Variety (February 1957)

Ve^eg^y> Febnijary 20» 1957 P^nsStf »fUSl€ 41 ASCAP-TV POT-O’-GOLD TALKS Coast Mnsidans Warn Defendapts On Halting Payments to Trust Fund 4 — BMl Jockeyii^ for Position Vs. ASCAP in Showtune Sweepstakes; Tune Teams to Pave Way for Hypo Los Angeles, Feb. 19. A warning that any iurther pay¬ ments to the Music Performance Trust Fund constitute “constructive fraud” and will be made at their V'own peril” has been sent to some 200 defendants in the twin lawsuits brought by Coast musicians seeking more than $13,000,000 in damages. Litigation stems from the battle against the existence of the Trust Funds which operate from royalties collected on recordings, the sale of old theatrical films to television and the use of music in telefilms. Telegrams were sent the defend¬ ants by attorney Harold A. Fendler, representing the plaintiffs, de¬ manding that all payments to the Trust Fund be halted pending final determinaton of the litigation. Some of the defendants Involved were scheduled to make payments this month, particularly on royal¬ ties from the sale of features to tv. Litigation has been set for a hearing Thursday (21) on request¬ ed injunctions and a receivership, the Appellate Court having ruled that the California Superior Court “probably does have jurisdiction” In the issue despite the fact that Samuel R. Rosenbaum, trustee of the Fund, is not in California. Fendlei^S warning also notified recording companies that payment to the Trust Fund of royalties based on existing pay scales of musicians constitutes “violation of the labor code.” Meanwhile, Superor Judge Leon David took under submission mo¬ tions by Paramount, 20th-Fox and Universal seeking to be dismissed as defendants in the $4,468,950 suit involving pix-to-tv royalties. Stu¬ dios claim they were not signa¬ tories to the contract involved in the dispute. Last month. Judge David dismissed . Warners as a de¬ fendant on a similar motion. Guy Mitcheirs Col Disk Of Take Me Back, Baby’ Sparks BVC Suit Vs. Joy “Take Me Back, Baby,” Guy Mitchell’s current release for Co¬ lumbia Records, has sparked a legal hassle between two pub¬ lishers, Bregman, Vocco & Conn and Joy Music." BVC filed a suit against the Joy company in N. Y. Federal Court last week claiming that the Mitchell-recorded tune, published by Joy, was lifted from a 1.941 number copyrighted by BVC. The Joy Music, version was writ¬ ten by Claude Demetrius, while the BVC number, also titled “Take Me Back, Baby,” was composed by Jimmy Rushing and Count Basie. BVC contends the Demetrius num¬ ber was patterned, both lyrically and melodically, after the BasieRushing number. Joy execs claim that there are several dozen num¬ bers in public domain titled “Take Me Back, Baby,” and that the mel¬ ody is based on an old bides re¬ frain. BVC has also notified Columbia Records that the Mitchell disk al¬ legedly infringes , on one ‘ of ' its copyrights. Such .a notice .will re¬ sult in the tieup of.the disk, royal¬ ties until the case .is. adjudicated. BVC also informed Columbia that the diskery recently issued an al¬ bum of old Basie-Rushing sides in which “Take Me Back, Baby” was the lead tune., Ray McKinley Taking Miller Orch Overseas The Glenn Miller orch, under the direction of Ray McKinley, heads overseas for the first time March 4 for a four-week trek. Orch is set to play France, Italy, Ger¬ many and North Africa. Deal for the overseas junket was set by Jackie Green, Willard Alex¬ ander veepee, who recently re¬ turned to his New York desk after a European quickie. Orch winds its current stand at New York’s Hotel Statler Feb. 28. Mitcham’s Have Voice, WiD Travel’ (For Cap) Hollywood, Feb. 19. Robert Mitchum starts recording for Capitol this week to launch a five-year cotract as a vocalist with the label. His sessions will be produced by Lee Gillette. Mitchum has sung only rarely in films. Capitol expects to tie in his ini¬ tial release with an extensive deejay tour around the country by the film star. Keys-Hansen In March I Merger In a move to develop a stronger production unit and a higher con¬ centrated level of sheet music sales, Nat Tannen has merged his Keys Music flr.m with Chas. H. Hansen. The new Keys-Hansen operation will kick off March 1. K-H will handle all the sheet music selling agencies of the for¬ mer Keys^ firm, consolidating its activities at the Hansen h.q. In New York. Additionally, the pub¬ lishers using the K-H operation will get special jobber and dealer service through Hansen Publica¬ tion depots in N. Y., Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles, as well as the travelling fleet of Volkswagen dis¬ play and sales trucks. Keys, under Tannen’s aegiSrcurrently acts as selling agent for 248 music publishers. Phil and Don Tannen will move over from Keys to handle the K-H operation along with Mike Cimino, Hansen Publications’ coordinator. Hansen Publications, parent company of Chas. H. Hansen, cur¬ rently acts as selling agent for the catalogs of Walt Disney ^ Music, Wonderland Music, Rylan and Valyr Music, Kapp Records’ pub¬ lishing affiliates, and Fred Ra¬ phael’s publishing Interests, among others. Hansen’s opens its new