Variety (Jul 1946)

Wednesday, July 3, 1946 10 Best Sellers on Coin-Machines 1. Gypsy UO) (Leeda) 2. Prisoner of Love (13) (Mayfau). •(Ink Spots ....Decca ••' (Dinah Shor« Columbia ! S Perry Como Victor •'" | Ink Spots. .Decca Victor Columbia 8. They Say If, Wonderful (6) cBerlin)... j5^^-.'.";.r;v 4; I Don't Know Enough About You .3) (C) {^g^^y^S^ 3. All Through the Day (12) (Williamson) .. j*"^ ^ii]^ , Sioux City Sue (9) (Morris)..... {Sgfij* jgg 1, Laughing Oh the Outside (.10) (BMI).,.. Dinah Shore Columbia Doin' What Comes Natur'lly .2) .Berlin) j.^fe'-'.V.^SjS , In Love In Vain (2, (T. B. Harms). . {a^feV^cfel ankie Carle... . .Columbia Margaret Whiting. . ..Capitol 10. One More Tomorrow (.1) (Remick) (F. •'• { M Coming Up Do You Love. Me (BVO... Bumble Boogie (Martin)..,. . Dick Haymes .'.Decca . Freddy Martin ..Victor Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Leeds) [S^"-.' ^Sr Love On Greyhound Bus (Bobbins)., \^^^ oe :;;;:;^ Cement Mixer (Mills) Slim Gaillard Cadet .1 Dinah Shore. Columbia " j Haymes-Forresl Decca Night Club Reviews Come Rain, Come Shine' (Crawford). Zanzibar, N. Y. Peters Sisters (3). Miller Bros. & Lois, Pearl Bailey, Charioteers (4), Pee Wee Marquette, Alan Dixon, Line (8), Cab Calloway Orch, Claude Hopkins Orch; $3.50 miti. Zanzibar, which has arrived at the ripe old Broadway nitery age of 2V4 years, sticks to the pattern of its suc- cess in the current talent layout. Un-. fortunately, while the policy of the all-chromo show is retained, the tal- ent isn't. Aside from the work of Pearl Bailey and, to a lesser degree, the Peters Sisters, the show is a dull and colorless affair. It looks like something which—if it hadn't cost so much coin—might have been cooked up by entrepreneur Carl Erbe and producer Joe Howard as a hot-weather space filler. Biggest disappointment to old Cot- ton Clubites of a now-defunct era is Cab Calloway. He's a far cry from the guy who made "Hi-de-hi-de-ho" a national joy whoop. The native Negro zest and spontaneity are gone. In their place is a studied cutencss. No longer is Calloway merely a guy who had to let go with the "hi-de- hi's" and the "ho-de-ho's" because he was just so filled with joio-de- vivre it bubbled over. Now he's a self-conscious "personality" . merely peddling a trademark. The Calloway band is still solid musically and, as well as providing tcrpctralion, backs up the show. WANTED! By a G.I. Lyric Writer A MELODY By An Established Composer th«i« Are Iht Word*: "You Should-a When You Could-a" CHORUS You Could-a bttn Hit levt light in my ty«i, You Could-n but you had to toll thooo ■•Hoi, — You uyd to bo topi, how you don't rata, You Should-a Whon You Could-a But now it's too latol You Could-a had my Itiuoi to yourtoH, You Could-a but you Uh me on the •hell, You tritd someone now. And thought that I'd wait. You Should-a When You Could-a But now H', loo latol Opportunity knocked at your door, B«» you juit lot it go by ... Time and tide wait for no one, And baby neither do II You Could-a had the thrill of tweet romance,. You Could-a but you threw away the chance, • offered you love Now I offer the CATEI You Should-a When You Could-a But now ,t', too latol ■OX 421 »A«UTt. 154 WIST 44TH STREET «W YORK If. N. Y. Lineup gets under way with intr'o from Zanzi's callboy. Pee Wee Mar- quette, and segues Into a Conga rou- tine by the line. Gals, aided by Alan Dixon, make two later appearances, all of them equally undistinguished. Femmes are not much in the way of looks, arc utterly minus grace or charm, and have little in the way of routines. That leaves nothing but the costumes, and there's nothing outstanding about them either. Miss Bailey's, appearance is the only real pick-me-up of the 75 min- utes of show. Unfortunately, she's spotted so early in the lineup, rather than the next-to-closing where her talent would merit, that she doesn't give the entertainment the lift of which she's capable. That's unavoid- able, however, at least in the early show, since she's doubling from the legit musical, "St. Louis Woman," and her appearance must be timed for that. An unusual stylist. Miss