la~t
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
22
fOR
JANUARY
7942
Mu~i~
l~~l
bands of Louis Armstrong, Andy Kirk, Sid-
ney Bechet, Sonny Dunham, Jimmy Lunce-
ford, Cole Hawkins, Bob Crosby, Cab Cal-
loway, Sam Donahue and Teddy Wilson to
•
record. Songs better suited to theserespec-
By DAVE DEXTER, JR.
tive leaders' talents would surely result in
New York Editor and Record Critic of Down Beat
increased sales.
Most Novel; Victor's record of Sidney
Columbia and Decca made tremendous
NINETEEN FORTY-ONE WAS THE
Bechet playing the part of a "one-man
YEAR when the phonograph record hit its
advances in technical recording and now
band."
equal Victor, generally speaking. Until
peak. The waxworks' estimate that 120,000,-
Potential CJi'cks; Stan Kenton's band,
comparatively recently Victor was by far
000 discs were sold before January 1,
Decca; Freddy Slack'~ 8-Beats, Decca; Jay
superior in this department.
which means that more records were sold in
McShann's ork, Decca sepia series; David
1941 than in any other 12-month period in
Bands
Rose and Hollywood ' orchestra, Decca;
the recording industry's history_
'Most Consistent: Duke Ellington, Victor;
Benny Carter's band, Bluebird; Muggsy
"Intermezzo,"
"Amapola,"
"Hut-Sut
Artie Shaw, Victor; Tommy Dorsey, Victor;
Spanier's band, Okeh; Hal McIntyre's unit,
Song," "I Don't Want to Set the World on
Jimmy Dorsey, Decca; Woody Herman,
Bluebird; and Lionel Hampton's band,
Fire," "Daddy," "Piano Concerto," "Jim"
Decca; Benny Goodman, Columbia-Okeh;
Decca.
and a half-dozen other pop tunes led the
Count Basie, Okeh; Claude Thornhill,
Looking Ahead
field in 1941, helping boost platter sales to
Okeh-Columbia; Glenn Miller, Bluebird;
More encouraging than this past year's
an all-time high. Despite the ASCAP-Radio
Mildred Bailey, Decca.
.
picture is the future of the recording in-
imbroglia, which handicapped publishers
Most Disappointing: Material handed the
dustry. Unless priorities interfere and slow
and bandleaders alike, the recording busi-
ness escaped harm. Of the year's biggest
selling waxings, listed above, none was
ASCAP property. But 1942 may be a dif-
ferent story.
As far as trends go, there were few new
faces popping into the winner's circles on
discs. Alvino Rey, Les Brown, Charlie Spi-
vak, Claude Thornhill and Tommy Tucker,
for the first time, became potent leaders in
the recording field. But in each case their
bands were organized before 1941. Freddy
Martin, who's been kicking around a long
time, with virtually no success on records,
hit the jackpot solidly with "Piano Con-
certo" and a couple of other best-sellers.
But the fact remains-no band formed this
year amounted to much as a disc attrac-
tion. The older bands are still on the gravy
train clear back to the caboose.
Jim Dorsey, Bing Ace Sellers
What was the biggest selling record of
1941 ?
Jimmy Dorsey's "Amapola," well over
600,000; Martin's "Concerto," 550,000 and
still moving, and Jimmy Dorsey's "Maria
Elena" (which luckily was backed with
another smash, "Green Eyes") at 600,000
When two Lincoln (Nebr.) locations wanted Wurlitzer console phono'graphs and didn't have an
and better, all appear to be about even
inch of floor space to spare, Omaha's Brandt Distributing Co_ found an easy answer: the air.
candidates for th e honor. Official figures
won't be forthcoming until mid-1942, how-
ever. Sammy Kaye's "Daddy" also was near
the top. So was Tommy Dorsev's "Yes, In-
deed." And the ever-red-hot Bing Crosby,
whose discs few cri'tics ever refer to, peddles
platters at 200.000 and 400.000 consisten tly.
Figures for the year indicate Jimmv Dor-
sey's band sold more records in 1941 than
any other orp-hestral unit. In the field of
the individual artists, Bing Crosby had no
comnetition.
Other observations of 1941 in the indus-
try, and these are purely personal opinions
by the wri'ter:
Best P"esenf •• tion
In the rating of best album jobs, honors
go to Decca, embracing every type of pop-
ular music; Columbi a, for the best "hot
jazz" collections. and Victor, for classical.
For all-around choice of material. experi-
ments with various artists, quantity, art
work, packaging and merchandising of al-
bums, Decca.
look- the
of
Above is Bob's Coffee Shop, owned by Robert Burns; below is John Wilhelm's Uptown Buffet_
The pair of Victory models, operated by remote control boxes, were installed at costs not ex-
ceeding $15 each, and both have more than doubled fhe income from previous phonographs.
Mention of THE COIN MACHINE REVIEW is your best introduction to our advertisers.