Variety (January 1952)

f«hwdyt Jra— iy SO, 19528 OltCHESTBAS-MUSIC PG&MSFi Scoreboard OF TOP TALENT AND TUNES Compiled from Statistical Reports of Distribution Encompassing the Three Major OiUlets Coin Machines Retail Disks Retail Sheet Music as Published in the Current Issue WEEK ENDING JAN. 26 NOTE: The current comparative sales strength of the Artists and Tunes listed hereunder is arrived at under a statistical system comprising each of the three major sales outlets enumerated above . These findings are correlated with data from wider sources ; which are exclusive with Variety. The positions resulting from these findings' denote the OVERALL IMPACT developed from the ratio of points scored : two ways in the case of talent ( disks, coin machines ) , and three ways tn the case of tunes (.disks, coin machines, sheet music). POSITIONS This Last week. week. TALENT Artist and label tune 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 4 3 6 5 7 8 9 Johnnie Ray (Okeh) ... „.t . , J K ' • 7 Little White Cloud Four Aces (Decca) . . ...... ... (Tell Me Why ) Garden in the Rain POSITIONS This Last week. week. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 7 5 6 8 10 9 Eddie Fisher f Victor V (Anytime /Tell Me Why Pee Wee King (Victor) siowpoke Jo Stafford (Columbia) , . . . . . .". , . . . . . . . . . , . ... . Shrimp Boats Eddy Howard (Mercury) . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . ... ..... Si Ames Bros.-Les Brown (Coral) . . .. ... ... ... ... Undecided Arthur Godfrey (Columbia) . * . . . . . . ...... . . . . . Dance Me Loose •Frankie Lane (Columbia) Jealousy Mantovani (London) . . . . Charmaine TUNES TUNE " PUBLISHER Cry t ( * , 4 1 « . « « i * ... ......... ..... ............... • Mellow Little White Cloud That Cried . . , • Spier Slow Poke . . . . . . . * ................... ; .... Ridgeway Tell ^^e Vl^Iiy ...-. .... ........... ... . ... . ... . .. .. * Signet Anytime Hill-R Sin ... , Algonquin Shrimp Boats. .Disney Undecided Leeds Charmaine -Lion Down Yonder. Southern P^RIETY on Week of ian. 26 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. LITTLE WHITE CLOUD (8) (Spier). CRY (5) (Mellow) SLOW PORE (12) (Ridgeway)....... TELL ME WHY (4) (Signet) ......... SIN (10).(Algonquin). ... • ♦ • • [• 0 .♦ • SHRIMP BOATS (3) (Disney). 7. UNDECIDED (13) (Leeds) 8. ANYTIME (2) (Hill-R) ......... t.. 9. DANCE ME LOOSE (2) (Erwfn-H)... 10. JEALOUSY (9) (Harms) ............ , Mil a a a a • aa.a • a. a ♦ Johnnie Ray ........... . . Okeh j Johnnie Ray Okeh l Georgia Gibbs ........ Mercury Pee Wee King .......... Victor J Four Aces . Decca j Eddy Howard ........ . Mercury > j Savannah Churchill Victor ( Jo Stafford . .Columbia ' / Dolores Gray . ,. . Decca Arnes Bros.-Les Brown Coral Eddie Fisher Victor 4 Arthur. Godfrey . . >> . .Columbia Frankie Laine. ...... . Columbia 1 aaa. aaaa.aaa • a a a a a • a a a a aa aa a aaa a a Second Croup TIGER RAG (Feist). . . . ..... ...M .; Les Paul-Mary Ford . . . .Capitol f CHARMAINE (Lion) v Mantovani ....... -London GARDEN IN THE RAIN (Melrose), . . . Font Aces ...... . . . . . . , Decca I GET IDEAS (20) (Hill-R) Tony Martin Victor 1 BECAUSE OF YOU (23) (Broadcast) ...... . . ..... ... . . . . ... . . . . . . Tony Bennett ......... Columbia l Eddie Smith ............ King t DOWN YONDER (14) (Southern) . . \ Del Wood ........ Tennessee I Champ Butler .Columbia t A KISS TO BUILD A DREAM ON (Miller) . . . .. ... .. .. . • ........ Louis Armstrong. Decca ;; STOLEN LOVE (Parliament). . ...... ;. . i-.» ........... >• Eddy Howard ... ... . .Mercury f PLEASE MR. SUN (Welas-B). ..... Johnnie Kay .. ./Columbia COLD, COLD HEART (16) (Acuff-R) • . • . . > Tony Bennett Columbia DOMINO (6) (Pickwick). . • ......... . . tony Martin .Victor X f SOUTAIRB (Broadoot) ..... Tony Bennett , . . . , ^Columbia X BERMUDA (Goday) t*.* •• Bell Sis.