HITS OF THE WEEK...1974/06/15 · s Sin Enjoyin ny He's Don ddity.' See Story HITS OF THE WEEK SINGLES CHICAGO, "CALL ON ME" (prod. by James Wil-liam Guercio) (Big Elk, ASCAP). Bass

s Sin

Enjoyin

ny He's Don

ddity.' See Story

HITS OF THE WEEKSINGLES

CHICAGO, "CALL ON ME" (prod. by James Wil-liam Guercio) (Big Elk, ASCAP). Bassplayer Peter Cetera sings a moreanimated lead here than on theact's last top 10 item, "Searchin'So Long." Thirteenth cut in theircurrent double-Ip set will providethem with still more hit luck. LightLatin lilt is perfect for summer air-waves. Columbia 4-46062.

ROBERTA FLACK, "FEEL LIKE MAKIN LOVE"(prod. by Joel Dorn & R. Flack w.Pendarvis, McDaniels & Fleming)(Skyforest, BMI). Her latest long-awaited single isn't as poetic as"Killing Me Softly," but what Ro-berta brings to it will make thisher biggest record since. Casuallypassionate rhythm ballad reallygrows on you. Atlantic 3025.

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, "TIME FOR LIVIN' "(prod. by Sly Stone/Fresh Prod.)(Stoneflower, BMI) Neo-reggae thatstill has that Sly stamp will put theFamily Stone back on top of therock pile. Utilizing more strings thanhe normally does, the arrangementshould yield him his biggest sea-sonal winner since "Hot Fun in theSumme time " Fpic 5-11140

JOE COCKER, "PUT OUT THE LIGHT" (prod. byJim Price) (ABC-Dunhill/Speed, BMI).Writer Daniel Moore is gaining aninternational reputation; now theBritish have discovered the "Sham-bala" man as Joe Cocker selects oneof his newest tunes for a long over-due single. Sounding better thanever, Joe previews his "I Con Stand

- -

SLEEPERSHARRY CHAPIN, "WHAT MADE AMERICA FA-

MOUS?" (prod by Paul Leka) (StorySongs, ASCAP). While most artistsare content to make records, Harrynever seems to settle for anythingless than an epic. Forging master-pieces of insight is all in a day'swork for the lyrical genius. This onedirectly addresses our country'ssplintered psyche. Elektra 45893.

WILLIE HENDERSON, "DANCE MASTER" (prod.le)by W. Henderson) (La Cindy/Eight-Nine, BMI) The New York disco-theque scene, which has alreadybroken two big hits in the pastmonth (the Hues Corp. and GeorgeMcRae), stands behind this disc's im-minent smash status. Instrumentalwill be the label's biggest to date.Playboy 50057.

SHA NA NA, "MAYBE I'M OLD FASHIONED"(prod. by Jack Douglas/My OwnProd.) (Extragordonary, BMI). Firstsingle from their "Hot Sox" pack-age lends a contemporary flair totheir doo-wop vocal approach. Asstrong an amalgam of yesterdayand today as this year has to offer.Their grease is hit -fashioned. KamaSutra 592 (Buddahl

KANSAS, "CAN I TELL YOU" (prod. by WallyGold) (Don Kirshner, BMI). Debutsingle from an electric fiddle rockband with more than a touch ofgypsy in their musical soul. Theiralbum is already a charted FM sta-ple; the hypnotic qualities hereinshould help the group's followingspread into the AM nation. Kirshner

la .

ALBUMSRICK WAKEMAN, "JOURNEY TO THECENTRE OF THE EARTH." Yes keyboard-ist extraordinaire makes his secondsolo flight with this conceptually com-plete set. Ethereal orchestrations arelushly weaved with celestial choir har-monies, affording the listener audiopleasure of the highest calibre. A jour-ney to the top of the charts! A&MSP -3621 (6.98).

LEON RUSSELL, "STOP ALL THAT JAZZ."Multi -faceted musicman's sultry, sen-suous style stays afloat throughoutthis long-awaited release. His soulflows steady on "If I Were A Carpen-ter," he reaches new honky-tonkheights on "Streaker's Ball" and funkis abundant on his rendition of Dylan's"The Ballad of Hollis Brown." ShelterSR 2108 (MCA) (6.98).

