Variety (Dec 1947)

40 W^dneBday, December 3, 1947 Jocks, Jukes and Disks By Ben Bodec N«)Ue Lutchcr is the most dynamic song stylist that has hit the business o£ record-making in years, It's'a lit- tle too early to tell whether it will be one of those prolonged rides, but she's already; proved she isn't a janie-one-note. The girl has versa- tility, and the indications are that before she is through she wiir have shed quite an influence upon the trade-of pop v6calizing, even though they'll have a tough time 'coming • anywheres near the unique quirks of her interpretive personality. It was EUa Fitzgerald who last caused what might be termed a stylistic revolution among her chirping sis-^ terhfjod, and what Miss Fitzgerald did in the ballad field could happen with the rhythmic idionj if the niaker .of "He's a Real Gow Guy" and ''Hurry On Down" delivers a My Favorite Five (WPEH, Philadelphia) 1. "Weil, Git ■ it" (Tommy Dorsey). ■ ■ 2. "Louise" (FrankiS Carle), 3. "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (Glenn Miller). 4. "White Christmas" (Bing Crosby). = 5. "Too Fat toifca" (Arthur Godfrey). succession of clicks. Miss Lutcher certainly has got a pair of them in^ ;her latest Capitol, releases^ ''Do You or. Don't You Love Me?" is due for as wide and intensive play as "Real ' Guy." It's as alive as a bag of elec- tric eels, "Love Me" starts off -a 'wbirlwiitcl and the progr.essive tem- po doesnt let up until the grooves run out. If Miss Lutchei? isn't beat- ing it. out in madcap time, with her tonsils there's ■ her piano or the guitarist to take up the slack. The flipover side, "The'Song Is Ended," is as distinctively in the Lutcher groove and makes artful contrast to its mate. Dick Haymes has in "That's All I W^t to Know" and "With Roses in Her Hai?" (Decca) anot^r surefire . slab of wax. The jbke operators will And it somewhat puzzling ih tag- ging the A side, so they might as well figure on slotting two copies of the' record in a machine. Both numbers are that sharp for collect- ing nickels. There'js a' solidly capti- vating lilt to Haymes' treatment of •'That's All," 'vii'h^e "Rosest' stacks up similarly. A' special nod to Gor^ ifsti Jenkins' batoneering. Gny Lombardo injects plenty of bounce in a brace of tunes from the "High Button Shoes" score. "I Still Cst Jealous" is somewhat of a de- ipiBure from his crystallized style, while "Papa, Won't You Dance With Me?" has his band striking a snappy polka tempo that should' go well with', tlie juke and platter-program addicts. Don Rodney and the Lom- bardo Trio ply the Vocals. Stan Kenton is on tap with a clickeroo in' "Curiosity" (Capitol). It's wrapp'ed up with a lot of rich ■'jKenfon brass and rhythm, and June Christy sells the calypso lyric with ^ the comedy nuances that it im- plies. A surefire fit for the'Christy personality, the Alex Kramer-Joan V'hitney tyne should also find strong -takings around the nickelo- deons, On the other side it's Kenton, strictly'instrumental'with an item captioned, "Theme to the West," While not another "Artistry in" Rhjfthm," the number reflects Ken- ton's iuncominon conception of mod- em jezz imagery and underscores his ability to embellish an^idea with fiEe. musicianship. Mary Martin weaves her person- ality .around a couple standards, "I've Got a Crush On You" and ''Beyond the Blue Horizon" (Decca) and the result is a charming and musically»appealing six minutes. Tuttie (iamarata's backgroimds are treats in themselves. ClUton Stone and His Barn Dance Orohestm (Capitol) has a pair that the urbanites may not click their lieels about but it'll Surely warm up the hob-nailed crowd. Latter will be tickled as much by the growling trumpet which marks "Red White ' and Blue Over You" as by Stone's vocal, while "Watch It, Neighbor" makes a snappy hoedown. Xionel Hampton's latest represen- tation with Decca is "Harap's Got a Duke,'.' wherein the hammer-boy Bffet stiriciiy -IflBtrattientBi ■ -with a. bigh-fljriitjl ^tif964^ ot;. 