Variety (August 1956)

Wednesday, August 15, 1956 Kanaga’s Crystal-Ball Shows Disk Future as Good as Its Past (Summer) PfaziETr Lorry Raine to Etch ’Em For 2—Advance and Dot MUSIC Larry Kanaga, RCA Victor, veep- general manager, returned to his New York desk Monday (13) after a week on the road in a bullish mood on the state of the disk biz. Kanaga got the upbeat pitch from distribs and dealers he visited to «sts & repertoire operation last ts Past (Summer) s he m uui \uuuuuvi/ i deal arranged by Dot Records - _| prexy Randy Wood, the label ob- _ <» i tained an option on the singer’s Decca Adds Hal.Webman 'services on a per-master basis al- Ray Mi _ „ . a o nr lowing her to continue to work on - r To Growing A&R Staff ■ other material for the Advance t Decca Records expanded its ar- j label. . Ray Ma ts & repertoire operation, last l\ew deal marks Miss Raines chief for (Mere Crack at B way in a New High; Self-Publishing Also Marking Trend Decca Records expanded its ar- showcase the label's new fall pro- ^o'ieNcwYork stafiT He’ll corded for the diskery about two a"four-week" slay.'" lie’ll''remain'in Getting a“ crack at Topflight produc- g Dealers he stated are basins report to Milt Gabler, label’s na- years ago before moving over to New York until Friday and then tions/too. thS?Optimism to the SS seS tionai »&r chief. Her first s.des to Dot. for .the Coast for powwows Fm . example , Har#M Kair * on the summer sales upbeat this Diskery’s a&r staff setup now .. market ne ^t week ’ Platter is with Capitol Recoids , th p e ’ Matt Dubey have the score assign- year. Unlike previous hot weather includes Paul Cohen, Jack Pleis, ^ ™ ^ of <‘A Casual Look’’ F ^. 01 [ e f ases 1 f * n ‘ ,sh . C ?' ment on ‘‘Happy Hunting,” the months when the retail disk busi- Leonard Joy and Is Horowitz based , pickin » Kisses” lumbia p atteis in the U. S. via its i^thol Merman starrer; nop tune- Dealers, he stated, are basing report to Milt Gabler, label’s na. their optimism for the fall season tlonal a&r chief - I on the summer sales upbeat this Diskery’s a&r staff setup now | tists & repertoire operation, last New deal marks Miss Raine s chief for the British Columbia week with the addition of Hal Web- return to the Dot ros'er. She re- label, hit the U. S. Monday (13) for man to the New York staff. He’ll corded for the diskery about two ia four-week stay, lie’ll remain in -:-4- There’s a rash of new-to-legit t» n/r • • • it tv n cleffers in line for a musieomedv Kay Martin in the U.o. whirl this season. Unlike previous For Rrit Col Label y ears . in which onI - v a handful got rori>rn. s ^oiiudULi a crack at the Broadw boards, Ray Martin, artists & repertoire the producers are apparent 5 .** rirop- lief for the British Columbia ping the. barriers to let the new- bel, hit the U. S. Monday (13) for CO mers in. And some of ’em are For example, Harold Karr & Matt Dubey have the score assign- kvorKing out oi uie ^oasi. , th k t - Ad ance T t ’ s j — and music for "Pa. . past couple of years, , been‘determined vet whether While hero. Martin will also plug musicaUzation of Eugene O'Neill’s nad been_ operating his "°‘ b ° c ,v a „ t«gld “Interlude ” his ncw P la,tC1 ' " hirl ' h0 "Anna Christie," a : publishing Arms. Be- be rcieased rnuJer the Dot I S| ucts , an oreh workover of '■Street poet Richard Wilbu j his new platter in which ho months when the retail disk busi- Leonard Joy and Is Horowitz based , «ryotton Pickin’ Kisses” lumbia p atters in the u s. via iio | Ethel Merman starrer; nop tune- ness hit bottom, the dealers, for in N. Y., and Sonny Burke and sincer also has an album re- with LMI <IvIcotrica1& Music i sm ith Bob Merrill is cletfing words the most part, have been holding Bud Dant working out of the Coast. , ’ ; n the works at Advance It’s Indo! ? tries) * j and music for "Pay The Piper ,’ 1 up strongly, with some reporting For the past couple of years, , been‘determined vet whether While here. Martin will also p' a 60 to 65% increase over the pre- Webman had been operating his P.