Variety (December 1954)

, i'; Wednesday, December 1, 1954 In the Nov. 17 Variety rundown of disk jockey, opinion on Bing Crosby's Lbok mag article on the music biz, the views of’ Bill Silbert, o't WMGM, N. Y., were paraphrased, too briefly and sharply. Silbert said: “I hardly believe that Bing could be speaking from first hand information. I have never met Bing Crosby and I’ve been a disk jock- ey in a major city for over 12 years. So therefore if Bing is under the impression that too many ^isk jockeys are making comments about music; without having any factual background,' he obviously is not talking about me or others like me who have devoted a big share of their lives to learning our craft the same as you would any other..; With all due respect to The Groaner, who Has' been and probably always .will be my No; 1 or 2 ajiltime favorite. At his graying age,, may he best sit down and write a personal note to each and every disk jockey that he knows has been of assistance to him and his career these, many years, thanking these gentlemen for their kind comments and many spins. I'm sure that Bing is not the ungrateful kind and that his comments probably were of a general kind and meant to infer that the business of getting a hit record has changed from the days when Bing merely sang his latest record four, or five times a week on bis own radio program and,'after that, nature took its course.” Inflationary note* When Jenny Lou Carson’s “Let Me Go, Lover!’' was first published in 1953 the title page carried a 40c tag when it was first called “Let Me Go, Devil!” With the special A1 Hill lyric* the one that Joan Weber oil Columbjf, et. al., have “covered” on the platters, the same titlepage carries a 50c price. Otherwise it’s the j same decor, excepting for one other little change that’s noted. Hill & 1 Bange Songs, Iric. with its trademarked pseudo-western mesa scene, ' including a Hopalong Cassidy character in silhouette, is now indicated as being a registered U. S. trademark. It’s one of the few such manifestations in the music business. One memorable one is “Mary Earl,” a Shapiro-Bernstein “house” byline, which the publisher similarly protected as a registered trademark. It came into being first as a nom-de-plume for Robert (Bob.) A- King (nee Keiser; he changed it in World War I) as the byline on S-B’s now standard “Beautiful Ohio,” waltz hit. Despite intense opposition from about 50% of their listening audi- ence, disk jockeys still occasionally use the gimmick of giving con- centrated repeat plays to a side. Bob Ancell, of WDOK, Cleveland, recently gave 31 spins to Kitty Kallen’s new Christmas tune, “Baby Brother;” on one* of his shows and received 860 calls to stop playing the number. Over 900 listeners, however, asked him to keep on spinning the record. Al (Jazzbo) Collins pulled a similar stunt a few weeks ago on The Chordettes’ “Mr. Sandman.” At that time, some listeners offered to pay Collins to stop spinning that number: Something new in record promotion is being tried in Pittsburgh by the Mercury people there. They’re taking their platters straight to the teenagers, hiring a sound truck to. go to all of the area highschools, playing Patti Page’s new release of "Let Me Go, Lover.” To give the stunt a local flavor, the disk carries a taped introduction by Joy Michael, popular deejay in Pitt at WCAE. • 1 The city of Mobile, Alabama, is prepping an all-out celebration f6r Julius LaRosa this weekend (5-6) honoring, his Cadence waxing, of “Mobile.” Crooner will be feted by the town’s Chamber of Com- merce. Tune is published by Ardmore Music. Mike Gould; Ardmore topper, set the lest with the C of C. As. a special disk jockey package, Decca Records has assembled four of Bing Crosby’s alltime Christmas tune bestsellers into a single EP for cuffo distribution to stations. Set contains “White. Christmas,” “Silent Night,’’ "Jingle Bells" and “Silver Bells.” The EP is not being made available to retailers, Although Walter Slezak missed the recording session for the original cast album of the legit musical. “Fanny,” on Nov. 21, he cut his part of the set the following day. Victor engineers