Music Trade Review

Issue: 1923 Vol. 77 N. 26

DECEMBER 29, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
45
UTAH BRUNSWICK DEALERS HOLD FIRST ANNUAL MEETING
MISS MACBETH RETURNS FROM EUROPE
Large Gathering and Banquet Arranged by the Salt Lake City Brunswick Branch Held in That
City-Constructive Addresses and Exc ellent Musical Program 'Feature Event
Famous Operatic Soprano and Exclusive Co­
lumbia Artist Returns Home - Discusses
the Status of the American Artist
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, December 20.- Inspiring
addresses marked the first annual meeting and
banquet of the Brunswick dealers in this terri­
tory at the Hotel U ta h recently. The meeting
was presided over by G. C. Spratt, the popular
manager of the Brunswick branch which serves
the trade here, and dealers from all parts of the
State and members of their business organiza­
tions were present. Another featu re of the gath­
ering \Va·s an excellent musical program, includ­
ing vocal and instrumental sdections by the
Fishe r Trio, Miss Ashton, of the Ogden store
of the Glen Bros.-Rob erts Pi ano Co., and Miss
Mildred Anderson, of the local Brunswick office.
A display of the latest Brunswick instruments in
th e banquet room attracted considerable atten­
tion on the part of th e dealers.
The opening addre·ss was made by Manager
Spratt, who welcomed the dealers and their sales
people and oUItlin ed , briefly, the history of the
development of the Brunswick Co., also mention­
ing the fact that plans are under way for the
opening of a new record factory on the Pacific
Coast which will ultimat ely serve this territory .
Mr. Spratt urged unremitting effort s on the part
of dealers to increa'se their busine·ss volume,
stres"ing the various talk ing points of the Brun s­
wick machines. He emphasized the necessity of
care in the prepara1ion of adver~j'sing so that
the money spent in this dire cti on wo uld bring
an adequate return in business. The importance
advertising material supplied by the company, in
order to eliminate waste as mu ch as po ssib le. He
concluded his talk by pointing out that many
of the leading art·ist s are included in the Bruns­
wick H a ll of Fame and that dealers should exert
eve ry effort to get behind these records and
push their sa les.
The last speaker was Louis W. Larsen, of
Stevens & Wallis, Inc. , ,i nstructor of adver tising
at the University of Utah, who confined his talk
to advertising, pointing out to the assemblage
thM as m usic merchandisers they had one of the
best advertising talking points, namely, the
pleasure appea l. He urged the dealers to avoid
genera i:ties in their newspaper ads and be spe­
cific in their c·opy. Mr. Larsen declared that the
dealers could best profit by tying up in some
manner with the national campaign carried on
by the Brunswick Co. and making use of the
pUblicity material which the company is con­
stantly sending to its dealers.
The meeting was a success from every stand­
poin t and the dealers carried away with them to
th eir respeotive communities some thoughts
which not only give them a new slant on the
business a nd the line the y handle, but pr·a ctical
sa les pointers as well.
Among those present were: G, C. Spratt, R.
F, Perry, Mildred Anderson, Brunswick Co., Salt
Lake City; P. S. Hei lbut, L. L. Graham, Bates
Stores Co., Provo; G. H . Heindse1man, Joseph
Miss Florence Macbe th, famous operatic and
concert soprano and exclusive Columbia artist,
arrived in New York rece ntly after spending
some time in Europ e. She was welcomed by
Miss Florence Macbeth
many friends well known in the musical and
social worlds, including seve ral representatives
of the Columbia Phonograph Co. The news­
papers commented generally upon Mi ss Mac­
beth's return home an d in a chat with one of the
newspaper reporters she remark ed as follows
rega rding American artists : "All the American
artist needs to-day is a little more hope and
charity and a g reat dea l more faith on the part
of his own public an d that public needs to find
tbe courage of its own convictions without the
persuasion of outside influen ces, We have
everything else we need for a musical nation."
BERNETT GOES TO CALIFORNIA
D . L. Norlin and ]. W . Wohlton Take Over
J. E. Bernet.t's Music Shop, When the Latter
Makes Arrangements to Go to California
Brunswick Dealers at First Meeting and Banquet in Salt Lake City
of the trade press was also emph as ized by Mr.
