Variety (April 1953)

80 OXlCHESTXtAS*MtJSIC P5S&IETY Wednesday, April 1, I953 Britain Salvages U.S. Flop Tunes, London, March 31. . • Britain is shaping up\ as the refuge of lost causes as far as U. S. pop tunes are concerned. American songs, which to one degree or an- other have laid eggs in their na- tive country, are' getting big play here and, via this route, may mi- grate back to the U. S. for renewed exploitation. Currently, three out of the four current top tunes in England were salvaged from the U. S. scrap heap. “Broken Wings,” in the No. 1 spot, Is probably the most dramatic case since this "tune never got off the ground despite an RCA Victor disk version by The Todds. This disk, however, is clicking big here. ' “Wonderful Copenhagen,” from the Frank Loesser score for the “Hans Christian Andersen” film, similarly did not mean much in the U. S. but has climbed here into the No.. 3 position. “She Wears Red Feathers” is getting fair reac- tion in the U. S., but nothing to compare with its reception here. It’s currently No. 4. BMI Subsid Promotes U.S. Longhairs on Wax Via Remington Label In a move to promote contem- porary American music on disks, the American .Composers Alliance, a Broadcast Music, Inc., subsid, has granted a subsidy to Reming- ton Records, indie lowprice long play line, to record 12 LP- sides annually of works of American composers. The Remington subsidy marks ACA’s largest grant for re- cordings. Group previously under- write three sides for RCA Victor and several for the Rachmaninoff Society. Remington also plans to stress the works Of American composers in the waxings of the recently pacted Cincinnati Symphony. The Cincy outfit is under the direction of Thor Johnson, one of the few American-born major orch con- ductors. RETAIL SHEET BEST SELLERS * Pubs Checkmate Chess Label Continued from page 71 cago,. represent Fox in both the unlicensed recordings made . by Remington Records, of composi- tions of Shapiro-Bernstein, St. Chess and Martin actions. Fox made a distribution last week to Shapiro-Bernstein, Mills, Feist and Robbins Music of $4,982, representing the judgments Abeles obtained and collected against Par- adox Industries and Dante Bollet- tino fo£*royalty claims totalling only $276. In these actions Fox obtained the first ruling that the $250 minimum damages for each infringement applied to phono- graph recordings. There is a fur- ther distribution to be made of $4,572, which Paradox and Bollet- tino were required to pay as a con- dition of Fox not instituting other actions against them. I Hearings are being held before the Special Master to ascertain the damages sustained through the Welcome to New York and the COPACABANA, Aftril 2 Featuring His EXACTLY LIKE YOU SUNNYSIDE OF THE STREET (Lyrics by Dorothy Fields) SHAPIRO, BERNSTEIN & Co., Inc. Nicholas, Meridian and Oxford. The -Master was appointed by the court upon the granting of the plaintiff’s applications for summary judgment. Abeles, who likewise represents Fox in these actions, will adduce evidence of substantial damages sustained through such unlicensed recordings, and seek a recovery of $20,000 for royalty claims totalling only $472. This is on the basis of a mini- mum of $5,000 for each infringe- ment, instead of the $250 mini- mum precedent established in the Paradox actions. In seeking this recovery Abeles is proceeding un- der the decision of the U. S. Su- preme Court in the recent case of F. W. Woolworth Co. vs. Contem- porary Arts, Inc., in which the court affirmed an amount of £5,000 for an infringement, although the profits were only a few hundred dollars, upon the holding that the copyright statute not merely com- pels “reparations for injury but also is- designed to discourage wrongful .conduct.” LOMBARDO’S SOCK 192G IN 26DATES Guy Lombardo wound up the first half of his third annual one- niter concert swing with a socko $192,000 gross in-26 dates. Tour, which was kicked off in -Vicksburg, Miss., Feb. 26, worked westwards until it reached the halfway mark last week with a fortnight stand at the El Rancho, Las Vegas. Lombardo* resumes the one-niter sked next week