Variety (Jul 1948)

We<1neBi1ay, July 28, 194< Big Public Interest Behmd CoL s New Long-Playing Recording There's been a marked public in- terest manifested in Columbia Rec- ords' new L,P (long playing) record. Advance stories in the national mags were capped by a large ad- vertising campaign by Philco and Columbia in the dailies heralding the new micro-groove platters and the special $29 attachment which is necessary to reproduce the disks. Another $2 usually covers the serviceman's ;fee for. attaching the separate reproducer to any phonograph (and even the pos- sible utilization of the speaker of ati brdinary radio for such pur- ■■■ poses), While revolutionary, the appeal of the LP platters, which permit an entire symphony or score to be conipre.«ed on one 12-inch disk (as much as 45 minutes' playing time), has sparked interest among disk buyers. The economic factor is also important; because of the comparable savings. In addition there is the element of space-saving, requiring much less room , for comparative repro- ductions on the orthodox 78 rpm platters. Col's LP disks play at 33 revolutions per minute. Philco is allied with Col in the new venture in that the former is merchandising the separate repro- ducing machines ($29 retail). Ad^ ditionally, Philco is. merchandising a Combo radio-phono set which has two tone-arms; one for the ortho- dox records, and the other—at the reduced 33 rpm, of course—for the LP platters. Demand for the special stylus has already' hastened Col into i^ushing through a separate tone-arm which can^ be attached to elaborate ma- ehines like the Capehart, which plays at both 78 and 33 rpm. The Gapehart's lone-arm, however, is too heavy for the sensitive micro- groove disks, but this supplement- ary stylus will be capable of at- tachment, on an inexpensive swivel arrangement, for usage within the .elaborate and costly combination machines already on the market. The 40-60% saving in space for records, which will be of the un- breakable type, is also said to have a comparable economic savings in cost. For example, an elaborate symphony costing around $13 can be bought on LP for $3.50-$4.50. MCA to Expand On Bands in Eng. Music Corp. of America is plan- ning to expand its London oilice, now under Jimmy McHugh, Jr., and for the first time since it estab- lished a beachhead in England in- tends to go into the bandhandling field in that country. .Larry Har- nett, head of MCA's band division, leaves New York for London next Sunday (1) on a four-week trip. Now in N. Y. after a long swing through U. S. MCA offices, Burnett will spend three months in the east when he returns. . In addition to setting up a band- booking branch with McHugh in London, which will, of course, be confined to the handling of British bands only since the British Mu- sicians Union bars the entry of U. S. orchestras, Barnett will also lay the groundwork for expansion of act-booking. Finishing in London, Barnett will go into Prance, Sweden, and Switzerland to size up the entertainment booking situation >n those countries. It's pos- sible_that during, or as a result of his stay in Paris, MCA will open a branch office in that city. BANJOISTS UNION WANTS MODERN RECOGNITION Minneapolis, July 27. . Approximately 750 members of 55® :^1?erican Guild of Banjoists, Mandolinists and Guitarists, in convention here, decided on a pub- licity campaign to acquaint the public with the fact that the in- struments "are not just a hillbilly monopoly." One of convention's features was « concert that included music ranging from a symphonic ar- lantfement to a banjo arrangement Of "twelfth Street Hae." Terpery Op Asks Lift Of AFM's'Unfair'Tag To Resume Name Bands _ Hollywood, Julv 27. _ Joe Zucca, operator of Mieadow- bropk ballroom. Culver City^ has asked American Federation of Musiciaris' Local 47 to lift black- list applied by union five months ago when terpalace used non-union men for short, ill-fated policy helmed by Harry Schooler. Zucca has told local he wants to restore name band policy used for years at site, providing he can get a clean- bill, and Schooler will not be in oh the deal; Local told Zucca that spot is on national "unfair" slate of AFM hence his plea will have to be an- swered by .Tames C. Petrillo, to whom 47 execs have sent Zucca's request. Tops of the Tops Retail Dish Seller "You Can't Be True, Dear" Retail Sheet Music Seller 'iTou Can't Be True, Dear" "Most Requested" Disk "Love Somebody" Seller on Coin Machines "Woody Woodpecker" British Best Seller "Galway Bay" ORCHBSTRAS-MUSIC 89 Bxcelsior Publications of Holly- wood assigned "I'm Lost" by Otis Rene to Mills Music. Kenton Concerts Draw $209,156 Hollywood, July 27. Stan Kenton band pulled out of home-base here after a month restup yesterday (26) and tonight opens five-day stand at Lagoon ballroom. Salt Lake, thus