Variety (September 1952)

onCBWLSTHAH-MVSlC 'Wedikt^Aay^ Sept<iirtl>€r 3, 1952 Frank Keltoii, Ex-B wayite, Likes That New Type Of Music Biz b NashTille Nashville, Sept. 2. Frank B. Kelton, yet musk man, is one Broadwayite jfoue hillbilly in a large manner and makes no bones about his leanings tdwards Nashville, Tenn., where he now op- erates Kenny Music (named after hi? 6-year-old adopted son), a BMI firm; and Tennessee Music, an ASCAP affiliate. Sam ' Seligman, local realtor and industrialist prominent in Tennessee politics is his bankroller. . -y Kelton, who ha's been with Harms, Robbins^ Shaplro-Bern- Btein (at one time he operated S-B, when he \ was married to one of Louis Bernstein’s daughters), is enthused with the homespun at- mosphere of this segment of Tin Pan Alley and yet .concedes there is an enterprise and native savvy to the “country music” exponents Which “^ill continue to write rings around some of our so-called wise- guys in the Paddock’s and Llndy’s belt, whose sun rises and sets around the Brill Bldg.” ' Kelton works in close accord with Fred Rose and his son, Wes- ley Rose, who operate the success- ful Acuff-Rose Music firm which has produced such a wealth of country and hillbilly hits in re- cent years. Roy Acu€, the cowboy singer, is virtually an absentee landlord and that goes also for his wife, Mildred, both being content wth the Roses’ operation of their highly successful business. Kelton went to New -York last week on business coincidental with being the delegate from the Hol- lywood post of the American Le- gion of which he is a charter mem- ber. While a longtime resident in [ New York and Nashville, the Hol- lywoOdans picked on Kelton to be I their representative to the conven-j ' tion, which he takes to be a signal personal honor.' Kelton cites the local -impact of dee jay Gene Nobles on WLAp and WSM; and of how Randy Wood, who operates merely as Randy’s, does an astounding mail-order rec- ord business, solely through deejay plugs (he sponsox's Nobles), from a little town of Gallatin, Tenn., some 20 miles out of NashviUe, Since then' Randy Wood has gone, into the music publishing business as Randy-Smith (Beasley), ■ and have one song, “Trying,” breaking nicely | for them. Beasley Smith inciden- tally is the musical" director at WSM. Deejay Alan Freed Get* Over Polio Cleveland^ Sept. 2. Alan (Moon^-o^ x-reed, Cleve- land disk jockey who has been su(y- cessfully promoting dance band one-niters-in,this area, is current- ly recovering* from polio* It isn’t expected to have any ill effects. ■ — — ~ I Coral Inks Saunders Vocalist Jimmy Saunders has been added to Coral Records pop artists stable. Saunders previously etched for the now defunct Sig- nature label. His initial Coral sides were cut last week with the Ray Bloch orch. «.. 10 Best Seflers on Coin-Miclimes •4-4>4-+4-4-»-44'l-4"f4-f , :: 1 . WISH YOU WERE HERE (4) (Chapi^U). - 2, AUE WIEDERSEH’N (11) (HlU-R) * 3. BOTCH-A-ME (9) (HoUis).. 