Variety (May 1946)

48 ORCHESTRAS-MUSIC Wednesday, May 8, 1945 ASCAP Availability Yardstick May Be Refurbished to Answer Squawks There's a possibility tlial a change In the American Socicly of Com- posers. Authors and Publisher's methods of measuring availability points is in the offing.' Lately. there 1 has been so niuclr dispute within : the society.- caused by dissatisfied . publishers ballliii!; . f;;r increased' point ratings., thai: .many oniwrs ol' the organization fci-t thai some- thing should be done to make the , method of classification more -auto--, malic, or eliminate it altogether. Din-intj iccei't months, there have been bitter l>;ittlcs by Irving Berlin. Leeds .Music. Hie Buddy Morris ' combine and many others over, their availability classifications. These argument.-' have frequently caused b.id feelings bel,vveen 'mcnibcs:s bc- eau-e the cc.hipla'inanls almost al- ways, in their plea briefs for belter \ classification, cite beliefs that their j catalogs ;.rc easily worth as much I ■ as a rival linn's with a higher rat- ins;. Often '.hoy. so about making comparisons by inferring that the', rival actually should be on a lower level than they arc. ; How avail:.b'ilil'y '-ratings could be ma<V automatic is nobody's yuoss. . Wl-.en . the Publisher's Classification' Committee -began recently to re- evaluate all catalogs, they laid down, rules citing songs as "A" tue.es. "B" tunes. "C" tunes, and so on. ■ This seemingly Un't ' a . satisfactory method, since : rguinents nnich more tion of individual songs via which entire catalogs can be'reclassified. There is a feeling that the only way to eliminate such arguments is to discard availability ratines com- j pletcly. awarding catalog-ratings on I the basis of performance and senior- ! itv only. As it stands now-, pub- ' Usher-coin is distributed 55Ci on ! performance. 30'; on availability j (Die number and importance of. tunes in any one catalog) and .lii'.'i.- on seniority (length of catalog's membership'in ASCAP). Proponents of the performance and seniority grouping only and the elimination of availability point out that the worth of a song can only be measured anyway by Hie number of times it is used; that that, in the final analysis..determines its value. Diskers Eye Television, If They're Photogenic Recording executives with cer- tain firms are becoming increasingly, aware of the possible tieins in the /future between television and the j disk business. They are looking at ' new talent from a photogenic angle ' as well as performance ability, with the latter of course still primary. Al least one of the femnie names signed recently by one of the majors was taken on With an eye to the figure she cuts in a photographer's lens. Bands at Hotel B.O. s ... Uo»<ir» Week! P»al Band B«t«l Fluyad t»i-li Johnny Pincapi)le*Lcxinglon (300; 75c-$1.50) : 14 1,750 Jerry Wald" New Worker (400; $1-$1.50) 5 l,7f)0 Tony Pastor Pennsylvania (500; $1-$1.50) 3 2,201) Leo Reisman".... Waldorl (550;$2). 13 2,950 Erskinc Hawkins. .Lincoln (275; $1-$1.50) ..11 1.025 Nat Brandwynns. Roosevelt (400; $1-$1.50). 7 2.025 Ray McKinlcy... Commodore (400; $1-$1.50).......... 10 2.001) isiu Oh Ihil, 33.550 10.700 S.975 42.025 11,350 H,825 2U900 • Asterisks Indicate a tuppord'itfr floor show. New Yorker has ice show Lexington, nil Hawaiian floor' -show; Waldorf, Joan Edwards, John 1 Sebastian. Marks' Too Many Irons,' Johnny Black's Oldie Carnegie, N.Y., Pops Concerts Off to Hot Start With Beer, Coke By ARTHUR BRONSON. 'Experiment with "Pop" Concerts | at New York's Carnegie Hall, judged 1 by the first two concerts Saturday and Sunday (4-5). was so success-| ful. that one wonders why scheme j ha.-n'l been tried before, especially with the Boston "Pops" as prece- dent. Preeni Saturday was SRO with turnaways. the house grossing $0,000, with a further $20,000 in ad- vance sales reported. Six-week season seems to have Chicago Woody Herman (Panther Room, Sherman hotel; 950; $1.50-$2.50 min.) Some 5.200 lor Herman. Think-a-Drink Hoffman, etc. Would've bccii terrific if John I,, hadn't doused the glims. Franklc Masters (Boulevard Room Stevens hotel; GriO; $3-$3.50 min) Fair 4.500 in 12lh week of Masters' long run. Having clicked with "Paper Doll." the late Johnny Black's oldie—in which a $21,000 royalty accumula- , . . .. ■• . ■ 1., tion bfcame a court: issue between Ihc right "^ cc, : <;lUs : h ^,.^ his estate, ex-wives, e.c.-thc late : P"P standouts jvaU^. inpichc> Edward B. Marks dug up another ; operal,c anas, and jazz. R°sm,i. and old tune by Black. "Too Many Irons I Verd. rubbed ..musical elbows open- the Fire." I; look quite some I ">g night with ' and Frunl. Arthur Rod/.mski, N. Y Los Angeles Freddy Martin (Ambassador: 900: $1-$1.50>. Still al pre-war norm score of 3.500 tabs, which is good taking. Location Jobs, Not in Hotels (Chicago) Lcs Brown (Hainbo: $1-$1.25>. Weekend dip, occasioned by diniout, brought out only 6.100 for the week; without Brown it would have been disastrous. Chuck Foster (Blaekhawk: 500: $2-$2.50 min.). Skidded lo 2.800. Eddy Howard lAragon; 90c-$l.l5). Approximately. 