™ Bee " tTecId “Interlude ’’ his new P laUci ‘ in "Inch ho e vious year’s take. own music publishing firms. Be- ^ rc ie aS ed S under the Dot ducts an 01,0,1 workover of “Sir Kanaga credits the summer sales f° re that he had been New York banner included in the set are Symphony” and ’Tambourine.” upbeat to the steady phonograph editor of Downbeat mag. f o Ur previously unreleased tunes - Purchases, several hot disk sellers by Harry Ruby backgrounded • by Fnrmc (especially, Elvis Presley a Victor . n p . , Nelson Riddle. These sides were rtettl horms pactee), and the continual growth rvanx inKS ADrams-Jtveia cut be f ore Riddle’s exclusive pact Composer-arranger Neal IL of interest in the packaged goods Publisher Phil Kahl has tapped ; with Capitol Records. lias formed a new jazz quintet. r product. According to Kanaga, the Vic Abrams and Irving Reid to an _ combo will co-headline IIol dealers are not yet complaining exclusive cleffing deal for his BMI wife, thrush Frances Wayne. H about the barrage ol’LPs being re- firms. Their material will be put I MICKI MARLO TO ABC-PAR supply the arrangements for :uuui UL ^ uwl,uc ‘ ,t four previously unreleased tunes | by Harry Ruby backgrounded • by T«Lr<, AUomc D j Nelson Riddle. These sides were KaM Inks Abrams-Keid | cut before Riddle’s exclusive pact Publisher Phil Kahl has tapped j with Capitol Records. Hefti Forms Quintet Composer-arranger Neal Ilefti "Anna Christie,” and 3, 1 -year-old poet Richard Wilbur is doing mod of the lyrics to Leonard-Bernstein’s music for "Candide.” Other legituner starters in tha running for a Broadway showcas¬ ing are David Baker (music) and has formed a new jazz quintet. The Dav id Craig (lvrics) for "Copper combo will eo-headlme Ilefti’s and Brass”; Charles Strause turn¬ about the barrage of LPs being re- firms. Their material will be put leased by the diskeries and are into the Kahl or Patricia Music eager for the new product. "If operations. the market holds steady,” he said, Among the Abrams-Reid credits "everybody’s fall program should are "Johnny Be Smart,” "Napo- do well.” Icon” and "Give Me Your Love.” exclusive cleffing deal for his BMI wife, thrush Frances Wayne. He’ll s : 0 firms. Their material will be put I MICKI MARLO TO ABC-PAR | supply the arrangements for the Lrpj into the Kahl or Patricia Music I Thrush Micki Mario is set for | group, which will feature the (m , operations. another crack at the wax field via j maestro on piano and trumpet with for Among the Abrams-Reid credits the ABC-Paramount label. : a rhythm section backing. Mo are "Johnny Be Smart,” "Napo- j She previously recorded for ! The group bowed in Rochester Q y] Icon” and "Give Me Your Love.” ' Capitol Records. I last night (Tues.i. . Do RETAIL DISK AND ALDUM BEST SELLERS P'A'RIETY g Survey of retail disk best ^ sellers based on reports ob- & tained from leading stores in S 20 cities and showing com- 3 * parative sales rating for this . • and last week . 5 National Rating X This Last £ wk. wk. Artist, Label, Title £ PLATTERS (Mercury) 1 1 “My Prayer”. 2 DORIS DAY (Columbia) 2 4 “Whatever Will Be, Will Be”. 3 ELVIS PRESLEY (Victor) 3 2 “Hound Dog”. 1 BUCHANAN-GOODMAN (Luniverse) 4 3 “Flying Saucers”. 4 HUGO WINTERHALTER (Victor! 5 7 “Canadian Sunset”. 10 ELVIS PRESLEY (Victor) 6 11 “Don’t Be Cruel”.. GOGI GRANT (Era) 7 5 “Wayward Wind”. 9 PATTI PAGE (Mercury) 8 9 “Allegheny Moon”. 7 PAT BOONE (Dot) 9 6 “I Almost Lost My Mind”. 6 GENE VINCENT (Capitol) 10 10 “Be-Bop-a-LuIa” . 8 " ELVIS PRESLEY (Victor) 11 & “I Want You, I Need You”. 5 MORRIS STOLOFF (Decca) 12 15 “Mo'onglow-Picnic Theme”. JERRY VALE (Columbia) : ! 13 21 “You Don’t Know Me”. TERESA BREWER (Ctfral) 14A 18 “Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl”. MITCH MILLER (Columbia) 14B 13 “Song for a Summer Night”.. BILL DOGGETT (King) 16A 18 “Honky Tonk”...'