Variety (April 1953)

Wednesday, April 15, 1955 Pfis&afftrf ORCIIESTItAS-MUSIC S3 Pluggers’ Union Preps New By-Laws To Prevent Beefs from Rank-and-File In an effort to avert repetition of last year's fight within the pluggers' union ranks, exec board of the Music Publishers Contact Em- ployees Union last week prepped a flock of revisions to its 10-year old constitution. The revisions will be voted on at a general meeting to be held in New York late this month or early May. Foremost constitutional switch is in the method of nominating and electing offices. Hassle within the union flared up at the last elec- tion when a dissident group squawked that some of the can- didates had been elected uncon- stitutionally. In the past, members were elected at a general pluggers’ meeting by anyone in attendance and a candidate was allowed to run for more than one office on the same ballot. In the revised setup nominations can only be gotten via a petition of 25 members in good standing and a candidate will not be allowed to run for more than one office. Also under the new by-laws elections will be held every year (odd years for officers.. and even years for council members) instead of every two years. Current exec board also is attempting to de- velop a party system arid a pro- portional representation plan whereby members in areas other than New York will select council members to represent them in the elections. The new constitution will also enforce a stronger rule on the lax payment of dues. New laws also provide for a new' method in handling members’ appeals on de- cisions of the exec council. Pre- viously the appeals went directly to *a general meeting but now they’ll be judged by a trial board of ‘ three council members and three rank-and-filers. Exec board currently is consid- ering developing a membership classification system whereby the pluggers will receive such designa- tions a "active,” "associate” and "apprentice.” Tolnay 0.0.s Army PXs . For Disk Sales O’Seas Vienna, April 14. Rude E.- Tolriay, special • rep of RCA’s . International Division,' visited the U. S. Army Post Ex- change stores in Austria on the, last lap of a survey for installs- : tion of properly-organized facili- ties for platter and record-player sales. Tolpay was asked by the EuropeanrExchange System, which operates - a $90,000,000- yearly re- tail biz with Yank - customers on the _ Continent, to spend three months working out of Nurnberg on the project. Until now. PX stores, though do- ing a large record business, have bought and merchandised disks on a haphazard basis without much reference to actual customer pref- erences. Following completion of his European chore, Tolnay will move on to do the same in Army stores in Japan, Korea and other Far East points. Dutch Swooning Over Air Force Disk Singer 4 The Hague, April 7. The stolid Dutch are swooning themselves silly over a local ver- sion of Eddie Fisher. The Dutch lad, young Joop de Knegt, has be- come a terrific success here on the basis of a lone record. Joop, still serving outbids time, as Air Force, corporal, recorded a Dutch version “High Noon.” Unheralded and unheard of, he nevertheless suc- ceeded in packing wallop Into ditty. Joop’s disk sold-an astounding total of 25,000 copies, almost un- precedented in the Dutch diskery business. Orders began coming in from Denmark, Belgium, Switzer- land and Germany for this single- Dutch version of ’ this . American tune. This also was.something new. Perhaps the best feature of. Joop’s success is the. fact that the usually ^ ow-moving Air Force transferred him to Welfare service so that he can. spend much time singing and appearing at benefits. • Come Sep- tember, Corporal de Knegt hopes to leave Air Force and step out on his' civilian, own. Bill Snyder’s Own Pub Orch leader Bill Snyder has formed his own music publishing firm. Directors of the new pub- bery, which’ll be in the maestro’s name, are Snyder; his manager, Harry Squires, and Attorney Mor- ton Miller. No licensing org affiliation has yet been set. Now Kenton Asks to Do Cuffo British Concert A La Granz’s Troupe London, April 14. Cuffo concert offers are begin- ning to add up in this country. The vogue started with Norman Granz’s ’’Jazz at the Philharmonic” gesture, when he brought the whole unit over to London free in order tc^ play two concerts for the national Flood Relief Fund. This was followed by a