Variety (Jul 1944)

Wednesday, July 26, 1914 ORCHESTRAS—MUSIC 91 Grable-James Miff Hoofers Patrons of Lakewood Park, Mahanoy City, Pa., created a big hul'i- baloo recently after Harry James' orchestra had played a date there. They felt they had been gypped because Betty Grable (Mrs. James) had not put in an appearance, although it was known she was accom- panying the leader oh his one-night tour and was at the park. Situa- tion reached the point where the town's daily had to explain that a peek at the Gable gams was not in James' contract with Howard Guinan, operator of Lakewood. James was booked into Lakewood July 13 on five days' notice when a couple of Cleveland territory bookings_JMl_out_because transporta- tion couldn't be arranged. Guinan couldn't "advertis^~frie _ rja"nd until three days before to protect a previously made date for July 8 at Hershey Park, Hershey, Pa., not too far away. -.-;'■ At any rate, the ballroom was crowded, and to avoid being mauled, Miss Grable didn't make an appearance and a howl went up that ■ didn't subside for several days. Guinan's advertising of the band didn't include Miss Grable. Small Indies Denied Talent Loans By Col., Victor Pending Disc Peace Since the Collapse of the recent* discussions among—the—War Labor Board, the American Federation of Musicians and Columbia and RCA- Victbr,. the latter, companies have assertediy been approached by smaller, record manufacturers in heed of name talent with sub-eon? tractihg propositions.. These: indies, who are in good standing with the AFM,-would like: to record the talent under contract to Columbia and Vic- tor pending the settlement of the latters' dispute with the union. It's, pointed out that such an arrange- ment would keep' happy the talent, many of whom have been chafing at the. bit; -- ." These propositions are being flatly rejected as they ..come up. . Neither Columbia nor Victor .will entertain : the idea of lending artists to another label for any reason in view of the money each has spent in advertising their properties as aligned Willi the Columbia or Victor discs'. Boosey-Hawkes Leases Covent Garden O.H.; To Restore Old Tradition '.'.'•. London,. July 11. : Boosey & Hawkes, Ltd., the music publishers, have leased the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from Jan. 1 next, in association with Har- old Holt. :.V."V' New management will reopen the famous house With alternate opera and ballet seasons, with the object of restoring'its old traditions by be- coming a' centre of music and the arts. For this purpose an advisory council has been appointed, consist- ing, of five members to control the future policy. Since the war the building has been used as a public dancehall and has been a popular rendezvous for American troops. Seek Ballet Theatre V Negotiations are being conducted between Boosey & Hawkes. London music publishers, and Sol Hurok for the latter's Ballet- Theatre to play London next summer. GOODMAN, MCA AGAIN SEEK TO REACH ACCORD Benny Goodman's arguments with Music Corp. of America, in which he's seeking the cancellation of the booking contract with that outfit, have begun again. Leader and the agency had additional discussions last week, brought about by . the former, after the situation had been dormant for several months follow- ing the breakup of his band. Good-, man has been out of action since last spring after he burned at MCA over the latter's failure to supply him with a radio show. . >1CA last week offered; Goodman a string of theatre dates in the. fall and it looked possible that, he would reorganize to take. -.them. There's no definite word on it now. ."'',':- Those Pluggers Start To Lie Again Aug. 25 Contact Men's golf tournament be- gins Aug. 25 at Glen Oaks club, Little Neck, L. I. Preliminaries will be played at Glen Oaks and the semi-finals and .finals at Lakeville. Lake Success, where the majority of the music men are members. Last year's tourney was copped by Dave Dreyer, professional manager of Irving Berlin, Inc. ;''■ ,-.' .'.--. New Test Suit Based On'09 Copyright Act Involves 'March Toys' ; Asserting that copyright owners of songs penned before the copyright act of .1909 became a.law. are entitled to the mechanical rights upon .re- newal of copyright, Schwartz: & Frohlich, attorneys, filed another test case , against thr,ce disk' com- panies in separate suits last week '20) in Ni Y. federal court. • Involved in the second .test suit is the song, "March of; the Toy's," from "Babes in Toyland," composed in 1903 by Victor Herbert and; Glen, MacDonough, the late composers. Defendants are Radio Corp. of America, Columbia Recording Corp., and Decca Records, Inc., and Decca Distributing Corp., charged by the owners of "Toys," Ella Bartlett, Clif- ford Herbert and Alan MacDonough, with infringing on the song by man- ufacturing, distributing and selling more than 1,000,000 phonograph rec- ords each since. 