Variety (October 1953)

Wednesday* October 21, 1953 ORCHESTRAS-M1TSIC 53 WHAT’S HIGH FIDELITY? Dragnet’ Sluffoff On 'Hit Parade’ May Stir Another Court Hassle ‘ Your Hit Parade,” the CBS-TV* s j l0 w which had been a periodic storm centre music radio. biz has for the when it was aired on kicked up another tempest which p, av again blow the show’s sponsor, the American Tobacco Co., into the r miris. Current hassle involves the tlin( . “Dragnet,” which according t„ the publishers of the number, Al lmo Music, was eliminated from last Saturday’s “Hit Parade” show Winterhalter Forms Own Pub Firm With Dreyfus Hugo Winterhalter, musical di- rector for RCA Victor, has formed his own publishing firm, Gregory Music, in a 50-50 partnership with Max Dreyfus, head of Chappell Music. Company will be operated in the Chappell combine along • without any possible justification lines of similar partnership deals made by Dreyfus with top song- writers, such as Rodgers & Ham- a , iirMti __ m m i \ J or excuse. Back in 1945. the “Hit Parade” was a particular sore point for publishers. In that year, three pub- lishers brought or threatened suit against the program. Feist squawked over the program’s brush of “Rum And Coca Cola’ ; Santly-Joy was miffed over the ab- srnce of ”Mv Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time,” and the Warner Bros, combine actually bled suit against the show over ‘ Don't Sweetheart Me” in N. Y. Supreme Court. The court held, in a preliminary hearing on the mo- tion. that the publishers had a cause for action, but the suit never wont to trial due to an out-of- court settlement. In usual angle in this situation is the fact that “Dragnet” is the theme of a NBC-TV series which is sponsored by and identified with Chesterfield cigs. “Hit Parade” is bankrolled on alternate weeks by Lucky Strike cigs and the Crosley division of the Avco Manufactur- ing Co. Last Saturday's show, on which “Dragnet” was not spotted, was for Avco. The previous week, under the Lucky Strike banner, the tunc placed in the seventh slot. Attorney Benjamin Starr, re- merstein (Williamson Music) and Cole Porter (Buxton Hill Music'. Gregory Music will exploit in- strumentals cleffed by Winterhal- ter as well as other material picked up by the Victor staffer. Disk Biz Stalls After Fast 1953 9-Month Clip After rolling at a fast clip for the first nine months of this year, the disk business has now begun to stall. Slowdown became per- ceptible at the start of this month, and last week the sales dip was felt acutely throughout the indus- try, from the manufacturing to the retail level. While general economic factors are believed to be playing a role in the slump, disk execs opine that t;,ined by Alamo (Hill & Range’s I its a temporary slide due to the notified both the i absence of any strong new hits in NEED IS SEEN F0I1 STANDARDS As the 100-odd exhibitors at the New York Audio Fair folded their decibels at the Hotel New Yorker last Saturday *17) after a four-day stand, the phono industry con- tinued to echo the question: ’So what’s high fidelity?” As some industry execs see the problem, nobody knows what hi-fi is exactly, but everybody is using it as an advertising catchword. Vir- tually all phonographs, including those selling for $50. are now using the hi-fi label and, it’s feared, the public will be oversold on buying merchandise that won’t live up to the extravagant claims made for it. Such selling is expected to bounce back and hit the quality manufacturers in the face. Some of the biggest companies are pressing for the setting up of minimum standards for hi-fi equip- i ment. At the Radio-Television Manufacturers Assn, meeting last week in N. Y., efforts to draw up I such standards ended in a stnle- mqte. It’s understood that some manufacturers feared that such 1 minimum standards would become a ceiling for the industry, and that some companies would make a 1 practice of just meeting the quali- fications while still turning out shoddy equipment. Technical Considerations The question of minimum hi-fi standard's involves highly techni- j cal considerations of frequency re* i spouse, power levels and distortion i factors in each of the components, I (Continued on page 60) State Dept. To Enter Juke Copyright Fight, Spurred By Beefs Abroad Leo Anthony Heads New Lee Rpy R&B Combo Hollywood. Oct. 20. Ray Anthony’s brother. Leo, here- tofore baritone saxman in the An- thony hand, is branching out with his own outfit, tagged Lee Kov and his band. Name was taken from the current juve expression “Le- roy” Band is on the fringe of the rhythm & blues field and will break in on Coast dates which GAC is booking Coni ho already has been signed by Jim Conkling for Columbia's Kpic label and will cut its first sides immediately. Diskers, Petrillo Due To Open Pact Talks Next Month The major disk James (’. Petrillo, > nations of Musici start tackling the companies and American Fed- ans prexy, will problem of a ASCAP firm', American Tobacco Co. and the ad agency. Batten, Barton. Durstine & Osborne, that he “will be com- pelled to subpoena all of your books, records and charts in order to show that ‘Dragnet’ properly belonged on the Oct. 17 listing,” unless the “Hit Parade” rectifies “the injury” done to his client. Starr pointed out that on the Oct. 17 show', two new songs were added (“Ebbtide” and "Many Times”) which, he alleged, were less popular than “Dragnet,” ac- cording to all available charts of all trade papers