Variety (Oct 1941)

S6 ORCHESTRAS Wednesday, October !', 1941 PROPHESY BANDS' BULL MARKET men its NotoK For sound WILL EXPAND STILL FURTHER Excess Taxes, However, May Prove Temporary Deterreut—Juke- boxes Whet Tastes ONE of the thoughts often sensed in a' conversation with persons directly or indirectly concerned with the band business is: 'How long will the current bullish activity In the band field remain? Will it ever slip back from its present peak as a major Industry?' Executives in the field not only look .for It to continue, but they expect it to expand still further. They point out that the commercial possibilities of touring bands haven t begun to be tapped. Long before the demise of vaudeville and the advance- ment of radio, both of which did so much to bring orchestra leaders and their bands into the eye of the majority of the American public, various orchestras were 'name' combos within their confined sphere. They simply weren't as widely appreciated as they are today. Years ago the Scranton Sirens, Coon-Sanders and a flock of other groups were re- ceiving the adulation of college kids, but in a groove that was too narrow to enable national recognition. Today the' •name' band is an integral part of eyery form of entertain- ment, radio, vaudeville, films, etc., and is as much a part of the American scene a; a traffic jam. And still there are tremendous possibilities for spreading further. Few nationally known orchestras have worked into the south and southeast because stiff liquor, laws and other re- strictions make it almost an impossibility. Also there are thousands of theatres in the country that can be worked into a one-day theatre trail. The beginnings of such a route has been started in the east, in various small towns which ordinarily would not get to see or hear music deliv- ered by top outfits. And the majority are far enough off the beaten track not to interfere with esteblished ballroom dates. Versatile Another thing that will help develop the band business still further is that most bands no longer deliver music alone. Any number of modern orchestras now are able to put on a satisfying vaude show without any outside help, particularly among the smaller outfits which need such abiUty to com- pete. But even the topflight crews are beginning to swing that way, too. The addition of quartets, musicians with a flair for comedy and novelty vocals, etc., to big bands such as Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, is increasing all, the time. The one thing, however, that may put a temporary stopper on the development of the band business is excess taxes, which even now is proving a hjeadache to the top-earning leads. Cutting in too heavily on profits reduces the initiative of batoneers, new or old, to try to develop ways and means of getting into the big money circle. The ever-incre"asing imt)ortance and number of coin ma- chines is shrugged oft as a possible threat to the future of the band business. Undoubtedly some of the juke-joints do hurt band tours, but on the whole the records with which they are stocked only create whetted appetites for the real thing. From that angle they help rather than hinder. Styles may change and tempoes may possibly Undergo re- vision, but the fact that the band business as a big-money, proposition is here to stay is deemed, a certainty. 100,000,000 Disk Sales Prediction Comes True Prediction of a 100,000,000 sales year for the reqprd indus- try, made in .Vamety's 36th anniversary edition last January, now begins to look good. That figure, which seemed then like a wild estimate, but one that all recording company execs agreed might come true, will be hit and possibly sur- passed by the time the holidays roll past. All factories of Decca, Victor and Columbia are working under forced draught, turning out pressings as fast as possible, yet they cannot keep pace wlth>orders. Decca alone estimates that it is behind on orders to the tune of 850,000 discs. Columbia Is also in the ruck. Victor, with larger production facilities, Is not as far in the wake of demands. ^ In order to allow itself time to catch up on back orders Decca a few weeks ago held up its weekly release, explain- ing that In as much as it cannot keep up with re-orders on releases already on counters, it decided to give dealers a break and suspend one week's shipment of new stuff to al- low time for preceding releases to be cleared away. Too, the less new discs made available the more chance produc- tion will have to catch up. This week's (Oct. 2) regular shipment will also be held back. Columbia knocked out one week so far, but Victor has not cut off new releases at all. A Holiday Headacbe Upsurge in sales has been felt right along. AH spring and, early summer it began gathering mom^entumi and for the past couple of months it has been roaring under a full head of steam, both in popular and the reduced-price classicals. What the companies will do when the holiday season ap- proaches and sales increase still further is something that they are beginning to wonder about. Pressing machines, as evidenced by the backlog of orders, are running at capacity, and the possibility of any company expanding those facilities is practically nil due to defense priorities on materials needed for an effort in that direction. Despite the terrific jump in total sales as against last year's, during which, it is estimated, between 55-60,000,000 discs were disposed of, the percentage going into coin machines is figured to have dropped. There can be no accurate count, for various reasons, of just how many platters are sold for private and how many for commercial use, but whereas 40% of the