Coast depot March 1 in Hollywood on the site of the former Variety build¬ ing, with Dwight Latham in charge. Cimino just returned from a three-week J;our of firm’s depots in Hollywood, Dallas and Miami. In addition to preparing the sheet music for print and sale, the new K-H finn will enlist the fa¬ cilities of Hansen’s art, copyright and promotion departments. Norman Newell Back At Brit. EMI as A&R Indie’ London, Feb. 19. Norman Newell rejoined the EMI organization last week as an independent artists & ^repertoire manager. His job is a.'novel one, in that he will not be working solely for one label but will scout recording talent to be released on any one of the company's seven labels. Newell quit his job as EMI’s Co¬ lumbia label a&r manager four and a half years ago to take up a similar appointment at Philips. Later he left for the States where he wrote music for stage and mo¬ tion pictures. His appointment has been linked with the resignation of Ray Mar¬ tin, who was until recently joint a&r manager for Columbia Rec¬ ords. Rumors current in Tin Pan Alley of a complete reorganization inside the EMI group, involving the fold¬ ing of the Parlophone label, were strongly denied by company gen¬ eral manager C. H. Thomas. Leonard W. Schneider, Dacca’s exec v.p., left for Hollywood Mon¬ day (18) to powwow with Coast execs on the diskery’s operation there. By HERM SCHOENFELD The shape of the music biz to come will be decided this year in the new deal between the Ameri¬ can Society of Composers, Authors Sc Publishers and the television nfetworks. The current pact runs out at the end of this year and, while no negotiations have as yet taken place between ASCAP and the webs, talks are slated to begin in the spring. Television now represents the biggest single source of perform¬ ance coin to publishers and writers, accounting for over 50% of ASCAP’s total income, which now ranges over $20,000,000 from do¬ mestic sources. The importance of maintaining and increasing the performance take has now become a life-or-demh matter for the pub¬ lishers and writers who have been hit by the vanishing sheet music market and the 2c. maximum rate on disk royalties. Legal and U. S. Fronts The bargaining for a new ASCAP-video pact to replace the expiring four-year deal will take place in a surcharged atmosphere of various legal actions and Con¬ gressional investigations which, di(Continued on page 50) Latin-Land Disks In Cols Future As 2-Wa; Road Columbia platters are going to travel on a two-way street between South America and the U. S. That’s the blueprint set up by Col prexy Goddard Lieberson during his re¬ cent powwows with the diskery’s affiliates in Brazil and Argentina, The disk traffic, in the past, had been on a one-way southern-bound street, .with such U. S. Col names as Doris Day and Johnnie Ray go¬ ing over strongly in the S. A. belt. Now, however, Lieberson, is plan¬ ning a northern-bound route to re¬ lease albums (and eventually sin¬ gles) manufactured by the com¬ panies in Brazil and the Argentine in the U. S. The S. A. to U. S. program is expected to start rolling within the next few months with the release here of an instrumental album by Waldo De Los Rios, Argentina ar¬ ranger-conductor. The platters of Hector Varelles, a top Argentina artist, are also being screened for U. S. release. Upcoming from the Brazilian plant will be the etchings of Sylvio Caldes, Louis Claudio and Lana Bittencourt. Lieberson also reports that the overall disk biz on the Col opera¬ tion in the argentine jumped 100% in 1956 over 1955, while the Brazil¬ ian biz climbed 50% in ’56. ‘BIRDLAND’ FAT 64G IN6N,Y.-HUBSH0WS “Birdland Stars of ’57,” jazz con¬ cert package, got off to a fast start over the weekend (15-17), racking up a smash $64,200 in six perform¬ ances. Package, which stars Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine and Count Basie, teed off in White Plains, N.'V., Friday night with a $9,200 take, almost capacity. Show went clean since. Two midnight per¬ formances at New York’s Carnegie Hall pulled in a total of $22,400, with standees at each performance. The gig in Newark early Saturday evening pulled in $11,600 while two performances in Boston the following night racked up a socko $21,000. First leg of the tour runs four weeks. Package will lay off until after the Easter holidays and then head out again for another month. SELLvis Presley’s Rock’n’Roll-CaU Here’s the latest Elvis Presley platter sale boxscore: As of Feb. 1, Presley’s single sales for RCA Victor reached 13,200,000 and his album sales, both LP and EP, were at 3,200,000. His latest release, “Too Much,” already has topped the 1,600,000 marker and his “Don’t Be Cruel” is now over 4,000,000. Presley’s “Hound Dog” has slowed down to 15,000 platter sales a week. Mills Musk Sale ForMMOOO? Understood that a deal is hot for Jack and Irving Mills to sell their Mills Music for $4,000,000 tax-free. Samuel Jesse Buzzell, secretary of and attorney for the corporation — and also a limited partner in the music firm — Is sup¬ posedly handling the details. Dickers for Mills have been on the agenda for two or three years. In every instance