Variety (March 1959)

MUSIC 61 Wednesday, March 11, 1959 ffiRIETY Scoreboard OF TOP TALENT AND TUNES Compiled fronj, Statistical Reports of Distribution Encompassing the Three Major Outlets Coin Machines Retail Disks Retail Sheet Music as Published in the Current. Issue POSITIONS This Last Week Week 1 2 3 4 5 * 6 7 8 9 10 NOTE : The current comparative sales strength of the . Artists and. fanes listed hereunder is arrived at under a statistical system comprising each of the three major sales outlets enu¬ merated above. These findings are correlated with data from wider sources, which are exclusive with Variety. The positions resulting from these findings denote the OVERALL IMPACT de¬ veloped from the ratio of points scored, two ways in the case of talent (coin machines, retail disks) and three ways in the case of tunes (coin machines, retail disks and retail sheet music). TALENT ARTISTS AND LABEL TUNE FRANKIE AVALON (Chancellor).. Venusf COASTERS (Atco) ...... Charlie Brownf DAVID SEVILLE (Liberty) .... Alvin’s Harmonica* BROOK BENTON (Mercury)....... Just A Matter Of Timef LLOYD PRICE (ABC-Par). :.... Stagger Leef CHRIS BARBER (Laurie) ... Petite Pleurf ANDY WILLIAMS (Cadence).. Hawaiian Wedding Song* RAY ANTHONY (Capitol) ... ...... Peter Gunn* LaVERN BAKER (Atlantic) .I Cried A Tearf MITCH MILLER (Columbia)..... Children’s Marching Song* 1 3 4 9 2 6 8 7 10 POSITIONS This Last Week Week TUNES TUNE PUBLISHER 1 1 ^CHILDREN’S MARCHING SONG (F—“Inn”) . Miller 2 7 * ALVIN’S HARMONICA . Monarch 3 3 fVENUS ... L’Dale & Rambed 4 5 fCHARLIE BROWN.:.....Tiger 5 6 fPETITE FLEUR.....Hill & Range 6 4 *HAW AH AN WEDDING SONG ......... . Pickwick 7 .. \ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME...... . Eden 8 2 fSTAGGER LEE ..... ....... Sheldon 9 8 fDONNA .. .......... .... Kemo 10 .. |I CRIED A TEAR. Progressive * ASCAP + BMI F-Film Mexican Cleffers Continued from page 59 ‘Some Like It Hoi’ Cool, Cha Cha, Etc. United Artists music subsids, which were meshed into the pro¬ motional gears for the film com¬ pany’s release of “I Want To. Live,” are once again being linked into a major crossplugging pic-music campaign for the Marilyn Monroe starrer, “Some Like It Hot.” The UA disk company is putting out three albums based on the. pic, plus several singles and an EP. One package will be taken di¬ rectly from the soundtrack of the musical. Another album with be a “Some Like It Hot Cha Cha” set, spotlighting the show’s score in cha cha tempo, and the third LP will be a jazz version of the score titled “Some Like It Cool.’ A sin¬ gle taken from the track by Miss Monroe has already hit the market and she cut two additional songs in a special studio date in New York Monday (2) for inclusion in an extended-play set. The UA la¬ bel is also issuing singles by other artists based on the show’s num¬ bers. * The pic company plans to use the music in the background of all its radio and tv plugs. In addition, a push for disk jockey plugs and disk retail displays will be made by UA’s fieldmen. The pic will similarly be ex¬ ploited via disks in European mar ; kets. Kay Norton, exec v.p. of the UA disk label, pointed out that the company’s deal with some 40 for¬ eign distribs commit them to re¬ lease all soundtrack albums a few weeks in advance of the pic’s play- dates. - : - ; — ! Swiss Punched Holes In ‘Dooley’ And Shot Same Into Bestseller Orbit Zurich, March 3. An ironical switch in disk promo¬ tion is currently baffling Swiss disk circles. The Kingston Trio etch¬ ing of “Tom Dooley,” on the Capi¬ tol label, owes its present status as a top U.S. pop single to a public ■pan nin g by Swiss radio station Beromuenster a few months ago. In a tongue-in-cheek broadcast, sta¬ tion blasted a number of U.S. and European pop tunes as being in especially poor taste. “Tom Doo¬ ley,” which until then had passed unnoticed, starting pouring in and platter is now still on the rise. It also caught on in Germany and Austria, according to reports from Musikvertrieb A.G., local distrib of Capitol. Part of the click is also attrib- buted to the fact that the original English introductory text preced¬ ing the actual tune was replaced here by German patter with a Yank “Western” accent, thus situating clearly the song’s “meaning” also to those not understanding the English lyrics. Runner-up pop single at present is Peggy Lee’s “Fever,” also on Capitol, with the same thrush’s upcoming “Alright, Okay, You Win” (b/w a new version of the oldie “My Man”) expected as a pretty sure bet. In the album field, Nat