JERRY GARCIA, "COMPLIMENTS OFGARCIA." Grateful Dead guiding lightremains consistently aglow with thissecond solo outing, whether surround-ing "That's What Love Will Make YouDo" with a bluesy aura, electricallytugging at your heart -strings with"Turn on the Bright Lights," or stirringthe spirit with the ragtime "WhatGoes Around." Round RX 102 (6.98).

"MARTHA REEVES." Powerful vocalsfrom Martha sans the Vandellas arepersuasively propelled by vibrantRichard Perry production, with the re-sults sure to return this tunestress tothe top spotlight. Van Morrison's"Wild Night- is given a pulsating treat-ment, "Ain't That Peculiar" receives arhythmic rendering and "Sweet Misery"is a leaser. MCA MCA -414 (6.98).

FAN FAIR SHOW AGENDA

BMI Award Winners

ABC Hikes Singles Price; Others Expected To Follow

Taylor Ends Record Operations RCA Distribs Midland Label

Key Promotion Appointments: Carrico VP At Bell, Pipolo At Island Dialogue: Shep Gordon

Contains "Wild Flower"APBO-0265

Dedicated to the NeedsOf the Music/Record Industry

Females ScoreTop 20 Success NEW YORK - The SinglesChart shows the voices of sixfemale vocalists holding downtop 20 positions. Last year atthis time, Record World's chartsonly included one woman inthis upper echelon.

"Help Me" holds at 7 forJoni Mitchell (Asylum). "Mid-night at the Oasis" is 9 thisweek for Maria Muldaur (Re-prise) while Olivia Newton -John (MCA) is bulleted at 11with "If You Love Me (Let MeKnow)." Also bulleted is CarlySimon (Elektra) at 14 with"Haven't Got Time for thePain." Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)is charted at 16 with "I'm inLove" while the lead voice ofKaren Carpenter is featured onthe brother -sister duo's "IWon't Last a Day WithoutYou" at 20.

Compulsory License

Provision Is Upheld The U. S. Court of Appeals forthe Tenth Circuit has reaffirmed itsearlier decision in the case of Ed-ward B. Marks Music Corp. v.Colorado Magnetics, Inc., et al. Inits earlier decision, handed downon February 28, 1974, the Courtheld that the compulsory licenseprovisions of the Copyright Actwere not available to unauthorizedduplicators of musical works.Thereafter, a rehearing was grantedand the full Court, by a 5-2 margin,reaffirmed on May 28, 1974, theearlier decision of the three judgepanel.

The two Courts of Appeal whichhave ruled on the question havethus found that the compulsory

(Continued on page 46)

RCA Makes Hay in May NEW YORK-May of 1974 wasthe best May in the history of RCARecords for commercial billings ofsingles, albums and tapes. That in-formation was released last weekby Jack Kiernan, division vicepresident, marketing, who charac-terized the month's sales for thecompany as 16 percent ahead ofthe comparable period last year.

Kiernan also stated that RCA'ssingle record sales for the monthwere up 75 percent over those ofMay, 1973.

RCA to DistributeReno's Midland Label NEW YORK - RCA Recordswill manufacture, distribute andmarket world-wide the product ofMidland International Records, abrand new label formed by musicindustry executive Bob Reno. Theannouncement was made jointlylast week by Ken Glancy, president,RCA Records, and Reno.

The new label, Reno stated,would concentrate on discovering,recording and building domesticartists with global potentiality "Al-bum artists are what we're lookingfor," he said, "the kind that have


Ken Glancy, Bob Reno.

tion to raise the list price ofsingles to $1.29, with a resultantincrease in wholesale prices. Whiledetails of the increase had notbeen transmitted at press time, anexecutive at ABC speculated thatthe increase will take effect shortly,and that the next Three Dog Nightsingle could possibly be the firstrecord brought out at the higherprice.

The spokesman, who asked notto be identified, explained thatwith a list price of $1.29, singlescould still be sold at under onedollar in retail stores, and wouldalso give record manufacturers anopportunity to recoup some ofthe increases they have absorbedin higher pressing, distribution andother related costs.

Album IncreasesABC also announced that they

have increased the list price onthe three Jim Croce albums-"You Don't Mess Around WithJim," "Life & Times" and "I GotA Name" from $5.98 to $6.98.The increase is effective im-mediately.

