Variety (Apr 1942)

Wedneadajt April t9« 1941 ORGHESTRAS^-ICDSIC 41 BDCK OUT AS ASC AP PREZ Keqi 356 Labek But Switch Names Meimtime Coin Machines May Have to Return Two Old Discs for Every Three New One« ■fr- it appears now that none of the major recording companiea' expects to rellnqtilsh fhe investments they have In the 35c label titles marketed by each. In place of ctving up the Bluebird, Okeh and Decca chopper issues each \outflt is preparing to move its stronser-selUng talent to 60c sidea while continuing to manufac- ture the 35-oenters. These latter will be occupied by the les potent names among the bands, sinecrs, et aL Beginning with the times cut on his next recording da:te.'Jimmy Dor- sey wHI jump to Oecca'a new SOc Black label releases, and Woody Her- man will do the same. At Columbia, Benny Gioodman, Tommy Tucker, Dick Jurgens will be shifted to the SOc Columbia label. At Victor. Glenn Miller, Freddy Martin, Dinah Shore will head the move from 35c to 60c. Coin machine operators will soon hear what is expected of thejn to help the situation, In, regard to re- turning used plirtteis. They may be required to turn b| two old discs -for every three new -ones bought, for which they will be allowed six cents (two discs-weigh about one pound, which conforms to the 60 ^per pound price for reclaimed, platters). Few record offlpiaTu feel that the amount of . material that can be ex- tracted, from old platters will be sizable enough to n^e much differ- ence In the current aituation.^ True, they «ay, the Govemmenfa order didn't slice production 70%, it simply cut the use of sbellae, which in turn reduced production, but reclaimed materials eannot add much to the available stockpile, U la felt FLOKsiKS ASCAP FORMULA Orlando^ Fla, April 28. . Group of Florida broadcasters met with John G. Palne^ ASCAP geu' eral manager, Sunday (26) and went over the terms of ■ compromise com- pllanca that would permit ASCAP to resume .doing business in this state. It is understood that the dis- cussions Included the matter of set- tlements .bh accumulated fees due the Society. . Under a Florida statute which has been in effect for two years ASCAP is barred from licensing music users directly. PROFESSIONAL MEN NET $10,000 BENEFIT Professional Music Men, Inc., will net somewhat over $10,OOQ from its theatre party of last Sunday night (26), sale of advertising in its jour- nal and from its raffle. The theatre buyout was "PriDrilles of 1942.' George Joy's daughter, Peggy, won the $200 war bond which was the top prize in the raffle. WALLICHS UNPERTURBED CallfomlaB SeereUve Bnt Confldeol On New Dlae Company Glenn Wallichs, owner of record and music store In Hollywood, who's behind the new Liberty Record Co., along with songWriter Johnny Mer- cer and Buddy DeSylva, v.p, and pro- duction chief of Paramount Pictures, Is in New York currently telling people he contacts that he doesn't expect the Government's seizure of 70% of shellac reserves to bother him much. He asserts that he will Ik able to go ahead with his plans, and has been contacting New . York dUtrib- utors to handle his output when he gets going. Wallichs is very secretive about his plans, refusing to divulge where his pressing will bC' done, except that it « to be handled on both coasts. He has intimated to persons he talked with that Horace Heidt's orchestra will be one of his recording names. Legendary Russian Tbere'i ■ story going the rounds in New York presently about a Russian chemist who has been camping on RCA-Victor's doorstep for the past two years or so, trying to^lnterest the com- pany in a new method of process- ing recordings. His formula. It's claimed, ls''composed of domestic materials easy to obtain and which do not figure In the gov- ernment's war effort Since the recent curtailment Jn the use of shellac in platter man- ufacturing RCA is supposed to have made • frantic search in New York for the chemist, and succeeded In locating him last week. PALISADES PK. HASRECORD OPENING Palisades Amusement Park, Fort Lee, N. J., had one of the biggest opening days in Its S2ryear history Saturday (25). Park offlcla£s refused to divulge the exact number of peo- ple who ettencted, biit parking lots were jammed to capacity and long llnei of ticket-bolders waited for b'ips on various ride concessions. Sunday afternoon was also heavy, but chillier weather later in the eve ning eased things up. By then game concessions ha4 run out. of prize.