King Cole’s “Cole Espanol” is currently winning top honors. Steady good sellers also include LPs by the Jonah Jones Quartet, pretty slow until recently when this combo started to make an imprint inter¬ nationally via its disk outings. GERMAN JAZZ FESTS AS TOURIST MAGNET Frankfurt, March 10. With the Germans getting hep that jazz concerts are always a big bid for the international tour¬ ist trade, the country is going jazz- mad this summer with some big events on tap. Included are the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, May 16-18; the First International Jazz Festi¬ val in Essen’s Gruga Hall, April 18- 19, and the German Amateur Jazz Festival set for Dusseldorf, Sept. 25-27. In the International event at Es:,en, Ella Fitzgerald, the Oscar Peterson Trio and the Albert Man- gelsdorf Jazztett are already sched¬ uled, while negotiations with Mahalia Jackson, Art Blakey & His Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis are still pending. of music used for profit is liable to a term of imprisonment from six months to two years and fines of 500 to 50,000 pesos ($40 to $4,000). " Society representatives have al¬ ready acted against 152 owners of jukeboxes in Monterrey, Veracruz and Merida, stating that payments had been evaded by these for past three months to over three years in some cases. Actually, in the three cities, there are over 800 jukebox owners not kicking through to the Society, but court sum¬ monses were only served on the 152 because the others have made themselves “unavailable.” Jukeboxer Makes the Pen In this city, jukebox operator Guadalupe Sanchez has entered Lecumberri Penitentiary for re¬ fusal to liquidate back payments to the Society. More than 700 com¬ plaints here have been signed and where wilful evasion is established, prison will await operators. As a result of this energetic ac¬ tion, it appears that operators in ar¬ rears are reluctantly putting up money now, and Uzcanga believes that the situaion is well in hand. Of course, this being Mexico, a constant vigilance and threatening stick will be required to collect the .fees. Once all jukeboxes are pay¬ ing their monthly dues, the Society of Authors & Composers estimates an annual take in excess of 12,000.- 000 pesos (almost $1,500,000) for distribution to its membership. Fronts & Racketeers The entire jukebox field here Is a top secret affair—a no-man’s-land for anyone seeking information. Some cantinas, beer parlors, candy stores, etc., do own their own ma¬ chines, but the percentage of these cannot be ascertained. Majority of boxes are in hands of operators having anywhere from a. dozen to 100 machines, and usually a figure¬ head owner is the front for one or another local racketeer. Jukeboxes themselves range from wheezing, rickety, ancient relics dating back two or more decades (in the provinces), but still capable of playing the loud-ren¬ dered ranchero songs, to the delight of the campesinos (rural dwellers), to up-to-the-minute machines em¬ bellished with colored lights, trim lines, plenty of aluminum and cap¬ able of handling 200 tunes. The jukebox fan can indulge in his fa¬ vorite pastime here at 20 centavos ,sliehtly over lVic) per tunt. The Association of the Music In¬ dustry, outfit allegedly speaking for jukebox owners throughout Mexico, has termed the Association tariff too high, suggesting that each jukebox be taxed only 5 pesos (40c) a month. This offer has been refused. ' ~:l Dale Records in An Up-&-Etch-’Em Beat Frank Abramson and Bugs Bow¬ er are enlarging the operation of Dale Records, a subsid of Sammy Kaye-Jack Philbin enterprises. Abramson, head of Kaye’s publish¬ ing firms (World, Republic and Isham Jones Music), and Bower, artists & repertoire topper for Dale, are on a heavy cutting schedule via talent associated with the “Sammy Kave Show” on ABC-TV. Bower also is grooving artists al¬ ready under contract and he and Abramson are continuing to audi¬ tion talent to build the diskery’s roster. In addition to scouting new artists, the Dale team is adding more songwriters to the firm. N.Y. PARIS LABEL IN O’SEAS DISTRIB SWAP Paris Records, N. Y. indie label, has wrapped up a series of recip -1 rocal distribution deals with for-, eign diskeries. Paris releases will be handled in Europe by Pye, in England; Darium, in Italy; Vega, in France; Karusel in Scandinavia; Peter Schaeffer, in Germany; and Bovima, in the Benelux countries. Wally Gold,. Paris prexy, also arranged to distribute some of the foreign label’s output in the U.S. Among the