4aHc«ableWe* bop, and "Gone Again," which Win! Brown lights Up with her throaty torch. It's not in the best Hampton vein, this coupling,' but "Duke", is; an easy candidate fpr the jukes, ' Milt Herth Trio does a conven- tionally pleasant job with "Peggy O'Neil" and "The Little Old Mill." Bob Johnstone is the vocalizer. Albums , "Listen To Our Story," Bruns- wick's collection of replates, is ex- clusively for those with a dyed-in- the-Wool interest in the older, bal- ladry facets of Americana. The eight sides were put together by Alan Lo- max, and the cognoscenti will prob- ably get a hefty kick out of them. Some of them date back to medieval England, but the flavor is certainly earthy American. "Mvuntatn. Frolic/' another Bruns- wick gathering of reprints with Lo- max again as editor, focuses its eight-side theme on the square dances and hoedowns of the early 80's Tennessee frontier: They're authentically folkish and mostly per- formed by folk singers who. have long disappeared from the scene. Included are "Sourwood Mountain," "Sugar HiU," "Arkansas Traveler" and "Blackeyes Susie." VITACOUSnC, CHliNDIE, COMPLETES CAN. PLANT Chicago, Dec. 2. KTew pressing plant of Vita-' coustic, Chi indie, was completed last week in Windsor, Canada'. Plant is the first ever built in Do- minion by an indie. Facilities will be lease'd to three other manufac- turers.' Whether the plant will be used to press disks of Canadian artists is still unknown, although Vitacoustic isMnuUing over deals with French-: Canadian talent. Frank Loesser Hiy* "CoK Me Frankenstein**' «ii .Mlhorial faotar* la 42d Annivertary Numher Out Soon ~ LONG-DOWDY SUIT VS. REISMAN, DECCA NIXED Suit by Avon Long and Helen Dowdy: against Leo Reisman and Decca Records, for alleged unau- thorized use of recordings they made with the maestro, was dis- missed Monday'(1) by Justice Denis O'Leary Cohalan in N. Y. supreme court, In finding for the defendants) Justice Cohalan included in' his de-. cision a statement that theatrical attorneys find interesting. He said, "in the. theatrical trade the word orchestra is broad enoiigh to include singers where singers are necessary." Long and Miss Dowdy had sued Reisman and Decca on their com- plaint that recordings they made with him of the score of "Porgy and Bess" were, they believed, cut for test purposes and were not to have been turned over to Decca, which he did later. They sought $250,000 dam^ ages and an acQounting of profits^ which Reisman aisserted were non- . existent. He claimed he actually lost money on the entire transaction'. In other parts of his decision. Jus- tice Cohalan stated, "In general the court is. satisfied that the plantiffs knew what they were doing in deal- ing with Reisman; that the plantiifs had no direct deal with Decca, that 'Reisman was not authorized by Decca to deal with individuals as agent for Decca." Risk Jfifki^v Reviews LVCKT LAGER DANCE IIME With Ira Cook 12« Alins.; Hon.-tbrv-S»t., 10 pm. SpoHiorad ' KFAC, tot Angelet -Ira Cook ha» the distinction ol having the sole popular music show on this station, which apes WQXR, New York, in the'classical quirk,.It's ill part of a pattern Lucky Lager brew has spread Over a total of six' stations throughout California, at the same time nightly, and an Which the dance beat is stressed. Priding himself on his evaluation of "commercial" music, and that often on pre-release platters, Cobk offers a wide assortment of tunes and performers. Included 'in his nightly two-hour footbake is a spot- lighted band to which he gives a half hour Height numbers), Duke Ellington being the posied in this instance. Otherwise, Cook aifects the segment-style shbw, giving others slices of time, but with fewer numbers. These are cited in group form to keep conversation to a min- imum, though re-identifled on wind- •ups. • '.