4. YOU BELONG TO ME (1) (RW|reway) 5. HaLf as much (12) (Acuff-R) 5. HALF AS MUCH (12) (Acuff-R) 8. SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY (3) (United)...,,,., 7. VANESSA (2) (E. H, Morris) 8. SUGARBUSH (8)' (Schirmer) 9. WALKIN’ MY BABY BACK HOME (15) (ObSylva-B-H) 10. HIGH NOON (1) (Feist) Second Group LTJKA KOSSA ®VC) MAYBE (10) (Robbins) -HELIOABO (13) (Witmark) HERE IN MY HEART (13) (MelUn) ROSANNE (ABC) MEET MR. CALLAGHAN (Leeds) KISS OF FIRE (15) (Duchess) ZING A LITTLE ZONCk^ (Burvan) FOOL, FOOL, FOOL, (Progressive)... SHOULD,I (Robbins) SO MADLY IN LOVE. (Shapiro-B) ,.., I'M YOURS (13) (Algonquin) ; WALKIN’ T^ MISSOURI (Hawthorne) BLUE TANGO (19) (Mills), V(-CoV(/ LOVER (5) (Famous)...* IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (Marks) CFicritres in parentheses indicate number of weeks, souq Eddie Fisher Vtctof ( Vera Lynn London \£ddy Howard Mercury Rotejnary Clooney .... Columbia Jo Stafford Columbia Rosemary Clooney .... Columbia {Nat {King) Cole Capitol irony Bennett Columbia Hugo Winterhalter Victor Frankie Laine-D, Day.. Columbia i Bay Columbia I Nat (King) Cole Capitol {Frankie Laine Columbia [Bill Hayes mgm Alan Dean MGM P. Como-E, Fisher Victor (P. Faith Columbio I S, Kenton Capitol {Al Martino bbs \Tony BenneU Columbia Vic Damone Mercury (Les Paul-Mary Ford Capitol (Harry Grove Trio London T. Martin Victor ■ G. Git bs Mercury B. Eckstine MGM Bing Crosby-J, Wyman .. Decca Kay Starr Capitol Four Aces Decca Georgia Gibbs mcLury {Eddie Fisher Victor I Don Cornell Coral Sammy Kaye Columbia {Leroy Anderson Decca \ Hugo Winterhalter Victor Peggy Lee-G. Jenkins Decca Les Paul-Mary Ford Capitol has been in the Top 101 Platter Spinners Continued from page 35 ••PICIC" “’DISK OF THE WHK" «*BCCILS*’ -JIEST ■n” BOVELTY •’NCIC* «RADE “A’’ IIUIOAED •TICK” 60IN4 OYER IHiCER THAN EVER SHOWS STRONG SELU I WENT TO YOUR WEDDING (Hill k Range) —Patti Page (Mer,) has another "smash*" Billboard rates disc a top "PICK" and "a striking piece of material." Cash Box believes it "can outsell and overshadow her phenomenal waxing of TENNESSEE WALTZ", and names it SLEEPER OE TIffi WEEK* Variety saysr; "this is a money platter,"’ Steve Gibson's Red Caps (Vic.) originated the time, while Hank Snow's (Vic.) folk version hits the Cash Box "BlILLSEYE." 'A' 'A' "A* 'A* "A* TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS AND HOLD ME (Hill k Range) — Les Paul and Mary Eord (Cap.) continue their blailSe of hits* Cash Box names it "DISK OP THE WEEK*" Billboard gives it a "PICK. "At "At "At 'At At YOU'RE MY DESTINY (Wemar) — "A brilliant perform- anoe* is most capably presented by Alan Dale (Coral)", reports Cash Box for its "DISK OP THE ,^WEEK." Billboard rates it "excellent" (82) and "disk could break out." •A- -A* A* A* Tk HESITATION (Mellin)—Bi/Zhoardnominates Hugo Winter- halter's (Vic.) newest instrumental as "PICK" of the week. Cash Box rates it a "BEST BET." At A" 'A' "At At ^ TOO OLD TO CUT THE MUSTARD (Aouff-Rose) — Sur- prise novelty of the year, teaming Rosemary Clooney and film star Marlene Dietrich (Col.), comes out as a top Billboard "PICK." Disk getting tremendous play. Cash Box rates it "very good." ^ *A' 'A* "A* *A' ^ YOU COULD MAKE ME SMILE AGAIN (Park Lane) — Tony Bennett (Col.) rolls out a grade A ballad for a Cash Box "DISK OP THE WEEKi" Billboard regards it "excellent." At At At At At ^ WHEN SWALLOWS SAY GOODBYE (Hill k Ranged — The "Aujr WiVdersoh'n" girl» Vera Lynn (Lon.) comes up with a strong follow-up in this Billboard "PICK." Disc rates a Cash Box "DISK