Variety (Jun 1930)

7i VARIETY MUSIC Wednesday, June 4, 1930 10 Stations in and Around L. A. Featuring Canned Music Ruin Expectations on Record Sales DIZZY ARITHMEnC FOR RUDY VALLEE'S BAND Dance Tour Will Guarantee $20,000 Weekly Hollywood, June 3. With the record business limping as far as the home phonographs are concerned, all major recording companies are making a strong bid for commercial and radio broadcast recordings. In the past four months, the sale of records for phonographs has continued dropping to a point where one manufacturer says the business is 70 percent below that of last year. All claim that radio is responsible for the dropoff. On the coast the radio stations are being real pals by offering to play your favorite recordings any time you care to hear them, so why buy records? Recently a Beverly Hills station found that a group of women were bridging it on a certain afternoon. The manager of the station called the leader and suggested that she give him a list of records she liked and he would broadcast them for the party. Lady turned in a list of 10 numbers and the station ran them oft with the announcement that they were being played for Mrs. So and' so; who was having a bridge party at her home. Record "names," who in the past have been cleaning up on royalties, are finding the checks rather slim now. One of the best known re- cording, bands, the leader of which has been drawing down on an aver- age of $1,100 monthly from his rec- ords, got a 1138 check for his March I royalties. Singers who were ace ^'names on the monthly list are get- : ting cake money for their end of ] the royalty. No Disc Overhead Radio, in grabbing class talent, has . gone into the recording field . and as a result gives the radio audi- ence the same entertainment, plus the personality and advertising blurbs without the disc overhead. Radios outsell the phonograph 10 to 1. ■ In some quarters, fiopping record , sales are blamed on the manufac- iturers, who are accused of making little or no effort to change their brand of entertainment, offering continually the same type of re- cordings. Radio on. the coast is playing a big part in the downfall of the rec- ord business. There are about lO sta- tions in and around L. A., which feature canned music. A record, when new, is plugged to death, leav- ing the listeners with no desire to buy it for the house. In view of this condition, the rec- ord companies are trying to get a corner on the industrial field. L. A. has about 20 outfits making records with gyp equipment. Records for the great part are of inferior qual- ity and the radio stations are start- ing to go thumbs down on play- ing them. This looks like an out to the legit recorders. Also, ERPI, In equipping the radio stations with Its new turntables, is frowning on the use of records made with un- licensed equipment. Organist Kept Out Knoxville, Tenn., May 30. Plan of the Tennessee Theatre (Publix) to revive organ' numbers, gone since' the talkers came, fell through as a result of opposition from the musicians' union here. A former Publix organist, no longer a union member, was to have been engaged. Union objected, so management abandoned Idea,, as it wanted no other organist. N. B. C. Chi Agency Chicago, June 3. Independent Booking OflBce, Inc. wUl handle all N. B. C. bands In the Chicago territory. Includes Ipana Troubadours, Leviathan band and Vincent . Lopez, for a one-night route. Fred C. Coakley, formerly with N. B. C, handling the band depart- ment for the Shapiro-Sacco com- bine. Rudy Vallee has been granted a two months' leave of absence from Par-Publix beginning July 17, and the week following Vallee and his band embark on a one-night barn- storming tour of New England, which will last six weexs. During the week of the 17th, Vallee and his boys will rest up by laying off. E. A. Scheuing of the Artists Bureau of N. B. C, has mapped out barnstorming tour which will keep Vallee working every night of the week during the tour. Kfo matinees will be played. Vallee's contract with the various ballrooms In which he Is engaged to. play guaranteeis him a salary of : 118,000 to $20,000 per week against 60% to 65% of the net gross. This sets a record breaking price for sa- laries paid to any orchestra or band during a barnstorming tour. Vallee rounds off the one night stands September 3, and re-enters Brooklyn Paramount, September 6, at a figure exceeding that which he Is now receiving from Par-Publlx. His contract with Par-Publix, not ounting options attached, expires the first of 1931, but Par-Publlx has come through with an increase in salary