. . SANFORD CLARK (Dot) 16B .. “Fool” ... AMES BROS. (Victor) T 18 16 “It Only Hurts for a Little While”. “ EDDIE HEYWOOD (Mercury) " 19A 25 “Soft, Summer Breeze”. LITTLE WILLIE JOHN (King) 19B .. “Fever” .7. * £ 1 5 o l2 • * cj ‘7 oj £ 7 I .2 p tn p 3 i 1 I J I ? go « h £ 53 N § 7 S ts g . rt T M ia U c% Q t% S 1 2 4 147 5 3 4 2 1 3 142 3 3 2 104 9 9 3 7 PERRY COMO (Victor) “More” . [ VIC DAMONE (Columbia) | 21B 12 “On the Street Where You Live”. AL HIBBLER (Decca) | 21C .. “After the Lights Go Down”.:... ! PERRY COMO (Victor) | 24 22 “Glendpra” .. I PATIENCE-PRUDENCE (Liberty) [ 25 .. “Tonight You Belong to Me” . ,,. S 1 f 8 3 ! MY FAIR LADY j KING AND I CALYPSO El Broadway Cast F jl m Soundtrack Harry Belafont* | EDDY DUCHIN STORY MOST HAPPY ELVIS PRESLEY i Film Soundtrack i Film Soundtrack Capitol Victor Columbia w 740 LPM 1248 OL 5090 EAP 740 EPA 1248 Film Soundtrack Broadway Cast Decca Columbia DL 8289 OL 5118 LPM 1254 EPB 1254 Oapitol W 694 EDM 694 Capitol SAO 595 SDM 595 SON.GS FOR THE PLATTERS SWINGING LOVERS Platter. Frank Sinatra Capitol Mercury W 653 EAP 653 MG 20146 1 sic) and Lee Adams (lyrics) for [ "The Late Risers"; Abe KUstein (music) and Michael Brown (lyrics) 1 for "Danny Mendoza"; Slicllie Mowell (music.) and Mike Stewart (lyrics) for "Solomon Grundy"; Don Walker (music) and Jack Law¬ rence (lyrics) for "Go Fight City Hall”; Harold Lee Stevons-Mar- shall Jamison (music) and Howard Rigby-Theodore Barbar (lyrics) for “Heavenly Bodiefe*,’’ and Alex Al- stone (music) and James Kennedy (lyrics) for “Living It Up.” Marked Contrast This is in marked contrast to the past several legit seasons which saw only Jerry Ross & Dick Adler break through wiih "The Pajama Game” and "Damn Yan¬ kees”; Mark Charlop & Carolyn Leigh on part of the score for "Peter Pan”; Albert Haeue 'with Arnold B. Horwitt) on "Plain and Fancy,” and Jerry Boeh-Larry Holofcenner-George Weiss on "Mr. Wonderful.” The yearling’s don’t exactly have the field to themslves, however. Also in the 1956-57 lineup are such vets as Johnny Mercer-Gene De- Paul ("Li’l Abner”), Robert Wright-George Forrest ("Grand Hotel”), Harry Revel ("Packaged in Paris”), Betty Comden-Adolph Green-Jule Styne ("Bells Are Ring¬ ing”), Ralph Blaine-Hugh Martin ("Three Tigers”), Ogden Nash-J. Fred Coots ("If I Were Queen”), and up for a second crack at Broadway, British cleffer Sandy Wilson (‘My Royal Past"'. The per¬ ennial pros of the musical theatre, Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hammer- stein, and Cole Porter. are busy on musical projects but arc not scheduled for the coming season. A new musical publishing pat¬ tern is also developing this year. The cleffers are beginning to by¬ pass the standard show score pub¬ lishing firms to set up their own operations. Johnny Mercer has slotted the "Li’l Abner” score to his own Commander Music firm, Bob Merrill will publish the "Pay the Piper" score via his Valor Music and Comden-Green-Styne have set up Stratford Music for "Bells Are Ringing.” Chappell will act as selling agent for Stratford while Howie Richmond will be selling agent for Commander. In the past few years only tune- . smith Frank Loesser has stepped out as an important : shoto score publisher via his Frank Music^p- eration. Firm handles "Pajama Game,” “Damn Yankees,” "Kis¬ met” and Loesser’s owii "The -Most Happy Fella.” Tommy Va-laricto stepped into the show score show- tune publishing field' for the first time last season with "Mr. Wonder¬ ful.” COL UPS STAN KAVAN IN NEW ALBUM POST Stan Kavan has been upped at Columbia Records to the newly created post of coordinator of pop albums artists & repertoire. He’ll also continue In his present capac¬ ity as sales manager of the album division. Kavan’s functions in the new post will cover such activity as analysis of sales performance, preparation of release lists and schedules and investigation of areas of salability. He’ll report • to Goddard Lieberson, Col prez, in connection with his a&r function and to sales veep Hal Cook, on his sales merchandising programs