Erdelen, C. J. Anderson, Lindley Heinclsell11 an
Spratt, who declared that no dealer 'who de sires
Music Co., Pro\'o; Todd Taylor, Ted Lewis , Os­
to keep abreast of the times in his business and car Olsen, Mrs, Salt, Yiiss Lillie Bruderer, Miss
who is on the look-out for new ideas can afford ""hite, Daynes-Beehe Music Co., Salt Lake City;
to overlook the talking machine trade papers ,
J. C. McClai n, Mrs. E. Olin, Miss Helen Postle,
'Ctah Music Co., Salt Lake City; Fred L. W.
P. S. Heilbut, treasurer and phonograph de­
partment manager of the Bates Stores Co" of Bennett, of Talking Machine World; Mi~ s
Provo, Utah , the ne~t speaker, spoke in an in­
Swayze, Z. C. M. I., Salt Lake City; Tom Hol­
spira1ional manner on the merits of the Bruns­
land, Gl en Bros.-Roberts Piano Co., Ogden; Miss
wick and the company behind the product.
Monsen , Miss 'Wh ite, Miss Ashton, Glen Bros. ­
H . H. Perry, traveling representat ive of the Rob~rts P iano Co., Ogden; M. L. Jones, Ezra B,
Brunswick Co., with headquarters in this city. Jones, Miss Nelson, M·iss P eterse n, Jone s Phono­
in an all too brief talk, gave the dealers present graph Store, Ogden; M. W.Lundstrom, Luncl­
some constructive hints on selling. H e discussed s trom Furniture Co., Logan; Ira Holbrook, Frank
a~ .some length, however, the reasons actuating
Smedley, Un ion Furniture Co., Bountiful; M. V.
the Brunswick Co. in inaugurating the daily re­
Perry, Keith -O'Brien Co., S.a~ Lake City; Harry
lease of records, and gave de~ai'led instructions Grass, Mr. Richards, Magna Furniture Co.,
regarding the ordering of records. Another mat­
Magna; Mr. Harding, M'i dvale Furniture Co.,
ter discussed by Mr. Perry was the necessity of 'Midvale; T . W. Brown, Salt Lake City; L~wis
care on the pant of dealers in the use of the W. Larsen, Stevens-Wallis Co., Salt Lake City.
SPECHT WINS ENGLAND'S PRAISE
IRENE BORDONI AND THE VICTOR
Paul Specht, lea der of the Hotel Alamac
Dance Orchestra a nd exclusive Columbia artist,
is receivin g cablegrams and lette rs from many
English fri ends who heard his broadca s tin g'
from WJZ station re cently. Mr. Specht return ed
a short while ago from England, where he
played in the leadin g music halls and cafes under
the directio·n of Lyon & Co., Ltd., of London,
and he is, therefore, well known to the British
public, Among the songs that he broadcaste d
were "Heart-broken Rose," "Rose of Egypt"
and "Sunkist Rose." This was during the fa­
mou s transatlantic tests.
Victor dealers have been featuring very at­
tractive window posters introducin g Irene Bor­
doni, the new Victor artist. She is represented
in the December li st by two numbers: "So This
I s to Love" and "I Won't Say I Will," from
"Little Miss B lu ebird." Thi s popular artist has
quite a followin g and her records are great ly
in demand.
Louis Bick was appointed by Jud ge Campb~li
on December 10 receiver for th e Fletcher Rec­
ord Co., located a t Creek and Meadow stree ts,
Queens, L, I
CHTCAW, JLI_., December 24.-}. E. Bernett, a
pioneer in th e retail music busine ~s in Chica go,
has ope rated a mu sic sto re here for over thirt y
years a t var iou s northwest s ide locations and
for the past ten years has been at 3135 Fu llerton
avenue . Mr. Bernett has been plannin g for so nIC
time to retire and take his family to Sou thern
Ca lifornia . Now he anno unces that D. L. Norlin
a nd J. W .. \No hlton have taken over the busi­
ness. Both are well known in music c ircl es.