OF THE WEEK." [non**xc/M«nra BMIJ SAY YOU'LL WAIT FOR ME (Hollis) — A string of plat- ters, including Al Martino (Cap.), Bill Hayes (MGM), Dolores Gray-Sy Oliver (Dec.) and Sarah Vaughan (Col,) are putting this time over. Cash Box gives the nod and a "BEST BET" to Hayes. At A: A: -^JUNGLE FANTASY (Duchess)—Deejays are backing this Noro Morales hit instrumental of four years ago, now out in a now release by Percy Faitl^ (Col*), Faith's version is likely to make the tune bigger than ever. ■A* A: Ar Ar Ar YOU LIKE (Gale Jc Gayles) — "Cute novelty with a Latin beat", is Varie/y’x report of Guy Lombardo's (Deo.) w^ing. Ditty shows strong possibilities through discs by Helen O'Connell (Cap.) and Eileen Barton (Coral). At At A" At A" ^ TINGQ TANGO (Eastern) — Paul Bruno (Abbey) is a potential Martino," x'eports the Cleveland News. Platter hit a 40,000 salea mark in three weeks- BROADCAST MUSIC, INC ^ ; H A V L N u L • N L W V H there’s a chance his aud won’t like the disk he’s spinning. The veiled references to disk jockey payola have bl?ickmarked the whole music industry, he as- serts, affd have shoved jockeys into the comer with such accusing questions from their listeners as “how much would it cost me to get a record of mine on your show” or “you must be getting a lot of money from the publisher to he spinning "that record as often as you do.” Although Gilbert never has come .across payola in his spinning years (at WOV, N.Y., and WMGM, N.Y., and the KTYL post since 1946), he admits that there •may be some who accept payola but he’s sure they’re in the mi- nority and should be weeded out of the industry. During Gilbert’s Gotham visit, he guested on several local radio shows and cut tapes with a flock of wax artists. Before heading home, he hopped down to Atlantic City to finalize .some biz for the Miss Arizona Pageant which will be held in Phoenix Nov.^ 17-18. He’s manager of the fete. V Houston Symph's 175G Drive Houston, Sept. 2. Houston Symphony ^ Orchestra campaign is set -to start there on Sept. 10 and close on Sept. 26. A goal bf $175,000 has been es- tablished for the 1952-53 season. Best British Sheet Sellers (Week ending Aug. 23) London, Aug. 26. Homing Waltz Reine Auf Wiederseh’n Maurice High Noon Robbins Blue Tango .Mills I’m Yours Mellin Kiss of Fire Duchess Never F.D.&H. Walkin’ My Baby,,. .Victoria Time Say Goodbye., Pickwick Day of Juhilo Connelly Blacksmith Blues.... Chappell Pawnshop Corner. .Cinephonic Second 12 Trust in Me Wright Meet Mister .Callaghan... Toff Be Anything Cinephonic Won’t Live in Cjistle. Connelly Tell Afe'Why Morris Somewhere Along way.Magna Wheel of Fortune .. Victoria Gandy Dancers Ball.. .Disney Ay-round The Corner .. .Dash When In Love Connelly Sugar Bush Chappell ru Walk Alone Morris ^,200,000 Chi Legacy To N’western Music School .. Chicago, Sept. 2. The will of Mrs.i Elsie Eckstein, * I which was probated last week here, leaves more than $4,200,000 to the Northwestern University School of Music. Fund will be used to set up scholarships, research projects, additional teachers and the buying of instruments. Mrs. Eckstein was .the widow of Louis Eckstein, Chicago financier and philanthropist whu^'dlM' in 1935. Both sponsored the Ravinia, 111., Music Festival for many years.