pieced the two sessions together in doublequick time and the album started coming off the presses last weekend. For the first time in their recording careers, Peggy Lee and. the Mills Bros, are teaming up on wax for a Decca coupling. Combo will do two numbers cleffed by Miss Lee, “Straight Ahead” and “It Must Be So.” A WONDERFUL SEASONAL SONG $ 1 , -■> end Corn's ‘It! IT SHOW!" ~UT If SHOW!" "UT IT SHOW!" CAHN MUSIC COMPANY 4— —T—T . ■ . , Infant Daughter of The Les Pauls Dies Four-day old daughter of the re- cording team of Les Paul and Mary Ford died yesterday (Tues.) in New York. She was named Col- leen Doyle. Infant, an eight-month child, was born Thursday (25) In Ridge- wood, N. J., and failed to survive an operation to correct a respira- tory condition. She weighed five pounds. Paul has two sons, ine and 11, from a previous marriage; this was their first child. DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS WORLD FAMOUS ORCHESTRA BASIN STREET, New York Nov. 30 for FIVE WEEKS CAPITOL RECORDS ASSOCIATED BOOKING CORPORATION ■'OE GLASER Pros. N v .■« : - « j C h i c a q o j H o i 1 y *v j a cl '; ~ ;> •• .. j w 3 bj-,- I . (As Reported by; MDS) 1. White Christmas . .Berlin 2. Winter Wond’land ..BVC 3. Silver Bells ..., . .Famous 4. Rudolph* .,. .St, Nicholas 5. I Saw Mpmmy .... Regent 6. Santa Is Coming.. Feist 7. Frosty ,. H & R 8. Here Conies Santa.Western CHICAGO JAZZ BENEFIT BASHES FOR TEENAGERS Chicago; Nov, 30. Industrialist Arnold Maremont is underwriting a new series of bene- fit jazz concerts here, 'the proceeds -of which will be handed to the Midwest Music Foundation. Name stars of the jazz orbit .will be brought in every two weeks to per- form one concert at Orchestra Hall and another at some Windy City highschool; Purpose of the con- certs, aside from the benefit value, is to avail jazz to teenagers who aren’t able to consume it in cabarets; Gene Krupa and Cozy Cole kick off the series called “Jamini ’ in Jazz,” on Dec. 13 and 14. Prices are gauged to suit the teenage purse; a. flat $1.50 for the high- school performances and a scale from 75c to $2 at Orchestra Hall. Japs Disk Pop Tunes To Tokyo, Nov. 23. Four Japanese recording com- panies will place, on sale at the end of this month popular songs 1 dealing with the recent Hokkaido ferry disaster, in which more than 1,500 persons last their lives, and the overturning of a cruise boat on Lake Sagami which was overloaded , by four times its capacity, when 22 youths drowned. Columbia will release “Alas, Aomori-Hokodate Ferry.” Victor’s will he “Alas, Toy a Maru.” Teichiku will'wax “The Ferry Boat Which* Failed to Return.” Mer- cury is producing “Lake Sagami Elegy.” In addition, Toei Studios will produce a film called “Alas, Toya Maru,” using the Victor song as a theme. In view of the public criticism against commercialization of the two disasters, the recording com- panies have announced the songs will avoid light treatment (sic). Coslow to Score Brit. Tin Pan Alley Film London, Nov. 30. Sam Coslow is to write the music for a new film to be produced by Raymond. Stross, based on the novel, “An Alligator Named Daisy.” Tin Pan Alley will be the locale of the picture, .for which the names of Diana DorsfKenneth Moore and even Patti Page are being talked about for the leading roles. Stross recently finished the J. Arthur Rank pid, “As Long As They’re Happy,” for which Coslow also wrote the score. Bozo Hits Road Again Bozo, the Capitol Records clown, is hitting the road again. On the heels of a ., European junket, Bozo is heading out for Canada for a show today (Wed.) at a children’s hospital in London, Ont. During the three-day stay, Bozo also will - tour hospitals in Canada and work with Capitol personnel in that territory. On Dec. 26, the clown planes down to Bermuda for appearances at the Kindley Air Force Base there. The promotion junkets ..are for the diskery’s Bozo platter series. Cap’s “Bozo At'The, Circus” already has the 1,000,000 album “sales mark. NAME BANDS PRO TEM Plainville, Conn., Nov. 30. Owner-manager George Navickas has resumed name band policy at 350-capacity Wrights’ Steak House, Tex Beneke aggregation teeing off schedule Monday and Tuesday (29- 30), to be followed by Sammy Kaye (Dec. 6-7).