Variety (November 1954)

Wednesday, November 17,' 1954 MTTSIC 55 BING SURE STARTED SOMETHIN’ The disk industry is on a lend- jease kick. In the past feto months the record companies have stepped up their artists-trading and have begun to enjoy each other’s com- pany. Heretofore, disk artists loan- outs were virtually nil, and rival companies stuck tp a handsoff pol- icy on their exclusive pactees. Latest swapping deal was made by. MGM Records for its upcoming soundtrack set for the Metro, ic, “Deep in My Heart.” Three rival platteries came into the act on this deal, to give MGM the okay to use their artists/ Columbia re- leased Rosemary Clooney, Mercury gave the greenlight to Vic Damone and RCA Victor . came through with Tony Martin. Col’s release of Miss Clooney is unusual, since it nixed a Decca, soundtrack set of. the Par filmusical, “White Christ- mas.” Col is issuing its own “White Christina'S”. album with Miss Cloo- ney, while Decca had to sufe Peggy Lee in its .set. Decca was stymied on the soundtracker, even though it had the other stars in the pic, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye; and Vera- Ellen. Col, however,; made amends by releasing Johnnie Ray for Decca’s upcoming "There’s "No Business Like Show Business” set. Some Sidetracking A lthou gh trading restrictions have eased up considerably in re- cent monthST Decca again was side- tracked in its plans to release a complete “Show Business” sound- track album when Victor nixed Marilyn Monroe, for the Decca (Continued on page 63) Add Sound Effects George R. Marek, RCA Vic- tor’s manager of artists & repertoire, has come up with a * new “music appreciation” gle for Leopold Stokowski's new disk of Beethoven’s Sixth (Pastorale) Symphony. Since this symphony was inspired by sounds of nature, the Victor- disk will include actual sounds of a thunderstorm, babbling brooks, bird songs, etc., at the end of the selection. Stokow- ski will also be heard in ah ex- planatory commentary. The .unusual encore to the Beethoven symphony will run about seven minutes and will demonstrate exactly how Bee- thoven incorporated thp bus . motifs into his work. Eager to Fork Over $3.30 For Orck, Demonstration Washington, NoV. 16. Washington's first “Soundorama Hi-Fi Concert” drew nearly 3.000 payees into Constitution Hall last Saturday night (13), to observe the way high fidelity, equipment re- rodiices the music of a symphony rchestra'. The crowd proved that the hi-fi bug will pursue his hobby any- where, even at $3.30 a ticket, but the program failed to deliver very much of what, the ads promised. The National Symphony Orchestra, W’GMS and three hi-fi equipment manufacturers, Berlant, Fisher and Jensen, teamed up for the even- ing’s entertainment. What came forth principally was • pop concert by the orchestra and witty lecture on the components of a symphony orchestra by M. Robert, Rogers, general manager (Continued on page 63) . PETRILLO DOUSES BRIT. In a move to meet rising, operat- ing expenses, the Songwriters Pro- tective. Assn, council is recom- mending a hike in membership dues starting next year. It will be the second increase in dues since SPA was launched in 1930. Under .the new schedule, SPA members will be classified into six classes, ranging, from A A to D, with dues and Voting rights proportioned according to the writers’ income. For Class' A A members, the SPA dues .will be $150 annually; Class A, $110; Class.BB, $75; Class B, $60; Glass C, $36, and Class D, $20. As- sociated members, with no voting rights, will continue to pay $15 annually. Illustration of how the SPA workload has increased is in its handling of oontracts between writ- ers and publishers. In 1949 about 2,500 contracts were processed, as against. 6,000 this year. In 1949 SPA had 1,500 members and sent out only 4,000 copyright renewal notices. This year, the SPA roster is up to 2,400 members add 8,000 renewal notices are going f out. London, Nov. 16. James C, Petrillo, boss of the American Federation of Musicians, fias nixed, a peace offer from lead- ing British bandleader Tied Heath to try to end the deadlock on American-British band exchange, Heath wrote a letter direct to Pe- Irfllo offering his band for a nionths U.S. engagement ex-, cli rige. for any star American, band of equal personnel. He hoped to demonstrate that both countries would welcome each other’s, bands *nd thus. Create an interchange: cross; the Atlantic... Petrillo replied Nov, 5 with the non-committal statement: .Any agreement .for interchange of bands would have to be made be- tween the British Musicians Union arid the AFM. It cannot be made by this Organization with any par- ticular band or bandleader.” DECCA, U-I TEAMING FOR ‘PARIS’PIC SOUNDTRACK Decca Records and Universal-In- ternational, which are tied together via the diskery's majority stock ownership in the film studio, are again teaming for a' joint sound- track album promotion of “So This Is Paris,” /U-I pic starring Tony Curtis and Gloria De Haven. Decca will tie dealer compaigns into the |ipic’s exhibition in the various keys, while the pic company will have special screenings for the retailers and