N[r. vVohlton is a director of th e Star Swedish
Symphony Orchestra in Chi cago and is a music
professor of repute. In addition to the Colum­
bia ma chines which th e s tore now handles, a
complete line of Scandinavian and German
Co lulll bia New Pro'c ess records will be stocked
b y the new Illanagement.
ARTHUR J. WALSH (JETS NEW POST
Well-known Edison Executive Appointed Man­
ager of Music Department- Division in Addition to His Other Duties
Arthur J. Walsh, who has for many years
occupied prominent positions with Thomas A.
Edison , Inc., was appointed the latte r part of
last month to the very important post of man­
ager of the music depa rtm ent, where he will
direct th e a rtis t di vision of the Edison business,
as well as the selection of the music. to be re ­
corded . NIL Walsh will co ntinue to hold the
portfolios of the advertising and publicity de­
partments which have hither to fallen upon hi s
s houlders. His new office is located in the
laboratory of Tho mas A. Edison. H e wi il co­
ope rat e directly with him.
46
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
DECEMBER
29, 1923
IINrfftWOiUDOF=~VrllisH1N6>, I
CONDITIONS EXISTING IN THE POPULAR MUSIC FIELD
SONGS THAT SELL
Present Situation Shows the Need for More Intensive Exploitation Campaigns in Trade Circles
on Popular Numbers-Some of the Factors Which Are Exerting Influence on the Market
Th e sales of the average popular song have
shown a further decrease in compari son with
the Spring and Fall, 1922, seaso ns, this, of
course, with th e except ion of unusual hits. In
many cases the sa les on average nu mbers have
been cut in half, a con siderab le loss in vo lum e,
particularly on seasonal or yearly periods. .\
co ntinu ation of this in anything like a perm a-·
nent characte r will, undoubtedly, make it neces­
sary to increase prices on sheet music. Any
increase,· of course, would naturally take care
of the dea le r's profits in add itio n to adding to
1 he pu bli shcr's income.
Many reasons are given for t he diminished
sales. Among these are the dem and of 35 and
.sO ce nt records whi ch market to popular sellers
at a most reasonable price; the ove r-night and
weekly record releases; the increased number
of talking machines constantly entering the
homes of the co untry; continued interest in the
player-piano; the vogue of dance orchestras
a nd, last but not least, the present radio en­
thusiasnl.
It is not thou g ht that any of these interests
that take awa y from the sales of sheet music
are to be, or can be, curbed and, such being
the case, there are really only two oth er methods
of adding to vo lume. One is more intensive
sa les camp aigns in trad e ci rcles. Instrume ntall y,
s heet music is ge tting all of the publicity it
needs. If anything, the present activities overdo
that sort of exploitation. If more vocal rendi­
tions co uld be obtained on meritorious songs,
it might help matters, although in many in­
s tances· pr esent-day orchestras do use vocal
passages in their instrumental renditions. The
other alternative is to lay more stress and mor e
attenti on on the popular so n gs of the better
grade, songs that are not s hort -lived; son~s
that will have a sa le ove r a period t hat mak es it
po~ s ible to get t he utmost in sale; vo lum e.
If
t he re were Ie"s activity on novel tie" , cOIl.ed ies
would neither have too large a di ~rlay of titl cs,
nor would profe!'sional or orche s tration depart ­
'"ents have too many irons in the fire. There
are so many of these latter numbers and tlte
is s ues that, are termed "race" songs that w id e··
spread interest is curtailed a nd it is doubtful if
th e piano-playing public is in tere st<;d in COI1­
s uming or cou ld absorb such a wealth of
material.
All of these thin gs a re contributing to the
pres ent decrease in sa les and adding their mite
to popular publi s hers' probl ems. :\ way Oll t
will, of course, be found. From all indi ca tions,
the popular song is doin g too much for the
othe r fellow and not enough for it self. A ll of
whiclt gets back to the sayi ng of Leo Feist,
spread on the minutes seve ral years back: "The
music industry is the only business activity
where th e tail wag·s the dog." And what Leo
l:cist said then just about explain s the e ntir e
sit uation as it exists to-day.