reciprocal offer by leading British combo, Ted Heath’s orch, who offered to play a concert cuffo for any charity the American Federation of Musicians cared to name. Stan Kenton has now offered his full orchestra to play for any char- ity the Musicians’ Union can sug- gest. He and his band are to under- take a 28-day European tour, com- mencing Aug. 21, and the intention is to do the gratis shows in London round about this time. Approached for permission, the MU was a little wary of the offer because, as they put it, charity concerts such as these could not be ; allowed to go on indefinitely. The matter* is-be- ing considered officially by the MU at its next meeting. Band Review JOHNNY HODGES’ ALLSTARS (7) Capitol Lounge, Chicago Johnny Hodges, alumnus of the Duke JEJUington aggregation, has been prepping this unit for the past 25 months, it’s essentially a jump group, but dries a surprisingly imel- low' job ■ on such tunes as "Sunny' Side of the Street” which has just- enough beat added, to take it out of the slow kick classification. Hodges, - of .course, with his lead alto sax, sparks most of the ar- rangements, but he shares the spot- light with his tenor sax partner, Rudy Williams, and his former trombone side-kick in the Elling- ton- group, Lawrence Brown. Emmet Berry, also a graduate of the Ellington college, gets some applause with his trumpet riffs while the rhythm sectioh of Barney* Richmond, bass; Teddy Brannon, piano; and A1 Walker, on drums, individually get in a few licks-also now and then, but essentially it’s the two saxes and trombone that get most of the play. Naturally enough, . through his long association (27 years) with his forriier employer, Hodges leans to- wards many of the Ellington stand- ards on which he was featured, like “Caravan” and “Take the ‘A’ Train.” In between there is a mix- ture of bounce tunes and. for a more.marked switch, a leisure and inore individual rendering on ‘Body and Soul.” Maestro refrains from the fran- tic and gimmicked delivery, relying on his music to do the projecting— and it does. Zabc. AdlaFs 5% Cut on Victor Album of His 1952 Gabs Adlai E. Stevenson^will get a 5% royalty cut on the projected RCA Victor album, “Adlai Stevenson Speaks,” comprising excerpts from the campaign speeches made last years as Democratic candidate for President. The set is being. pre- pared by NBC commentator Jim Fleming, who' handled a similar as- signment for Victor on the “Mr. President” platter which revolves around the past 20 years of U. S. politics. . Jt’s understood that Stevenson may donate the royalties to an as yet 'undesigriated fund. Fleihing also gets a 5% royalty slice for doing the editing and narration on • he disk. Attorney Lloyd Garrisori s handling.Stevenson’s interest in Lhe Victor deal. Best Britisfi Sheet Sellers London, April 7. London, April 7. Doggie in Window... Connelly Wonderful Copenhagen.Morris Broken Wings Fields Red Feathers Dash Outside of Heaven Wood In Golden Coach... Box & Cox Don’t Let the Stars.... Morris Now Dash Oh Happy Day Chappell Don’t Believe -Me.. .F.D. & H. Little Red Monkey... Robbins Because You’re Mine. .Robbins Second 12 Till I Waltz Again.. .F. D, & H. Talk to the Trees.... Chappell I’m Walking Behind.. Maurice Glow Worm . ... 77“.... Lafleur You Belong to Me.. .Chappell Love of My Life Reine Make It Soon Connelly Pretend Leeds All the Time Cinephonic That’s A-Why Connelly Love to Fall Asleep.. Feldman Dummy Song Keith Prowse ——— Merc to Nab Dorsey Bros. Mercury Records has the inside track on nabbing the Dorsey Bros,, Tommy and Jimmy, when the orch teamup is completed. They're slated to start touring next month. The Dorseys have been discussing the co-leader disking deal with Art Talmadge, Merc’s artists & reper- toire topper. It’s understood that Columbia Records, which now has Jimmy Dorsey’s wax pact, will give the orchster his release when he reunites with his brother. Tommy, who is now inked to Decca, will be able to move to another diskery .when his present contract expires in August* • The new Dorsey Bros, orch will 1 be booked through Tomdor Enter- prises, Tommy's org. The brothers •split as co-leaders in 1934 arid have .been heading separate units ever since. ’52-53 Legituners Opened With a Bang In Pop Field But Feld With a Whimper Eugenie Disk Critic Eugenie Baird, songstress and Mutual network disk jockey, been named disk review editor of the film