disk jockeys. Campaign is expected to.follow the pattern set by Decca and U-I on “The Glenn Miller Story;” whose soundtrack album turned into one of Decca’s bestselling al- bums and U’s top grosser. Bing Crosby’s toprankiiig posi- tion in the music biz for the past 20 years and more is perhaps best reflected in widespread reaction Which his article on current tunes, singers and disk jockeys in a re- cent issue of Look magazine has touched , off. . The Groaner’s com- ments, although largely critical, were authoritative enough to spark a cross-country pro-and-con de- bate, especially among the disk jockeys. . v : Crosby’s key statement concern- ing the jocks was as follows: “Some of them bother, me; I really be- lieve. that if a disk jockey is go- ing to set himself up as judge, he should have some real knowledge of \Vhat he’s about. It’s apparent that many \vho speak in the accents of authority are all accent and no authority. By playing and replay- ing a song which has nothing but nuisance value* a. large nuisance and lots of sales can fee brought about. But in the long run, that practice, will give the industry a short haul and a bad shake.” The disk jockey com e.b a cks ranged from Crosby’s “1009b right” (Russ Coglin, KROW, Oak- land) to Crosby’s “all wet” (Bill Silbert, WMGM, N. Y.), with all shades of opinion between the two extremes also; getting an airing. The focus of the jock reaction still is largely on the questions of (1) who makes the hits? and (2) how knowledgeable does a jockey have, to be? Rex Dale (WCKY, Cincinnati) (Continued on page 56) Via Mailed Form Stirs Ire of U.S. Pubs In All Due Modesty Decca Records brought coals to Newcastle recently when it shipped two boxes of its latest Four Aces’ release, “Air. Sand- man,” to a record shop In Hempstead, L. I. The record store is owned by Archie. Bleyer, who also heads Up Cadence Records:. Cadence has the click waxing of “Mr, Sandhian” by The Chordettes, which the Aces re trying to catch. ^ — • ■ Donald Kahn’s Music Buy Hollywood, Nov. 16. Donald Kahn is now two-thirds owner of the Gus Kahn Music Co., having bought the interest of his lister, Irene Kahn (Mrs. Arthur, Marx. .. / Other third is owned by Grace Rahn, widow of the late tunesmjth. MGM Readies Album On Early Judy Soundtracks In a movfe to cash iri on the cur- rent'Judy Garland pic, “A Star Is Born,” AIGM Records lias whipped up special package culled from the soundtracks of the warbler’s .earlier Metro filmusicals. Album >vill be issued as a 12-inch long' play platter and a two-potket ex- tended play set. Among the soundtrack items are “Who,” “Get Happy,” “Johnny One Note” and. “Look For the Silver Lining.” KAPP INKS CROONER Crooner Fred Waters, has been added to the roster at Kaipp Rec- ords, indie label operated by Dave Kapp. Waters already has cut two lides for Kapp. As part of its stepped-up station relations program, the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers is inaugurating a new service to broadcasters via a cata- loged index of ASCAP tunes on disks. Program guide will be cuf- foed on a monthly basis to ASCAP licensees and will contain a listing of the ASCAP repertory on wax broken down in various categories, such as .seasonal music, holiday hits, song's by cities, etc., to facili- tate programming by jockeys and. producers. Each listing dll cover the title, composer, publisher, rec- ord version and disk catalog num- ber. New service, called “ASCAP Mu- sic On Records—Your Program Guide,” is part of ASCAP’s intensi- fied effort to service its customers on as extensive a scale as possible. J. Al. Collins, ASCAP’s sales man? ager, is heading up the stations re- lations' operation and worked with other staff members for several months i coming up with the ASCAP disk index. ASCAP’s efforts in this direction parallel the elaborate; job that Broadcast Music Inc. has been do- ing promotionwise. For the : past few years, BMI has been cuffoing numerous program, series for radio as well as turning out sketches, built around - its. repertory, for video program purposes. In Busy ‘Originals’ Sked Continuing its busy .schedule of Cutting Original cast albums’ this year, RCA Victor will wrap up its wax production of the "rent Broadway musical, “Fanny,” Sun- day (21). Ezio Pinza and Walter Slezak are cast, toppers. Victor has already sliced “The Boy Friend,” “Airs. Patterson,” “Peter P.an” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Upcoming are “Silk Stockings” and “Ninqtchka.” Victor also issued the soundtrack album «f - the ,20th-Fox filmusical, “Carmen Jones.” Cap’s Year Sales Up t o $17,283,iO Hollywood, Nov., 16. Sales and .earnings of Capitol Records have continued to jump, orexy Glenn E. Wallichs told stock- holders in: a quarterly report to- day; with sales for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1954, jumping $1,- 318,000 over the tally for the pre- ceding'12 months. Net sales totaled $17,283,000, Wallichs announced. Firm’s earnings hit a figure of $736,181, a jump of $26,557 over the previous year. Total is equal, after preferred dividends, to $1.53 a share on the 476,230 shares of common stock outstanding.. Last