Bailey has an engrossing and amusing way of throwing away her lines. There's nothing special about her pipes; it's just that super-selling she does by completely underselling that wins her constant encore-demanding palm-pounding. She has a natural- ness and an easiness that's pointed up in the title tune from "St. Louis Woman'' and its top hit, "Legalize My Name." Peters Sisters, heavyweight trio, do a little belter than their standard turn with considerably more tom- foolery and kidding around than usually attached to their capable war- bling. Charioteers fail to live up to the rep they have built over the years, with the performance here lacking harmony, sweetness or any of the other qualities that makes a male quartet listcnable. Filling out the bill is Miller Bros. & Lois, lap turn that makes a cred- itable effort to get away from the usual by terping on blocks and ta- bles. For the patrons' dancing, Cal- loway-is spelled by Claude Hopkins' band. Herb. 10 Best Sheet Sellers i Week Ending June 29) Gypsy .........Leeds Prisoner of Love .Melrose Sioux City Sue ....Morris They Say It's Wonderful. .Berlin What Comes. Natur'lly .. Berlin Laughing on The Qutside.. .BMI I Don't Know Enough... C-P All Through Day.. . .Williamson. Full Moon Empty Arms..Barton Do You Love Me? ........BVC Village Vanguard now marquees him as Richard Dyer-Bennet—Courtesy of Sol Hurok. He may ultimately have an important chapter in a re- vise of Hurok's tome "Impresario." But despite this elevation, Dyer- Bennct remains one. of the more literate and expressive of modern day balladeers. His chanties of English and American stock, deliv- ered with guitar accompaniment, are the predominant reason why the Vangaurd is doing SRO biz. The mob could take his offerings for more, encores than he offered. " ' Rest of the show has Eddy Man- son, harmonicisl accomped by Mar- jorie Welles whose classic mouth organ renditions hit the house with extreme effectiveness, while Eleanor Bowers 'New Acts) completes the bill. Jose. Coronet, lMillly Philadelphia, June 28. Doi'e Sierilon, Ronnie & Ray, Joey Adams, Murk* Plant, Tony Can- ioneri, Line '8), Jules Levan Orch 18); no cover or .minimum. . The Adams-Canzoneri-Plant tri- umvirate is back .'again—and they are still great laugh bait. The act has been hypoed by some fresh gags and new lyrical material. Canzoneri, in particular, has de- veloped a sense of comedy and stage presence which he sadly lacked when he last appeared here. Plant is in great voice, the robust singer scoring plenty with his rendi- tions of "Begin the Beguine," "Fall- ing in Love.'' But he's at his best with his package of Gershwin tunes. Joey Adams has doped but a new finale in which he and his partners go through a "nostalgic" reprise of. old hit tunes—all written (accord- ing to Adams) by Jules Levan, the Coronet band leader. Dave Stenton. ex-GI, contribution has been overworked of late—it's the familiar routine of pahtomining imitations of stars with the voice coming over a hidden record-player. Stenton "s version of this gimmick is okay, but it seems all exponents of this "art" uses the same records. Dance team of Ronnie and Ray Is talented and their stint is diversified. Guy Martin line is composed of graceful and beautifully-gowned lookers: Levan's orchestra, new at this spot, does a workmanlike -job of accom- panying.the show as well as dancing. House about three-fourths filled when reviewed "supper show). Shal. Village Vanguard. N. V. (FOLLOWUP) There's something elevating about a conceit tour. Witness the case of Richard Dyer-Bennet, who recently completed a longhair jaunt and had a brief turn in a legiter called "Second Best Bed." After such clas- sic activity ordinary billing isn't sufficient. The postage-stamp sized Par's Byram II Continued from pate 7 ssssl Writer overload on the Par lot at the moment, however, eliminated immediate deals. Par's Broadway emir pointed out that the scarcity of theatres in Lon- don now is even greater than it was in New York during the past win- ter. As a result, he said, a number of good plays are ready for produc- tion and