Variety (Jul 1944)

Wednesday, July 5, 1944 PGrieTy ORCHESTRAS—MUSIC Songpluggers Millennium: SoIonV Extraordinary Pitch for War Song One of the most unusual plugs for-f 8 song was placed in the Congres- sional Record as a result of a speech »ade by Congressman Thomas D. Winter (Kansas), June. 20. ;-'' Said Cong. Winter: "The name of this song is 'Let's'Getr Tough,' anel, to .my .great surprise, it was written by a young mother of two small chil- dren, as a protest against the hor- rors of war and as a mother's appeal to get it over quickly, , . .. We citi- zens . of these ■ United States,, espe- cially we members of the National Congress, have been too easy-going in connection with many. .national and international problems. We do .not: approach them from a 'Let's Get Tough' attitude, which is absolutely necessary these days in dealing with a■ miirderpus foe abroad and their • friends and agents here inthis coiin- 1ry, where, we have nursed them sldn'g with every, civic blessing::' : '"Let's Get ..'Tough" was-authored by Mrs. Claude Hamilton Jr.. New- Vi.i t' shpihy Music-flf-Delroit pub- lishes. '. -::• . ' ; ,-.-'".. FRANK SINATRA ON BRUMS .Philadelphia, July 4. ... Frank Sinatra is playing the drums in the Philadelphia : Orchestra al fresco season at Robin Hood Dell: it's.not the Tm-rgFi—however, but a namesake,:member of the orchestra's battery section. '. PHILLY UNION CRACKS DOWN ON JAMMING ; . .:■ '.-'-■' Philadelphia. Jiily 4. . . Members of . Local 7,7, Musicians i Union, ' fust week were warned against participating in jam. sessions 4\y off icials of the local. ".'''.. • '. ,' ■ ■: .Jamming has been on the local's ' tnpoo list for .several years Snd'for «• long time cu'fl'o looting has. been "elmost non-existant in these parts. Recently reports have come to .i»nforiheadquarters; that musicians frequenting late spots have been tak- ing a hand itY jam sessions. . • .''Members caught jamming will be <3ealt with severely,"' said Guy Scola. local 77 secretary. : -'■ Clyde Bellin, trumpet man. back Sn Pittsburgh again after- several —* ntc>nlhsr~o n roa x i with —Jerry—WrrMv--brothers—trf-^-marragerrai- end has joined Brad Hunt band, re- placing Bill Riggs, who'left for the Army last week.- ■ Freddie Martin's Orch Collects Fay Despite Coast Waiters' Walkout Hollywood, July 4, ■Management of the. Ambassador hotel expects no settlement of culin- ary workers strike until end of the week, following walkout of . South- ern California Waiters. AssiiVj com- posed ' of five AFI, unions, last Thursday night. All food -and-.bar facilities have been closed down, and Ffeddie r MarfiiiV orchestra' is e-xV cosed' from: bandstand although not on strike. -Latter group: is drawing pay because .thel.management-, has closed Cocoanut Grove. -. Unions, went on strike, charging hotel with, failure to comply, with WLB grant of wnge increases of 15c ■per hour effective June; 2, Which would have brought, minimums from. 35 to-50. cents; per houiv ; - : • . ' You Ain't Kiddie Addison Bailey, longtime ac- eompEnist for Eddie Davis, co- owner and star of Leon & Ed- ' die's <N. Y. nitery), now mnes- iros the Army hand with the 14rh Air Force ill the China- Biuma-India zone. Impressed -with the manner in which "Tokyo Rose," Jap propagandist, was getting a radio audience by usage.of Benny Goodman, Dor- ley brothels and kindred record- , jngs, Bailey organizecl'a GI band and played for the doughboys in person..' , - * : A flying officer ..with the 14th Air Force came back; to the U.S. the other day end told Davis how Bailey , played through a particularly bad Jap strafing,; and the commandant wanted to know - how-: he. could hear the music i.bove the bombs. -Bailey replied, "Say, when you work at Leon & Eddie's, or any of those hot. 52d street, joints, you tan hear anything."' ■ ■';'.,■ •<- oots and Stetsons Nosedive As Coast Bucolic Bands Lose Oaty Mowings Daillard Buys Into Dorsey Bros. Dancer y Los Angeles, July 4. Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, hand leaders who. recently bought the Casino Gardens Ballroom, sold a on'e- fhird intesest to Wayne Daillard. owner. of. the Pacific Square Ball- room in San, Diego. Inclusion of Daillard in the deal is designed to relieve t h e Dorsey difficulties.' New partner has been one of the most 'successful' ballroom, operators in California. Al Donahue Pacts Deal With Morris Agcy, MCA To Clear Coast Dates -.- In order to play the CoasV Al Donahue has worked out a deal be- tween ■ the William Morris agency and Music Corp. of America to'have MCA book b:.* orchestra for. a. four- month periocL Band is now at the Galveston. Texas, Municipal. Pier until July 25. After a week of one- nightcrs.'it -will, then open, the Ara- ■gon,.Ballro'<)ro, Oc'csn Park, C$1., Aug, 2. for a run. '..:'"•.-.".'