Taylor Ends Record OperationsOther Independents Exit Business

By GARY MILWAUKEE, WISC. - In amove that surprised many in therecord industry, Taylor Electric Co.here has terminated its record in-dustry operations. And in the pastfew weeks, two independent dis-tributors serving Chicago, Summitand United, have gone out ofbusiness.

The Taylor action occurred Fri-day, May 31, as the firm, whichaIso distributed RCA/Whirlpoolproducts and Armstrong Carpeting,ended its record industry opera -

Read to Head EMI LONDON - EMI deputy chair-man John E. Read has been electedto succeed the retiring Sir JosephLockwood as chairman of the Brit-ish entertainment complex effectivein November. Lockwood has heldthe post since 1954 and is 69.. Readjoined the company in 1965 and is56.

COHEN

tions. The rack jobbing operationwas sold to Lieberman Enterprises,and Taylor's Pete Stocke, JimHanke and the rack salesmen areunderstood to be moving over toLieberman.

DistributionTaylor's other involvement was

in independent distribution; thatoperation has now gone out ofbusiness. Milwaukee is now leftwith John O'Brien Company as itsonly independent distributor; la-bels are now shipping Milwaukeeout of Chicago. An example isPhonogram, which, in keepingwith their "super distributor"concept, gave the line to Heilicherout of Chicago. Taylor had beenservicing Gimbels, Shopco andsome Ben Franklin stores.

Summit Distributors, a Chicagomainstay for over 13 years, hasclosed its doors permanently; the


JUNE 15, 1974

ABC Ups Singles Price to $1.29;

Other Companies Expected to FollowBy GARY COHEN

LOS ANGELES - ABC/Dunhill NEW YORK-The entire recordRecords has announced its inten- industry, on both the manufactur-

ing and distributor/rack jobber/one-stop/retail levels, last weekstudied ABC's announcement ofits intention to raise singles pricesto $1.29 list. Manufacturers werewatching one another to seewhich would be the next to followABC's lead. At press time, therehad been no further announce-ments, but speculation rose thatsome increases would be an-nounced in the next few weeks.

Similarly, the nation's distribu-tors, rack jobbers, one -stops andretailers were watching closelyto see if the price spread betweenretailers and subdistributors wouldbe increased. Again, there wereunconfirmed rumors indicating thatpossibility.

AnalysisBased on conversations with all

segments of the record industry,Record World has assembled thefollowing analysis of the priceincrease situation:

. A number of manufacturershave indicated that further in-creases will be announced insingles prices, with the majorsonly waiting ''for the dust tosettle" before making announce-ments of their own. Those in-creases, it is believed, will haveto come in the next 30 days, orABC, if they were the only labelto announce an increase, mightbe forced to rescind their action.

. The $1.29 figure should stillpermit singles to be sold in storesfor $1 or less. While the increasein list price amounts to 30 percent,the increases in wholesale pricewill not be that high, and willallow each segment of the businessa greater margin. Sources believethat the new wholesale prices willbe approximately in the high 50's/low 60's for subdistributors, the


Tentative CostsFor $1.29 SinglesAt press time Record World learnedthat the tentative new price for $1.29singles would be 58 cents for sub -distributors and 65 cents for retailers.Both figures are an approximate in-crease of ten cents over previousprices.

3

BMI Awards Honor 100 Writers, 74 Publishers NEW YORK -100 writers and 74publishers of 105 songs licensedfor public performance by BMI(Broadcast Music, Inc.) received Ci-tations of Achievement for the mostperformed songs in the BMI reper-toire for the calendar year 1973. Inaddition, special engraved glassplaques were presented to IrwinLevine and L. Russell Brown, writers,and Levine & Brown Music, Inc.,the publisher, of "Tie A YellowRibbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,"the most performed BMI song dur-ing 1973. The awards were pre-sented at New York's AmericanaHotel on June 4, by BMI presidentEdward M. Cramer, with the assist-ance of members of the firm'swriter and publisher administrationdivision, of which Theodora Zavinis senior vice president.

The top 1973 writer -award isKenneth Gamble, with five awards,followed by Leon Huff, Elton John,

Pipolo to Island

As Promotion VP LOS ANGELES - Pat Pipolo hasbeen appointed vice president -pro-motion for Island Records, Inc.,effective immediately, it was an-nounced by Charley Nuccio, presi-dent of Island. Pipolo will head-quarter at the label's office in LosAngeles, 7720 Sunset Boulevard.

