Variety (Nov 1948)

43 ORCHBSntA-MITSIC Wednrnday, NoveinlMtr 17, 1948 Allegro's Wail to U.S. Over CoL's LP Disb and RCA Victor's Plans Paul Puner, president of Allegro^ ■ - Records, has lifted thit heads of in- dependent recording manufactui'^ ers in a cry to the U. S. Secretary of Commerce against the ultimate effect on indies' companies of Co- , lumbia Record long-playing mi- crogroove disks. Gist of Puner's complaint is that Columbia's suc- cess with the LP platters is and will induce rival major manufac- turers to develop their own ver- sions, of the same, to the ultimate detriment of the small diskers, and that Secretary Charles Sawyer take a hand now in reaching "some agreement ... on standardization and clearing house for new de- velopments." At first taking a crack at Colum- bia by pointing out that the com- pany's LP disks are no more than Benedict for N. Y.-er . New ■ Yorker hotel, New York, will bi'ing a midwestern orchestra into its Terrace Boom when it re- siunes with ice shows. Gardner Benedict, pianist - singer - maestro, who has worked long runs at the Beverly Hills C. C, and the Nelher- land'Plaza hotel, Cincinnati, opens Dec. 2'for seven weeks, with opr tions. It's his first date in N. Y. Ray McKinley is current at the New Yorker, staying until Gardner moves in. Standard Demands NLRB Decide Inunediately On Charges Against Petrillo a refinement of a mechanical sys-1 tern well known for years, Puner complains that Columbia's large •Hnii«,.„„«j iwh., i« scale promotion and exploitation of 1 , , """''"'7'';. its LP line has led the record-buy-1 Standard Transcriptions' attor- Ing public into believing that a i ney, Lewis Teegarden, has wired "new and -revolutionary achieve- , the five-man top board of National Sia'^nd^'co^umbTaTlone •''' i ^^"^^^ Board in Washing- lumbia and coiumwa aione. | ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ prompt decision Asserting that RCA-Victor is rumored to be developing an LP version of its . own, requiring a third reproduction method, (apart -from : conventional 78 rpm ■■■ and on charges Standard filed last May 13 against James G. Petrillo's wax ban. This "step has created a bit of CRC's 33^^), Puner complains that; schism Within those circles which "dealers all over the counti-y who have relied on the business they do in classical records will find themselves virtually without a business, and small independent manufacturers.. ; . will be forced but of the classical field-until one financially backed the NLRB charges hurled at the ban. As originally pointed out. the National. Assn. of Broadcasters put $46,000 from Its "technological re- search" fund at disposal of Stand- ard and Lang-Worth, which filed Best British Sheet Seflers .VNee}i mAxns Nov. 11) London, Nov. S. So Tired .......... .Connelly My Happiness ChappcU Buttons and Bows... . Victoria When You're In Lov« . .Wood You Can't Be True.. Chappell Gal-way Bay Box & Cox Dream of Olwen Wright Rambling Rose Dash Woody Woodpecker . * Leeds La Vie en Rose Gay October Twilight Dash Anything I Dream .. . Reid Second 12 All Dressed Up.. .Ciaephonio , Ballerina- ...:,..... i .Maurice Beyond tlie Stars Feldman Underneath Arches, . Connelly Call Everybody Darllng.Morris Little White Lies Wright Cuckoo Waltz ... Keith Prowse When Organ Played .. Miller . Open Window ... . .Harmonic Live in Loveland Sun Hah- of Gold....... .Chappell Loves Somebody Morris or the other of the titans manage ; charges here and In N. Y. that the either to destroy the enemy force it to capitulate." or Disk Jockey Review WAX ON TRACKS With Marty Ross 90 Mins.; Mon. to Sat., 11:30 p.m.r 1 a.m. Sustaining WPTR, Albany Disk show, which has a little more production format than most shows of this type, is driven smoothly by 20-year-old Marty Ross. He talks bands, records and leaders with considerable authori- ty; A recent interview with Duke Ellington is a case in point. It was solidly handled;. although the two trifii ban is really a work-stoppage. I.e.; a strike, hence, under Taft-Hartley Act must be negotiated and records ing resumed. When