•. -■ . A showmanly touch is aoded by Cook's airing from the window of Music City, Glenn Wallichs' disk and music store, the original home of Capitol Records at Sunset anVine.: However, latter gets no special break recording-wise and is content SIGNATURE MAY GET FRESH COIN; ABC COLD Signature Records, which last week was offered for sale to the ABC network, will not be sold. Company, which has gone through a; difficult financial period during the past three, weekSr'is endeavoring to arrange fresh finances and is «on» eluding de'als with .creditors for ex- tended payments 6t debts and mak- ing every eftort to continue in op- eration, . ABC lost interest in deal for Sig- nature when it found that the com- pany was' not a wholly privately owned organization, and that a con- siderable part of the firm's stock was held by the pubUc; • ■ S. •• 4. ,. .' .X . 1*.,. V ■ * ■ . ■■ 10 Best Sellers on Cun-Madmies BALLfiBINA' (5) (JtelTerson) NEAa tOV (») (Suiireme) i Vaughn. Monroe. ..........^Victor ' X Jimmy Dorsey, M-G-M J Francis Croij; Bullet { Larry Green. ..',...... : .... iVictor HOW SOON (4) (Suinreme) , . , ^Bing Crosby Decca " - \Jack Owens TovSer TOO-FAT FOtKA (4) CIVILIZATION (7) (Morris) TOU DO (13) (BVC) ...... (Shaptro-K) ,.;-..' .• ( Arthur Godfrey .''..Columbia (Andrews Sisters Decca :: 7. .. 9. ■ 10. . iLffuii Pr>nui: .:^..,,...,.,...V^or,_ '. ■' '" ■ ■"' ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ • VAndteios 5?s>-D. Kayc,..... .Decca: . . J Dinofi Shore.i...v,i...riColuTObte " " * " " • • r • • X Margaret Whitinp i..;,Cai>itOt I WfSH I DIDN'T LOVE YOU (7) |paramount) ..... ' ^'^"V Hutton ..., Capitol ■'■*'''■■■■■■ V.VVnughw Monroe iiVictor AND MIMI (4) (Shapiro-B) ( Dielc Haymes. Decca •* -lArt Lund , M-G-M SO FAB (4) (Williamson) ...... . ' . ( Perrv Como Victor ^''•,,'.'••'••'•■."••'••'•• I Franfc Sinotro,......... .Colunibio APPLE BtOSSdM WEDOINO (5) (Shaniro-B) ' '4 Sammy Kaye Victor ^ , - . ,, ""(Eddi/ Howard Majestic Coming Up :: STANLEY STEAMER (Warren) Uo Stafford.. . ■'. ■ ■■■'■■" "I Toni/ Martin. i.Capitol ....Victor ( Perry Cowio.... ..Victor IFramk jSinatrff...........Goluwibia TWO LOVES HAVE I (Miller) ( Franfcie Loine ,.Mercurtf """""""""" {Perry Como................Victor .:' FEf<LOW NEEDS A GIRL (Williamson) GOLDEN EABBINOS (ParaMOunt) * \ Peggy Lee 1 Dinah , Share.. . i . i . . i .CapifoJ i . .Columbia SERENADE OF THE BELLS (Morris) -v. . -(Sammy Kaye Victor X-fo Stafford Copitol WHIFEENPOOF SONG (Miller) Btng Crosbj/ Decca GENTLEMAN IS A DOPE (Williamson) jo Stafford....'. Capitol PASS PEACE PIPE (Chappell) , i Dinah Shore '..Victor .'■;■■■( Kay Kyser Columbia DON'T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE (Oxfora)...., . ^ Freddy Martin .Victor ' , ' """""XBuddy Clarke.. Cotombia'-- POPPA WON'T YOtf DANCE (Morris) i Guj/ Lombardo Decca "•(Doris Dai; Columbia NAUGHTY ANGELINE (Simon) J Dteic Hoj/mes Decca X Art Lund M-G-M KOIQLOMO, IND. (BVC) ......,..,., ^,.,..,,,.. .1 Bing Crosby. .Decca I Vaughn Monroe... Victor I STILL GET JEALOUS (Morris) ., j ^^'"■''V James Columbia ■ . ' \Three Suns, i .■. Victor WHAT ABE YOU DOING NEW YEAR'S (Famous),,.. Margaret WhHing Capitol STABS WILL'REMEMBEB (HarAS) j.,.,i.'.., ^ 3f«^'9'»i_;Aronroe... .Victor '". " X Frank Sinatra ;..COlumbia' .. .SAVE THE BONES (Capitol) Mercer-Kinff Cole Capitol t . 5Aw*eu)s-Co«allaro .........DecCd ■" ■ ■ •" • •" ' I Edd^u Howard. .;........ .Majestic I^ATE (Berlin) , , f Tommy Dorsey ' Victor _ . . , i Eddi/Howjord Majestic Wimr^ tit MfeWiKses mdicaie number 01 weekt smg^^ fcn M O «i i 11 » ,,, ' T • • T r 1 11 M I M M n 1 11111 u: with the site plugs, .Locale some- times makes for minor disturbances and mechanical errors such as pauses between announcements and disks but none of it seriously de- tracting, Show, going into its fourth and perhaps, last year on KFAC, also spots a once-weekly guest who is also handled with more than usual brevity in keeping with undressed commentaries which Cook delivers in a youthful, relaxed