Variety (August 1956)

Wednesday, August 15, 1956 MUSIC 49 CIVIL LIBERTIES AND R & R Cap Takes "Giant* Step in Dark Hollywood, Aug. 14. Without hearing a note, Capitol closed a deal to issue the sound¬ track album of Dimitri Tiomkin’s score from “Giant,” forthcom¬ ing Warner release which will be extensively exploited as James Dean’s last film. Score has not been completed when the deal was made, although Capitol did hear two tunes written by Tiom- kin, with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, which will be incor¬ porated into the score. In recent previews of the film, Warners has alternately used and dropped the title tune. Previews, incidentally, have utilized can¬ ned music from other WB films for background score purposes. Luniverse’s ‘Flying Saucer Settlement to a Plethora of Pennies Adds Up As was expected, the Luniverse recording of “Flying Saucer,” and its two principals, as authors and publishers, Dick Goodman and Bob Buchanan, settled the music industry’s claim against them for unauthorized usages of copyright¬ ed music by taking out a license. Still unresolved is the recording industry’s aspect of it. since also involved were alleged infringe¬ ments, by name tor disguised name, such as The Clatters for The Platters, and Skinny Dynamos for Fats Domino), and simulations and/or actual recorded excerpts from past proved disks. The record manufacturers are still talking to the Record Industry Assn, of America on a future plan for ac¬ tion. Meantime, the settlement via Julian T. Abeles, attorney for the music publishers, embraces fa), a $10,000 posted bond; (b), an ac¬ counting and payment of royalty on all manufactured records, which is a marked distinction from the trade practice of payment only on records sold; fc), a royalty on the disks, from the first sold, on a cut- rale basis. In aggregate this is said to total around 17c for the platter as against the 2c-per-side, if it were a disk with two single compositions. Since a medley of 17 different tunes (two of them (Continued on page 521 Mickey Mantle, Singer Slugger Mickey Mantle of the N. Y. Yankees will make his disk bow in tandem with Teresa Brewer on the " Coral label. Mantle will duet with the thrush on "I Love Mickey,” tune penned by Miss Brewer, Ruth Roberts and Bill Katz. The tune was preemed on Ed Sullivan’s CBS-TV show Sunday < 12) and put into the groove by Coral the following day. Did Sinatra Grab Cap Gains Deal On ‘Society’ Set? FREE EXPRESSION III ISSUE: flGEU By MIKE KAPLAN Hollywood, Aug. 14. Rock ’n’ roll music, frowned upon by straitlaced city fathers in communities from coast to coast, has found a new champion In the American Civil Liberties Union. The right of after-beat addicts to flip their wigs hasn’t yet become an issue with the national Civil Liberties organization. But it has come undej 1 the scrutiny of ACLU executives hero and they have started the ball rolling on what may become a national campaign. As far as local ACLU rep A. L. Wirin'is concerned, this is strictly another demonstration of the truth of the legend about Voltaire and his willingness to fight for the right of free expression even of his opponents. *T,” said Wirin, repressing a shudder as he recalled some of the music lie’s heard in the last few days, “am strictly a Beethoven man.” However, despite his preference he’s ready to back to the limit the right of teenagers to have the kind of music they want. Current at¬ tempts to ban the r&r beat, he | contends, constitute a “monstrous denial of freedom of expression.” j Wiring was plucked from the ! serenity of his longhair music con- Victor Pressing Hard on Samplers Via Coupon Discount Incentives Time Out for Plugs The political hoopla on ra¬ dio and tv during the next two weeks is giving the music biz pi aggers a headache. With all the networks stand¬ ing by for broadcasts from Chicago and San Francisco to cut into their regular pro¬ gramming hours, the boys are finding it tough to set plugs on their tunes whether there’s a “drive” on or not. “We’re lucky.” one of them said, “it only happens once every four years.” Philly Disk Jock Falls Victim to His Sheet’s Drive Philadelphia. Aug. 14. Boh Horn, who inaugurated the “Bandstand” program on WFJL- TV. has parted company with the station. Docjay’s action followed a long-drawn-out hassle 'stemming templation ai d into the screaming j Horn his arrest on drunken driving charges in June. Circumstances were asainsl | Horn, because Philly Inquirer, | cacophony of rock ’n’ roll by I hearing in El Monte, one of the ! small cities surrounding Los An- , i geles, on whether to refuse pro- i which owns the WFIL stations, was : motor Hal Zciger a hermit to hold i in the heat of a campaign against ; r&r dances in American Legion i lip- u v motorists. Rival Evening Hall. j Bulletin played up the arrest ol’ ‘Censorship Over Art' ; one of Inquirer's best known air “The American. Civil Liberties : personalities. y ^ , , . Union is interested,” Wirin ex-! Temporarily relieved of his In unprecedented disk business ■ pj a ined, “because what we have duties cm “Bandstand.” Horn took deal, Frank Sinatra is apparently j here is a clear case of a board at- regular vacation duo him. On