for the fall season of its own volition. Fleischmann Renewal Because of the tour, Vallee has also been forced to postponed go- ing over the air with the remainder of the Fleischmann Hours, heard over N. B. C. Present contract with Fleischmann does not expire until August, but has been postponed be- cause of the one night stands. Fleischmann has already given Val- lee a new radio contract wherehy Vallee will be on the Fleischmann Hour for 70 times, once weekly, after he returns. He will receive $175,- 000 for the 70 ether engagements. LEADING ORCHESTRAS DIRECTORY IRVING AARONSON and HIS COMMANDERS California Collegians, Inc. NOW Featured in ! <Tifty Million Frenchmen" and Don Dickerman's Daffydil New York City FROM DETROIT I JEAN GOLDKETTE Orchestras VICTOB BECOBDS ~Ofrica: 812 Book Towar DETROIT I GEORGE OLSEN AND HIS MUSIC THE PLANTATION CULVER CITY, CAL. VICTOn RECORDS ANSON WEEKS AND HIS ORCHESTRA ROOSEVELT HQTEL Ho.llywood COLUMBLA BBCOBDa PAUL WHITEMAN And His Greater Orchestra ALSO ^ "KING OF JAZZ" (Universal Picture) FenoDMl Rep.t JA8. F. OILLESrnc TAL HENRY and His ORCHESTRA Victor Records Warner Bros.-Vitaphone Artists JExclnslTe Manareinent Orchestra Corp. of America 1650 Broadway. New York B. A. RdLFiE Radio's Premier Conductor Lucky Strike Danes Orchestra Palais D'Or Restaurant Orchestra Bdlaan Ace Becordlng Oreheatnk Ray Walker's Radiolians with DAI,T and MASON and SAM FLETCHEB'S BETVB SECOND YEAB AT HAMILTON CHATEAU NORTH BERGEN, N. J. JESSE STAFFORD and His ORCHESTRA Now In Second Tear at PALACE HOTEL San Francisco (Brunswick Records) Foalurine His and Gene Rose's "TONIGHT" FREDDIE RICH Columbia Broadcasting System station WABC, New York City Mr. Morgan to You— Joe Clrino, the. band leader at the Palais D'Or, who followed B. A Rolfe into the chowmeinery, has changed his name to Morgan. Vor billingr purposes. Bert Lown's signature song over CBS "Bye-Bye Blues," will be pub- lished by Irving Berlin. Along the Coast By Bill Swigart Hollywood, May 31. A lull in activity at Universal is giving Goodman-Handman a chance to lay a concrete foundation for the building of a music publishing or- ganization equal to any of the older line companies now affiliated with a film producing organization. With Universal's • co-operation, plans for a network of distribution outlets throughout the country are now being worked out in a more , or less secretive manner. It is said, however, that when present plans are consummated, the Goodman- Handman-Universal publishing com- pany will make its first big demands for recogntion in the music field by establishing branch offices and re- tail music counters in 32 leading cities of the country simultaneously. «i San Francisco, Eddie Janis, Coast rep for the Famous Music Corp., had all the leading orchestras and radio bands concentrate on Para- mount picture songs during the pow-wow. Janis also held the plat- form at the convention to tell visit- ing delegates the important part music plays in the exploitation of a picture. ^ As a means of recovering some of the business suffered by the pres- ent depression in sales of sheet mu- sic, a movement is now in effect here among branch offices of na- tional music publishers to curtail complimentary orchestrations and professional copies. Just who started the big-hearted practice of handing out free or- chestrations and song sheets can- not be ascertairted. It has not only worked a hardship on every publish- ing house forced to'join the parade of "giving" if i-hey Tvanted their tunes plugged, but has made a no- ticeable cut In revenue. Hereafter the free list of orchestrations will be reduced to the major dance orches- trations giving nightly broadcasts and one set to each of the radio sta- tions. For professional copies no one but a recognsled radio staff artist will be eligible for free copies. This will force the many hundreds of minor dance hall orchestras and club players to buy their numbers from the music counters. Having been in Hollywood less than four months, Erno Rapee has recorded 14 pictures for Warner- First National, during which he found it necessary to employ three times this number of different musi- cal organizations. He has found it just as essential to dress a picture with the proper music as it is to costuming the actors. That is why Hollywood has the largest variety of musical organizations in the •country. . A travelogue depicting a trip around the world could be pro- duced here with music of every na- tion, played on its native instru- ments, and available within 24 hours. Pulling himself from a sick bed In time to put over some heavy