Variety (July 1949)

Wcdnctday^ July 1949 ORCHESTRAS-MVSIC 39 Band ■ Guy Lombardo... Nat Brandwynne*. 8 Suns-Paul Sparr lUy Anthony ... Blue Barron n * . We«ks Hotel Played [Waldorf (400; |Z) 2 New Yorker (400; $1-$1.50) 12 . Roosevelt (400; $1.50-$2) 14 . Statler (450; $1.50-$2) 13 . Astor (850; $1.50-$2). 3 Covers Total Past Covers Week Ob Date 3,185 Bands at Hotel B,^0.]s| |Majors’RPM Tug-of-War Chained With Ignoriim SmaDor Mfrs„ Etc. 835 725 990 2,280 5,885 10,805 4,225 3,050 7,970 • Keu) Yorker, ice revue. Chicago Johnny Brewer (Swiss Chalet. Bismarck, 200; $2 min.-$l cover), Leni Lynn and Joe Isbell. Conventioneers keeping tabs at 2,200. Frankie N asters (Boulevard Room, Stevens, 720; $3.50 min.-$l cover). Ice show and Masters up over last week with 3,837 covers. Bill Snyder (College Inn, Sherman, 500; $3.50 min.). “Salute to Rodgers & Hammerstein” playing to packed spot. Fine 4,000 tabs. Ted Straeter (Empire Room, Palmer House, 500; $3..50 min.-$l cover). Sid Caesar keeping furniture men happy. Bigger 4.150 covers. Claude Thornhill (Beachwalk, Edgewater; .$2 adm.). .Ma.xlly inva- sion and two cool nights niked here. 9,700 admissions. Los Angeles Emil Coleman (Ambassador, 900; $1.50). With Jack Cole Dancers and the Merry Macs. Second wk. Good 5.2G8 covers. • CKuck Foster (Biltinore, 900; $1.50). Seventh wk. Okay 3,040 covers. Ted Fio Rito (Beverly Hills, 300; $4 min.). Nsg 672 covers. Minneapolis, July 19. Impending Minneapolis Symph season, opening Oct. 21, will in- clude 20 concerts for the local sub- scription season, the largest num- ber yet. The less extensive tour- ing next season makes the increa.se possible. Experiments will be oc- casional Thursday night concerts. The regular concert days are Fri- day night and Sunday afternoon. It will be the nrst season under new conductor, Antal Dorati^ who resigned as Dallas Symph maestro to succeed Dimitri Mitropoulos, now with the New York Philhar- monic. Three major orchestra resigna- tions, those of Louis Krasner, con- certmastcr; Yves Chat don. associ- ate conductor and principal cellist, and Valeria Vitalis, harpist, have resulted in the employment of Ra- fael Druian, David Serkin and Ann Nesbit as replacements. Location Jobs, Not in Hotels (Chicago) Cee Davidson (Chez Paree, 500; $3.50 min.-$l coverh Willie Shore and Billy Eckstine getting heavy supper trade; 4,000 covers. Dick Jurgens (Aragon, $1-$1.15 adm.). Opened Tues. (12). Teddy Phillips out. First week for Jurgens 13,500 admissions. A1 Trace (Blackhawk, 500; $2.50 min.). Leveling off at 2,100 tabs. Orrin Tucker (Trianon; $1-$1.15 adm.). Third week garnered 9,800 admissions. (Los Angeles) Desi Amax (Mocambo, 300; $3-$4 min.). Fourth wk. Big 3,900 covers. Billy MacDonald (Aragon, Santa Monica; 3rd wk.). Good 3,800 covers. Harry James (Casino Gardens, Santa Monica; 6th wk.). Off' with 3,400. Russ Morgan (Palladium B., Hollywood; 6th wk.). Okay 10,300 ad- missions. 200 Dismissed In Col/s Coast Plant Shuttering Hollywood, July 19. Columbia Records on Monday (18) temporarily closed down its big pressing plant here. Plant cost more than $1,000,000 to establish. Shuttering will continue for “about three months,” according to Ben Selvin, Coast rep of Col. Two hundred employees have been laid off by Col. Andy Schrade, in charge of stockpile at plant, with no definite word given as to when work will resume. Schrade stays on salary until present plat- ters in warehouse are dispo.sed of. Selvin and his secretary, Mary Kettrin, will then be only employ- ees remaining. Col now pres.ses only at Bridge- port, since its midwest supplier, at King’s Mill, Ohio, has been shut- tered for past 60 days. Col origi- nally opened this plant in order to make fast disk shipments to west- ern distribs. Now, with sales slump, it appears speed with which deliveries to be made is less im- portant. Company continues recording here, however, with Selvin cutting four faces Monday ( 18) night with Harry James and four with Frank Sinatra Thursday (21). Zito in Bix Pic Hollyw'ood, July 19. Jimmy Zito, trumpeter who has been heading up his own band un- der the billing of “Young Man With a Horn,” has been signed to toot in the Warner pic, "Young Man ! With a Horn.” Zito will play the solos for the character portraying A1 Hazard, Bix Biederbecke’s