OCTOBER
20, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
53
! 1Nffti:~F=m~rN~ ]
CONDUCTED BY V. D. WALSH
E. C. MILLS SAYS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FLOURISHING
SONGS THAT SELL
Chairman of Executive Committee of Music Publishers' Protective Association Says That Busi
ness in the Trade Is Better Now Than at Any Time in 1920
E. C lI-lil l,;, chairman of the Executive Com
mittee "f the :YIu~i c Publ ishers' Protective
.\ ss ociatioll, returned recently from a fortnight's
tour of th e Middle \V es t, go ing as far as
C hi cago, an d brou g ht back wit h him a mo s t
encouraging repo·rt regarding bu s ine ss condi
tions as he found th em in th e mu s ic trade in
that sec tion of the co untr y.
The sheet mus ic busin ess genera ll y is in a
ilourishin g co ndition, a nd is betler right now
than a t any tim e since 1920. The numb er of
popular song hits that ha ve be en taken up by
th e public with in th e last two months has
proverl a distin c t s timul a nt to the retail trade
for th,' r('ason th at individuals go in g in to buy
cop ies of olle or two o f th e hit s ve ry fr equently
pi ck up three or four a dditi o na l numbe rs be
fore lea vi ng th e s tor e. The res ult is a no tab le
increase in sales that nat urally fo ll ows a ny
popular song success .
In the course o f hi s tri p Mr. :YIi ll s ca ll ed upon
num e rous publishers and dealers for the pur
pose of get ting first-h an d information, and said
that everywhere he found th e s heet music bu s i
ness in excell ent shape, and in far better s hape
th a n many oth e r indu st rie s cat e rin g dire ctly to
the needs of th e peop le. H e was particularly
imp ressed with the in c rease in the sales of
talkin g machine rec ords, a nd dec lared that the
steady d eve lopm e nt o f the marke t wa s indicated
by th e fac t that alt hough sev e ral m ake s of lo w
priced record s had been placed on th e mark e t
during th e pas t year or so, th e royalty s tate
ment from l he old-esta blished companies con
tinues to g row steadi ly.
"T hat th e mus ic business ge nera lly is g ood, "
sa id Mr. Mill s, " is emphasized in the operations
of ou r cre dit department. W e do co nsid erab lr
co ll ecting for the members of our organiza tio n,
and when there is an y sor t of depre ss io n find
that th e number of collection it em s in crease
with a correspond ing decrease when trade im
proves . Just now the volume of collections is
at low e bb.
" In m y opinion, much of th e improvement In
th e s heet mu s ic trade is due to the better class
of music bein g offered the public, fo r even th e
comedy songs that hav e won notabl e s uccesses
within the past two months at least have some
sort of sense to their lyri cs to recommend
them."
Mr. Mills said that the broadca s ting situation
was grad ually being cleared up and becomin g
stabilized as a large number of sta tio ns hav e
closed down and few new ones hav e opened
up to take their places . The · majority of the
la r ge r stat ions have eith er reco g ni zed the
ri ght s of th e copyrigh t owners by paying
roya ltie s, or by ceasing the broadca stin g of
copyrighted mu sic wi thout pe rmis s ion .
SALES OF "YOU" ON INCREASE
MARKS CO. GETS "FEELlN' BLUES"
Substantial Demand for New Irving Berlin, Inc ..
Number Reported Particularly From the East
-Being Featured in Vaudeville
To Publish New Number Featured in Vaudeville
by Team of Farrell and Hatch
One of the re ce nt publi ca tion s of Irving Rer·
lin, Inc., to win quick su ccess is "You," a num
ber with an exce ll e nt melody written by AI
Wholman, who is presen tin g the so ng in the
course o f hi s va ud eville to ur over the Keith
Circuit. Mr. Whol man appeared a t Keith's in
D etroit and is on his way to N ew York, where
he w ill appear at seve ral o f the K eith houses,
a lthou g h sto pping at Buffalo and Rochester en
ro ute hom e.
It is s ig nifi ca nt that wherever Mr. \Iv'h olman
ha ~ fea tured the song his appearance in vaude
v ill e has been foll owe d by quantity orders for
"YO ll" f"OIIl local dea le rs for imm edia te deliv
e ry, and the de man d for the number generally
is in creasing steadi ly, The number of music
s tores, parti c ularly in the East, have arranged
effec tive window displa ys o.f "You," and man y
of the leadin g o·rchestras are f ea turin g the num
be r in dance programs.