1931, by making new arrangements, without license or payments of royalties. ,: M, Witmark & Sons, publisher of the song, was named as a party de- fendant, because of refusal to join in the suit. Permanent, injunction is sought re- straining the defendants from., con- tinuing to manufacture and sell re- cordings, of the song made with the unauthorized arrangements. The plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and Witmark also seek to recover royalties and damages, and an ac- counting of profits from all manu- facture, use, distribution and sale of the song on phonograph records. ; First test: case filed, involved the mechanical reproduction of the song, "Toyland," composed by Herbert and MacDonough, in 1903. : .. ' -.. '. Paper Ban Lifting Only A 1,500-Ton Proposish Lifting of restrictions last week on the paper that could be consumed by the music publishing industry made a difference, according to the War Production Board, of only about 1,500 tons a year. Though that fig- ure sounds insignificant in view of the total amounts used annually in all fields, the elimination of the WPB curb on publishers was a windfall that few not behind a publisher's desk can fully appreciate. Pubs are still breathing a bit faster and still discussing the killing of the paper curb. Had the. WPB's order been re- affirmed it would have dealt'a crip- pling .blow to the industry. It called for pubs to be restricted to 75%, of the consumption of 1941, the year of the radio-American Society of Com- posers, Authors and Publishers dis- pute, which brought mtisic sales way down. Previously only printers were confined to 75" 0 of 1941 consumption, which left the pubs in good condi- tion, comparatively. Had the re- striction on both pubs and printers stood, a number, of major publishers would have been forced to discon- (Continued on page 34) Sinatra-Paramount, N.Y,j Impasse Doesn't Improve MCA-Par Band Relations Failure of Frank Sinatra and the N..'Y. Paramount theatre to. get to- gether on. a deal for a date at the house,, though -there is a contract' existing between them , at $4,000 weekly to be fulfilled at a "mutually, agreeable time," has not improved; relations between the Par and Music Corp. of America^ which books Sin- istra. Relations between MCA and the Par have been strained for some time and the agency has not booked a band into the house for a long while.; Two MCA bands there re- cently were Tommy Dorsey and Xavier Cugaf, both of whom were in on options. . '.-, •>-■'•■ Booking of MCA bands and acts in Par's - out-of-town houses has been spotty too. It led to the develop- ment 1 by the agency of the Down- town theatre Detroit,' which now plays in opposition to the Para-• mounl-booked Michigan,, which now hasn't a steady stagesHow policy. MCA attempted to set up opposition stageshow houses ,in other cities too, it's said. but. deals did-not jell. There's, no definite item on which the friction between the two outfits can be based, it seems, but the thing has been growing and as a result the Capitol theatre, N..Y., has secured the-majority, of .MCA topnotch band names in the past six months. There has , been talk that if MCA books Sinatra into any houses out-of town in opposition to Par's theatres, the latter M ill stick to the $4,000 op- tion price it has on the . singer, but this is probably just talk. He played Warner houses his last time in the- atres outside N. Y. because Par re- fused to go for the $15,000 guaran- tees plus percentages asked for him. In N. Y. Sinatra Can't play another house until he completes the Par agreement. That "mutually agree- able'' time, however, can, stymie a date, there for a long time. It's un- derstood the Roxy, N. Y. offered him $25,000 weekly, which had to be turned down.. Barnet's N. Y. Return : Charlie Barnet's orchestra returns . east .for the first time since he drew a 1-A classification, opening Sept. -8 at the Strand theatre, N. Y. Barnet has been on the Coast in the interim, making pictures for RKO, some with a studio outfit and the latest with a band he formed to work weekends with him at the Casa Manana, Culver City, and later, at Slapsie Maxie's. Barnet's last major theatre date in the east wag at the Strand last Christmas. ,• .:'..''' '■-,.' •-. Mgr. Lou Levy Set As RKO Prod. For Andrews Sisters ' . •:,. . Hollywood, July 25. ' Lou Levy, manager of the An- drews Sister, turns producer under a deal with RKO calling for a starrer for the three singing girls, . Picture will be a' comedy with music, slated to face the cameras in September. . Levy's Sync Sales Hollywood, July"25, ..