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M U ~ I [
AFM-'Ban Pleased Discers
Joe Davis
Beacon Records Debut
NEW YORK.- Formal announcement of
the entry of Joe Davis and his Beacon Rec-
ord Co_ into the r ecording fi eld is announced
in this issue of TH E R EVIEW_
First releases of Beacon discs were made
recently and it is the intention of Davis to
supply op erators and the general public
with worthy numbers that are dIfferent a nd
that have not been recorded for any other
company.
"I set out with the idea of releasing for
the present one double-faced ten inch rec-
ord a month," explained Davis. " By issuing
one record a month, I felt that I could con-
centrate on the exploitation of the songs
recorded and at the same time fully supply
the demand. Beacon records are made of
the fin est materials. Th e tone quality is
'superb and compares favorably with that of
th e oth er companies."
For th e past 20 years Joe Davis has been
associated with the placing of tal ent on
other records and his record for picking
hit songs and new writers over this peri?d
of years speaks for i.tself. Some o~ th e hIts
h e has published Include: Basm S treet
Blues, After You've Gone, Chris top~ e r I?~
lumbus I Ain't Got N obody, S posm ,
Sweeth~arts on Parade, My Blue Ridge
Mountain Hom e My Handy Man, On R e-
vival Day, If I C~n't Sell It I'll K ee p Sittin'
On It I'm Drifting Back to Dreamland,
Y este;day, and hundreds of other~.
H e has discovered many new wnters and
published the first compositions of some of
these present day composers : Harold Arlen,
F e rde Grofe, Rub e Bloom, Reginald For-
sythe, Nat Simon , Victor Arden, Carson J.
Robison, Larry CHnton, Jimmy Durante and
many others.
Knowin g talent and materi al as he does,
it seems certain that Joe Davis and his
Beacon Records will be able to supply op-
erators and dealers with records that will
"cli ck" with the general public and mak e
mon ey for all concerned.
A Capella Discs to Offset Ban
NEW YORK- Vera Barton, CBS singing
star, is attempting to start the ball rolling
on the possibility of the use of vocal rhythm
groups, A Capella style,_ without instru-
mentation for r ecord making. Vera fi gures
that it's ~ithin the rules and a potential
solution to the problem confronting vocal-
ists whose record careers have been tem-
porarily set back. She's querying the musi-
cians' union and record companies on their
attitude toward the suggestion.
NEW YORK-Down B eat, in its issue
for November 1, reported that phonograph
record executives are pleased with the cur-
rent AFM recording ban and tag it " the
best thin g that could have happened to th e
waxing business at this time."
The recording executive, who r equested
his name be withheld, said that th e record
manufacturers were actually pleased with
the situation, which had the effect of creat-
in g a moratorium on all recording activi-
ties_
" H ere's the way it works out," reasoned
the exec. " We can't get enough raw mate-
rial to make all th e 'records we can sell,
yet, if we were in competition, we (the
recording companies ) would have to use
up a lot of precious stock trying to de-
velop new bands and in exp eriments just
to keep one of us from getting ah ead of
th e other. As it stands, none of us has to
worry wh at th e other fellow is doing. We
simply throw what raw material we can
get into our sure-fire best sell ers and let
it go at that. All of us are doin g a whop -
ping business in moving albums and other
slow items off our shelves. We don' t have
to record a hundred tunes now with a batch
of bands just to b e sure we have next
month's 'best seller' in our catalo gue.
Thanks to Jimmy P etrillo, our problem has
been completely simplified."
All of which will be extremely interest-
. ing to the Coin Machine Operator who
played no small part in rescuin g the record
industry from the depth of depression a
few years back.
Senator Lams Phonos
WASHINGTON, D. C.- Apparently en-
deavoring to crash th e front pages of the
big dailies, Senator Claude P epper told a
manpower committee during October that
lie thought that the Southern juke joints
were among the most unn ecessary things in
his state_ H e said though that there was
a distinct difference in th e use of juke
boxes for army camps, and the parti es tha t
sometimes occur in th e joints along Florida
roadsides.
Russ Morgan, currently
at Chicago's Edg ewat-
er Beach Hotel , ac-
cepted the invitation
of Gene Steffens of
Permo Produ cts fo see
how modern coin
phonograph needles
are made. Russ was
slightly b ewildered by
the maze of technical
apparatus in the Per-
mo sound lab but he
heard for himself what
a difference there ;s in
phono needles. '" nev-
er thought there was
so much work and
science needed to
make such a little thing
as a phono needle ,"
said Russ.
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Petrillo Matter Lags
NEW YORK.- Developm ents in the case
of Jam es Caesar P etrillo and his AFM
versus the Broadcasting Industry and the
Coin-Operated Phonograph Industry, have
practi cally been at a standstill for the past
thi rty days.
On October 23rd Senator D. Worth Clark
introduced a bill relatin g to th e P etrillo
record ban and announced he would seek
early consideration by the Interstate Com-
merce Commission of whi ch Sena tor Bur-
ton K_ Wheeler is chairman _ Under Senator
Clark's bill it would be a violation for any
group to refuse to make recorded mu~i c _if
the effect curtailed the use of musIc In
radio stations and on coin-operated phono-
graph s.
In New York rumors have b een flyin g
fast and the AFM is reported to have made
a suggestion or two for early ce~sa tion of
the disagreement. On e suggestIOn from
AFM has been that record manufacturers
cut a special record in the future for use
on coin-operated machines. This record
would play at a slower speed and could not
be used on transcription machines or home
phonos. On such a record AFM could work
out a tax arrange ment with the manufac-
turers of the discs.
It is said that AFM is interested in an
early settlement and on the opposin g side
th e Broadcasters have expressed themselves
likewise.
During th e month th e New York ~u
sicmen held their annual banquet at whICh
it has always been a custom to have a great
array of recordin g talent. This year it was
fea red that non e could be introduced be-
cause of the P etrillo ruling and the ap-
parent attitude of the AFM towards the
coin music men. The New York lo cal re-
fused to rul e on the touchy question and
it is stated a hurry up call to P etrillo re-
sulted in hi s " blessing" the appearance of
the bandsmen and song stars at this year's
gatherin g. All of whi ch indi cates a friend~ y
feelin g on the part of AFM for the COin
music men.
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
13
FOR
NOVEMBER
1942