Charley Nuccio, Pat Pipolo

Pipolo joins Island following sixyears in national promotion withMCA Records. He began his associ-ation with MCA at Uni Recordswhere he helped develop artistssuch as Neil Diamond and Eltonlohn and built the independentlabel into a major record industryentity. Pipolo became vice presi-dent -national promotion when Uniwas absorbed by MCA three yearsago.

"I see a parallel between Islandand Uni in the establishing of anindependent record label as apower in the industry," says Pipolo."It will be a challenge and I lookforward to a long and happy assoc-ation with Island and Charley Nuc-cio, a man I've always admired."Pipolo joins the label on the eveof establishing independent distri-bution for the American arm ofthe British label.

Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter andBernie Taupin, each with fourawards. The leading publishers, withsix awards each, are the BlackwoodMusic Group and ABC/Dunhill Mu-sic, Inc., followed by Dick JamesMusic, Inc., Mighty Three Music,Unart Music Corp. and the Warner/Tamerlane Group, each with fourawards.

Fourteen of the songs honoredwith BMI awards were presentedwith citations marking previousawards. "Yesterday," written byJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney,published by Maclen Music, Inc.,received its eighth award. Seventh -year awards went to Dramatis MusicCorp., for "By the Time I Get toPhoenix," written by Jim Webb andto John Hartford and Glaser Publi-cations, Inc., for "Gentle On MyMind."

Fourth -year awards were pre-sented to Paul Simon and Paul

Columbia Ups Price

On 22 Catalogue LPsBy GARY COHEN

NEW YORK-Columbia Recordsis planning to increase a groupof 22 catalogue albums from $4.98to $5.98. The increase will com-prise a second group of albumsof which Columbia has imple-mented an increase in catalogueprices this year; the first groupwas increased last January whenseven catalogue albums by ' BobDylan were similarly raised from$4.98 to $5.98.

Top of the LineThe new increases will come on

22 albums, the top of the $4.98line. All of the albums, formerlydesignated by a C prefix (indicat-ing $4.98 list) will be changedto a KC prefix, indicating $5.98 list.Included are three albums bySimon and Garfunkel, two eachfrom Poco, Kris Kristofferson,Blood, Sweat & Tears and the JeffBeck group, and single albumsby Mac Davis, Blue Oyster Cult,Byrds, Spirit, It's A Beautiful Dayand Santana, among others.

Galliani Joins E/A NEW YORK -- Steve Wax, vicepresident, promotion, has an-nounced the appointment of LouGalliani to west coast regionalpromotion for Elektra/Asylum Rec-ords. Galliani will be based inElektra/Asylum's Los Angeles of-fice.

Most recently with RCA Rec-ords' national promotion force,Galliani previously held promo-tion assignments at Polydor Rec-ords and at Capitol, where hisduties included regional promo-tion for that company's indepen-dent lines.

Simon Music for "Bridge OverTroubled Water;" Kris Kristoffersonand Buckhorn Music Publishing,Inc. for "For the Good Times;" JoeSouth and Lowery Music Co., Inc.for "(I Never Promised You A) RoseGarden;" Gene MacLellan andBeechwood Music Corp. for "Snow-bird;" George Harrison and Harri-songs Music, Inc. for "Something;"and to Irving Music, Inc., for"We've Only Just Begun," writtenby Paul Williams and Roger Nichols."Help Me Make It Through theNight," written by Kris Kristofferson,published by Combine Music Corp.,received its third award.


Bell Names Carrico

Natl. Promo VP NEW YORK-Iry Biegel, execu-tive vice president and generalmanager of Bell Records, has an-nounced that Dave Carrico hasbeen named vice president/na-tional promotion as the first stepin a major buildup of the label'spromotion department that willinclude both comprehensive hiringand extensive restructuring.

Dave Carrico

An eight year Bell veteran, Car-rico has served in a variety of postswithin the company. Most recentlyhe headed the a&r departmentwhere he dealt with talent andindependent producers.

The entire promotion departmentof Bell will be rebuilt under Car-rico's direction and new additionsto the staff will be announcedshortly.

Gold for New Birth,William DeVaughn NEW YORK The RIAA hasawarded gold records to RCA Rec-ords artists the New Birth for theiralbum, "It's Been A Long Time;"and William DeVaughn's debut sin-gle on Roxbury, "Be Thankful ForWhat You Got." Roxbury is man-ufactured and distributed by RCA.