-Lou Levy, head of Leeds Music and manager of the Andrews Sisters, has been unusually active in selling synchronization rights to tunes in his -catalog this trip out here. :■ He is said to have made deals with various .film, makers -totalling in the neigh- borhood of $30,000. including a deal tyitji Metro for S3.500 for the use of. "(All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings," POWELL 0RCH TO FOLD AFTER DENVER DATE Teddy Powell is disbanding his or- chestra following the close of his current date at Elitch Gardens, Den-; ver, Aug. 2.. He's: breaking up. in order to return to X. Y.. to be Sr* raigned on a charge of evading the draft, which'' will take place some time next month. Arraignment orig- inally was .scheduled for- next week.' Powell was . arrested and released on bail two weeks ago after being 'picked, up by the FBI on a charge Of conspiring with a N,Y. draft board official to evade service. After the. alleged conspiracy',fjte was classified 4-F- in California. WBs Music Affiliate Maps New Suit In Federal Court Vs. Hit Parade' Ballroom Op Sues Ina Ray Hutton on 'Frozen Music' Montreal, July 19. Bandleaders have been sued .for. various reasons, .hut it' isn't often that a dance promoter sues and makes the charge stick to the tune, of a $2,554 judgment for a band's failure to give an adequate perform- ance.- H. Holmok, operator at the Auditorium Dance Palace, Montreal, has'won a judgment for that much against Ina Ray Hutton, who played at the spot Dec. 5 and 6, 1942. • Holmok claimed that Miss Hutton was due to start playing the first night at 8 o'clock, but that the. band, delayed by a snowstorm, didn't show up until 9:30 and its instruments- didn't arrive until 11:30. Because the horns were too cold from the bitter weather, the: band couldn't start playing until five minutes short of midnight, and because they were cold the band gave a poor performance, which, by word-ol-mouth-. ruined the following, night's gate, the promoter alleged. Holmok sued in Superior Court, Montreal,- and was • awarded judgment for cost of advertising, etc. He tried to collect for estimated loss of .what he would have made on the engagement, but, th is Was eliminated by the court. Music and Radio Men On Treasury Committees To Push 6th Loan Songs .-.*•.* . Washington. July 25;' Music Advisory -and Victory Song Committees have been set up in the radio section of the Treasury's War Finance Division to . plan for the coming 6th War Loan. Music Advisory Committee, which will help, select songs to plug war bond sales, will be headed by Oscar Hammerstein, 2nd. Named with him are Jack Robbins, of Robbins, Feist and Miller Publishing Cos.; Herman Starr, of Harms, Remick and Wit- mark Publishing, group; Dave Kapp, of Decca Records; Guy Lombardo, bandleader; David Bioekman, con- ductor ,of the Treasury Orchestra; and Barry Wood, singer. On. the Victory Song Committee are: William Gittinger, y.p. in charge of CBS sales; Ed. Wood, Mutual gen. sales mgr.; Duncan Buckmarf, eastern sales mgr. of Blue network; and I. E. Showerman, eastern sales mgr. for NBC. '-.-Sales, staff of all four. mflbr. webs will also'aid in placing songs with commercial sponsors. Committees, appointed by Robert J. Smith, head of the War Finance Division's Radio Section, will work with another , new appointee—Mau- rice H. Kafka, head 'of-'the Music Promotion Unit. Kafka was - for- merly music supervisor for NBC, Blue and Loew s, Inc., herp, and also operated several night spots, before joining the Treasury Department. Smith announced that recordings of "Dear Friend," Rodgers-Hammer- slein song written lor the Treasury, will be issued by Decca, with Bing Crosby doing the vocal. It's pub- lished by Williamson Music Co., and all royalties from it will go to the National War Fund. In addition, the Music Promotion Unit of the Treas- ury has already made non-commer- cial recordings of "Dear Friend" for' distribution to radio stations and war plants with public address systems. Vic Schoen, music'arranger, signed a new contract with the Andrews SUters. - ■ .'• -'-''- • ;>' ;■',■''■ -:■■:';*' Rice, Ex-Orrin Tucker Singer, Missing in .Action Des Moines, July-25 Lt. Edward, J iEddie) Rice, 24, band and radio, iinger- has.:bceh ;re-, ported missing: in action since July 5 ovc.'.Yap >lnnd in the Pacific war area, his pa.en's in Dcs Moines have oeen notified Rice v. as ; a : linger with Orrin Tucker's band at the time , he en- tered the .