starting new season on the road that will se^ orchestra essaying probably more jazz concert dates than crew's record-setting 41 of last season. Between last Feb. 8 and June 30, Kenton grossed $209,156 from those 41 bashes. Of that amount he pocketed $125,490. His biggest (Continued on Page 92) 5-Day-Week jldea for Local 802 Draws Fire of Band Bookers in Election Fite Red Ingle, Spike Jones HitbyAFM'SRuleOn Comedy-Tooter Scales Hollywood, July 27. American Federation of Musi- cians has dusted oif an old union by-law and notified local bands that ^ its tenets hereafter must be ! musicians in New York. t Dogfight between parties aiming at the reigns of New York local 802, following the pecembei' eleo<» tions, is even drawing band-book* ing agencies into the squabble. It seems that the legislation bein(( promised voters if one or the other party is helped to win has caught the attention of bookers. For ex- ample, the Unity group, which is battling tooth and nail to pust the incumbent Blue Ticket, has prom- ised to try for a five-day week for heeded. Rule, is that sidemen who put on comedy routines in niteries must be paid extra—25% above scale wherever they work. Local: 47 here has specifically This has so disturbed agency men that executives of at least one major outfit is discussing the problem with leaders it has under contract. These maestros are being notified Red Ingle that when he ! "'Sed to get into the fight in be- takes his next nitery date, at the i half of the Blues, and to see to it, Zamboanga here in Augugt, he ^'^^^ can, that their men do the must tilt pay of his men. i same on the theory that a five-day week would, even in good times. Union believes that when musi- cians caper in comedy routines they are putting on a show addi- tional to. the sheer music-making called for in scale contracts and also are saving the management salaries of straight acts, hence should get more coin. RHAIL DISK BEST SELLERS 8B 8C "Caramba, WsJb'L????!'??!! ~VIC~"DAM6nE (Mercury) "Haunted Heart" FIVE TOP ALBUMS ISONG HITS OF OUR TIMES (7 AHmiids) Decca PROGRESSIVE JAZZ Stall Kmtan mmJ^i^mLmm BOOGIE-WOOGIE (VpI. ») .Eraddi* Slatii • Capitol EMPEROR WALTZ Mng Cr«<by Decca ALBUM NO. 3 Al Jaltm Decca * go a long way toward scuttling a lot of work now available, and musicians themselves would suffer more in the Anal accounting. ' James C. Petrillb and his AFM executive board is also keeping a close watch on the shenanigans be- tween the Blues and the Unityltes. In this election year, jt's pointed out, he can hardly allow the battle between the two factions to reach ■ the point'where it can erupt into national proportions as could have happened two weeks ago when fist fights broke out during a member- ship meeting. BBC Music Sbfte (MflArbitratumOii London, July Zf, . Strike of the British BroadT- casting Corp.'s ttiuslclans, due - to take effect the end of this week, has been oallcd off pend- ing arbttratlon. London, July 27. Premier Attlee has asked the Ministry of Labor to immediately prepare a special report on all as- pects of the threatened strike of broadcasting musicians due to take eifect July 31. This follows the Minister of Labor's offer to' mediate in the dis- pute in the hope of preventing strike action. Both the BBC and the Musicians' Union answered this offer with a "Door is still open" statement, but neither has shown any willingness as yet to modify their stand. This means that from Aug. 1, the BBC will be partially forced off the air. Within the next few days, the corporation will announce its plans for the re- grouping and reorganization of all its progi*ams and setvices. Newspapers here are just begin- ning to bring the tadlo crisis home to the public, and the union has been busy issuing press announce- ments that all their members are solidly oehind the action. Thi? is not true/ ASCAP IN HOLLAND ROYALTY AGREEMENT • American Society ot Com- posers, Authors and Publish^.f; has completed, an arrangement's^ with BUMA, of the Netherlarvts.^. under which the two countries ^Jlf exchange perfomance earnings. For years, Holland and ASCAP have had no sort of deal, and U, S. music was in the public domain within its borders. Agreement calls for the deal to start as of Jan. 1 last, including a lump retroactive payment covering a period prior to that date. Agreement was worked out by Herman Finklestein, ASCAP resi- dent attorney, who made a side trip to Holland from Brussels, where he attended the Berne copy- right convention last month. Silver, Davis to Europe Recording ban and general in- activity in the music business caused songwriter-publisher Abner Silver to sail last week on a two- month European vacation. Accom- panying him are songsmith Benny Davis and his wife. While abroad Silver and Davis expect to visit London, Paris; tta* Riviera and Switzerland^