and according to all information in the fields of pho- nograph records, jukebox plays, sheet music sales, and radio and video programs. Col’s Epic Tees In Pop, Longhair The Epic label, a subsid of Co- lumbia Records, made its bow in t |; t* platter market this week with pup and jazz releases and an ini- tl *d longhair package culled from the Philips Co. of Holland. Col en- tered into a reciprocal pressing- d si rib deal with Philips earlier t’ Is year. Marvin Hnlzman is head- g the Epic operation for Colum- h-a on both the sales and artists & 1 pertoire end. . Similar to other foreign record- 1: -the Epic 12-inch longplav I alters are being priced at $5.95 ' h. That's 50c. more than Colum- ' 1 s Masterworks disks. Epic, hovv- ' • ('• is being handled through in- ' “distribs. Also included in the dial release are reissues of ex- ’• • dfd-play disks by Artie Shaw •' 1 the late Al Jolson and Bunny ■ 1 ican as wen as new recordings s tan Fisher. Ahmad Jamal’s ! -2 trio Buck Clayfftn with Mar- i' ' f ‘ Morris and jazz organist Bill I. * V 15. lor the Epic classics series, a type of album cover process, n g the photogram device, is be- - used. Photograms are made by '(or objects on photographic the current market. The only new tune to break through into the hit lists in recent weeks has been “Dragnet,” both in its straight ver- sion by Ray Anthony’s orch and the Stan Freberg. “St. George and The Dragonet” parody, both fjr Capitol Records. Most of the other tunes at the top of the hit lists have been up there for three to six months, and have lost their initial sales impetus. As in the past, the disk industry is looking for another strong smash to bring the customers into the stores. The Freberg disk, while a phenomenal seller for the last three weeks, is a novelty item that has failed to increase general turn- over. Although October w ill bo marked down as a poor month, the disk ' business is still chalking up this j year as the best since 1946. If the ' Christmas rush is up to par. ihe | overall take for the industry is ex- pected to top last vear’s gross of $200,000,000 by some $25,000,000. A big factor in 1953's overall up- ward trend has been the new ex- tended-play 45 rpm disks and the steady rise to the sales of long- hair works on longplay platters. GOODMAN EXITS COL, DICKERS WITH CAP Benny Goodman is ankling Co- lumbia Records after close to a three-year tietip. Negotiations are already under way for a Goodman moreover to the Capitol label. A couple of years ago Cap issued several Goodman sides. Maestro hit a bonanza for Col two years ago with his “Carnegie Hall Concert” longplay album and with a followup LP of his air tran- scriptions. Cap also is dickering with Sarah Vaughan who exited the Col stable last week In past couple of years Cap has latched on to such former Col pactees as Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington M-G-M’s Hasin On Tour Charles Hasin, M-G-M Records distribution topper, is out on an 11-city tour in the midwest hud- dling with diskery's distribs. r He’s expected back at his New L-ber and exposing them to light., York office in about two weeks. Fred E. Ahlert, 61, Dies In N.Y.; Ex-ASCAP Prez Active on Copyright Act Fred E. Ahlert, vet composer of numerous hit songs and past pres- ident of the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers, died yesterday (Tucs.i of a heart attack in the New York office of Herman Starr, head of Music Pub- lishers Holding Corp. Ahlert, who was 61 and ailing for the last year, entered Starr's office yesterday noon, shook hands and cried. “Oh, Herman,” before passing away. Ahlert. who was ASCAP presi- dent from 1948 to 1950. was one of the Society’s most active work- ers throughout his 33-year mem- bership. He joined ASCAP in 1920, became a director in 1933 and, following his term as prexy. con- tinued to work in behalf of the Society in Washington, 1). C. In the last year he had made numer- ous visits to the capital in behalf of several hills introduced to amend the Copyright Law to re- move the licensing exemption from jukeboxes. Ahlert was a graduate of Ford- ham Law School but decided to become a songwriter instead of go- ing into practice. Ho broke into the music business as an arranger for orchestral and choral groups and was the first to create the em- bellished gR‘e club arrangements used by Fred Waring’s organization in the 1920s. With the advent of sound films, Ahlert went to Hollywood, where he wrote* the* score of Marion Davies' first talker. * “Marianne.” and Buster Keaton's initiator in the new medium, “Free and Easy.” Among his tune credits are “I'll Get By,” “Mean To Me,” "In Shadow land.’’ “Maybe She 'll Write Me.” “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home,” “I Don't Know Why.” “Navy Blues,” “I Wake Up Smil- ing.” "Love. You Funny Thing.”, “Why Dance?.” “I’ll Follow You,” “Sing An Old Fashioned Song,” “Life Is a Song.” “There’s Frost On the Moon." “In the Middle of May.’’ “I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter." “Take My Heart." “The Moon Was Yel- low’’ and “When the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day," latter being Bing Crosby’s theme song until this year. Ahlert is survived by his wife and two sons, Fred, Jr , and Rich- ard. new union pact early next month Last week, the Record Industry Assn, of America a aed Petrillo to name a date for the pact pow- wows and Petrillo is expected to reply to the invitation at the end of this month, when he returns from his home in Chicago. Since the HI A A is kicking olT the talks, it now appears that the diskers will attempt to negotiate a new deal with Petrillo on an industrywide basis, instead of handling the negotiations company by company. The current live-year pact expires at end of this year. The major disk companies are confident that they will he* able to come to terms with Petrillo amicably. Petrillo’s request for authority to call a strike, which was granted at the A EM conven- tion last June, is looked upon as a bargaining weapon which, it is hoped, will not he needed The key questions in the upcom- ing talks revolve around the Mu sic Performance Trust Fund and new recording scales On the* first point, the diskers are understood to be willing to extend the present agreement, under which they pav a sliding percentage scale on each record to the trust fund for alle- viating unemployment among mu- sicians. II Petrillo asks for a bigger trust fund bite, the diskers will definitely resist and trouble may ensue. Petrillo to elate has not in- dicated what his demands will be On the question of musicians* wage Seales, it’s expected trial Petrillo will demand more money. This, however, is not regarded as a serious obstac le to an agreement since, through a process of give- and-take. a mutually satisfactory scale will be hit upon. IKE & MAMIE GIVING D.C. SYMPH BIG BOOST Washington. Ocf. 20. President and Mrs Eisenhower gave National Symphony ticket sales a shot in the* arm bv agree- ing to occupy the traditional Pres- idential box for tomorrow night’s .'Wed i opening concert. Met baso George London is soloist. Following in the footsteps of their White House predecessors, the First Family, who to date have* shunned social and show biz events, are lending allout support to the* town’s longhair orch. Mrs. Eisen- hower has agreed to serve as hon- orary chairman of the orch’s “Four Golcien Afternoon” series and will he guest of honor at a fund-raising fashion show. In this town, a nod from the Executive Mansion is gen- erally the magic touch to bo. , Howard Mitchell is the symph’s i conductor. Washington. Oct. 20. State Department is planning to enter the fight for legislation to make jukeboxes subject to the copyright laws. Department will file a statement with the Senate Judiciary Committee pointing out that foreign nations give American producers better copyright protec- tion than foreign composers are getting in this country. Biggest loophole to he closed, State will explain, is the present exemption of jukeboxes .from any royalties on music played by the jukes. Quite a number of pop tunes, composed abroad, find their way to the jukes. Department feels that it must protect the foreign composers in the interest of inter- national amity. It has received sev- eral complaints. A subcommittee of the Senate I Judiciary Committee will conduct ; hearings Oct. 26, at which time I spokesmen for the jukebox bust- j ness will oppose the MeCai rail Bill to remove their exemption from the j Copyright Act. Last July 15, spokesmen fof the music composers | and publishers had their day in | court, supporting S. 1106, the proposed legislation. Witnesses at the coming hearing, which will be presided by Sen. Alexander Wiley tit. Wis.), will i include Cong. George I*. Miller, of Alameda. Cal.; George A. Miller, of Oakland. Cal., national presi- dent of the Music Operators of | America, trade body of the juke- box operators; Sidney Levine, legal counsel for the organization; How- ard Ellis, of Omaha; Lee Spear, I Oakland; Clinton Bierce, Broad- head, Wis.; AI Denver, New . York, I Haul Barrett, San Francisco; Les j Montooth, Peoria; William Htillin- | ger, Delphos. Cal ; Martin Blitz, j Great Falls, Mont.; Hammond Chef- I fitz, counsel for the Automatic Fur- niture Manufacturers, and James Donovan, of Cincinnati, for the Na- I tionnl licensed Beverage Assn. In addition, Arthur Fisher, Rcg- (Continued on page 58* Kapp To Launch Diskery, Pubbery Dave Kapp is reentering the mu- sic biz picture with his own pub- lishing firm and recording com- pany. Kapp, who nnkled bis post as administrative aid to Manic Sacks, RCA Victor v.p. and gen- eral manager of dLk operations, last spring, plans to launch his diskery and p'ubhcry operations after the first of tin* year. Kapp currently is formulating plans for the indie label kickoff. No artists have yet been parted. It also has not been decided whether the pubhery will be af- filiated with A SCAB or BMF Both ventures have been chartered un- der the overall tag of Kapp Rec- ords. Ine. Directors of the firms along with Kapp are attorneys Morton Miller and Meyer Schwartz. Before bis assignment with Sacks, Kapp had been pop artists & repertoire chief at Victor. He was replaced by Jim* Carlton. BILLY MAY SETS NEW 4-WAY CAPITOL D r AL Hollywood. Oct 20 Billy May. who gives up the baton of hi*-' band to Bob Dawes on Nov, 1 will remain in town and work out-a four-wav contract with Capitol Records. New deal, an- nounced bv diskery’s* A it R vec- peo Alan W. Livingston, rovers ar- ranging and conducting' both pop and kidisk stuff and writing ar- rangements for Ray Anthony’s hand on regular assignment from Capitol. Latter is the only new phase of his di*-k part. Until he launched the hand two years ago. May was active in the production of nearly every chil- dren's jccord at Capitol, working with Livingston, who was then ' head of the juve disk department.