1700 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10019Area Code (212) 765.5020

PUBLISHER EDITOR IN CHIEFBOB AUSTIN SID PARNES

MIKE SIGMAN/EDITORLENNY BEER/ RESEARCH EDITOR

HOWARD LEVITT/ASSOCIATE EDITORGARY COHEN/NEWS EDITOR

MITCHELL KANNER/ ART DIRECTORRobert Adels/ Reviews Editor

Roberta Skopp / Assistant EditorIra Mayer/Assistant Editor

Toni Profera/Assistant Chart EditorDede Dabney/R&B Editor

Speight Jenkins/Classical EditorIrene Johnson Ware/Gospel Editor

Richard Robinson / A -V Editor

Wes Lucas/Advertising Sales

WEST COASTSPENCE BERLANDVICE PRESIDENT

WEST COAST MANAGERCraig Fisher/News Editor

Beverly Magid/Radio EditorLinda Nelson/Production

6290 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Calif. 90028Phone: (213) 465-6126

NASHVILLEJOHN STURDIVANT

VICE PRESIDENTSOUTHEASTERN MANAGER

Bob Anderson/Southeastern EditorMarie Ratliff /Research

Red O'Donnell/Nashville Report806 16th Ave. So., Nashville, Tenn. 37203

Phone: (615) 244-1820

LATIN AMERICAN OFFICETOMAS FUNDORA/MANAGER

Carlos Marrero/Assistant Manager3140 W. 8th Ave.

Hialeah, Fla. 33012(305) 823-8491

(305) 821-123,0 (night)

ENGLANDNOEL GAY ORGANISATION

24 Denmark St.London, W.C.2, England

Phone: 836-3941

JAPANORIGINAL CONFIDENCE

4F Tominag Bldg.5-12-7 Shimbashi, Minato-Ku, Tokyo

GERMANYPAUL SIEGEL

EUROPEAN EDITORTauentzienstrasse 16, 1 Berlin 30, Germany

Phone: Berlin 2115914

FRANCEGILLES PETARD

8, Quai de Stalingrad,Boulogne 92, FrancePhone: 520-79-67

CANADALARRY LE BLANC

22 Walmer Road, Apt. 604Toronto, Canada

Phone: (416) 967-1104

ITALYALEX E. PRUCCHINI

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SUBSCRIPTIONS: ONE YEAR (52 ISSUES) U.S.AND CANADA-$45; AIR MA I L-$75; FOREIGN-AIR MAIL $80. SECOND CLASS POSTAGEPAID AT NEW YORK, N. Y. AND AT AD-DITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. DEADLINE:NEGATIVES AND COPY MUST BE IN NEWYORK BY 12 NOON FRIDAY.

Copyright © 1974 byRECORD WORLD PUBLISHING CO., INC.

VOL. 30, No. 1408

4 RECORD WORLD JUNE 15, 1974

Engelbert's new album contains "You Are The Sunshine Of MyLife"; "Photograph"; "My Love"; "Killing Me Softly With HisSong"; "Show And Tell"; "And I Love You So"; "Free As TheWind"; "Thankful For You"; "Second Tuesday In December"; andhis current single; "Catch Me, I'm Falling".

Some of today's besi known songs are about to become evenbetter known.

ENGELEERT HUMPERDINCK ITINERARY

Jui 24.29Jui 8.13Ju 15-20Jul 22-27Ju 23 -Aug 3Aug 5-1CAug 1S-17Aug 1S-24Aug 1-.E -SeplSept 18-Cct

NANUET, N.Y TheaterCLEVELAND, OHIO Music CariivalBUFFALO, N.Y. Illeody TheaterGAITHERSBL qG, MD. Shady Grove Music FairLATHAM, N.Y .L'oloiy ColiseumTORONTO, ONT. 0 Keefe TheaterWALLINGFORD, CONN.WARWICti, R I.

8 STATELINE, NEV.8 LAS VEGAS, NEV.

Oak3ale TheaterMusic Fe.Etival

Sahara HotelRiviera Hotel

APAS 71065

JO .107`

Produced by Gordon ill

Western Sales MeetFeatures RCA Artists NEW YORK-Western Merchan-disers, one of the biggest recorddealers in the southwest, was en-tertained at their recent annualsales meeting in Amarillo, Texas,by various RCA recording artists.