-H. Rene ...Victor ^ I IFlgurtM In parentheses indicate number of weeks soma has been in the Top 10. J ♦+HMI I Ml M Ml If ♦♦♦41 iMlHHUMI 43 Jocfcs, Jukes and Disks ' ■ i _ i ■ . By HERM Mario Lanza: HLygia ''-"Temptation” (Victor). Mario Lanza’s powerful tenor iS' being conserved on wax for the big numbers and these sides cpnform to the pattern of his previous clicks. “Lygia,” based upon the background theme for the Metro pic, "Quo Vadis,” is an impressive ballad, slightly on the arty side, which ... Lanza projects with tremendous force and unusual sensitivity. Standard on the flip is natural for the pop-operatic repertory and Lanza belts It across with all stops out. Willard Cele: “Penny Whistle Blues’’-“Penny Whistle Boogie” (London). , Two arresting sides based upon the background score for the South African film, “The Magic Garden.” Variations of a catching rhythm tune are played' > on t a flagolet, or penny whistle, which could catch pn as a fad similar to the zither dithers following the ‘The Third Man” pic. Bing Crosby: “At Last! At Last”“The Isle of Jnnisfree”; “Granada”“Copacabana” (Decca). “At Last” is the most likelv of Crosby's latest four sides. It’s a lilting tune and Crosby gives it an adequate, if not particularly strong, rendition. “Innisfree” ’ a fair ballad with a wordy lyric. Crosby's workover of “Granada’* is smoothly handled as is the chile rhythm itemi “Copacabana.” Guy Lombardo Orch: “Stolen Love” “Marshmallow Mop n ” (Decca). “Stolen Love’’ sUreflre material for Lombardo and could develop into one of his big sellers. It’s a backwoods-type ballad with a good lyric and the. type of melodic line that Lombardo can bounce ingratiatingly. Kenny Gardner and local trio do a nice job on the lyric. Reverse is a fair number from the Paramount pic, “Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick.” Kay Starr: “Wheel of Fortune”“I Wanna Love You.” “Fortune” is getting wide wax coverage but Miss Starr’s version ranks among the best. It’s an. off-beat ballad which she attacks with a powerful blues style. Slated for plenty of jock and juke spins. Reverse is a cute rhythm tune on which Miss Starr again hits with her standard hardhitting style. Harold Mooney ;Orch and vocal chorus back up snapplly. Arthur Prysock: “Wheel of Fortune”-“’Till All the Stars . Fall iii the Ocean” (Decca). In the male division, Arthur Prysock comes up with a potential side on “Fortune.” It’s a slow, Eckstine-type of rendition that gets the sense of this number. Tor the straight blues-and-rhythm market, Jimmy Scott’s version for Decca is solid, while Hene Humes’ cut on the same label is disappointing. “Stars Fall in the Ocean” is a doubtful entry Which Prysock. h a n dies very methodically. Sonny Calello: “Cindy Lou”“The King” (King). This slice of “Cindy Lou” could take off big. It’s a bright side which Calello vocals with a good feel and excellent backing from orch and chorus under Don Costa’s baton. . “The King” is a pretentiously dramatic ballad with limited appeal. Barbara Ruick: “Retreat” -^You Couldn’t Be Cuter” (M-G-M). Barbara Ruick, promising new -M-G-M Songstress, does a neat job on “Retreat,” a clever, maybe too clever, hokey-hillbilly number. It’s a good side which faces tough competition in Patti Page’s original slice for Mercury. Miss Ruick also hits , freshly with the oldie on the bottom deck. Freddy Martin Orch: “The Sweetheart Seren a d e”-“Honey Lips” (Victor) Freddy Martin orch, is coupled on two pleasing, tunes. “Serenade” has a easy melodic lilt and a catching lyric set in a dariceable arrangement. Merv Griffin handles the vocal in ^suaL.goi?d . style^’Honfiy. Xips” is a^ bouiicy rhythm item in a com-, mercial cornball groove; -Griffin again vocallirig neatly. Ella Fitzgerald: “Rough Ridin”’“I Don’t Want to Take a Chance” (Decca). Ella’s click scat workover of “Smooth Sailing” last year has rated a sequel in Rough Ridin’.” It’s another one of those tonguetwisting nonsense syllable lyrics Which this songstress gives plenty of commercial meaning. IPs a juke natural. Reverse is a changeof-pace slow item projected in. Miss Fitzgerald’s ace ballad style, Sy Oliver backing up with his usual excellence. Album Review . Doris Day-Danny