and unpre- tentious manner. Hurl, WAX MUSEUM With Studs Terkel 60 Mlns.; Suni, 3 p.m. ' Concord Radio WCFL, Chloago Studs Terkel seldom spins a poo Usual fare on his "Wax Museum"' show consists of folk ballads, classic New Orleans jazz, and operatic arias, which is wide taste. His commentary combines erudition and genuine musical savvy with a dese-dem-and- dose idiom that tends to popularize basically noh-pop stuff. This is par- ticularly true of his side-of-the- mouth resumes of operas, in which he reduces Don Giovanni, Lakme, and such folk to common clay, ^ Terkel originated "Wa'x Museum" in September, 1945. He writes his own material, turning out a well- knit script in which disks and verbiage neatly dovetail. Commer- cials on his current stint for Con- cord, which teed oil Nov. 30, are casual but loaded with sell. The Voice of the Terkel has- a gravelly- cpo that sliould bring thtem into the store. . Baxf. DAILY HIT PABADE With Nelson King 45 Mlns.; 6:15 p.m., Mon.-thru-Sat. Participating. WCKT, Cincinnati At.the turntables for 28 hours or so each week, Nelson King has a heavy following with listeners to this unafliliat(5d 50,000-watter. An ex- nitery entertainer who started doing general milte work on West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio stations in 1934, King turns in a slick job of platter spinning. For a. "Daily Hit Parade" series King plays the 10 top-selling records of the day in Cincy shops. This pro- gram is a warmup for the Jamboree session which follows each weekday night from 8 to midnight. The final 45-mlnute stretch of the Jamboree is devoted to the folks out yonder, be- ing called the HillbiUy Hit Parade. It IS one of few such offerings on the air. ■ King has'tugged a lot bf mail on various offers, topper being nearly 75,000. responses from 36 states for copies of his photo. For hillbilly rooters/ King calls square dances when fiddlin' music is on. Pop fans hear King mostly in a straight rou- tine. Roll, FASHIONS IN MUSIC WIUj Sammy Taylor 3 Hrs.; 10 pM.; Mon. thru Sat. Participating KWJJ, Portland, Oregon Aside from having the top evening record, show in this vicinity^ Sammy Taylor, better known as "The Record Man" is always on the lookout for something just a little bit different. "Tayloi-'s show usually consists of disks, interviews, answering requests, and reading commercials in a soft, makes ya wanna listen voice. When Leo Jaroff, onerator of the Cloud Room, local nitery, cited Beatrice Kay as his star lor the week, Taylor arranged to spin his disks directly from the spot by re- mote control. This is the first time this has been attempted in the Nortiiwest. Between disks and com- mercials, he interviewed people in radio, newspaper, and theatrical fields. With the house band in the ■background, chatter of the patrons and the general night club noises as, a-setting for his com'mercials and in- terviews, it prompted a flood of cqmphmenlary calls and letters. MIDNIGHT FLYEB With Al Poska fiO Mins.; Midnight, Mon. thru Sat. Sustaining KFI, Los Angeles . To hear Al Po.>ska and other staf- fers tell it, KFI serves a goodly chunk of America with' its clear channel operation after midnight. As a matter ot fact, music schedule.? ai-e built as though this were true, being a mixture to please all tastes, from the pure operatic to barrel house. Show is two years old and Is a witching hour fllier between the sta- tion's (NBC outlet) regular signoiT and its all-nighter, with Bob Phillips at the helm, which ryms from 1 to 5 a.m. It's fin all-request session, at present and for some time past un- sponsored though it was once a Bar- basol package, and on which guests are lightly interviewed. Poska's chore is worlcmanlike it less colorful than his cOnteAiporaries but tliat seems to be in keeping with staid station policy, He manages to 'Set ill doxeri-odd plates for airing in between reaching humorous patter anent the musical potpourri. Hurl,