prexy Jack Mills has been insouciant until he be¬ came convinced “they were really serious.” This deal, with an anonymous investor, said to be not in the amusement industry al¬ though this may be camouflaged by the negotiations through a third party, is regar'ded by both Mills freres as “serious.” They had turned down $3,000,000 offers on more than one occasion and Jack Mills was frankly “tough” be¬ cause he’s not as anxious to sell and “take it easier,” as may be said of Irving Mills w'hp resides on the Coast and likes the casual BevHills life. Tooter Sues Universal On ‘5th Amendment’ Axe Hollywood, Feb. 19. Musician Victor Gottlieb filed a $3,000 damage suit against Uni¬ versal Pictures in Municipal Court here last w'eek charging he was dismissed solely because he in¬ voked the Fifth 'Amendment before the House Un-American Activitie.s Committee. Action w'as filed by attorneys Wirin, Rissman & Gkrand, counsel for Local 47 of the AFM, which supported the suit. Complaint said Gottlieb had nev¬ er been given a specific reason for his discharge, but merely was told it was for “good and sufficient rea¬ son.” In the suit he maintains that his unwillingness to testify at the Red probe .doesn’t constitute “good and sufficient reason” under terms of AFM contract. The AFM International Execu¬ tive Board" gave him permission to sue. Eliot Daniel, newly-elected prexy of Local 47, pointed out that the union's only interest is pre¬ venting contract violations. He cited several labor unions which have decided that refusal to testify at the Red probe is not sufficient grounds for discharge. Ned Herzstam to A&R On Coast for Urania Ned Herzstam has been assigned to the Coast to handle artists & repertoii’e for Urania Records. Herzstam is a veepee at Allied Rec¬ ords Sales Corp. Both Allied and Urania are subsids of American Sound Corp. Herzstam will produce packages for the longhair as well as the pop field. He has been with Allied since 1951. Before that he was sales promotion manager of chil¬ dren’s products at Capitol Records. By MIKE GROSS Broadcast Music Inc. is Intensi¬ fying its drive to nail showtune writers. Although the org has been holding a strong position in the straight pop field, it continues to yen representation im the musi¬ cal production areas of the theatre and television. BMI publishers have been cued to stress the buildup of new writ¬ ers for musical production ex¬ posure. The drive, it’s understood, is to be concentrated on the de¬ velopment of writing teams, the primary sore spot in the BMI showwriter campaign. BMI has been losing lyricists and composers with legituner po¬ tential to ASCAP because of theh* writers’ squawks that there’s no one in the org’s orbit with whom they can collaborate on production scores. Carolyn Leigh, who’s been Topped on Broadway with some of the songs in “Peter Pan” and who is now working on a musicallzation of “I Can Get It For You Whole¬ sale,” was a BMI originally who shifted to ASCAP for a wider choice of musical collaborators. A few months ago, Norman Gimbel shifted from BMI to ASCAP for the same reason. Gimbel now has some songs in the off-Broadway “Shoestring ’57” revue. First writing team up in the BMI pitch is Jerry Boch & Sheldon Harnick, who’ve been set to write the score for “The Body Beautiful,” upcoming Broadway entry The score will be published by Sun¬ beam Music, publisher Tommy Valando’s BMI firm. Sidebar to the Boch-Hamick-BMI tieup is that Boch’s first Broadway try (in collaboration with Larry Holofceimr and George Weiss) was (Continued on page 50) New A&R Song: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow; Tap Maxin for Epic The record companies’ artists & repertoire picture is continuing to rumble. Latest shift, following on the heels pf changes at RCA Vic¬ tor and Mercury, is the exiting of Marv Holtzman from the pop a&r post at Epic Records. Arnold Max¬ in moved into the top pop spot Monday (18). Holtzman had been pop a&r chief at Epic since the label’s for¬ mation as a Columbia Records’ subsid three years ago. He’s now mulling a move into the disk biz on his own as well as other diskery affiliations. Maxin joined Epic about a year ago to assist Holtzman in the a&r activities. He had been concen¬ trating on the Okeh line. Epic’s rhythm and blues subsid, as well as pop album production. Other a&r changes in recent few weeks were the exiting of Henri Rene from the Coast spot for RCA Victor (although he stays with the label) and the switchover of Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore f)-om Mercury to the new Roulette label. Bob Shad took over at Merc. Capitol’s Calypso Catch: Lord Flea; Renew Waring Hollywood, Feb. 19. Tieihg in with the burgeoning calypso, Capitol Records signed Lord Flea & His Calypsonians, cur¬ rent at the Jamaican Room in New York, to a five-year contract. Ini¬ tial sides, placed on a rush basis by the label, were “Shake Shake Sonora,” b/w “The Naughty Little Flea,” both of which Lord Flea showcased on the Perry Como tv show recently. Capitol also inked a new threeyear contract with Fred Waring & Pennsylv'anians a.id re-signed tht Four Freshmen for an .additional six years.