Variety (April 1950)

Wednesday, April 12, 1950 OBCVfiSTIMlS-iHnCSIC A major gnpe pf many in th«> music pul?li$hirig fraternity is being directed at ftCA Victor, particular respect to its artists apd repeiidire department the squawking revolves- arpund; the ai- ledgedly “unapproachable” i and “uncooperative” attitude of the a; & r. men tdv^rd publishers and their plug material. ' According^ to yeteraii inusiemen who have Worked fpr years with various a. Sc r. regimes‘at yictor, as well as other dlskeries, at no time in the past have they found such difficulty in bringing their tunes to the attention of recording executives as they are eKperiencing now at Victor, Pubs say that it’s “practically impossible” 'to get Joe Csidaj Victor a. & r. head, oh the phone. Music men contend they don’t get this aloofness from hi & r. execs of any bther major wax- ■ works. Csida’s explanation for the situa- tioii is that there: gust aren’t enough hours in the day to give publishers the tiieatment they think they deserve. He also points out that, unlike some other a. & r, men, he wants to be in personally oh every waxing date, which keeps him out of his office for 18 to 20 hours a week, during which he might otherwise be able to talk to all the pubs Who claiin they can’t reach him* Present Victor recording setup has Henri Rene, Dewey Bergmany Charles' Grean and Hugo Winter- halter, all assistants to Csidav as- signed individually ^to different groups of publishers for. initial screening^of new songs. ■ Pubs say that the reaction of these four con- tacts is usually noncommittal, fol- lowing which lack of definite re- aponse the material goes to Victor for final decision by Gsida. Gsida’s contention is that with the thous* ands of songs submitted to a disk company, this screening process is the most workable and practical, if any order is to be brought to the icheduling of numbers for waxing. This system, however, pubs as- iert, allows them none of the tradi- tional opportunity to sit down with the a. & r. head himself and kick around a song’s merits, or its pos- sible suitability to' a particular artist’s talents. Even when a tune Is accepted for disking, publishers with years of experience dealing with talent and material febl that a rapport between themselves and recor^ng managers is necessary to produce the best possible platters through working together on artist, •ong and type of arrangement. Tosci's SpMial Series Released by Victor In conjunction with the start of Arturo Toscanini's spring tour following a Carnegie Hall, N. Y., concert Friday (14), RCA Victor is releasing a special series of 11 conipositions conducted by the maestro. Among, the albums will be six Slew Toscanini pressings^ Which have also been packaged on 53 rpm, and Six re-releases* New numbers include works by Beethoven, Tschaikovsky, Haydn, Ravel, WegUer ‘and Mozai't. Shelley Sues On ^Man Around House’ Edwin H. Morris’ “It’s So Nice to a Man Around the House,” which has been cUmbihg into the hit category, was lifted from her tune, “You Gotta Have a Man Around the House,” songwriter Gladys Shelley charged in a‘$100,- 000 infringement suit filed in N. Y, Federal court last week, Named as defendants are Morris and tune- sihiths Jack Elliott and Harold 'Spina. . Miss Shelley, who claims she col- laborated on “Gotta Have” with Harry Archer iri 1942, contend.^ that Elliott and Spina had access to her number to enable them to appropriate its basic idea and theme in the Morirs sbpg* Hollywood, April 11 , ■ Wbat may amount to a private printing for exploitation purposes Only is being worked but by War- ners .bn .an album, of four sides etched by Doris Day and Gordon MacRae for the film “Tea for Two.” Unusual approach stenis from the fact that, neither Columbia, which waxes Miss Day, nor Gapiiol> which has Macrae, would agree to a deal. Studio originally wanted to pair the singers, on either label, as a booster for the film, with the wax- eries splitting the profits. After two turndowns, Warners decided to present its own ■album, consisting of two Columbia platters and two Capitol platters, and send it put to about 10,000 people ag an exploita- tion gimmick. Studio hopes a de- mand for retail sales may be cre- ated, in which case a distribution plan wil I be worked outr After many 5 ^ears with Decca, Hildegarde is now an exclusive Capitol recording artist. Song- stress’ manager,, Anna Sosehko, ob- jected to Decca withholding several albums and not plugging her cur- rent pops, and instead she will get a buildup from Cap. Both sail today (Wed.) on the America for European concert dates, of which June 2, 3 and 4 will be the highlights. Hildegarde is giving thi'ee galas those nights at the Theatres des Champs-Ely- sees, besides concerts in London, Belgium and Italy; also some BB€ television programs and 4 number of electrical transcriptions to be made in London. * They return end-June to resume U. S. strawhat, niteiy arid concert bookings, thf^ latter under the F.C. Coppicus-Fred Schang, Jr., man- agement. American Federation of Musi- cians is mapping an early craick- dowh on a flock of disk companies which have been taping numbers abroad and pressing them in the U. S* While that operation is al- lowed Under. special . cpnditipns, AFM chiefs are now set upon. Gleaning .up a condition that has tun wild in the last couple of years with a resulting increase in Amer^ lean iriiisiciaris’ unemploymerit. Practice of making masters in Europe has grown to such an ex- tent since the end of the war that several di'skories' arie how .existing solely on that basis both in the pop and longhair fields.. In some cases the disk companies make it a reg- ular policy of etching masters abroad as a means of cutting costs. Scale for the foreign musicians usually ranges frbm $5 to $10 ari hour, coiripared to the AFM basic hourly scale of $41. Another practice which the AFM leaders is aiming to stop involves .the wholesale buyouts by U’ S. compariies of foreign tape libraries. Several continental outfits, such as Radio Berlin and the. Bavarian State Opera, have made available t.o several U: S.. labels complete longhair catalogs on ready-to-use tapes. While the low Costs for such blasters have friade possible the pressing of many important long- hair conipositions on iong-playing disks, AFM heads are concerned over the ciose-out of job opportu- nities for Ui S, musicians resulting from such deals. Major U, S* platter outfits, such as RCA Victor, Columbia and Decca, also distribute records made abroad. However, it’s pointed out that these companies also cut and press disks in the U. S. for foreign distribution through their overseas subsidiaries. This type pf recip- rocal Operation will contiriue .to be okayed by the AFM. 3 Ways at CoL In Chicago, , April It. "Leading Amusement park opera- tors, who at the eiid of last summer were complaining about business to the point Where they threatened to drop name bands, are eonfidently booking big names and expressirig expectations of a good season. Eleven of the natlpii^S biggest parks have decided to use name bands, and, seven of them, already have booked some. Chicago offices of the three main band bookirig or- ganizations, Music Gprp. of Amer- ica, General Artists. Gorp. and Associated Booking Cbrp., feel that the confidence of the artiusemerit park operators is another indica- tiori that the big band business is on its way back. One big park has decided riot lo usC name bands this year. This is Riverview Park, Des Moines, which will u.se local bands on. a four-day •week basis. • ' Average sieason ^ of these parks is 14 Weeks, starting toward the end of May and ending Labor I Day. This represent?; in these 11 parks alone, a total of 154 weeks of playing time. But since four parks book for one-week jobs, six/or two weeks, and one for from two to • . four weeks, they represerit a total In a move to cur^il :disk-boot- ,pf apprqxiiriately 100 , separate legging. Local 802, American Fed- j dates* And all Indications are that I eratiori of Musicians, is putting a ' ^very pne of these dates will be I tight clamp on audition records Deeca’s ' ejarnings for the first quarter of, 1950 Were slightly high- er than the $280,000 netted in the saine period last year, according to prexy Milton R. Rackmil's state- merit at. the arihuai stockholders meeting yesterday (Tues.) iri New York. While sales volume was ap- proximately equal during the two quarters, higher profit was garr riered this year via operating econ- omies put into effect early in 1949. Last year’s initial quarter earnirigs were equivalerit to 36c per share on the 776,500 outstanding shares of comirion stock. r : All directors of Decca Were re- i elected Joi’ the ricxt fiscal year. Nodecision has been made ypt as to whether or not Samniy Kaye will ; renew his General Artists Corp^. contract, which runs out the end of this month. According to Kaye's personal manager, Dave Krengel, there have been a number of pitches made from other agen- cies. Kaye left Music Corp. of America iri September, ’47, going over to GAC, and- he’s been with latter ever since. The William Morris agency |s among those showing interest in. the aggregation. Though outfit has scuttled its band department, it reportedly wants the orch for ra- dio and TV. Kaye, incidentally, is scheduled for a number of New England engagemerits next irionth. Among the dates slated ai’e the Roseland, Taunton, Mass.♦ May 6; the Auditorium, Worcester, May 7; Canobie Lake, Salem, Mass., May 12, and Lake CompoUnce, Bristol, Gorin , May 14. He is currently at, the Capitol, N. Y* - . Cthel Smith Music Corp., which previously has released only organ solos and organ- books in its year- old history, is publishing its first straight song. Written by Ray Car- ter and Lucile Johnson. tune is tagged “I Take Thee, Dear.” At the same time, the pub is also bringing put“Ethel Smith's Wedding Music” for the piano. It’s a. companion volume to the organ- ist-composer’s Hanimond organ [ book on trie same subject. As part of CBS’ policy of pacting its artists in three-way radio, TV and disking deals, Columbia Rec- ords has inked Abe Burrows to an exclusive disking pact. Formerly with Decca, the comediari-writer was recently signed to a one-yfear CBS deal for video and radio. Bur- rows sliced his initial sides for Co- lumbia last week. Recent inking of Dorothy Kir- sten by Columbia also stemmed from her costarnng rple with Frank Sinatra on the CBS across- the-board “Light Up Time” show. It’s understood Miss Kirsten’s disk pact calls for a $60,000 guarantee spread over five years With