^ and several restaurants on iht grounds were cleaned out of some foods. Park is a regular buyer of name bands. McFarland Twins were in the dance pavilion Saturday night Johnny 'Scat' Davis Sunday^ MUGGSY SPANIER IRKED Bcfralni, en Friends' Vwgbtf, From Flllnf Against Diecca Muggsy Spanier started to file a claim against Decca Records with New York local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians last week over the cancellation of. a recording date for his band, but friends finally prevailed upon liim to forget it Spanier was scheduled to cut four sides on a single date contract at a price of $750, at Decca's N.Y. studios Thursday (23) morning. His band arrived, but it was told the date was off. Spanier burned Because Decca had not notified him ^rller, point- ing out that Ins bMking office (CaiA) had left the date open for recording and. tliat he could have played a one-nighter on the way to Cleveland where ha was due at Western Reserve U, Friday. He got hotter when he found that Woody Herman's band was to re- cord that afternoon. He couldn't understand why Herman's date was fulfilled and his was cancelled, de- spite the government's recent re- strictions on the use of shellac, which stands to hurt the recording aspirations of all classes of orches- tras below the top ones. " Had Spanier filed a complaint it would have been the. first to grow out of the recording situation as it now stands. Decca explains that Spanier did not have a definite date. He had been told before the Govern- ment's move against shellac to come in when he had arranged four more tunes. He came into the studios without warning. FOES FINALLY MUSTER VOTES Necetaary Two-Thirds of Board Ends Paid Pmi doicy in Favor of Honor- ary Post for DeoDos Taylor —Fend Between Gene Buck and PnUishers Grew Bitter in Past Year $25,000 PENSION? Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger washed up their 18-month stay at 20th-Fox with song-writing chore on ■Footllght Serenade.' Replacement of Gene Buck with Deems Taylor . as president of ASCAP at the annual election of officers last Thursday (23) rates as the slickest coup that has been carried out within that organization for many years. The capture of enough votes among the writer di- rectors came as a shock to Buck and the fact that the publisher contingent on the board had managed their stratagem so efficiently, and sur- reptitiously caused much incredulous headshaking in the music industry. Buck will be paid the balance of his $35,000 salary for the current year end the question of putting him on a pension will. It was indicated, be taken up by the board at some later session. Jt was also hinted that dis- position will be made soon of an- other major figure in the ASCAP setup. The annual pension for Buck will probably be fixed at $25,000. It Is understood that the writers who voted for Taylor had advised, the pubs on the board that they would go along with the former provided that a pension be granted Buck. In the discussions on this point the $25,000 figure was mentioned, but the matter of whether this is to apply for a period of years, or a year-to-year basis, is also yet to be determined by the board. The polling of votes for president was preceded by several parliament- ary tiffs. At vety opening Buck interposed an objection to a secret ballot and argued that noses be coimted out in the open. Charles C. Schwartz, of ASCAP counsel, was consulted on this point and he stated a secret ballot was permissible under the ASCAP bylaws. L. WoUe Gilbert, a Buck henciunan, brought up the matter of the recent election for writer directors and raised the. question as to whether there ought to be a recount of the tiiree-way contest that resulted In Ray Hender- son coming out victor over Jerome Kern and Al Lewis Iwfore the board, which included Henderson, pro- ceeded to vote for officers. A feeling of disquiet spread through the Buck allies when at the opening of the meeting it was noticed that the faces (Continued on page 42) "So Say We Is PubMer Footnote To Shellackiiig of Ani^ Leaders ASCAFs New Officers ASCAP officers who wer* elected last week for. a year's term were as followK . DeoBs Taytor, president ' Gnstave Sehlner, v.p. Oiear HsmaienrtelB n, v.p. G««rr« W. BTeyer. secretary. . Ku Dzeyfwk tieasurer, J. J. Bregmaa, «sst sec. Irvine Caesar, ssst treas.' SINGLE CONTACT aTHERSRADIO PLUGINFO The contactmen'a tmlbn has ar- ranged with NBC and the Blue Net- work to have a union's representa- tive serve as the go-betwieeit- oh daily clearance of musical numbers ovei: the two webs. Instead of In- dividual professional managers clamoring around - the networks' quarters to find out wblcb of their numbers were being broadcast that night, all this Information will be turned over to the' union's 7ep for distribution among various contact- men. The rep wHl pick up his data from the networiis' library at 4 pjn.' each day;' Move relieves the webs of answering manifold petsonal and tel^hone calls from publishers' jaen. The policy becomes effective Friday (1); John O'Cbiinor, president Of the unibn, 'wh6 'Worked out' thesie' ar- rangements with the networks' last Friday (24), also obtained fr<ira C. L, Menser, NBC's program head, the assurance ■ fliat'' the' interval Tor the repetition of c'urretit tunes'will'be reduced to two hours and kept rigid. It had been three hours. 