Music Trade Review
Issue: 1921 Vol. 73 N. 19 - Page 57
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
NOVEMBER 5,
49
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1921
CONDUCTED BY V. D. WALSH
TOO MUCH ORCHESTRAL EXPLOITATION HURTING SONGS
Publishers Are Beginning to Realize That Orchestra Arrangements Do Not Tend to Promote the
Popularity of Various Numbers in Song and Sheet Music Form—The Question Discussed
There have appeared in these columns during
the past twelve months at least two articles
dealing with the inability of the music-loving
public to carry away melodies of the average
song rendered by present-day orchestras. We
suggested that the orchestras be induced to
play new numbers as they are originally ar-
ranged. It would seem, however, that the fail-
ure of the public to carry away tunes is not
confined to the United States, as the following
article extracted from the London Daily Mail
shows:
"Hardly anybody whistles nowadays," re-
marks the London Daily Mail, "principally be-
cause there are no tunes to whistle." The news-
paper further calls attention to the early death
of what few yearly hits there are. New songs do
not last as long as the old ones did. They get
worn out more quickly, principally because a
popular song has so much more publicity than
it had twenty years ago.
"Only one artist sang it then," continues The
Mail. "Now look how it is drummed at people
at all times and all sides. Theatre, restaurant
and club orchestras soon make it known."
However, the London situation is somewhat
different from that which is prevalent here. Our
weakness appears to be flooding the orchestras
with too many numbers. The rush of every
publishing house to have orchestras feature
their works gives the orchestras too much mate-
rial and with the rearrangements of the works
an injustice to individual numbers is often the
result.
The London article calls attention to the man-
ner of exploiting songs in the old days and, of
course, is all very true, but no one would care
to see the return of such methods. In fact, with
the introduction of mechanical reproduction this
became impossible.
The present method of getting the most out
JENKINS HITS
"Dangerous Blues"
of a number in a short space of time can be the
only successful one, particularly if the publisher
desires to> give the talking machine and player
roll organizations co-operation.
That is the very reason, despite the agitation
to do away with some of the branch offices, that
the larger publishing houses cannot see the feas-
ibility of such a movement. It is contended,
however, that more attention should be given the
exploitation of hits in vocal form. Certainly
the latter move will aid substantially in selling
more music.
Even granting that the orchestras can make a
hit of a melody by concentrating on it they can-
not create the maximum sales for the sheet
music. Particularly is this true with many of
their arrangements. The maximum sale of the
average number must be obtained by the exploi-
tation of the work in both instrumental and vocal
form. There are, of course, numbers proving
the exception. And there will always be those
songs or instrumental numbers that have so
much individuality that they fail to adhere to a
set or general rule, but as a general thing a two-
fold exploitation plan, covering both song and
instrumental forms, is necessary and very de-
sirable.
WHAT KEITH HAS DONE FOR MUSIC
Vaudeville Management Has Presented Many
Notable Artists to American Public
In announcing its "Third of a Century"
jubilee celebration, the B. F. Keith Vaudeville
Circuit laid no stress upon its achievements in
the field of music and yet from the day of the
announcement of the anniversary celebration
men and women great in the highest fields of
the musical arts in America showered E. F.
Albee with telegrams and letters of congratula-
tion upon the musical activities of the Keith
organization.
Congratulatory sentiments were expressed by
Gatti-Casazza, director-general of the Metropoli-
tan Opera House; Amelita Galli-Curci; John Mc-
Cormack, John Philip Sousa, Dr. Walter Dam-
rosch and others of equal note.
The Biggest "Blues" Hit Ever Published
Everyone Is Playing It
JOIN "GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES"
"12th Street Rag"
Joe Brown and Gordon Dooley were added to
the cast of the "Greenwich Village Follies, 1921"
on Monday of this week with a novelty scene
entitled "Miss Daoley and Mr. Brown." The
lyrics of the skit are by Edward Dowling and
Raymond W. Klages, with music by Fred J.
Coots.
Song—Piano Solo
Now at Its Height
Kiss Me, Dear"
cc
A Beautiful Waltz—Has the Earmarks
of a Real "Hit"
TWO OTHER GOOD ONES
"Sweet Love"
and
"Colleen o'Mine"
EVERY ONE A SELLER
Published by
1
J. W. Jenkins Sons Music Co.
Kansas City, Mo.
TRIPLE "GIRLIE" SONG FOR FEIST
Leo Feist, Inc., will shortly release a new
song, entitled "Sally, Irene and Mary," written
by Eddie Dowling, Lew Cantor, Larry Ceballos
and Harold Johnson. Eddie Dowling will fea-
ture the number in his act called "Sally, Irene
and Mary," now playing in Shubert vaudeville
time.