royal- ties ranging from, 5 io 10c per di.sk. She’ll receive the higher payoff on public domain material, on which. no publisher royalties are paid. It’s expected that the Sinatra-Kirsten teamup Will be extended to vocal duets on the Columbia label. Columbia Records has also tied up most of the talent on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS radio and TV .shows, ihcludirig Jariette Davis arid the Mariners ^quartet; Bill Law- rence, whose pact with RCA Victor rari out receritlyv is also slated to move over to Columbia. RGA execs, pri the. other hand, are - shovi’ing no. sigris of tying op their artistis iri various fields with: three-way deals. Although Mariie Sacks is in the talent market as director of/ artifits relations for both RGA's broadcasting and disk divisions, the company Is not par- ticularly aiming at package setups. Sacks indicated that talent will continue to be inked for either ra- dio-TV or disks with three-way deals to be made only where the particular arti.st fitled the require- meriis of both NBC arid Victor. 1 now widely used in Tin Pari Alley ! as a means oL selling new tunes. I Under the new AFM ukase, musi- 1 cians are flatiy banned from mak- { ing any audition record under scale i except those to he used for the sale ! Of live radio shows. ! A flock of audition records, made by union musicians below scale for composers wanting to showcase their tunes for publishers and disk companies, have recently been turning up in the commercial mar- ket, with no payoff to the perform- ers. Such records have either been sold to or stolen by fly-by-night disk outfits which have packaged them for the retail trade. Under the new AFM rulirig, spe- cial disks for the music biz will now have to be cut in regular re- cording sessions; Any composer or publisher making such an ’’audi- tion” platter Will be required to pay each musiciari'the full scale of $41 per hour arid to use an AFM- licensed platter company. I. RCA COVER-UP reucr Following through its neiw policy of covering rival company material, RCA Victor has put Perry Como on “Let’s Go to Church Next Sunday Morning,” a side originally made by Margaret Whiting and Jimrhy Wakely for Capitol. Capitol’s disk has beeri showing strength, with the likelihood of an early break into the hit lists. Como’s version has been backgrounded witri a choir for a churchlike atmosphere filled by. name dance bands. A total of 18 bands have already been bOoke’d into seven of the parks, and these seven are now ne- gotiating to fill the rest of their schedules. The bookirig lineup at this early stage is this: Lakeside Park, Denver: Frankie Carle, Tommy Dorsey. Elitch Gardens, Denver: Leigh- ton Noble, Lawrence; Welk, Orrin Tucker, Eddy Howard, Ch uck Foster, Dick Jurgens. Kenny wood P ark; Pittsburgh: Larry Fotine, Tommy Ryan. Coney Island, Cincinnati: Ralph Flanagan, Johnny Long, Clyde Mc- Coy, Elliot Lawrence. Steel Pier^ Atlantic City: Les Brown, Claude Thornhil 1, A r t Mooney, Henrj^ Busse, Larry Fotine. Centennial Terrace, $ylvania* 0.: Johnny Long, Clyde McCoy, Elliot' Lawrence. Wall Lake, Mich.; Ffankie Carle, Johnny Long. Reps of Peony Park, Omaha, and Forest Park Highlands, St. Louis, Were here last week to negotiale dates. Eastward Gardens, Detroit, and Dutch Mill, Lake Deievan, Wise., have not yet started booking blit have indicated that they v ill maintain big band policy all through the summer. Carle Cracks House Record in Sioux City Frankie Carle, playing his fir.st date last Saturday (8) at Tambi Ballroom, Sioux City, la., since recoveririg from the nervous col- While covering the rivar com- lapse that kept him out of action panics, Victor, at the same time, ! for several week, broke the house is attempting to cut down the time , record iri drawing $3,172. Piajiist- spread between the cutting process and distribution of disks. Former- ly, the spread ranged between two and, three weeks, putting Victor at a disadvantage with fast-breaking leader’s illness had led tri rumors that he would be bedded for a number of months. Dolly Huston, canary with Hie Carle orch, did not continue wiih platters. Currently, the riniargin has Mhe; crew When it resumed last been narrOwed down to about 1,0 | weekend. Tefiy Steven.s is the ie- days, Victor succeeded in woiking piaeemerit. fast On the Edd^ Cantor-L^sa Kirk -—— ver.siori of “Juke Box Annie” and Milton Berle’s initial includ- ing his number, “I’ll kill You a Million Time.?,”;and the promising novelty, “I Found My Mama,” Louis Jordan’s Tympany Five wilt Swing tbrOugh the south thi.s fall playing approximately 65 dates. Engagements, booked by Oeneral Artists Corp., w’ill begin late in September. Tour W i l I cover the entire south through Texas. Combo will draw about $85,000 in guarantees plus some percent- ages* ‘Mu$ic, Music’ \Vritefs Coiii(M>se Similar Tune Berrtie Baiim and Stephen Weiss, writers of the hit tune “.Mu.sic, Mu.sic, Music,” have come up w itii another number in a similar vein. New song is labeled “ITI Gel Mv- Self a Choo Chop Train arid Go Far. Far Away,” The initial puh- JicatiOn of the ne^vb’-forrried Ne.d- son Music, “Chdo Choo Train’ looks set for a heavy disk ride. Tune is scheduled for waxing by National, Capitol and Decca. Georgia Gibbs ha? already re- corded the riumber foiv Coral.