.' ■'' Band didn't .want to come east, having spent, too many summers in Hie middle; west.'and disliking the weather. Group hopes to stay on-the Coast'until after the first of the year, then play some theatres in the east. Canarutto Quits Metop ■ Angelo Canarutto has resigned as assistant conductor of the Metropoli- tan Opera Co, to become musical director of the Connecticut Grand Opera Co. this fall, :'..''. -'.";' Meantime the director will con- Ttnet- Trend toward western style music and bands which gathered strength on the Coast two years ago and reached a peak early in 1944 is now on the decline. Boxolfiee. figures for strictly^ -Western outfits ha\e tumbled considerably --fjor. the past four months, and the tapering off has hit other significant 'pots'. Sales of Western folios and : j'ecb»'«lings have dropped simultaneously, and, even Western, outfitters have found the clothing vogue miilung diy. The beginning of the trend was evident shortly aftei the war started, when wholesale, emigration.' to the Coast from the mid-w est brought a sudden dance-date popularity.to sev- eral loug-oignniy.eri Western niusi- crews w-liich. had gained a following through, the medium of .singing cow- boy pictures. New found prosperity on the part of the"emigrees enabled fheni to pay off on a scale never possible in their home .states when western oiks roamed there, a,nd they crowded into ballrooms.and audito- riums by the lhous;iiids_4; i'-.; ...;^ Bob Wills and osk fell in for part of the quick gravy,oufgrossing most 'name, bands wherever they played, lii the Oakland Civic Auditorium they - were able to . beat the, record of Harry Jamesby more than $1,000 with a" .heavy play from shipyard Workers at Richmond, most of whom had originated in 'Oklahoma and neighboring midwest states. . ;- Cooley's I.onic Slitnil Spade Cooley, too, was heavily fol- lowed, appearing for 74 consecutive weeks, at Forman Phillip's Venice Pier, and assisting in the promo- tion of the Western fad that made Phillips a millibuaire,';'.:- Cooley perhaps saw . the hand- writing on the wall, however. Where most of the other cowboy outfits ad- hered closely to the. Lone,Prairie style, Cooley mixed pop tunes in with his cowboy - laments and did not cater strictly to the ' tmigree opus m— L.os Angeles- next month for George D'Andria, and in San Francisco in September . for Gaelano Merola. •■ . fected the financial status of the im- ported audiences. Indications were that they were the first to go, with the homeianders and more cosmo- politan visitors managing to hold on. Then .the fallacy of the supposition that the Westerners had started,, .a; -fad for . coastal residents- began! »e show. With purchasing:power, ctwhi-:- dling. in the hands, of many, of their, followers, most of the •Western'.; dance; halls began to show lartef and larger patches of empty' flbdLipiiie, Wills' Switcheloo Wills, with the largest draw on such bands, continued to gross phe- nomenally, but. was off sa consider- able percentage in contrast io. pre- vious.takes, When this became evi-' dent, the musicrew set out to re- coup by following the reserve path. Some of the crowd had even been lost by. becoming fans of the sweet and, swing: bands playing in' other Coast spots, and were adopting less sectional forms Of dress. Will's de.- ; cided the time was ripe for a change and added 10 pieces to. his band: five sax. three trumpets and two trombones.: Along with the hypo in brass, jump arrangements of pop. tunes were made and the baiKl is now a" sweet-swing outfit''using West- ern numbers as show, novelties.'. . .., Cooley. too, changed over slightly, leaning more heavily to. the .stand- ards and hops than .previously. As a result, both he and Wills are on the build again with a balanced audience, although Cooley, is still avoiding the addition of brass. In other spots, bands adhering strictly to the Western style are fac- ing steadily dwindling audiences,; One-night stunts and features, some- times manage to drag the stmt crowds as formerly, but the biz'does not hold up. ... .-'--- -''. ' . -/'■' .The taste for music on the Coast is definitely on its way to flat-httled shoes again. ..... crowd: ——.'.-'.. . — All went well with the yodeling cow.puncher until .wholesale- war plant layoffs in recent months af- Original Music Publishing Co, Inf., chartered to conduct ,a music pup- -tishir.g—business—in- N',-_i^.-t*f).iii4 stock 200 shares, no par value. Di- rectors, Jules J. Edwards, John T. Doran and George Adams. • THE BELLS OF NORMANDY (ARE RINGING AGAIN) (with expression}**-- — ^Ij^s^itt---^ m 1 j J h r m i 'i i r; i. j i ? THE EELLS OF NOR - -MAN - BY :.,»*»*»'.'.' HM-1nr a And hearts of Nor - ..tt^n - dy ar e sing- ing a - gain. A TRULY GREAT BALLAD ":;: ; ::- ; ^ DON REID and IRVING MILLER DORSEY BROS. MUSIC, Inc. 1419 BROADWAY NEW YORK 19. N. Y.