JACK MAHONEY TO PUBLISH
Jack Mahoney, the songwriter, has entered the
music publishing business, under the firm name
of the United Song Writers, and has opened up
offices in the Broadway Central Building, 1658
Broadway. The firm's first release will be
"Derby Day."
SONGS THAT SELL
Irving Berlin's
Song Hit of the Hour
All By Myself
Cry Baby Blues
Birds of a Feather
My Mammy
Home Again Blues
—
I Wonder Where
My Sweet, Sweet Daddy's Gone
—
Drowsy Head (Waltz)
Oh, My Sweet flortense
Once in a Blue Moon
You're Just the Type lor a
—
Bungalow
When the Sun Goes Down
I've Got the Joys
The New Sensational Hit
Tuck Me to Sleep in My Old
'Tucky Home
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1607 Broadway,
New York
SOME NEW BOOSEY PUBLICATIONS
Interesting Assortment of High-class Songs
Offered in the Latest List
Among the recent new issues, added to the
catalog of Boosey & Co. are: "Crossing the
Bar," music by Berta Josephine Hecker, to the
famous poem by Tennyson; "Your Voice," sung
by Warwick F. Williams, with music by Conal
Quirke; "My Lady," by H. Rippon-Seymour and
Douglas Grant; "I Dream That I Hear You
Singing," lyric by Katerina Bogosoff and music
by Charles Marshall; "Say Not Farewell," song
by P. J. O'Reilly and T. C. Sterndale Bennett;
"The Ferryman of Souls," by Percy Edgar and
Frederick Mullen; "My Prayer," song by P. J.
O'Reilly and W. H. Squire; "The Scarecrow,"
by Michael Franklin and E. T. Davies; "Little
Lost Love," by Louise Piatt Hauck and William
Stickles. Fred E. Weatherly, as usual, has some
of his contributions included. These are: "A
Wedding in June" and "Rosemary," the former
set to music by the well-known Wilfred Sander-
son and the latter with music by Kennedy Rus-
sell.
The Triangle Music Pub. Co., of New York
City, recently appointed Will Collins manager
of the Detroit office of the company. He is now
occupying his new post.
NOVEMBER 5,
49
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1921
CONDUCTED BY V. D. WALSH
TOO MUCH ORCHESTRAL EXPLOITATION HURTING SONGS
Publishers Are Beginning to Realize That Orchestra Arrangements Do Not Tend to Promote the
Popularity of Various Numbers in Song and Sheet Music Form—The Question Discussed
There have appeared in these columns during
the past twelve months at least two articles
dealing with the inability of the music-loving
public to carry away melodies of the average
song rendered by present-day orchestras. We
suggested that the orchestras be induced to
play new numbers as they are originally ar-
ranged. It would seem, however, that the fail-
ure of the public to carry away tunes is not
confined to the United States, as the following
article extracted from the London Daily Mail
shows:
"Hardly anybody whistles nowadays," re-
marks the London Daily Mail, "principally be-
cause there are no tunes to whistle." The news-
paper further calls attention to the early death
of what few yearly hits there are. New songs do
not last as long as the old ones did. They get
worn out more quickly, principally because a
popular song has so much more publicity than
it had twenty years ago.
"Only one artist sang it then," continues The
Mail. "Now look how it is drummed at people
at all times and all sides. Theatre, restaurant
and club orchestras soon make it known."
However, the London situation is somewhat
different from that which is prevalent here. Our
weakness appears to be flooding the orchestras
with too many numbers. The rush of every
publishing house to have orchestras feature
their works gives the orchestras too much mate-
rial and with the rearrangements of the works
an injustice to individual numbers is often the
result.
The London article calls attention to the man-
ner of exploiting songs in the old days and, of
course, is all very true, but no one would care
to see the return of such methods. In fact, with
the introduction of mechanical reproduction this
became impossible.
The present method of getting the most out
JENKINS HITS
"Dangerous Blues"
of a number in a short space of time can be the
only successful one, particularly if the publisher
desires to> give the talking machine and player
roll organizations co-operation.
That is the very reason, despite the agitation
to do away with some of the branch offices, that
the larger publishing houses cannot see the feas-
ibility of such a movement. It is contended,
however, that more attention should be given the
exploitation of hits in vocal form. Certainly
the latter move will aid substantially in selling
more music.