teacher. Film stars I^irk Douglas. Lauren Bacall, Doris Day and Hoagy Car- michael, with Harry James han- dling the Biederbecke solos. Fol- lowing completion of the shooting, Zito will go to Chi for some mid- west bookings. Robin Hood Dell Getting Off the Nut Philadelphia, July 19. Robin Hood Dell promises to get off the nut this year, with its star attractions drawing capacity gates and better, coupled with favorable weather breaks. Only two of the nine concerts presented in the first three weeks of operation had to be postponed because of rain, and none of the .shows have had to be I cancelled. I Last week Oscar Lev.ant drew a crowd of 12.000 for his all-Gersh- win program. The turnout for Le- vant was seemingly unaffected by the crowd of 40,000 that jammed the Municipal Stadium for the Gavilan-Robin.son fight the same evening. Thursday night (14) the combination of Patrice Munsel and I Jan Peerce brought out the Best British %eet Sellers iWeek ending July 9' London. July 6. Wedding Marlene. . Box A Cox Red Roses L. Wright Lavender Blue Sun A You’re Adorable. . .Connelly Candy Ki.S!>es ...... C'h.ippell 12lh Street Rag.. .. Chappell Again F. D. A H. Buy Killarney.... P. Maurice Riders in Sky Chappell Put Shoes on Lucy Gay Forever and Ever . F. D. A H. Strawberry Moon . . . Kas.suer Second 12 Faraway Places Leeds Put ’Em in Box Connelly Cuckoo Waltz .... K. Prow se Echo Told Me Lie . Chappell Powder Your Face. Chappell I’ll Always Love You Clover In Shady'Nook . K. Prowse Clancy Lowered Boom Leetls Careless Hands M»»rris It’s .Magic Connelly Behind the Clouds . Feldman It Happened in Adano Maurice Eckstine s 7^2^ For N.Y. Par Date son’s highest crowd, the Dell play- ing to more than 13,000 paying customers. Last year the Dell folded after four weeks, with three stanzas still to go. because of rain and financial troubles. The open-air concert sta- dium is operating this year under new management. Billy Eckstine has been pacted for the N. Y. Paramount theatre for the Christmas show at a reported $7,500 salary. Film will be Bob Hope’s “The Great Lover.” Salary would be highest in Eckstlne’s career, marking one of the most meteoric rises of the past year. Meanwhile, Milt Ebbins, Eck- stlne’s manager, is spotting the sea -1 singer on one-nlghters and asking ♦ Charging that the Interests of the smaller manufacturers, whole- salers and dealers have been ignored by the majors in the disk industry’s rpm tug-of-w’ar. Allegro Records prez Paul Puner yesterday <Tues.) asked Secretary of Com- merce Charles Sawyer to appoint a mediator to assist in settling the dispute. In a letter to Sawyer, the •Mlegro head cited a report tb.it ' execs of RC.\, Columbia and Decca I were “secretly” meeting in New York to resolve the deadlock. I Puner's message called Sawyer's attention to the majors’ alleged “veil of secrecy” and noted that “only three companies in an indus- try that numbers several huivired are meeting to solve a problem of jvital concern to all others.” He also felt that the intervention of a Federal arbitrat«)r “is the only 'way that I can think of through which an equitable solution can be arrived at with ample protection and consideration” for the inde- pendents. I Replying to Puner’s original re- I que.st for a Federal mediator last November, the Commerce Depart- ment pointed out that it could not intervene in such a situation unle.ss directed to do so by law. While conceding there is no legal basis for Government Intervention, Puner opined in his letter that there is “ample precedent for high officers of our government ... to inject themselves into a situation which 'affects the national economy.” !i>2.000 nightly. Negotiations are on for a theatre tour in which the singer is asking $10,500 weekly plus percentages, out of w hich he’ll pay for surrounding acts. Other talent on the bill is expect(>d to cost around $2,500 and house would supply a band. A Metro film deal is currently being dickered. LOU LEVY BECOMING OWN GEN. PROF. MGR. Lou Levy, head of Leeds Music, has decided to be his own profe.s- aional manager. He’ll take over the duties formerly handled by A1 Gallico, who recently resigned to •lart his own music-publishing firm. Levy took on this post in order to test his theory of “pin-point plugging” which his firm has evolved and has been testing in jjlected situations. While details of ue plan haven’t been revealed, it’s 1 *j "pin-point plugging” til s ° around concentration on a ne in one given area. In that way, he determined whether a fiiu potentialities before “‘‘■scale plugging starts. ^„*J°ther feature of the new plan .1 ‘ h* quality rather than quantity on tk’ ^hus concentration will be P^®ylug of a tune on shows -w “**‘”8 Inp bands or singers, "'s with large Hooperatings. or 10 Best Sellers on Coin-Maclrinesi(!!!l£’!