'ARTHUR MURRAY' ALBUM Ted Straetcc BatMM BIfbt Assorted Dance.Tone* Decca Records recorded times by Ted Straeter's band last week for inclusion in aii album. tiUed 'Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing.' Book wHI be made up of eight dance melo- dies in fox trot, waltz, rhumba, tango, etc., tempoes, and does not lifclude the tune 'Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry,' from the film 'The Fleet's In.' Sides were Straeter's first for Decca. Frank Locsser and Jimmy McHugh are doing songs for 'White Hot and Blue' at Paramount. • >♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ^ » ♦ »♦♦ < , i: Questions and Answers oii ASCAP i Victor Herbert Was Honorary Presidency of ASCAP previously was an honorary title, Victor Her- bert being the first; George Maxwell, head of G. RtcOrdi (American branch) the prez immediately before Gene Buck. ' ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦<♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«««««♦«♦♦♦» Be; Sehwsrts * Fr'olillch Also a question mark are Schwartz Jk Frohlich's continued services as exclusive legs!', counsel dt $25,000 a year. During the BMI and U. S. con- sent decree tiffin^', Charles PoletU, Lieut Governor ..i.New York State and of counsel for Milton Diamond's law firm, rece've. $1,0,000. David L. Podell, another special counsel, got $70,000. Schwartz & Frohlich's're- cent preoccupation with film matters have taken them considerably to the Coast. Herman Finkel ceinj a mem- bei of the firm, ' -'10 has really t>een most active on the ASCAP accoimt, has been mentioned a. moving in as 'house' counsellor, or taking over the society ad a client. Others in ASCAP still favor some 'pres 'ge' firm for legislative effect in Washington and elsewhere, not knowing when an- other legal attack may. come. Taylor Chasen for Presilee Society chose Deems Taylor on premise he's a' personality on the radio; a man of some artistic stature and prestige. Paine In, Milli Uncertain John G. Paine, as general man- ager, seems to be in a favored paid post He draws $25,000 annually; Status of Edwin Claude Mills, as chairman of the executive commit- tee, under the new order within ASCAP is currently debatable. As part of a general tendency to curb the powers of bandleaders, now that shellae 'scarcity hajt changed ths fa^ts of lift, the music publishers «ver that they, too, "won't play ball' with maesfros who are congenital cutter-inneis, or who have their own songplugglng «nd publishing angles^ etc. "Just how they'll achieve this if an 'X' problem, but the tiieory is that if and when a hit song.comes along^ or it's a piece of song material that looks,' tmusually strong, it will be withheld from the suspected maes* troa. ^ The objective Is to curb those lead- ers who will only record the songs they're interested In. Now that ths shellac shortage has pnt another eom« plexlon—by governmental order—on the disk business, the selection ol songs for mechanical reproduction wlU become more scientific and dls* criminating, «nd not as haphazardly put on the wax. The theory is that ultimately only the better tunes wlU merit perpetuating on wax. mmm Si^trackeii FromWsddnl Sudden decision ot the Uiyls Corp. oif America to. switch XIaf tibmbardo for -QrUt WUllama ss tbs next band it.the WaTdort-Astorls hotel, has. caused .some specu- lation within the band bo^Uns 'trade. X<ombardo, who Is currently play- - ing theatres, replaces Freddy - Mar- tin at the Waldorf May 18. Lom- bardo closed a winter's session si tiie Roosevelt hotel, N. Y, only a few weeks ago.' Contacted In Boston Monday (26) Williams was 'greatly disturbedf alraut the situation. H* claimed hs would never have cbmf east with- out Music Corp. of Amerlcs's assur- ance that the Waldorf deid was set He explained that he took his re- cent Copley-Plaza hotel; Boston,. Job on MCA's promise that It would follow with the New York .'prestige* spot. MCA's Chicago office had of- fered him some lucrative midwest and Coast bookings, but he turiied them down in favor of the eastern deals. He figures his choice of un- fulfilled' eastern promises has cost him a lot of money. Williams also Is burned at MCA. because he claims his Copley, con- tract called for network wires snd he received none. Band opened to- day (Wed.) at Totem Pole Ballroom, Aubumdale, Mass., stays until May . 23, then goes to Beverly Hills C.C^ Newport, Ky. O'Keefe's Attachment Sut Vs. Freddy Martk F. C. (Cork) CKeefe, New York personal manager, has secured an *U tacbment on the earnin#^of Freddy ' Martin's orchestra, now. at the Wal- dorf-Astoria hotel. New York. OlCeefe alleges Martin owes him ap^ proximately $19,000' ln''4!«ittml3sIons for acting as Martin's manager for the year ending Feb. 1 ps;5t. I,ouis Nlzer, Martin's attorney, .win movs to have the attachment vacated this week. According to Martin, he had a trial managerial agreement with CKeefe for one year, which expired Feb. 1, after which be huddled with CKeefe and called things off. confirming the decision by mail. He- knew nothing of O'Keefe's demands for csmmlr- sions due, he claims, until servs^ with the attachment papers.