"DEAR LITTLE BOY OF MINE"
I

Featured With New First National Film, "Boy
of Mine," Written by Booth Tarkington
Ernest R. Ball's beautiful ball a d, "Dear Little
Boy of Mine," published by M. vVitmark &
Sons, is li) lease of life. This song, one of the bes t-known
in the vVitmark Black and White Series, was
originall y writte n and published during the war.
It wa s not actua lly what were termed ill tho se
days war so ngs, but, due lar ge ly to the mom ent
of its first app carance, it cam e to be genera lly
regarded as such. "Dear Little Boy of Minc"
enjoyed a ve ry large meas ure of popul arity and
its sales were big. The y have kept up eve r s in ce,
for it is a song that possesses a wide appeal.
Now, however, one of those unexpected but
a lways possible incidents in the music bu siness
is abo ut to occur that will bring the song no
end of publicity and undoubt edly create a new
and extensive demand for the number. T he
F irst National is releas in g a wo nd erful feature
picture, made by ]. K. McDJ)nald, s tarring Ben
A lexand er, filmed around a story written by
Booth Tarkington, entitled "noy of Mine." The
Ba ll song naturally fits into the picture per­
fectly, not only in title, but in theme. Ind eed,
"Dear Little Boy of Mine" will be used as the
theme numb er throughout the pictur e. Inc i­
dentally, the musical score will be made up
largely, if not entirely, from composition s by
Ernest R. Ball. But th ere is little doubt thitt
"Dear Little Boy of M ine" w ill be the out­
standing a nd genu ine pi cture song of the yea r,
for t here is nothing for ced o r artificial in its
connection with the picture . The publishers
have issu cd a spe cial souve lllr edition, with
a ttractive title page, to commemo rat e the .asso­
cia tion of so ng and film .
-
-

That Old Gang of Mine
Sittin' in a Corner
If I Can't Get the Sweetie I Want
(I Pity the Sweetie I Get)
-­ -


-
Indiana Moon
When You Walked Out, Someone
Else Walked Right In
Love (My Heart Is Calling You)
Ten-Ten-Tennessee
Kokomo
Roamin' to Wyomin'
Lovey Came Back
I Love the Girl Who Kisses
Why Should I Give My Love to You
Tell All the Folks in Kentucky (I'm
Comin' Home)
You Darling You
You
I Wish I Had Someone to Cry Over Me
Bit by Bit, YOII're Breaking My Heart
Nobody Else Can Love Me Like
My Old Tomato Can
Salt Your Sugar
Just One Kind Word
Universal Dance Folio
Special Edition for 1924
Song Gems from Irving Berlin's Third Annual
MUSIC BOX REVUE
An Orange Grove in California
-
The Waltz of Long Ago
Little Butterfly
Tell Me a Bedtime Story
Learn to Do the Strut
Climbing Up the Scale
RAINBOW NUMBERS GOING WELL
Blues Songs of That House Meet With Wide
Popularity in Sh'Ort Time
One Girl
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1607 Broadway, New York
Since the two numbers, "Mistreatin' Daddy"
a nd "Love ,\in't Blind No More," came out in
sheet music form the orders have been large.
The records arc a lso selling well.
The Rainbow Music Corp. reports the fol­
lowing numb ers of its catalog sellin g we ll:
"Wish I Had Yo u" (And I'm Gonna Get You
Bl ues), "Tantaliz in' Mamma," "Ti red 0' Waitin'
Blues," "Charleston Crazy," "Save Your ~fan
and Satisfy Your Sou l," "Just Thinkin'," "Goin'
PAUL SPECHT
And His Alamac Hotel Orchestra
Broadcast
~ ~appp j}ehl ~ear
To All of You
Smith on the Okeh and Bessie Smith o n the
Columbia, is a tremendous seller.
The Rainbow Music Corp. has made great
s trides for the s hort tim e it is in business and
the comin g yea r, 1924, looks auspi cious.
Warren D . Ownby, of Broken Arrow, Okla.,
is the writer and publisher of a new song en ­
titled "De Ku Klux Gwine to Git You Ef You
Don't Watch Out." Mr. Ownby, by the way,
is a well-known physician in Oklahoma but oc­
casio nall y fe els the call to write a topical son g.
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire pOllitions.
,

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