Standard sent its crisp wire to NLRB, NAB attorney Sid- ney Kaye quickly asked the waxer to withdraw it. Lang-Worth's attor- ney ditto'd; Standard flatly refused. Feather's 'Inside Be Bop' J, J. Robbins & Sons, Inc., last week Inked pacts with critic and disk Jockey Leonard Feather for publication of "Inside Be Bop,^' dealing with the new jazz medium. Book expected early In 1949. Written in three sections; ''In- side Be Bop" gives the origin of Bop, plus a technical analysis of Diskers on Alert For Govt Nod To Start Recording Most recordihg icoinpanles aiid artists were on the alert late last week and ready to dqi spine "spot re- cording of new ShoW: aijd jpicture material in the event Attorney Gen- eral Tom Clark's off ibe^ave an it^^ expected nod to the settlement plan filed last week; fey tHe record' et-s arid the Ahiericail Federation of Musicians. In reality, most of the disk exees ASrere iS'Sfare that an opinion would not b^ forthcoming immediately, but they did not want to be caught short. Mbaiitinie, httweyer, the plaiis and the tunes that have been readied are being kept in abeyance and at least three of the companies —RCA-Victor, Cdiumbia and M-G-M — are strictly adhering to decisions not to cut anything of any kind until there's some reac- lion from Government officials. Victor and M-G-AI, of course, had not waxed anything with musical accompaniment since the ban be- gan last Jan. 1 and it meant nothing to them to refrain a bit longerv: But all other companies had at one time or' another re- corded with varying backgrounds, including music, here and abroad. Some of these are understood to be - jjK-iy, , nis lasi name was iioi, i - • ——"j —v.. .v.^...,...vv. , observing an unspoken rule that given, presumably because they! W"" ^^f^f through publica- no recording be done that miglit assumed dialers would know it was tion ot such Dizzy GiHef,5Me laves upset the applecart, but no one is Dizzy Gillespie. as Cop Bop Sh Bam," etc. I certain that it is being strictly kept A train call opens the 90-minute ~ '—• block, listeners being invited to "get aboard.'/ There are three "cars," with an orchestra or vocal- ist in each "rehearsing en route to a new job. Dedications (which parade a lot of names), chatter, commentary, a mystery tune, tele-1 t phone calls (Saturdays), and cu-1 * pid's corner are among the other [ features. Striving for a diiferentl twist, Ross has been trying to find I a telepathist among the listeners, using a number device for this. Younger listeners in particular should like him. Jaco. Jocks, Jukes and Disks I By Bernie Woods . became a . trifle too .inside-stuff tT/'„r, "rr 5.„T m „^ with their discussion of be-hops "'f„„?"!*L?i ^^ ^\ 5'*° tI'^T " and its originator-identified as | complete reference ndex Robbms "Dizzy." His last name was not » "^^ previou.sly been idenlified Capitol Record artists practice a rare attitude toward one an- other that, very likely, has a great deal to do with the hefty nine- months coin statement turned out by the company last week. They stick together like a big Irish fam- ily, pushing major and minor names alike up to the mikes of each otlier'g commercial and sus- tahiing broadcasts. Rival label names' seem to have as much chance landing on a top Cap art- ist's air time as an unbeliever in a desert cult. High execs of the company deny that it is the firm's policy to urge such a thought on ^ their artists. It's pointed oUt that the majority of the company's artists live and work in or near Hollywood, and constant company, functions, cock- tail parties, etc., throw everybody together so much that tliey're con- stantly aware of each other. • True or not, Capitol gets a tremendously important plug lift out of Jo Stafford's use of Clark Dennis, the • Starlighters, Paul Weston's orchestra on the singer's new Revere Camera commercial; Peggy Lee's use of Dave Barbour (her husband and a Cap artist himself); Jack Smith's switch to backgrounds under Frank DeVol's baton the minute he switched or- igination to Hollywood. You can go all the way back the line to when Capitol