>e-r\'.'ce.ih 1942. Miller's Army Orch Gets BBC Shots Wkly. Capt. Glenn- Miller's Army Air Force orchestra has been getting six shots weekly : on the" British,. Broad- casting Co. system since arriving in England about a month ago to. enter- tain GI's. Miller- split's the broad- casts pretty imich'as he did in the U. S., doing two with the full orch- estra, two .with a .string outfit and alloting two others to music under pianist Mel . Powell and .drummer Ray McKiriley, , ... Benatzky-Parker Quintet - Five mimfcrs by Ralph Benatzky, with lyrics by Dorothy Parker, de- scribed as "Five Love Epigrams,"; is adapted .from the poet's.''volume, "Not So Deep A* a Well." : . Numbers include ; "Wisdom," "Threnofljj," "Love Song," "Little White' Love" and •■Ninon tie Len- Clos." Schcrmcr publishes.;. Music Publishers Holding Corp., the Warner Brothers' music combine, which already has a suit in the works against the American Tobacco Co. and the Lucky Strike "Hit Parade," is - preparing another. First is by Advanced Music Co. because of the radio program's treatment of ''Don't Sweetheart Me" and is now in N, Y. Supreme Court, where decision was reserved several weeks ago on the tobacco company's motion to dismiss. Suit being prepared will be en- tered in Federal Court and is based on three songs, "Some Day I'll Meet You Again" (Witmark), "Time-Waits for No One" and "It Had to Be You." both pubished by Remick. What angle is being promulgated to get the action into Federal court is un- disclosed. Previous suit is in a state court, , "T Warner group;;, was ,' assertediy readying a request last week for an injunction against the "Parade" broadcast of last Saturday- 122) but apparently it Wasn't applied for. This - broadcast, incidentally, has music men objecting anew to the program and it's quite possible that the War- ner action contemplated is based oh the same thing: "Parade" listed two songs, "Sweet Lorraine" and "And Then You Kissed Me," neither of which are among the best sellers; latter wasn't even on the list of "most played" last week. It's from Frank Sinatra's picture, "Step Lively," and pubs .flatly don't'agree with its inclusion on the program since its publishers (Miller) only recently started to work on it. Si- natra,, of course, is on. the Lucky show and performed the tune. ■ Next, Saturday's "Parade" broad- cast lists one of the disputed War- ner tunes, "Time Waits," and does not include either "Sweet Lorraine" or "And Then You Kissed Me." List runs "Amor," "I'll Be Seeing You," "Long Ago," "Swingin" On a Star/* "I'll Get By," "Time Waits," 'Good- night Wherever You Arc;" "Milk- man," "It Could Happen to You." and "Come Out Wherever You Are," which is the 10th song and not likely to be played. Program- uses only nine but clears 10. '•'.-'. H'wood Palladium, T. Dorsey Spot Start Rival Band Bidding Palladium Ballroom, Hollywood, and Tommy Dorsey and his . co- owners of the Casino Gardens, Santa Monica; about 10 miles from Holly- wood, are already competing in the market for name bands, with Dor- sey's outfit claimed to be offering as- much for three weekend days as the Palladium offers for a six-day week. One of the major outfits, now in N. Y;, has, for example, been offered $5,000 for a weekend at Santa Monica and the same price per week for a run at the Palladium. '-.' . Incidentally, contrary lo previous reports, Harry Janies did not buy into the Dorsey operation. He was asked if he would care to go into it, but turned down the proposition. He is playing an occasional weekend at the spot, however. DENY INFRINGEMENT OF FISCHER'S'ARMY'SONG Denying they infringed on the song, "Nothing'U Stop the Army. Air Corps," published by- Carl Fischer, Inc., Arthur D. Norcross and June Norcross Webster, publishers of "The. Norcross Red, White and Blue Book," filed answers last week in N. Y. fed- eral court. Fischer is suing them for infringement.; Publishers of the booklet ask for dismissal of the complaint, alleging in separate defenses that the verse from Air Corps song claimed to have been infringed only constitutes a trivial part of the song. They al- lege the booklet was distributed to retail stores,- including John Wana- -maker, ; New York, .also a defendant, nil, but given a and were not soli free to the stores' customers. away Link Off to Coast Harry Link, Feist, gen. prof, mgr., leaves for the Coast Sunday" (30) to set up offices on the Metro lot, where he will serve as adviser to the studio in spotting songs for musical pro- ductions.' : : .,;'"', : '- ,'-■',- ' :■■--,'" -.'.-'.-' Link was- Originally skedded to leave in May but had to postpone his trip for several reasons.