fan mag, Silver Screen. Miss Baird is currently waxing for Vinrob' Records, a newly- formed indie label. * Although" the 1952-53 showtune season got off to a solid start last June with the clicko title song from “Wish You Were Here,” the • legituners cailed to come up wjth ri a ? I another top hit. Two strong en- Derby’s Starr-Sprung ‘Breeze’ Oldie Retaliates Cap’s ‘Fortune’ Disking Derby Records, indie N. Y. disk- ery run by Larry Newton, is cur- rently trying to do to Capitol Records what the latter company did to Derby on the “Wheel qf Fortune” hit last year. At that time, Derby came up with a Sunny Gale original on “Fortune” which was subsequently ^knocked pff the hit lists by a Kay Starr version that closely followed Miss Gale’s arrangement. This week, Derby issued its ver- sion of “The Breeze,” an oldie etched .by Miss Starr for a recent album. Despite heavy jukebox demands for the side as a single, Capitol has not released the num- ber as a single due to squawks by Les Paul and Mary Ford against Miss Starr’s use of the multiple- dubbing technique. Derby’s disk features songstress Trudy Richards in a near-carbon, of Miss Starr’s version. Miss Richards, incident- ally, recently exited Decca Records. Eddie Wilcox orch back# her for Derby. Merc Extends Miss Parks To One Year, 12 Sides Bernice -Parks, thrush who pacted with Mercury Records last month, has been given a new contract 'by the diskery on the basis of her. preem-platter which hit the market two weeks ago. Initial deal was for a sixmonth term and-four sides. New pact will run for- a year and calls for 12 sides. Warbler’s, initial platter was "Two Kinds of Love” backed by "Your Game of Let’s Pretend.” Leeds’ ‘Under One Roof J Consolidated Setup In a move to give greater em- phasis to its educational and stand- ard division, Leeds Music is con- solidating . its operation in newly renovated offices on. -48th Street and Eighth Avenue, N. Y. Publish- ing firm will give up its,po]) offices in Radio City, for the switch into the company’s longhair head- quarters. • Lou Levy, Leeds topper,' has built , a complete recording studio in its mew spot for- the making of demonstration platters in the -ex- ploitation of its pop'tunes. Leeds also has issued a new rental library catalog covering its * classical scores. Inside Stuff-Music Tunesmith Robert Merrill, who' has the No. 1 spot On the eur- Yent bestseller lists with his "Doggie In The Window,” is also wrap- ping up a flock of publicity breaks in the national mags. Following up on the Life piece on Merrill a couple of weeks ago, Newsweek has a rundown of the cleffer’s hits in the April 13 issue, while the Saturday Evening Post’s April 18 issue has the complete Merrill ’saga written by Whitney Bolton. Main peg of all yarns is the fact that Merrill cannot read or write music 2nd hence uses a toy xylophone, with numbered keys for his cleffing efforts. Merrill, who -has been responsible for 15 money songs in the last three years, is under an exclusive contract to Santly-Joy. tries, Cole Porter’s "Can-Can” and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Me and Juliet,” are headed for Broadway before the season’s official windup May 31 and the trade is waiting to see if they can reverse the driwn.- beat trend. During the past season two other musicals, “Hazel v Flagg” and “Won- derful Town,” came up with some material for the pop market. From the “Flagg” score, which was writ- ten by Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard, only “How Do You Speak to an Angel?” got off the ground. Tune got its biggest push via Eddie Fisher’s RCA Victor waxing. Fish- er, incidentally, was largely re- sponsible for the hot pace of “Wish You Were Here.” His slice kept the tune in the top brackets through the summer months and into early fall. “Angel” stirred up some noise but it never reached the clicko proportions of “Wish You Were Here,” a Harold Rome number. From the "Wonderful Town” score, written by Leonard Bern- stein-Adolph Green and Betty Comden, “Ohio”- and "A Quiet Girl” were entered as candidates for the pop market. "Ohio,” which is the show’s top plug by Chappell, has been out on the market for more, than a month and is still struggling for a foothold in the market despite waxings by Bing Crosby (Decca), Lisa Kirk (Vic- tor) and Danny Winchell (M-G-M). Crosby also cut “Quiet Girl” but it’s still an outsider. Diskeries continued