working his way east to resume at the Hotel Roose- velt, N. Y., beginning May 4’ Philly Wins Suit Vs. Wired Music Co. Philadelphia. March 31. The city won a four-year battle when the Pennsylvania State Su- preme Court (24) sustained its right to collect an extra tax of $5;735 from Muse-Art Corp., which supplies wired music to restau- rants, hotels and factories. Suit was originally brought in Philadelphia courts to restrain the city from collecting the additional tax on a gross of $114,703, which Musd-Art claimed represented in- stallation. charges and royalty pay- ments made to the American So- ciety of Composers, Authors & Publishers and Broadcast Music, Inc. The High Court affirmed the de- cision of Judge Raymond C. Mac- Neille who held “the receipts should be included since none of the plaintiff’s subscribers could re- ceive reproduced music unless their place of business were wired and equipped.” •Singer Bill Lawrence, Jack Wring s orch and accordionist Johnny Culpo booked at the Circle Inn, Latham, on the Albany-Sara- toga Road, Easter Sunday (5) . for afternoon and evening dance shows. Entire ASCAP Board Reelected The full board of the American Society of Composers, Authors a. Publishers was reelected by th* membership, according to a near v * completed tabulation of the votl yesterday (Tues.). First job of the board, which comprises. 12 writer* and 12 publishers, will be to name a new ASCAP prexy to, replace in cumbent Otto A. Harbach, whose term automatically expires at the end of April. The prexy race is wide open at -present, with Jack Yellen and Stanley Adams most prominently mentioned as choices of* the writer-members of the board. Reelected writers pn the board are Harbach, Adams, Yellen, Fred E. Ahlert, Gene Buck, Paul Cun- ningham, John Tasker Howard A. Walter Kramer, Edgar Leslie, George W. Meyer, Oscar Hammer! stein 2d and Deems Taylor. Pub« lisher members are Louis Bern- stein, Saul H. Bourne, Irving Caesar, # Frank H. Connor Max Dreyfus, Donald Gray, Jack Mills Bernard Goodwin, Abe Olman, J. J. Robbins, Gustave Schirmer and Herman Starr. Paramount Music Gets Exclusive on Stone In Search for New Cleffers In another • instance of the stepped-yp pubbery prowl for ex- clusive cleffer deals, composer- lyricist Wilstqn Stone has been pacted by Paramount Music. Stone penned • the score for George White’s tab revue skedded to bow at the Versailles, N. Y., in the next few weeks. According to Eddie Wolpin, Paramount-Famous general man- ager, the Wilston pacting is part of the* firms’ new policy to expand its sources of material. Heretofore, the firms had relied, mostly on pix score tunes from Paramount fil- musicals for their pop drives with only a small number creating im- pact in the wax market. Now, how- ever, the Par-Famous combine is eyeing field for exclusive writing deals with cleffers whose output is directed at current pop market. In line with the pubbery’s ex- pansion-of-sources policy, • Wolpin bought a Victor Young Music copy- right. “Wintertime of Love,” for the Famous firm. Coots’ Jolson Tribute Tunesnyth J. Fred Coots has written a musical tribute to A1 Jolson based on the melody pattern of the tunes identified with the late singer. The tribute is titled The A1 Jolson Music Memorial.” It’ll be introduced by crooner Sid Gary on Milton Berle’s NBC- TV show April 14. It's Music by JESSE GREER Program Today Yesterday's ON THE BEACH WITH YOU Words & music, jnc. (1619 Broadway, New York) Warren, Gilbert to N.Y. For ASCAP Conclave Coast writers Harry Warren and L. Wolfe Gilbert* arrived in N.Y. last week to attend the annual meeting and dinner of the Ameri- can Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers at the Hotel Astor next Tuesday (7). Both Warren and Gilbert at- tended' the ASCAP National Press Club dinner in Washington, D.C., last Wednesday (27) at which time the manuscripts of several, works by the late George Gershwin were presented to the Library of Con- gress^" - . WELCOME JIMMY McHUGH , and His Revue to the COPACABANA, New York > April 2 ABE OLMAN, General Manager The Big Three ROBBINS MUSIC CORP. LEO. FEIST, INC. MILLER MUSIC CORP,