re- Hollywood, Aug. 14. Rock V Roll, Get Lost; It’s Now ‘Happy Music’ And Buck Ram’s Got It Buck Ram, tunesmith-manager, lias packaged a group of his own artists for a tour of the U.S. and Canada. The unit will fly under the banner of “Buck Ram Pre¬ sents Happy Music.” Tour kicks off Aug. 3 at Toron¬ to’s Casino Theatre and dates have j waxery. already been set in Montreal, Chi- j cago and the Paramount Theatres j chain. The package will be headed j by the Platters and will feature \ Shirley Gunther, the Flairs, the ; Cues. Dolly Cooper, Joe Houston ! and Young Jesse. - : Acts are all rock ’n’ roll per- 1 formers, but Ram is sticking to tiie “Happy Music” label because ‘ of I the many squawks sparked by tl\e j r i ’ii’ r beat. His slogan will be j "The Happy Beat For Happv I Feet.” " • winding up with capital gains set¬ up in “High Society” soundtrack album. Details of the transaction are involved and secret but it’s understood Metro gave Sinatra soundtrack rights figuring exploita¬ tion value of the album would be tremendous. He had the album produced and sold it to Capitol Records Distri¬ buting Co. which is handling the release. Platter’s label says “Man¬ ufactured For Essex Productions (Continued on page 52) MGMRe-Kneads “Baker’s Dozen’ k RCA Victor is taking the disk I sampler route to get its fall al- ! hum program rolling. As an added j hypo, the diskery is giving spe- i cial coupons worth up to $20.44 on j LPs and $15.46 on EPS with each ! sampler, redeembale on selected ! merchandise at the dealers. ; The samplers, one pop and one ; longhair, are the feature of the ! label’s “Showcase In Sound” best | buy program for September. Vic- ; tor is offering 28 new albums in : the program 14 classical and 14 j pop. Among the classical entries I arc three complete operas. “La ; Boheme,” “Manon” and “La Tra- i viata.” The "Showcase In Sound” sam- j piers, both 12-inch LPs, will have ; a suggested list price of $1.49 and a suggested dealer cost of 92c. This i marks the first time that dealers will be able to earn a normal profit on sampler platters. The diskery also has propped a 45-EP pop high¬ lighter which carries a suggested j list price of 98c. and a suggested I dealer cost of 61c. The classical sampler features 13 highlights of the September mer¬ chandise program. Ten of the excerpts are introduced by the art¬ ists themselves. The pop sam¬ pler offers 12 highlights from the release. The 45-EP highlighter is a two-record, eight selection package. The coupons included with each “Showcase In Sound” sampler will offer a 25% discount on selected packages. On EP. these selections include: Benny Goodman Limited Edition (advertised price, $24.95; Coupon price, $18.71); GJenn Miller Army Air- Force Band 'ad¬ vertised price, $24.95; coupon price, $18.71); Harry Gcller’s "New York, N. Y.” (advertised price, $3.98; coupon price, $2.99; j tinm studio execs told him he would j und ‘’‘The Popula • Gershwin’’ (ad- he off tv program because of harr-ssment to station.” Deojay could retain however, his post as . director of music -for both stations | and would be given a radio assign- m< nt. Horn said he had signed new I two-year contract just two months j ago, and refused new berth rather ' than tear up old pact. Founder of MGM Records is kicking off its • Hie tv “Bandstand” four years ago, fall sales program with a third j Horn’s show has played host to uir- • crack at; its "Baker’s Dozen” cam- , dually every top musical name in Inc” which ic qinaira'Q r-nmnonw 1 P ai Sn. Plan offers distributors and ; HHerim. Deeiay is at present eon- o S -? I . nalias I dealers one cuffo album for every I ducting his “Bandstand Dances’ vortisod price, $7.98; coupon price, (Continued on page 54) 1 1 , y , Glenn j 12 purchased in bo - h the Lp and j in Wildwood, N.J. During season sa ' P im Tm« C !- de ‘r He ' EP category. The album drive ] he has similar dances running sajs the album always was Capi-. vviJI run through Oct. 15. 'twice weekly in North Philly and I? 1 ri,-^ th |° Up - h theie . s no r cC01 ‘d o* : In line with the fall push, the once a week in Allentown. Pa. studio having sold rights to diskery is strengthening its dis-j - - _I tribution setup with changes in i Pittsburgh, Dallas and Chicago. In ‘ Pittsburgh. Forbes Record Dis¬ tributors replaces Sanborn Music Co., while Daily Bros, in Dallas re¬ places Dobbs. The Chicago switch is on the personnel level with Irv¬ ing Kirsclibaum of Music Distrib¬ utors, a Jimmy Martin operation. (Continued on page 54) STAR DISKERY TEES OFF The Star Record label. Pitts¬ burgh indie, kicked off its disk ac- 1 livity this week with platters by Slim Johnson and Gina Fuller. Star’s releases will cover the pop and rock ’n’ roll fields. Chord Organ Hitting High SalesBeat in Demand For Solos, Folios and Albums Upbeat in sales of the chord or¬ gan indicates a continuing upsurge in the demand for more solo ar¬ rangements, folios and albums. That’s the pitch presented to music publishers by Harold C. Lembke, general sa'es manager for the Hammond Organ Co. Over the last few years, close to 2.000 selections have been arranged and published for the Hammond chord organ in album form alone. According to Lembke, that’s just a token volume of what the chord organ music market can absorb. With an eye towards the opening ( of the new* school year next month. Music Publishers Holding Corp. .