was a pup and'find Capitol artists boosting Capitol artists^to Johnny Mercer's Pep- sodent Music Hall of several years ago, which ppotlighted Jo Stafford, Pied Pipers; Ella Mae Morse and Paul Weston's orchestra, all label names; The thought extends even to guest shots. It seems the only time a non-Cap names gets into a Cap star's lineup is only where there's a particular reason for it, Naturally, these cross-plugs are possible only when tlie Cap name is top-dog of a show. Margaret Wliiting, for example, is a fea- tured name on the Campbell Soup broadcast, but that's a Bob Crosby holding. There's value in the idea for the sponsors—-the people who pay tlie freight for such didoes—too. Cap- itol, more than any other firm, has a habit of combining artists on di.sks. Over the past few years, most of Cap's best names have worked with all of the lighter ones at one time or another. They are therefore accustomed to each ^ ♦ . ♦ »»*« »>♦>> >«»4 BUTTONS AND BOWS (5) (Famous) , Dbmh TREE IN MEADOW (14) (Shajiird-B) ROOM SERVICE With Dick Keplinger 7:43: a.m. 60 mins. Participatin"' KXA, Seattle ■ ThLs new show of Dick Kep- linger, veteran Seattle announcer! and .special events man, is as local; as the neighborhood milkman and j seems to fili a spot heretofore lack-1 ■ • ing in' Seattle radio. Keplinger i;; features chit-chat, guests, time sig-1 X nals and weatlie: 1. 2. 3. .4. reports more [ than music, but the disks used arc good leaven to the chatter. Tunes used are slanted toward familj- listening. Show is broadcast from guest liOusfe . at Keplinger's home, and everyday feature is the dropping! ' in of guests, for whom there is al^' .ways coffee on the burner, and the neighborhood milkman is a daily visitor. The format isn't one that could be used by just anybody, but Keplinger handles it easily and in a showmanlike manner, It's also a welcome antidote to those excrur • ciatingly brifht and happy early- morning shows, because here the : breakfast-time listener can find out whether to take a raincoat with Jilm or not; can get the tempera- ture and listen to chatter that fre- quently puDs a good laugh, plus music that could soothe an early morning gripe. Reed. AO N Sellers on (i)MacIjines^^^ Short!...;,.,. .Colombia i Margaret. Wliitinfll.,,;.;. Capitol " iJVJ^o'iica Letuis..;.......; iDecca SLOW BOAT TO CHINA (3) (Melrose) Kay Kyser...: CohmMd UNTIL (5) (Dorsey) Tommy Dorsey Victor CUANTA LE GUSTA (2) (l>eer-Int) ' Mira7ido-A?idreics Sis ... Decca •■ (Xai'icr Cugat Coliiiribici MY HAPPINESS (26) (Blasco) ^ ^ Sondra Steele.... Damon ""**"•I Pied Pipers Capltpl MAYBE YOU'LL BE THERE (15) (Triangle) .( Go;'doii Jenkins Decca [Eddy Howard Majestic 12TH STREET R.VG (13) (Slwpiro-B), Pcc Woe Hunt Capiiol IT'S MAGIC (20) (Witma-rk) i Doii.? Day Cohimhict , (Did; Hayiiips Decca J HAIR OF GOLD (13) (Robert) \ Jack Erwrson Mrtrotone " I _ \Harmonicats Universal Coming Up YOU WERE ONLY FOOLING (Shapiro-B) Blue Barron :Co7'5on .fibbinsOji iJTnJi 'Spats ' 7. 8. 9. 10. LIFE GETS TEEJUS (Alillcr) SAY SOMETHING SWEET (Mills) M^GrM ,... .■XJeGcict lAn lie. ^tt^Ifoj!y.; V.¥iJ.vii,bndbn' .f Helen Forrest *.vl.''.,, '^-i.M-GM i.piii«(i : s;,iorc,;. j , ,;Cp:l(rt)i,bia ■[Evelyn- Kiitalif,,-,'..;".;, i.;-.:;' .Jieccd l;Paxda Wotsoii Supreme Andreics Sisters ........ Decca (Morris) f ^fioles;.'.,,,',.',,.;;, Naiufal ■ ' ■ ■ '■•■^ . . ■ (J^l!a FilrcieraUl. Decca ' • • • •>»•.••» .• . : Cordon JetvTciJis,. ;;, (. ;V. .Decca (Laurel) I Pp'"'"!/ Coiiio .' Victor , BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS (T. B. Harms) ll^.:!. A7Moot;^\^^^V;.■'^^^^^^ X PRETTY BABY (Remick. Dons Day ".Coh^bia MY DARLING, MY DARLING (Morris* , S Stafford-MacRae Capitol IDoy-CIarfc -...Columbia MONEY SONG tCrawford) \ Andrews Sisters Decca •• •• I Martin-Lewis Capitol IFigures in parentheses indicate number of weeks song has been in the Top 10 ] WHAT DID I DO (BVC) LITTLE BIRD TOLD ML (Bourne) BELLA BELLA MARIE' (Leeds) ..,. IT'S TOO SOON TO KNOW FOR YOU (Witmark) RAMBLING ROSE ♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦♦i M t Mm ** i other's styles and ability and that makes for a better performance when they do hook up on radio -or television. The company's execs may not be levelling when they assert that there's no pushing of lineups-^ that it's all strictly among the artists. It's too pat tind too ob.