--<Tist«»ai;l nf j^Hifin j^ . Abeles. " . ■ legal cbUriSel . to . the Metro-Robbins • trio. ; jfack Robbins; operating hea^. . of all three firms, refused to aitenci :y. being ;irked by Abeles aiiid . Loew- - Metrif's prpcTastinatiohi- hai-in • ardently pro-ASCAP right ilonj;. " The. formal signaturing will take, . place this week and-ends any possi- ble suspicion or disaflfectibn from ASCAP .ranks on the .part of. the Metro-Robbins music firms. The rest pf the aboard, plus : the . . rankrand-fiie Society rhembership, seemingly,., suspicious. of attorney Abeles, because it wai-he- Whb engi- . neered the $1,250,000 five-year deal for :Edward B.. Marks Music CPij). ■ with BMI, made no bones about their general skepticism, and it waS that reason that Jack Rbbbins had been invited tp leave bne, board riiceting ' • the previous week, since -his firms weren't technically renewed,' This was the session where the conisent- ■ decree proposals were being aired This' factor also bPthered Robbin.v who refused to attend when later in- vited. Bobbins' Position Robbins, personally, has declared • ' himself openly and freely pro- ASCAP although such major issues are strictly up to the Metro execu- tives, notably David Bernstein, vp. and treasurer of Loew's, Inc. and president of the music subsids. When, the consent decree issue cropped'Up, Metro stalled, a few days not knowing where and' how they might be effected,, but it was frankly relayed, to the Loew-Metro people that:all writers—not:only songsmiths but the Screen Writers Guild, Dram- atists: and Authors Lea'guie pf Amer- ica—would brook no disaffection by Metro that might break up ASCAP, There was even . talk of a sitdown. strike by all writers, should any drastic move occur, and since Metro is in the midst of sundry fllmij.<;icals. being one of the: more cortsisten screen tuner-producers, that was < issue it didn't want to face at >> Coast studios. - Besides, Bernstein had long ago assured Gene Buck; ASCAP prcz.::or his 'sympathies' for the: Society's cause. . However, while Metro wanted cer- tain 'special' cposiderations on. tele- vision, theatre seat-taxe,^, classifica- tioh, etc., it's understood that ASCAP would accede to none of the de- mands, openly or otherwi,se. \ Bernsteinj however,, wanted to know why ASCAP needed the Gov-i ernmcnt 'to straighten you people out,' He also looked askance at i television provi.so Tpr 'experimental' Durposo.s, but ; .•:upr)0'p-"y found that Melro-Robbins-Fei.st-Miller bad also committed iU tclcvi.sion .rij4ht.«; . for .'cxfjerimental purpo'-o.»; or other-. ' wi.se/ the latter two words making i; too elastic a ••cphdi'tion, .But derp this, Metrb,^RobbinS-Foi.«:t-Mill.er } / in, and that doubtle.s.sly ma,y also i'.. . * fiucnce its affiliated: Movietone .V ij ... .sic 'Corp. (a 20th-Fox. tity). al> .....: ■-renewing, although .still, a holdbut. Burns^ Checks on ASCJIf ■ Minneapolis, Dec. 24.. As extra, precaution attainst in- : fringements when ASCAP tunes' go off the air Dec;. 31, • WCGO has .in- . creased its staff of music librarians by; adding Bpb Sutton to the per- : .dbnnel. He'll be chief , assi.v'iant. to' . "Toby. Srin,.head librari;: ; In brcler to facilitate checking selections, onej j of the librarians:!will be on "duty, at .:■ • ali- iimes .when' the s\iatirth is on t^e' air. Only music. libVarians will i;i4i\'e: access to the station's mujic library: . . Sutloh, who came to MirineapoliV . from Hollywood: to write scripts for .WCCO's . 'Suhri^ers' show, with Browne ind LeVelle rorhedy team, was formerly a gag writer for Bob. Burns. ■'