total was once accepted as finding their way into boxes, . that has now dropped to 35%. , Not because coin machines have fallen off.' On the contrary this year they will use almost double last year's consumption. The drop is' based on the tremendous increase going to private turntables. In short, the increase in buying for home machines has been much sharper than for machines, so that even if the latter took twice what they did last year the percentitge of the total was lower. Bands^ Big Suminer 'T'HE summer just ended lived up to all the expectations of band bookers. It was, from all angles, the best season the band business has experienced in perhaps 10 years. Grosses were up anywhere between 20-40% in virtually every major spot and as high as 50%- in some. B.o, records meant nothing. Every week new high-water marks were established; a few that had endured for years. Totem Pole Ballroom, Auburndale, Mass.; Sunnybrook Ballroom, Pottstown, Pa.; Old Orchard Pier, in Maine; Steel Pier, Atlantic City; Lakeside Park, Mahanoy City, Pa.; Hershey Park, Hershey, Pa.; Cedar Point, Sandusky, O.; East- wood Gardens, Detroit; Buckeye and Yankee Lakes, O.; Lake Gompounce, Bristol, Conn.; Pleasure Beach Park, Bridge- port, Conn., all. were among the eastern spots that clocked ab- normal business. Not all of it was in the east and midwest; ilie south and Coast sailed along on a rising tide, but the major portion of the major bands were in the eastern terri- tory where the more important and lucrative summer oppor- tunities are. Such groups as Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dor- sey, Woody Herman (on y/By but to Palladium, L. A.), Harry James, Frankie Masters, Tony Pastor and a flock of other names maintained strong business averages all through the season and they were joined this month by Artie Shaw, who irnmediately began studding his comeback trail with smashed records. Every band with any sort of name value at all, In addition to the above, was out on the rond, with the ex- ception, of course, of those that were 'sitting it out' on sea- son-long resort dates, etc. Resort spots and roadhouses around New York also came in for their share of the take. Glen Island Casino did bet- ter-than it had for several seasons, with Charlie Spivak. _ Rustic Cabin, Englewood Cliffs, N. J., is enlarging, concrete' testimony to its business claims; Meadowbrook, with Sonny Dunham all the way, did much better than the previous summer. Sea Girt Inn, Sea Girt, N. J., also improved the previous summer's take with Harry James, Bob Chester, Shep Fields. Chester set a new gross mark for a week's period. Tommy Tucker pulled strongly at Asbury Park's Berkely-Carteret hotel, Les Birown continually taxed the capacity of the Log Cabin, Armonk, N. Y., and Carl Hoft, with a new band, did okay at nearby Blue Gardens though ha was hurt plenty by Brown. Hotel business in New York and Chicago was jumping. Tommy Dorsey turned them away at the Astor, which then ' hit a lull with Will Bradley, then bounced back again with Bob Chester. New Yorker,, with Johnny Long's untried band, found him an able draw. Xavier Cugat clicked solidly at the Waldorf. In Chicago Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Good- man, Glenn Miller popped the seams of the Sherman hotel's College Inn. It didn't take long for that defense cash to begin circu- lating, as far as the band business was concerned.. Young bands struggling for a toe-hold, and established outfits which must maintain their position, battle endlessly to be booked into location jobs that offer the opportunity to broadcast over national network wires. The newer outfits will sign away a percentage of their earnings, pay for their own lines, work at a salary that doesn't cover the weekly cost of operation—and in too many Instances wind up with broadcasts that do as much harm to chances for success as no broadcasting at all. Makeshift bandstands that would make an acoustical engineer a candidate for a straightjacket boot their efforts all over the lot A tour of the places that use new bands at cheap money, with all sorts of concessions made by the bandleader as men- tioned above, discloses the sad need for attention to such de- tails as. bandstands. Most of them are slapped together af- fairs, some with roofs, some without, others enclosed on three sides and with a low roof; a few backed by solid, con- crete which have been hung with a drape in the rear to soften the boom of a big band. One of the most objectionable, to bandleaders who have played the stand, is at the Chatterbox, Mountainside, N. J. Any fair sized outfit playing there is crowded on the stand and trumpeters, high on the terraces, bang" their heads on the ceiling if they get up for solos without thinking. One of the best stands is now at Meadowbrook, Cedar Grove, N. J, When. Frank Dailcy enlarged his place recently he rebuilt the bandstand, bringing it more into the open under a 40-foot roof, and lining what remained of the bandshell with a velvet cloth to soften the punch of the jive crews that play there. Few of the stopovers that use musical talent of various ratings and calibre, allows a band to sound on the air much the same as It sounds .in the room. There aren't many spot owners who recognize the fact that remote band pickups are difficult enough, that proper balance, etc., sometimes takes hours of rehearsal to achieve even under thff best circumstances. These few have built stands that bandleaders unhesitatingly praise. But there are all t«o many spots that not only make a band sound poor on the radio, but also lessen its effect in the room. One location in upper Westchester (N. Y.) is now and has