plug- ging for the Paramount convention Flaherty in Hospital Hollywood, June 3. Pat Flaherty, gen. mgr. of Fox's Red Star Music Co., will leave the hospital here before the end of this week. He went in for a minor operation. London as It Looks (Continued from page 73) stuff, the only things that made the King and Queen laugh were the British comics. Cleaning up Vaudeville Toto, the clown, was clever, but not very funny. Payne and HUliard had the worst passage. They came on very early, and, of course, had to be nicely cleaned up. for Their Majesties. When I saw them at the Palladium the week before, they were a scream, but none of that stuff could go on. They were so careful, and oh, so dull. Killed by re- spectability. I am sure that vaudeville Is ruined by Importing American acts to fight talkers. You can only compete with them by being unlike them, not by being the same. Man They Did Not Want Gillie Potter, who had no vaudeville work on his books when he was chosen for the Royal performance—no one seemed to want him—made the Queen roar more than anybody. He Just came on and told a lot of gags about Southend, London's sort of Coney Island, talked .about fish and chips and things like that, but.the Queen seemed to understand. They took $18,500, which Is about a tenth of what could have been taken In New York for a similar performance. The curious thing about a Command performance is that, while all British performers yearn to appear, apparently the foreigners do not think so much of It. Delivered in the order of a "must," song writers are now receiving in- vitations from local night clubs to attend special nights. The "readers" explain in a nice way that four seats are reserved at the regulation cou- vert, with a footnote at the bottom saying that " of course, your songs will be given the preference in your presence." One of the boys, unfamiliar with this new Hollywood custom, received his invite, then proceeded to get up a party which cost him' $75 for the night. Night clubs are also watching the arrival lists at the hotels and dis- patch special invitations by wire to the desired newcomers. Joe Meyer Is sporting a new pair of white' flannels and eating an ice cream cone on the success of his "Singing a Song to the Stars"... Dubin and Burke resume activity at the FN lot after a three weeks' va- cation. . .Sol Viollnsky, tired of song ' writing, has teamed with Lew Brice for the purpose of organizing the new Hollywood Coipedy Club... Captain Byron Tate did a lone hand on composing a complete Russian operetta and Is now trying to sell- it .Turk and Ahlert are convalesc- ing...Five more songs and D© Sylva-Brown-Henderson will be ready to start on their next iiictur© for Fox. It must get under way on or before June 16...Joe Seltmah and George Green have sold a new number for a Pathe picture. A CHOP HOUSE OF EXCEPTIONAL MERIT 1B6-8 WEST 48TH STREET I East af Broadway Rows Behind the Scenes The Glazeroffs, who were to have opened the bill, were cut out be- cause one Insisted on going into the orchestra pit to conduct during the end of the turn. Then the Stone Vernon Four had to be cut because, a day or two before the performance, one of the troupe, having had -n. quarrel with another man In it, went to Austria. If a personal quarrel is more Important than an appearance before the King and Queen of England—well, the plot of "Vaudeville" had almost come true, hadn't It? Detroit's M. C. Shifts Detroit, June 2. Frankle Jenks, here for 23 weeks at the Fox deluxer, leaves at the end of this week for St. Louis for a vacation. He is slated for either the Brooklyn Fox or a west coast Fox house. Frohman, current in St. Louis, will replace Jenks for June, with Eddie Peabody, cur- rently resting from his recent man- handling at the hands of deck hands in the west, may open in July. Earl Hill and orchestra from Cap- itol theatre, Winnipeg, have summer engagement at Chateau Lake Louise, Banff, Can., which opened June 1. I A WINner from The WINdy City DAN RUSSO who with hl3 BnOBWATEll HBACH onCHESTIlA la one of C1IICAC;0'3 band favorltcf, and a popular NATIONAL nnOADCASTING CO. feature as well. His musical selcellons, too, aro WINnere, especially "THE MOON IS LOW" "ItMJE IS TUB NIGHT" "WHEN I'M rOOKINiJ . AT yov RpBBiNs Music CoRroRAXiONl . SmfhJknmtK.Nrw'fctk. MRS. JESSE CRAWFORD PARAMOUNT THEATRE, NEW YORK, PLAYING "Get Iloppy." "On (ho Sunny Side of the Street," "Blue Is the Nislit." "It Happened In Monterey," "Cndor a Texae Moon" WABC every Saturday during PARAMOUNT-PUBLIX HOIFR; Sunday from 8p0 to 8:45 P. M.; Monday from 10:30 to II P. M.—Victor Records «