((he^Wamcr Bros, music firms* is I stepping up its activity in the edu- Wifn I nfeo Po/4e ' calional and'standard market. TTlin LOlSa races J Uurin? lhe coming season. II. J. Lengsfelder. cleffer-pub- ; MPHG w'ill extend its operation in hslii’i-disker, returned to his Now ; the school hand field with the pub- %rk base last week after winding ; lication of a new band method. y.P bis semi-annual European trek now in the production stage. J. hning up deals for his Pleasant ! Tatian Roach, head of .the firm’s MPHC ‘Schools Up" For Classrooms Bob Haymes’ Album CBS Radio disk jockey Bob liaymes is set for an album show¬ casing via Jubilee Records. It’ll he his first time on wax. The set will feature Haymcs Chord organ sales are running 61 ' b crooning a flock of his own com- ahead of last year with indications positions. LP will be lagged "Boh that end-of-the-year figures will liaymes, That’s All.” show a 90-Lo-100% increase. Lembke stressed that music pub- ' lishcrs were^ missing a bet by not | getting their current, pops into chord organ arrangements. Such Lengsfelder Back From Europe Alusic firm and Request Records operation. While overseas, he con¬ ducted more than two dozen re¬ cording sessions for his own label as well as for some indies. For his Pleasant Music, .Lengs- iclder brought back agreements ''jfib Mills Music Ltd., Edward Kasxncr. B. F. Wood. Richard standard and educational division, is anticipating a sales pickup dur¬ ing ihe coining school year of the already published “Hits Through the Years—On Parade" and the “Red and Gold” series. In the forthcoming season a new textbook, “Living With Music.” — -... , will be released by MPIIC for use bchauer and Cecil Lennox in Eng- i in general music classes in junior t »uu i-uui-<nui mrc-i J aud. Nazionalmusic and Lconardi I highsehools. Also up for the school the MPHC catalog. them are “Polkas Made Easy.” "Lawrence Wclk Favorites” and “Victor Herbert Made Easy.” And loir the fust time the firm will move in on the accordion field with arrangements of “Indian Sum¬ mer.’’ “Jalousie” and “Shine on Harvest Moon.” The Warner group is also taking a craek. at the guitar field with a collection of solos by Roy Smock and a method for Spanish guitar. The MPIIC road men have been pitching their line to the school trade via educational exhibits at key dealers. School music direc-, tors have been hilling these exhib-, its to o.o. the new materials and works from the standard reper¬ toire. The traveling reps are also attending the clinics, conventions and educator meet circuit to plug : scries for young people called “Musiplays." by Jerome Lawrence and Robert IC. Lee. Latest addi¬ tion is “The Familiar Stranger.” The growing chord organ field (see separate story) is up for a pilch by the MPHC standard and educational hoys. too. One of tno firm’s top sellers. “Hits Through tiie Years." has been extended to cover the Hammond Chord Organ and on the presses now is a “Waltz Time" folio. Other folios for or gan are in the planning stage. MPIIC also is continuing to ex¬ pand ilse newest publishing ven¬ ture. “Labanolalion.” This is the organists, he slated, are eager for new material and are reluctant' to ,w’ail until the publisher gets around to printing the hit parade favorites in album form. The company is also propping an expansive promotional campaign for stimulating the sale of music registered for the Hammond organ. £ Lane, Herman Replace Meyer, Ager at SPA George Meyer and Milton Ager have resigned their council mem- s.vstem of w riting the movements her scats with the Songwriters Pro- ln Italy and Altona in Holland, «mong others. In addition, Lengs- year .push is the first volume of . ~ - ... .. —***,„ “The Leslie Bell Choral Series.” elder pacted soprano Frieda Tel- MPHC is directing its standard lcr - who'll be starred this season and educational pitch at the grow- y'fifi the Vienna Staats-Opera. ing accordion market. Firm now' bhc’l] be released by Request Roc- has on the works a flock of new °i’ds in an Offenbach album. i single editions and folios. Among of dancers on a staff which is read in much the same manner as music notation. One of the upcoming : publications will be "Better Dane- ■ in.g With Fred Astaire” prepared ' cooperation with the Fred lective Assn. The vacancies were filled by Burton Lane and Pinky Herman. Both Meyer and Ager exited their SPA assignments because of being based away from the org's Firm has also increased its ac¬ tivity in the amateur theatrical market. Special editions of its w.k. operettas such as “The For-,... ... . ( ... . .„ tune Teller” and “Babes in Toy- script ions adjoining the Labanota- there in the near future, land” are part of the new program, lion setup. It will be issued with There are 21 members on the In addition, firm is extending, its accompanying music. 'SPA council. Astaire Dance Studios. Folio will | h.q. in Now York. Ager has been contain a collection of ballroom , living on the Coast for dose to a , dances with complete word de-1 year while Meyer plans to move