Featured entertainers at themeeting were RCA recording art-ists Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings,Ronnie Milsap, Dottie West andKaren Wheeler.

According to Jack Kiernan, RCA'sdivision vice president, marketing,"We have done an 'increasing vol-ume of business with Western, andwhen we asked Sam Marmaduke,president of Western, if we couldmake a presentation of our newCountry Cookin' program to hisorganization, and entertain themat the same time, he graciouslyconsented."

In addition to presenting andentertaining, RCA's southwesternregional sales manager "Pug" Pag-liara made Sam Marmaduke anhonorary member of the SilverBoot Club, an organization whichPagliara runs for those people


'Penny' Promo ProfitsSam Goody Chain

By GARY COHEN

NEW YORK-With a nationwideshortage of pennies hampering allretailers, including record retail-ers, the Sam Goody chain in NewYork has come up with a planthat has succeeded in reducingthe firm's penny problem whileacting as a valuable promotionto help draw customers into thechain's stores. The idea, simply,is that every customer who bringsin 100 pennies receives a creditslip worth $1.50.

So far, the chain has receivedover $10,000 in pennies, accordingto president and founder SamGoody. The promotion, in all ofthe Goody stores, has been goingon for two weeks and will prob-ably continue for two more.Goody, in addition to getting pen-nies for their own change, hasbeen selling the pennies to a bankfor $1.09. There is no limit onthe amount of pennies a customercan bring in, and Goody terms thepromotion "very successful."

In a related development, as afurther result of the penny short-age, some record retailers havereported changing their sellingprices, so that after tax is addedto the purchase price, the finalfigure ends in a five or zero. InNew York City, for example, wheretax is seven percent, stores arecharging $3.74 (with tax, fourdollars even), $3.97 (with tax,$4.25 and $4.95 (with tax, $5.30)instead of $3.71, $3.99 or $4.99,respectively.

London Personnel Shifts NEW YORK - D. H. Toiler -Bond, president of London Rec-ords has announced that Sy Warnerhas been appointed sales managerof London Records under HerbGoldfarb, vice president in chargeof sales and marketing.

Don Wardell has been appointedmanager of the promotional divi-sion of the company. Wardell be-gan at London on May 29 afterresigning his post as general man-ager of UK Records, Inc.

Don Wardell

Wardell, who is English, con-tinues his long association withLondon Records / British DeccaGroup of Companies. From 1970-72 he was promotion manager ofthe Decca Group labels in Englandand in 1972 was 'Promotion Manof the Year' in England. From 1963-1970 Wardell was the chief an-nouncer at Radio Luxembourg.

Dave Marshall continues in hispost of national promotion man-ager and Brian Interland remainsin charge of FM Promotion.

Gold 'Sundown'II LOS ANGELES - "Sundown,"Gordon Lightfoot's current Reprisealbum, has been certified gold bythe RIAA.

NARM Committees Meet on CoastBy GARY COHEN

IM LOS ANGELES-Members of theNational Assooation of RecordingMerchandisers (NARM) board ofdirectors, along with the NARMrack jobbers, retailers and manu-facturer advisory committees, methere June 4-6 to discuss mutualproblems and to air grievances.

High on the list of topics dis-cussed, according to sources pres-ent at the meetings, were theABC Records announcement rais-ing single prices to $1.29 and thedecision of Taylor Electric Com-pany to exit the record business(see separate stories). Some planswere made at the Thursday meet-ing (6) for next year's NARM Con-vention, to be held at the CenturyPlaza. One manufacturing execu-tive summed up the meeting bysaying that there was "excellentdialogue" on both sides.

Drawing an enthusiastic re-sponse from manufacturers presentwas the announcement from somerack jobbers that they plan toincrease prices to their accounts

Allman Brothers BandSets Attendance Mark MACON, GA. - Phil Waldenhas announced that the AllmanBrothers Band has broken twoattendance records in as manydates on the start of their 1974summer campaign.

The tour opened in Greensboro,North Carolina on May 24 atGreensboro Coliseum. The All -mans played before a packed audi-ence of 18,200, breaking allprevious attendance records set atthe Coliseum. The Greensborodate, promoted by Cecil Corbett,is also the largest indoor paidattendance ever assembled inNorth Carolina.