European artists Paris will handle here are LitUe Ger¬ hard, Swedish rock ’n’ roller, and the British Cherry Wainer combo. Cheyette to Sam Fox Co. As Resident Attorney! Herbert Cheyette, member of j the lawfirm of Weinstein & Levin¬ son and one of the lawyers repre-! senting dissident members of the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers in various legal and Congressional moves, is, joining the Sam Fox Music com-' pany as resident counsel. Fred Fox, who runs the firm founded by his father, has been one of the sparkplugs in the campaign against ASCAP’s voting and distribution setup. I. Jack London remains as spe¬ cial counsel for the Fox firm. Counterpoint Singles Bill Fox’s indie Counterpoint label is entering the pop singles field. Previously* the dlskery had specialized in LPs, Counterpoint launched its pop ■drive with the sighing of Vivian Lori and Joey Castle & The Knights. Miss Lori has played the nitery circuit and toured in sum¬ mer stock musicals. Her first re¬ lease is scheduled for this week. Harry Fox 0.0. Of Brit. Vidtape ‘B.O.’ With an upbeat expected in the use of music on videotape, Harry Fox, publishers’ agent and trustee, left for England last week to study the British system of paying off publishers for the musical syn¬ chronization rights. . The British system, which is just going into operation, involves fixed annual fee payments by the pro¬ gram contractors into a common pot which is then distributed among the publishers strictly ac¬ cording to the per-second usage of their tunes on videotape. Fox plans to explore the British setup for about two weeks. At the present time, the U.S. publishers have no policy about collecting synchronization fees from videotape. Taped shows' are still regarded as in the same cate¬ gory as live shows. However, the fact that the vieotaped shows can ; be rerun on a syndicated basis cre¬ ates the synchronization right for | music. How and what to collect for this right iS the problem which Fox has to solve. Mex Composers Seeking Reciprocal Tax Exemption On Earnings in the U;S. Mexico City, Mardh 10. The Dept, of Foreign Relations is working for an accord exempting Mexican musicians from paying in¬ come taxes on music exploited north of the border. A Foreign Relations spokesman pointed out that tunes of U, S. composers played in Mexico are not taxed. Therefore, a reciprocal arrangement is sought for compos¬ ers here, whose earnings are far less than that of their American confreres. Talks between Mexican and U. S. Governments will begin soon, the spokesman said. While amount involved is small, a little over $20,000 dollars annu* ally, according to Foreign Rela¬ tions estimates, translated into pesos this comes to over 250,000, and this money can be used to “re¬ live the economic situation of cer¬ tain of our authors and com¬ posers.” 45’S CATCHING UP TO 78’S IN BRITAIN London, March 3. Whereas the output of 45 rpm disks in Britain in 1958 was more than double that of 1957, produc¬ tion of 78s was 45% less than in the previous year. That’s one of the significant facts thrown up by an analysis of manufacturers’ sales compiled by the Board of Trade. Production of 78s and 45s was running just about neck and neck at year’s end, the official figures conveying that pressings on 78s represented 40% and the 45s were 38% of the overall total. In 1957, the corresponding figures were 66% and 17%. As for the 33V& rpms, these accounted for 22% of total production in 1958 as against 18% in 1957. Monetary total of manufacturers’ sales, exclusive of British purchase tax, showed at $38,640,000, a de¬ cline of 2%. In 1957, the peak year so far, it was $39,200,000. This drop was less than forecast in diskery circles, thanks to sales of $4,656,400 in December which were $47,600 up on those of December, 1957. The December production of 7,- • 451,000 disks of all speeds raised the year’s total output to 71,455,- 000, comparing with 78.285,000 in 1957. Export sales in December at $747,600 were 5% up on the com¬ parable 1957 level of $711,200. Over the whole year, export sales totalled $9,800,000, being 4% under the 1957 figure. Leonard Feist GMYAMP Leonard Feist, v.p. of Associated Music Publishers, the longhair publishing subsid of Broadcast Music Inc., has been named gen¬ eral manager of the AMP opera¬ tion. It’s a new post. In other switches, Edward J. Molinelli, BMI comptroller, has been named director of financial operations. Robert Higgins, assist¬ ant secretary of the licensing or¬ ganization, was elected treasurer.