to play cau- tious in their latching oh to show- tunes. It was expected at the Sea- son’s outset that the “Wish You Were Here” .click would reverse the diskery brushoff of the legit output but the majority of the art- ists & repertoire men nixed cut- ting assignments. . Columbia has been the toughest diskery to crack with showtunes. Mitch .Miller, Col’s a v & -^. chief, bias not cut any sides -from the f three ; going legit musicals. Miller, incidentally, is also not cutting the Rodgers ■ & Hammerstein tune, “Music and You,” avljich they wrote fo V the pie, “Main'Street to Broad- way.” «, The diskery scramble for origi- nal cast albums, however, con- tinued at a hot pace. Decca picked up the/top selling* album property in “Wonderful Town.” Advance or- ders passed the 100,000 mark and it’s been moving at a fast clip since its release two* weeks ago. Victor nabbed “With You Were Here” and “Hazel Flagg.” Capitol jumps, In the original album sweeps next month with “Can-Cart” and Victor has pocketed the rights to "Me and Juliet.” . Victor also cut the “Two’s Company” original cast album with Bette Davis’s name featured". Among • the other musicals pre- sented on Broadway this season were “Buttrio Square,” “My Dar- Iin’ Aicla” and "Maggie.” All Were The theme,.ofthe CBS-TV show, "Danger,” written by Tony Mottola, is set for a strong multiple promotion kickoff in the pop platter market via the Johnny Desmond slice for Coral. Desmrind, who is' a regular on the ABC "Breakfast Club” airer, will debut in a dramatic role in the "Danger” series April 28 when he will also sing tfie number. Cecil & Presbrey, ad agency on the "Danger” show, is con- tacting all CBS affiliates for disk plugs while Desmond is *making a personal tour of the disk jockeys. Cofttl is prepping window strips to tie in the disk with the TV series while Paxton Music, publishers of the song, is prepping its own exploitation campaign. RCA Victor’s disk release for this week contains an unusual number of offbeat and exotic waxings. Eartha Kitt leads off with a Turkish folk song. “Uska Dara,” with a Henri Rene background. Another disk is Wally Cox’s comedy monolog, "What a Crazy Guy (Dufo)” and his four-voiced piping of "There’s a Tavern In the Town.” Homer. & Jethro deliver "Pore 01’ Kooliger,” a takeoff on the late Hank Wil- liams tune, “Kaw Liga,” and “How Much Is That Hound Dog In the Window.” Release also includes a couple of imports from Britain and Mexico City by Melachrino and Jerez Prado orchss. Unusual instance of a music pub changing the title of an old copy- right for a revival push occurred this week when Herbert E. Marks, Marks Music topper, switched the tag of the Richard Rodgers-Lorenz o Hart tune from “Sentimental Me” to “Sentimental Me and Romantic 0 You.” Change was made because Jim Moorehead and Ginny Cassin had written a song tagged "Sentimental Me” in 1949. Knickerbocker Music published’ the latter-day "Sentimental Me.” The Rodgers-Hart tune was written in 1925 for the "Garrick Gaieties.” Music pub Chick Kardale is adding to the long list of baseball tunes with the publication of "Who’s Going to Win the Pennant This I Year?” Tune, penned by Paul Girmano, Herman Bondes and Gary Van Dyke, is being kicked off via the Four Toppers, Vocal combo, on the indie Decater label. Decater, incidentally^ is owned by Alan Corelli, former Theatre Authority topper. • 7 - quick foldos. Bechet’s Ballet Score fit Pas-de-Deux Groove Paris, April 7. Sidney Bechet, jazz soprano sax- ist, has gone longhair in writing the music for a new ballet score staged at the Palais De Challlot last week. Work, called “The Night Is a Sorcerer,” concerns the wan- derings of a sleepwalker who is followed by his Negro servant*. His family is afraid to wake him and he kills various members of the family before the denouement. Running a half hour,'the music al- ternated between classical ideas to hep jazz licks that brought forth aud applause. Bechet says he composed the music back in 1951 and plans to do more serious wrirk when he gets: time Between his ^stinting at The Yjcjux Cojombier nltery here and his jazz tours under the spon- sorship of ithe. Hot Club of France. He said that the work would be danced here later this year by Su- gar Ray % Robinson. Music was played by the orchestra of the So- eiete Des Concerts Du Conserva- toire led by Jacques/Hazire. Be- chet played with otch. . i »• r, '3 A