15.000 wasn't good, but not Howard's fault. bitter run develop and vcloped from attempted have ce- classifica- MMRST MILLS Most Requested Standard Tunes One Morning in May - • Girl of My Dreams It Must Be True Blue (Ami r.rokni llciirli'ill MILLS MUSIC. INC. 161? Broodwuy New York 19 in the r'.re. iook « ■•-Gershwin. Romberg time Tor J. T. Abeles - „ —- . . . .. , „ „„ „ Marks, to clear the rights; chiefly .Philharmonic director was 011 po- because it was published by the ob- j di«m firstnight, and Mark Warnow scurc Hamilton. O.. firm of Johnny | Black'&'Co.' That (inn has been out; of bu.-incss but. for copyright clear- i anco purposes. Marks' son. Herb. j wanted to make sure before taking : l!ie sony over. Mills Bros., who were so instru- mental in reviving ''Paper Doll," are also interested in "Too Many Irons." RCA Still Lopping Heads Hollywood. May 7. RCA-Viclor is thinning its talent roster again and entertains no plans Id replace those dropped. According lo Eli Oberstein. plallery's veepec currently here on visit from N. Y.. the King Sisters have not been re- newed. Larry Stevens' pad expired and he was let go. Jess Stacy, jazz pianist, will have string severed. m Louis Armstrong AND HIS FAMOUS ORCHESTRA AQUARIUM, NEW YORK, NOW And Until May 15th . ADAMS. NEWARK. WEEK MAY 14 RKO. BOSTON. WEEK MAY 23 EARLE. PHILADELPHIA. WEEK MAY 31 Eiclasiv* VICTOR Recording Artist EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT SSOOIATED BOOKINf )V 745 i-ifi-i-i Ave.. New York 22 L. 5-5572 radio maestro, w as conductor second stanza. Seventy members of the N. Y. Philharmonic, in. summer, white coals, arc doing the concerts under a variety of guest conductors, with a hefty array ol soloists sked- dcd. Talk "about jazz in Carnegie, beer. cola, canapes and franks were handed in the foyer and in boxes. It may be heresy to say it. but orchestra Sunday sounded better under Warnow than it did previous ] : evening under RodYuiski or his as- sociate conductor. Waller Hendl. ! Especially in the Schubert "Unlin- ; isiicd" Symphony. .Warnow had a ! nicely-mixed program of short and ! longhair, throwing in several of his ; ! brother Raymond Scott's composi- \ ! lions to show that the N. Y. Philhar- ; i monic could swing it. And how they I ■.did in "Toy Trumpet" and "Swing,! ■ Swing. Dear Mother-in-law!" | j Warnow used some of his own | boys, as well as the Hit Parade Sing- i %fi!f0 |crs, in his program. His work ac-! i companying violinist John Corigli- ■ ano in Sainl-Saens' Introduction and Rondo was too slow-paced and not ' dramatic enough, wliile final num- ber, his own "Musical Panorama" was sentimental mush, and should have been omitted. Otherwise his work was fine. Bolh concerts were too long (even with one Warnow j number omitted I. Programs ought; i lo be cut, with one of the two inter- j ; missions also eliminated., | j Opening night's program had j j Hendl doing the lion's share of work, j conducting all but tlie first number | I (which Rodzinski led), and playing! i solo part of Gershwin's "Rhapsody: j in Blue" while conducting from the j piano. Stint was no stunt but a fine ; performance, slow passages, espec- ially, being poetic and lyric. Robert Merrill, radio and Met baritone, sang several operatic arias and musical comedy favorites first night, while Genevieve Rowc had similar spot the second frame, sharing solo hon- ors with Corigliano. (T.os Aiiflcles) Sammy Kay.e (Palladium. B Hollywood. 1st wk.). Dancing crowds pour- ing in here.to build score to 30,000'.customers. Benny Carter (Trianon, B. South Gate, 5th wk.). Not loo good, because of construction still going on: took 4.900 tickets. Spike Jones. Kin* Cole Trio (Troeadero, N, Hollywood. Oth&Hlh wks.). Final full stanzas were oil-'but doing nifty for such long stands at 2.800 tabs for both rooms. : : —' ; I Sepia Musikcrs Seek | More Studio Posts j • ' Hollywood. May 7. j Ed Bailey, prez of Negro Musi- ; cians' Local 7U7. admits he is pre- | paring pitch to .lames C. Petrillo to gain support of exec council of; American Federation of Musicians in a campaign to increase employment ' of colored windjammers in Mlm slu- ! dios. j Presently only one Negro. Calvin Jackson, is regularly employed on the lots and repoiledly he is only : one who ever has been. Jackson is ; arranger al Metro. 1 Top Thim for Yoir Books An All-Time Favorite DON'T BLAME ME Music by . .. JIMMY McHUCE Published by ROBB1NS SANTLY-JOY A Beautiful Hawaiian Medley SWEET LEILANI TO YOU SWEETHEART ALOHA SOUTH SEA ISLAND MAGIC SMASH HIT! on EXCLUSIVE RECORDS MUSIC PUBLISHERS WHIT * VIHI, , v .^^ ' 1 'Tim' 'I