- Russ Ames officiates balance of week. Ralph Smttman has joined the contactman staff of Harry Von Til- ; zer Music. He’ll headquarter in j New York, MUSIC 59 New York Dick Gersh set up an indie pub- licity office , . . Jackie Lee, pianist on Coral Records, currently at Sci- olla’s, Philadelphia Thrush Greta McRae made her profession- al debut last week with the Her* man Chiitison Trio at the Hotel Earle’s Waverly Lounge . . . The Gaylords play a special two-day engagement Friday-SatiP'day (3^4) I at, the Rustic Cabin, Englewood. N. J. . . , Ames Bros, set for Ed j Sullivan’s -’Toast of the Town” stanza on CBS-TV Sunday (5) . . ! George Shearing Into Birdland Dec. 16 . . Tunesmith Dick Sher- man, now in the U. S. Army, fur- loughing in town with five tunes set for major release. He’s the son of songwjritcr Al Sherman . . Royer Boys, Coral Records* vocal combo, pacted to General Artists Gdrp. Group is slotted for one week at the Copa, Pittsburgh, be- ginning Dec. 13 . . . Billy Eckstine kicks off an Australian tour Dec.. 10 . . Lew Bonn Go. has taken over the distribution of Epic and Okeh Records in the Minneapolis territory . . Bebo Valdes, new Decca pactee, has penned a history of the mambo for the Morro Music folio of iano solos, “It's Mambo Time.” London Arrangers, composers and copy- ists section of the Musicians Union held a meeting in London yester- day (Tues.), to discuss salary rates and employment conditions in the so-far unregulated music-publish- ing . Tommy Hudson, from Keith Prowse, has joined the ex- ploitation department of Feld- man’s . Norman Granz, in Lon- don on a flying visit, says hris “Jazz; at the Philharmonic” will be visit- ing Europe again next year, com- mencing its tour around February . . . . Trumpet-player Eddie Calvert smashed up his Jaguar coming from a charity show at Brighton. He was uninjured, but had to miss a couple of broadcasts through shock . . . Pat Reilly* West End bassist, who has been with Harry Roy’s orch, emigrated to the States Sund*ay (28) . , , Jack Simpson, . xylophonist-bandleader - composer I sailed on the United States to work in the States. He is already booked for the Ed. Wynn tv show and Edgar Bergen radio show Chicago ChaYlie Ventura with Mary Ann McCall set for : Blue. Note two- framer on Dec. 8, with Woody Her- man following for two on Dec. 22 . . Dan Belloc orch signed Eddie Allen as vocalist . . Spike Jones opens Lake Club; Springfield, this week through Dec.' 4, with Eddy. Howard takipg over, on Jan. 7 for nine days . .. Red Sanders still in- definite at Club De Lisa after three years. Pittsburgh With closing of the Casino for a month, "Red French, drummer in the burlesque theatre’s pit orch, has joined the Tommy Carlyn band . . . Vogue-Terrace picked up op- tion of Stan Conrad, organist, for another six months . . . Bobby Car- dillo underwent a kidney stone op- eration at Columbia Hospital,, and until he recovers, Don McGovern replaces him with Reid Jaynes at the Carlton House’s twin pianos and Johnny Costa, takes over as leader of the trio Which backs | “Lullaby in. Rhythm” on Channel 2 every Thursday night . . . Adam' DeGasperi, bass man with Joey Sims outfit; and his: wife celebrated their 21st Wedding anni-. Honey Boy and his Buzzin’ Bees tagged for an indefinite stay at Duffy’s Tavern downtown Billy Taylor Trio opened two-week stay Mon- day (29) at Midway Lounge Scotland Harry Gold and his Pieces of' Eight, plus Ronnie Scott orch, to St. Andrew’s Hall, Glasgow, for a one-night stand . . . Dr. Crock and his Crackpots orch into Playhouse, Glasgow . I Jimmy Young, Eng- lish disk singer, vaude headliner at Edinburgh Empire following re-. cent attack of appendicitis . ... / David Whitfield to Dumfries to boost sales of his records Rob- ert Wilson’s “Here’s To The Gor- dons” at top of native bestsellers THE VOICES THREE Sure-Fire One of My Dreams Is Missing MGMT1842 78 RPM KM 882 45 RPM M G M RECORDS H r- G rc c - NAME , N E N ' E r>' - \ M E \ T H r - G R E A ~ E : ’ NAME ' N E N E P ~ L r 7Q' SEVENTH A V E NEW Y O R “ It N y