been for some time a buildup spot for new bands. Its stand is .of a con- struction that makes the group now current seem better via a loudspeaker than it does in person. That, of course, is an extreme not often encountered. It seems pretty stupid for anyone to spend a healthy wad of dough on musical talent each week, then risk business being shunted away by the muddled impact of music deliv- ered from an improperly constructed point of origin. Also it's not playing ball with a leader. As mentioned above, it's an open secret that most new bands give up a lot for the opportunity to broadcast, and to do that end still not be able to make an accurate impression of what they have to de- liver on the ears of the public makes things doubly dis- appointing. With the stiff competition in the band field it takes outstanding ability to get anywhere with conditions at their best, let alone trying to make it over stymies that can easily be corrected. The same beet applies to public address systems. The average band of today, that is, the ones that can afford it, carry their own p.a. layouts which are hauled from spot to spot or from ballroom to ballroom. Comparatively few dance jobs, even the larger ones, are outfitted with decent amplifiers, and It Is cheaper for a leader to lay out the $400- $500 necessary for « good one than to risk lukewarm re- action to his stuff the next swing around the circuit. \ THE OPEN ROAD *Play Safe, Don't Drive While Tired,' Kaye's Warning On Road Jaunts; They're A Vacation To Him And His Band By SAMMY KAYE GOING out on tour may have been a bore and a chore once—but today the boys in the band and myself look forward to these hegiras. In fact, if anybody asks me where we're headed before we take off on a tour, I always say, 'Oh, we're going on a vacation.' My boys have had more fun on these trips than they could ever have on per- manent locations. [Ed. note: No ribs boys, he means it!] We've worked out matters so that discomforts are few and far between. During our recent trek through the midwest, the temperature hovered in the 90s or higher. We did most of our traveling in de luxe air-conditioned busses When we traveled by train, we reserved an entire air-conditioned car for the band. We use planes, too, on occasion engaging an entire transport liner. We frown on. the practice of musicians using their own cars as practically every one of the accidents that haVe been happening occurred because over-tired musicians were driv- ing when they should have been sleeping or resting. When we put the entire band into a bus, it is piloted by a driver who is completely competent and we know wa have nothing to worry about. If the boys are tired, they can sprawl out comfortably. Or they can do any number of things. Some play cards, others read, others write letters, others just sit around and talk—mostly about sports. We instruct the bus drivers never to take chances. He drives' at a reasonable rate of speed. We always give our- selves plenty of time to make a date. So far (knock on wood!) we have never been late or missed an engagement. The closest we came to it was the time we were well on our way to Pottsville, Pa., before we discovered that the booking was in Pottstown. We made a beeline to our right destination in the nick of time. The musicians are relieved of all responsibilities outside of actual playing. We have a staff of three who take care of all details. George Gingell, our road manager, makes ar- rangements for transportation and lodgings. Jimmy Cos- grove, our prop manager, takes charge of moving the instru- ments. In addition, my secretary travels along and takes care of numerous details. We take special delight in "returning to towns we have played the previous year. Renewing old acquaintances this way makes traveling so much more pleasant. We have al- ways been treated very well and almost everywhere we stop the boys are invited, en masse, to a home cooked.dinner. A Posy for the Promoter Some of the finest men in show business are ballroom managers. The general public seldom hears about these men. As a rule they are very simple and unas.<!uming. But they are good business men and I have tremendous respect for them. ^Some ballrooms are equipped with outdoor pavilions. If th'e dances are held indoors, some places are air-cooled. Fortunately most of the larger dance spots have' flrst-class amplifier equipment, as they have discovered that the finest band in the country will sound like a honky-tonk outfit if the sound equipment isn't Just right. We enjoy playing at summer resorts because we are all fond of swimming, and, no matter what time of day or night we arrive, everyone goes in for a Swim before going to bed. Some of the boys enjoy the beach so much, they sleep there instead of at the hotel. Several factors enter Into the success of a one-nighter. A great deal depends on the amount of publicity, advertising and exploitation planted in advance. We have a lot to selU In addition to dance music, we offer an unusually large bat- tery of vocalists, a number of novelty sslections (including 'Daddy,' 'The Reluctant Dragon,' 'Minka,' 'The Old Oaken Bucket,' etc.) and last, but not least, 'So You Want to Lead a Band.' We did more traveling than usual this year, cutting short our engagement at Ihe Essex House, N. Y., in order to fill in all the dates offered. The tour was so successful and so enjoyable that I doubt if we'll ever stay put at any one spot for very long. We have commitments with the Essex House, N. Y., and with the Meadowbrook, where we recently were given a 10-year contract to play eight weeks each year, but aside from these engagements, give us the open road!