- vlously beneficial a procedure. But there's no denying the value to . the label and the individual artists. Not only is there trem- endous opportunity to give the minor names.: foundation for' A, longrrange buildup,^ there's : the value of plugging current releases by all. And the company's talent lineup is to be commended for it's one for all and all for one practices. If they aU haven't gobs of Capitol stock, it's only because- they're only Cap-happy. Kay Kyser "Say It Isn't So"- "Ever Since Eve" (Columbia). Kyser's riding high with "Slow Boat To China," which is as. .fine' a performance'as was his "Woody , Woodpecker." . "Sa.y" can continue; his skein of hit disks. It's a smartly tailored and played arrangement of 'a standard being revived by Irving Berlin. . Ridden in a light; relaxed beat, the disk creates a . musical mood followed nicely by. the Campus Kids' vocal. Flipover is an unusual lyrical story told by Kyser and the Campus group which could catch on. Cass Franklin "Mislrlou" - ''Syerdtse" (Apollo); Jocks on the prowl for the unusual should wrap -an ear around Cass Franklin's rare vocal interpretation of "Misirr lou" in Greek, backed by excellent Latin rhythms set up by Oscar Waltzer's orchestra. It captures an intriguing Far Eastern flavor. Backmg is a Russian item in tanga tempo and though it's nice enough it doesn't; achieve the same mood as the first, .lack Smith "Hannah In- Savan- nah"-"Senorita" (Capitol). Smith gives the "Savannah" novelty a colorful and' accurate performance, assisted by the Clark Sisters and Earl Sheldon's orchestra. It's good, will get plays by jocks, but the material Isn't outstanding enough for wide acceptance; It's rojled smoothly and lightly at medium tempo Flipover, from "The Kissing Bandit," sounds good under Smith's treatment and excellent back-- grounding by the Sheldon band and the Glarks, and it flgures to garner a goodly munber of jock usage.. Buddy Clark "Brush Those Tcars"-"One Sunday . Afternoon'* (Columbia). "Brush" side, with the Modernaires, Is good, But It's not the song. Tune first drew attention because of its corn values. Clark and the vocal group use it as a springboard into a rhythmic, light jive vocal that sits well but is. likely to rush right by potential buyers of the song. Reverse brings up a fair version of a picture tupe. Clark and the Modernaires give it a twist that at least isn't far off the original lyrical idea. ^ But there are much better versions. Jane Pickens "One Sunday Af-r ternoon"-"Galway Bay" (Victor). Miss Pickens' first recording for Victor carries a smooth waltz ren- . dition of "Sunday" that captures everything the song has to offer, Background of ukes and voices, of course, won't help sell it, but the vocal .Is there. Reverse ■ is some- thing else again. Miss Pickens doesn't gel with the fine Irish melody a I all. But that may not he all her fault. Song demands the .sort o[ color that can't be drawn from such weak backing. Jack Fina "Sicsla"-"Canadian Capers" (M-G-M i Fina's disking'of " "Sie.<ila," also fro m "Kissing Bandit," achieves a neat mood. In Latin tempo, the arrangement is full and colorful and ■ brings in just enough of the leader's piano. Charles Martin handles the vocal well. It's a good jock piece. Back- ing hits a breakneck pace with the standard piano exercise. It's okay. but unexciting. Dinah Sh(Ke "Far Away Places"- 'Say It Every Day" (Columbia). Granted that cutting some tunes under the disk ban was difficult, that's no excuse for this disk. Miss Shore worked with a piano duo, apparently in Paris, and the weak backing helps produce weak vocal;^ of good songs—and the Whole does neither Miss Shore nor the tunes a bit of good. They might better have been left on the shelf. Ambrose Orch.-Anne Shelton 'Tenement Symphony" (London). (Continued on page 46)