year’s net of $709,624 was, equal to $1.47 per share. Wallichs emphasized that the company’s working capital position Continues to be strong with cash receivables and Government se- curities exceeding, all liabilities. Shareholders also were informed that the company still expects its new home, first circular design building, to be completed by the end of 1955. However, no Work has been done since the ground-break- ing ceremonies two months ago. ‘MAMBO USA’ IN FOLDO AFTER FL0PPER00 TRIO Chicago, Nov. 16. “Mambo' USA,” touring concert package with Joe Loco and Ala- chito orchs, folded here last week after a flopperoo trio of ballroom dates which brought a collective take of less than $1,000. Paradise Ballroom played the package last Wednesday (10), Trianon grabbed it for the following night, and a third dancery engagement was played in East Chicago, Ind. These dates were played after its 15 stops as a Norman Granz promotion. Company had its ups and downs in the midwest. At. Civic Opera House here recently, “Mambo USA” played for a capacity $7,800. On the night before, however, it showed, up before a turnout of 400 in Detroit. While the suit of the Swiss film exhibitors against, the Swiss per- forming rights society over the issue of licensing payments has beeji postponed to next month, repercussions of the, action Aver felt this week in the ranks of the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers. ASCAP in- tervened in the action, on the side of the Swiss society ' (SSAE) to counter the argument of . the ex- hibitors that they did not have to pay any music fees since their film license covered the whole sound- track. including the music. While both U. S. publishers and writers anxious to see the Swiss society win the legal action, ASCAP’s method of intervention caused considerable .irritation ' this country among the top pub- lishers. A few weeks ago, ASCAP Cxecs circulated a form for 150 flint background music writers to. sign, in which they stated that they owned all. the: rights to the music in fill This was intended for transmission to Switzerland to show that a license, to exhibit a film did not cover the riiusic in that film. Raised. Eyebrows The form, however,, raised a lot of eyebrows. among the publishers, particularly the subsidiaries of motion picture companies. Execs of these companies, who are also (Continued on page 60) Brand-Consqious Block Says Top Labels Should Settle Writers’ Royalty Suit Vs. Gallico for 7jG The Jirhiny Kennedy-Nat Simon suit against Al Gallico Music for unpaid royalties was settled, ut of court last week, with the payment to the plaintiffs of $7,500. Tune- - smiths Simon and Kennedy sued for $9,000, which they .alleged rep- resented unpaid royalties on their tunes “Down the Trail of Achin’ Hearts,” “Poor Whip-Poor-Will,” and “(I Want Aly Kisses) From Your Lips Only.” Copyrights on the three tunes also were reassigned to the writers. ATartin. Block i. of the disk jockeys who “likes, to hear the latest, records ith” his audiences, as referred to in last week’s edi- torial on double-entendre songs, and takes exception to the observa- tion that it might be wiser to screen some of the platters before exposing them to the public. “I’m brand conscious,” says Block, “and like Cadillac or Gen- eral Electric or any other standard brand, which to me is insurance of quality, Why . should I even be moved to have any qualms if a record comes from such established firms as RCA, Columbia, Capitol, Decca and the like..- I know they employ the top talents and have the top personnel to make the top records, so don’t you think it woi #i be presumptuous for me to sit in judgment, and summarily decide that (1) so-and-so sings smutty di- alectic lyrics, and (2) so-and-so is (Continued on page 63) B1RDLAND PREPS NEW CONCERT PKGE. FOR ’55 Birdland, N. Y., jazz nitery, is prepping another concert package for a three-week tour beginning in February. Featured in the new package will be Sarah Vaughan, George Shearing, Count Basie, Er- rol 1 Garner and Lester Young. Unit will be tagged “Birdland Stars of 1955;” The nitery sponsored a jazz con- cert. package last month which played one-night stands in Boston and New York only. The '55 pack- age will kick Off its tour in Phila- delphia Feb: 11 arid riioVe into- New. York’s Carnegie ITali the fol- lowing night, Walter Bishop Named SPA Council Member Walter Bishop has. been elected to the council of the Songwriters Protective Assn, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dor- othy Fields. . , .. Aliss Fields* resigned because she was unable to attend- meetings due to pressure of her Work; Even Japs Go Mambo Tokyo, Nov. 9. Orquesta Tipica Canero> Latino ensemble from Argentina, arrives, in Japan this month for a series of concerts for suddenly m a inbo- rn ad Nipponese. Juan Luis Canaro batons with Maria de la Fuente thrushing. Tango and mambo group will play at Tokyo’s Nlchi- geki, the largest stage and screen policy house in the country. For the past several months every stage revue at the house has included a mambo routine, reflect- ing the feeling in all the clubs where the craze began.