Even granting that the orchestras can make a
hit of a melody by concentrating on it they can-
not create the maximum sales for the sheet
music. Particularly is this true with many of
their arrangements. The maximum sale of the
average number must be obtained by the exploi-
tation of the work in both instrumental and vocal
form. There are, of course, numbers proving
the exception. And there will always be those
songs or instrumental numbers that have so
much individuality that they fail to adhere to a
set or general rule, but as a general thing a two-
fold exploitation plan, covering both song and
instrumental forms, is necessary and very de-
sirable.
WHAT KEITH HAS DONE FOR MUSIC
Vaudeville Management Has Presented Many
Notable Artists to American Public
In announcing its "Third of a Century"
jubilee celebration, the B. F. Keith Vaudeville
Circuit laid no stress upon its achievements in
the field of music and yet from the day of the
announcement of the anniversary celebration
men and women great in the highest fields of
the musical arts in America showered E. F.
Albee with telegrams and letters of congratula-
tion upon the musical activities of the Keith
organization.
Congratulatory sentiments were expressed by
Gatti-Casazza, director-general of the Metropoli-
tan Opera House; Amelita Galli-Curci; John Mc-
Cormack, John Philip Sousa, Dr. Walter Dam-
rosch and others of equal note.
The Biggest "Blues" Hit Ever Published
Everyone Is Playing It
JOIN "GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES"
"12th Street Rag"
Joe Brown and Gordon Dooley were added to
the cast of the "Greenwich Village Follies, 1921"
on Monday of this week with a novelty scene
entitled "Miss Daoley and Mr. Brown." The
lyrics of the skit are by Edward Dowling and
Raymond W. Klages, with music by Fred J.
Coots.
Song—Piano Solo
Now at Its Height
Kiss Me, Dear"
cc
A Beautiful Waltz—Has the Earmarks
of a Real "Hit"
TWO OTHER GOOD ONES
"Sweet Love"
and
"Colleen o'Mine"
EVERY ONE A SELLER
Published by
1
J. W. Jenkins Sons Music Co.
Kansas City, Mo.
TRIPLE "GIRLIE" SONG FOR FEIST
Leo Feist, Inc., will shortly release a new
song, entitled "Sally, Irene and Mary," written
by Eddie Dowling, Lew Cantor, Larry Ceballos
and Harold Johnson. Eddie Dowling will fea-
ture the number in his act called "Sally, Irene
and Mary," now playing in Shubert vaudeville
time.
JACK MAHONEY TO PUBLISH
Jack Mahoney, the songwriter, has entered the
music publishing business, under the firm name
of the United Song Writers, and has opened up
offices in the Broadway Central Building, 1658
Broadway. The firm's first release will be
"Derby Day."
SONGS THAT SELL
Irving Berlin's
Song Hit of the Hour
All By Myself
Cry Baby Blues
Birds of a Feather
My Mammy
Home Again Blues
—
I Wonder Where
My Sweet, Sweet Daddy's Gone
—
Drowsy Head (Waltz)
Oh, My Sweet flortense
Once in a Blue Moon
You're Just the Type lor a
—
Bungalow
When the Sun Goes Down
I've Got the Joys
The New Sensational Hit
Tuck Me to Sleep in My Old
'Tucky Home
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1607 Broadway,
New York
SOME NEW BOOSEY PUBLICATIONS
Interesting Assortment of High-class Songs
Offered in the Latest List
Among the recent new issues, added to the
catalog of Boosey & Co. are: "Crossing the
Bar," music by Berta Josephine Hecker, to the
famous poem by Tennyson; "Your Voice," sung
by Warwick F. Williams, with music by Conal
Quirke; "My Lady," by H. Rippon-Seymour and
Douglas Grant; "I Dream That I Hear You
Singing," lyric by Katerina Bogosoff and music
by Charles Marshall; "Say Not Farewell," song
by P. J. O'Reilly and T. C. Sterndale Bennett;
"The Ferryman of Souls," by Percy Edgar and
Frederick Mullen; "My Prayer," song by P. J.
O'Reilly and W. H. Squire; "The Scarecrow,"
by Michael Franklin and E. T. Davies; "Little
Lost Love," by Louise Piatt Hauck and William
Stickles. Fred E. Weatherly, as usual, has some
of his contributions included. These are: "A
Wedding in June" and "Rosemary," the former
set to music by the well-known Wilfred Sander-
son and the latter with music by Kennedy Rus-
sell.
The Triangle Music Pub. Co., of New York
City, recently appointed Will Collins manager
of the Detroit office of the company. He is now
occupying his new post.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).