SHEET MUSIC ACTIVE IN BUFFALO
Popular Prints in Strong Demand in That City
During the Present Season
RI'FFALO, N. Y., October 16.·· -Sheet music in
Il uffa lo is
IP o nth of Septembe r, accor din g to loca l dealers ,
"Dr eamy Me lod y" is one of the mos t popular
l\ ull1ber ~ at present . "That Old Gang of Mine"
is in !,ood dema nd a nd "Swingin g Down the
Lane" is a not he r fa vorite. Bes ides "Dreamy
Melody," some o f th e R em ick Co.'s fa vorites
are "Yo u Can't :tILtk e a Fool Out of M e," "First ,
Last and Alway s," "Somebody 's Wrong" and
"Lou's ia na. " Th ese songs are being featured
b y William McDer mott, local representative for
the Jerome H. Remick Co ., in th eatres and by
special window displays.
That Old Gang of Mine
Indiana Moon .
When You Walked Out, Someone
Else Walked Right In
T en-T en-Tennessee
Love (My Heart Is Calling You)
Sittin' in a Corner (New)
- ,
If I Can't Get the Sweetie I Want
_ (I ._-- Pity the Sweetie I Get) (New)
-
You Darling You (New)
Nobody Else Can Love Me Like
My Old Tomato Can
Bit by Bit, Yo.'re Breaking My Heart
-
I Love to See the Dancers Sh1lffle Along
I Wish I Had Someone to Cry Over Me
Some Day
Three Thousand Years Ago
You
SaIt Your Sugar
Dearest
Y 00 Know Y 011 Belong to Somebody Else
You Tell Her, I S-T-U-T-T-E-R
Universal Dance Folio No. 4
Special Edition
Song Gems from Irving Berlin's Third Annual
Among the vaudeville teams who are singin g
their own songs over the various circuits witb
g reat success are Farrell and Hat ch, who bave
won grea t popularity with vaudeville fans with
their act which is fill ed with melody from star t
to fini sh. The la test number featur ed by th e
team is "The Feelin' Blues," which has been
accep t ed for publication by the Edward B.
Marks Co., and will be published shortly.
MUSIC BOX REVUE
An Orange Grove in California
Little Butterfly
The Waltz of Long Ago
Lea rn to Do the Strut
Climbing Up the Scale
Tell Me a Bedtime Story
CHAS. LANG HOME FROM THE WEST
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Sales Manager of Edw. B. Marks Co. Brings
Good Report for Company's Numbers
Charles Lang, sa les mana ge r of th e Edward
B . Marks Music Co., has returned from a six
weeks' trip throu gh the Middle West, where he
found business good and the Marks Co. num
bers doing well, particularly "Parade of the
Wooden Soldiers," and the new waltz, "Jus t for
Tonight," which is being featured by prominent
orchestras and also by organists in many of
the lead ing theatres,
CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS TO PLAY
Well-known Orchestra Will Furnish Dance
Music at the Monte Carlo, New York, During
the Coming Winter Season
Th e California Ramblers, one of the popul ar
dance orchestras in th e East, will pla y durin g
the Fall and Winter season at the Monte Carlo,
one of th e popular dinner resorts, on Fifty-first
street, nea r Broadway, New York, the form a l
opening of which was held on Wednesda y of
this week. The California Ramblers record ex
clusively for Columbia records and are amon g
the best known of orchestral organizations now
before th e public.
.
One Girl
{IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1607 Broadway, New York
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MUSIC BY FRED R. CONVERSE
One of the int tr~st in g ieatures of "Purit a n
a picturi %a tion of P e rcy MacKaye's
"The Scare c ro w," w hi ch opened at D. S. Mo ss's
Ca meo Th ea tr e, New York, on Sunday la"t, is
the mu sica l score writte n by Frederi ck S . Co n
v<'rs e, of th e Bosto n Conser vatory of Mu sic,
w hich is hi h hl y d e" n iptive a nd alto ge th er de
li g htful in th eme . J t is :tdmirab ly interprete d
by a n au C'mented orches tra.
Pas ~ i ons , "
COSLOW WITH ALL=STAR MUSIC CORP.
Sam Coslow, well -know n fi gure in the music
publish ing field, has a cquir ed an int e res t in the
,\Il -S ta r Musi c Corp , 1658 Broadw ay, K ew
York, and has be co me ~,e n e r a l manag·er of th at
conce rn . At th e prese nt time th e All-Star Co rp.
i , feat urin g thr ee o f Mr. Coslow's numbe r" ,
"Not Yet, S uze lte," "\Vhat' ll I Do?" a nd "M el
ody of Mine."
A sheet music departm ent centers mu sica l
interest in yo u r s tore.
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