“‘AJ®, 1. SO.ME ENCHANTED EVENING (8) (Williamson) 2. RIDERS IN THE SKY (12) (.Vlorrls) 3. AGAIN (18) (Robbins) 4. BABY IT’S COLD OITSIDF. 5. B.ALI n.\’I (5) (Williamson) 6. I DON’T SEE .ME (0) (Laurel) FOREVER AND EVER 8. M’ONDERFl'L Gl Y (.’>) (Williamson) 9. ItrCKLEBCf K (3) dhiited) 10. “A” VOl’‘Rf: ADORABLE (1.3) (Laurel) ♦ ♦ j Perry Como Victor I Frank Sinatra Cohnnhia 1 Vaughn Monroe Victor i Burl Ives Columbia \ Gordon Jenkins Decca ( I'ic Damone. Mercury I S)mr,:anTk Columbia Perry Como Victor Bing Crosby Decca \ Gordon Jenkins Flccca t Perry Como Victor \ Perry Como Victor I F.uss Morgan Dccca ( Margaret Whiting Capifol I Fran Warren Victor \ Frank Sinatra , Co)»t(/<bm t Tommy Dorsey VU-ior ( Perry Como Victor (Toiij Pastor Columbia (Robbins) Second Croup ROO.^I FULL OF ROSES dliil & Range) FOUR WINDS, SEVEN SEAS (Lombardo) .. YOU’RE BREAKING MY HEART (Algonquin) CARELESS HANDS (9) (Melrose) EVERYWHERE YOU GO (Lombardo) HOW IT LIES (Morris) KISS ME SWEET (.Advanced) MERRY GO ROUND WALTZ (Shap!ro-B) . RED ROSES FOR BLUE LADY (19) (xMllls) CANDY KISSES (Hill & Range) LOVE .ME, LOVE ME, LOVE .MI (Miller) COMME Cl COMME CA (Leeds) NEED YOU (Choice) SO IN LOVE (9) (T. B. Harms) ) Sammy Kaye Victor I Dick Ilaymcs . Decca \ Sammy Kaye . Viefor I Cuy Lombardo Dccca Vic Damone Mercury \ .^ammy Kaye Viefor I Mcl Torme Capitol \Guy Lombardo Dccca I Doris Day Columbia ) Bing Crosby Decca I Kay Starr Capitol I Kitty Kallen Mercury I Sammy Kaye Victor \ Gay Lombardo Dccca t Art Mooney M-G-M j Vaughn Monroe Victor I Guy Lombardo Decco I Eddy Howard Mercury I Johnny Mercer Capitol \ Eddy Howard Mercury / Sammy Kaye Vidor \ Tony Martin Victor I Dkk Haumes Decca Stafford MacRae Cnpifol J Bing Crosby Decca I Dinah Shore Columbia BMI Uarmed’ At Report of Govt. Anti-Trust Probe With the American Society of Composers, Author.s & Pubulishers on the verge of inking a new eon- .sent decree with the Department of Justice, it’s reported in trade circles that the "vulnerability” of j Broadcast Music, Inc., to the anti- I trust laws may soon be tested by j Government attornej's. Answering ! a protest made by songwriter- ! publisher .Milton Drake that B.MI is a "monopoly in restraint of trade. ” Sigmund Tiinberg of the I Justice Department’s anti trust I division .said the matter would be ; giv<'n “careful consideration.” I Industry factions long have been ; pressing for a BMI investigation, but an official probe has nevi'r materialized. In a telegram to the Justice Department, Drake also chargi-d that BMI. as a vendor of mnsiy rights, is in a position to I fix prices in collusion ith the broadcaslet-s by whom it is owned. Il(‘ added that B.MI and the broad- easlers, as eombined buyer and seller, can “eontrol eonditions in the mmie right field to the mid I that all songwritcis and imisir publishers would be at tlicir men >•. ...” • .Afiprised of Drake's complaint, BMI veepee Robert J. Burton de- elnred in .New York Monday (18) j .hat there was no need for alarm I in his organization since the com- ' pany has been operating under a ! D.ofJ. consent decree since 1941. , He opined that Timberg’s "careful I consideration” answer is a "stock I reply” given any complaining in- : dividual. Printing out that Drake I spoke as an individual, the B.MI topper said "he’s free to speak his , mind.” [Fiffures in parentheses indicate number o| Wakely Not Domg Ennf Warbling, (Juits Mono Hollywood. July 19. Jimmy Wakely is parting with Monogram after five years and 24 oaters becau.se he feels he's not be- ing given enough singing to do. or enough coin. He’s been getting $5,000 per film. “They want me to do action westerns.” Wakely complains. “Who am I to stack up against John Wayne’/ My chief stocks in trade are my voice and guitar. What fans 1 have want to hear me sing.”