are being held up awaiting availability of West End houses. Some of these newcomers, he opined, would offer Hollywood pos- sibilities. There's also great ac- tivity, Byram said, in the tryout houses. . If Par succeeds in sewing up "Winslow," the Terence Rattigan hit will be produced on Broadway with Par participation, before it is filmed . ORCHESTRAS-MUSIC 87 ^ NBC, CBS, ABC, Mutual Plugs (Peatman System) Follotvino are the Most Played songs of the week, June 21-27, based on tile copi/rifl/ited survey by Dr. John Peatman's Office of Research, using the Accurate Reportlnn Radio Log as basis of information in N, Y, All Through the JDay—f'Centennlal Sumrner" Williamson Ashby De La Zooch.. .Manhattan Cement Mixer ; Mills Coax Me a Little Bit....... .Bourne Come Rain Come Shine—°"St. Louis Woman". Crawford. Doin' What Comes Natur'lly—""'Annie Get Your Gun" .Berlin Don't Be a Baby, Baby .Triangle . Full Moon and Empty Arms Barton Gypsy .Leeds I Don't Know Enough About You.. .. C-P I Don't.Know Why—(-"Faithful In My Fashion".............Feist I've Got Sun In Morning—'"Annie Get Your Gun". . .Berlin . I'd Be Lost Without You. ';; Advanced If You Were the Only Girl .Mutual I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time. .Broadway In Love In Vain—(-"Centennial Summer"......... T. B. Harms In the Moon Mist...:..... S-B Laughing On the Outside ..<■.-... .Broadway Love On a Greyhound Bus—i"No Leave, No Love" .Robbins More Than You Know ' Miller Night and Day—f'Night and Day". Harms One More Tomorrow • Remick Prisoner of Love — , .Mayfair Seems Like Old Times. .Feist Sioux City Sue ....E.H.Morris Strange Love .Famous Surrender .Santly-Joy There's No One But You. .S-B They Say It's Wonderful—""Annie Get Your Gun" .Berlin Who Do You Love I Hope Berlin You Are Too Beautiful ....Harms ■( Ftlmusical. ' Lepit Musical. $ BMI Licensed. "Gentleman," produced by Henry Sherek and with Robert Morley starring, would be a particularly good bet for both Broadway and Hollywood, Byram said, if Morley could be convinced to appear in it here. There has been talk of a Broadway production by Stanley Gilkey and Barbara Payne, who did "Three to Make Ready," currently at the Broadhurst, N. Y. Top possibility for U. S. films and legit in Paris, Byram said, is "Aupres de ma Blonde." Sir Alex- ander Korda owns film rights and the author, Marcel Achard, arrived in the U. S. with him over the weekend to set a Broadway produc- tion. Major novelty of the produc- tion, Byram said, is that the action of the play moves from the present era backwards, as sort of reverse flashback technique. Blue Angel, N. Y„ will close July 14 for the summer and will reopen in September with Monica Lewis on the opening bill. EX-GI SUES HAWKINS FOR FORMER BAND JOB Action was brought last week against Evskine Hawkins, band- leader now at the Strand theatre, N. Y., by U. S. Attorney John F. X McGohey, to compel reinstatement of former GI Horace McLemore, electric guitarist, who was replaced while in service. If action is suc- cessful, McLemore would be entitled to a year's salary, $4,992. McLemore was one of the original members of the Hawkins crew, which was organized as the 'Bama State Collegians in 1935. He worked with the orch until January, 1943, when he was inducted. After his discharge last January, McLemore claims that Hawkins told him that his replacement by a guitarist-ar- ranger would be . permanent. Mc- Lemore says his replacement by a player-arranger is contrary to Amer- ican Federation of Musicians regula- tions. Case to be heard Tue. (9). 2 BRAND NEW UNPUBLISHED AND UNRECORDED SONGS WHICH WE HOPE WON'T LONG BE UNPUBLISHED AND UNRECORDED: DID YOU EVER CRY By PAT BALLARD and BERNARD MALTIN (ASCAP) JUST A LITTLE R1T LATE By PAT BALLARD (ASCAP) Advance copies will be sent via carrier pigeon to anybody who wants to record and/or publish these tunes (after they have heard them, of course). We expect an advance, hence have employed the (union) pigeons. Who's a character now? BALLARD, 50 Chippewa Road, Mohegan Park, Tuckahoe, N. Y. S/N6/N6 M47 ^•»irLi+tle Richard" Hakes*Oh Johnny Oti' V0h £*rvi/i