Thomas: “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (Columbia). One of the top albuin-sellers in the platter business, • Doris Day comes up with another winner in this Columbia package of the score, of the Warner’ Bros., pic, ♦ “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” Miss Day’s lucid ballad style is showcased on such standards as “The One I Love,” “It Had to Be You” and the ‘ title song, among other great Oldies, including “I Wish I Had a Girl” and “Nobody’s Sweetheart.” Danny Thomas has a iftirior part in duetting with Day in “Ain’t We Got Fun” and “Mnkin’ Whoopee.” Paul Weston orch and Norman Luboff choir add firstrate background support. Blossom . Seeley-Benny Fields: “Mr. and Mrs. Show Business” (M-G-M). This set is loaded with nostalgia, Benny Fields and Wife Blossom Seeley socking over a flock of familiar oldies. Fields' w.k. style is workout on “Lullaby of Broadway,” “My Melancholy Baby,” “For Me and My Gal” and “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.” Blossom Seeley comes, through nicely oh “Way Down in New Orleans, “Rose Room” and “I’m Nobody’s Baby.” Platter Pointers Jane Pickens, with Al Goodman’s orch backing up, delivers in highly lyrical style on the tunes from the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein 2d musical, “Music In the Air” (Victor) . . Jerry Gray orch turns out a craftsmanlike job on a flock of oldies in “A Tribute to Glenn Miller” (Decca) . . . In the Dixieland groove, Muggsy Spanier and an all-star combo dish up great sounds on. a “This Is Jazz” set packaged by Circle Records ... on a more modern, but less interesting kick; Shorty Rogers combo have an okay package, in “Modern Sounds” for the' progressive set . . . Alan Dale could have a big hit In “Silver and Gold” (Decca) . . Pearl Bailey has only fair material in “I Heard” (Coral) ; i *' Mary Small’s workover of a fthe tune, “River Get A Rollin’” rates jock and juke spins (King) . . . Dinah Shore is on a blues-and-rhythm kick in “Warm-Hearted Woman” (Victor) . . on the same label, Ralph Flanagan’s Orch has a standout side in “More Than Love” . . Bill Farrell’s stylized slice of ”Calp Me a Dreamer” might make the grade (IVfr-G-M) . . Ken Carson has a firstrate rhythm rellgioso tune in. “There’s a Time to Reap and a Time to Sow” (Bibletone). Standout folk, western, blues, rhythm, religioso, etc.: Drew Miller, “I’m Going Home” (Mercury) . . . Good Lewis, “Lonely Cabin Blues” (Decpa).. . .. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, “Peace in the Valley” (Decca). . Hawkshaw Hawkins, “Be my Life's Companion” (King) . Skeets Yaney, “Who’s Taking Over” (M-G-mT . * .. Joe E. Lewis, “Still Around” (M-G-M). Diskers to Name Final organization of the recently formed . Record Industry Assn, of America is expected to take place next week (8) r when the member companies will /meet to decide the executive setup. Some 40 companies, including all the majors and most of the larger independents in the field, will be represented at the conclave, At this point, the list of the candidates for the post of exec director, who will actually run the trade organization, has been narrowed down to three names selected by the screening committee headed by Leonard Schneider, Decca exec vice-prexy. The three names Will be submitted fo the member companies for the final choice. . . .. A .-permanent -executiver4)oardWill also be elected at the membership meeting. At present, chieftains of D e c c a , Capitol, M-G-M, Columbia and RCA Victor comprise the temporary exec board and it’s expected they will Continue to serve With the addition of several reps from the smaller companies. M-G-M Pacts Fiorino, Sliding Tuba Inventor Chicago, Jail. 29. M-G-M Records has pact e d Vlrtcent Fiorino, an alumnus of the Paul Whiteman band and for the past .15 years staff musician of radio station WBBM. ; lie’s the inventor, of the Sliding tuba and for his first two sides last week he cut “The Sliding Tuba Polka”: and “Czardas,” latter number mainly a violin favorite.