Grand Funk Platinum Shines On

Bhaskar Menon, president of Capitol Records,36 platinum albums (each representing overconcert party held June 1 at Chasen's inawards for Grand Funk's 10th gold album,"Locomotion." Pictured from left are CraigBrewer and Menon.

Inc., presented Grand Funk Railroad withone -million dollars in sales) at an after -Beverly Hills. The presentation included

"Shinin' On," arid second gold single,Frost, Mel Schacher, Mark Farner, Don

by approximately three percent.Most jobbers presently get from$3.50 to $3.55 from their accountsfor $5.98 list albums; a threepercent increase would amount to15 to 20 cents. Some of the labelspresent speculated that accountstealing, price -cutting and under-bidding to gain additional accountswould be kept to a minimum.

Rack Jobber ComplaintsThe rack jobbers generally com-

plained at their meeting that theyneed a 15 percent differential tobe viable in the marketplace. "Therack accounts can't compete onthe street with the retailers," one


Lieberson in London

CBS Records Group president GoddardLieberson recently went to London to pro-duce an original cast album from the hitshow "Billy." The musical opened atLondon's Drury Lane Theatre on May 1and is expected to move to the UnitedStates when its run in England is over,perhaps next year. Lieberson, who hasproduced many other original cast re-cordings, including "My Fair Lady,""West Side Story" and last year, "ALittle Night Music," is shown above withMichael Crawford (left), star of the show.Crawford is known to American audi-ences for his roles in the movie versionsof "Hello Dolly" and "A Funny ThingHappened On the Way To the Forum,"as well as for his performance in theBroadway play "Black Comedy." He por-trays the lead character in "Billy," anadaptation of the film "Billy Liar." Theoriginal cast recording has been re-leased in Great Britain.

SG -Columbia's

Strong First YearIn Music City NASHVILLE - Screen Gems-Co-lumbia/Colgems Music has rackedup an unusually strong first yeartrack record with their new Nash-ville operation. Starting fromground zero, Paul Tannen, generalmanager of the Nashville opera-tion, worked closely with LesterSill, president of the music divi-sion (LA); Irwin Z. Robinson, vice-president and general manager(NY); and, most importantly, withIrwin Schuster, vice president anddirector of professional activities(NY). This combined effort result-ed in Screen Gems being repre-sented with 15 country chartsingles and in 18 country chartalbums this year.



4

The Everything Man

A world acclaimedvocalist. A veteran of

many fine albums and amillion -selling single.

A gifted drummer -percussionist.

JimmyCastoris"The

EverythinMan

A dynamic writer,producer

and arranger.

JIMMY CASTOR(THE EVERYTHING MAN)

ANDTHE JIMMY CASTOR BUNCH

ttP, -

4

r

Produced by Castor -Pruitt Productions SD 7305

A multi -faceted musicianon saxophone, clarinet

and piano.

onAtlanticRecordsand Tapes.

©1974 Atlantic Recording Corp. OA Warner Communications Company

DIAL GUETHE VIEWPOINTS OF THE INDUSTRY

Shep Gordon on the Rock Star as EntertainerBy IRA MAYER

i As manager of Alice Cooper,head of Alive Enterprises, Inc.and co-founder with Joe Gannonof an environmental productioncompany for live concerts, ShepGordon exercises a keen percep-tion of the pop market. In thisDialogue, Gordon discusses thefilm "Good To See You AgainAlice Cooper," which opens June12 in Binghamton, New York (acity which banned Cooper's liveperformances), the need for re-cord company recognition andsupport of full scale productionelements in rock concerts, and themovement toward an awarenessof the role of a rock star as anentertainer.

Shep Gordon

Record World: When you last spoke with us, you talked of trying toget people to "hate" Alice for shock value. I think you've gone beyondthat at this point. Now Alice is accepted and so I would assume thatwould affect future shows, live and for the film. A different attitude, witha different purpose in mind.

Gordon: Yes, basically because of the times. I don't believe Alice is100 percent the cause of it, but now it's a whole different social struc-ture, social acceptance. The things that we were doing five years ago,that we were hated for, have now become socially accepted. You cando them on TV, you can do them anywhere. "The Exorcist" is basicallyan extension of what we were doing on stage. It was the biggest movieof the year and not just with kids. So all the things that were the premiseof Alice have now become the norm.

Now it's up to us to take it to the next step, in just about every areain terms of stage production. At the time when we were doing stageproduction everyone said "Are you kidding? Music is music. You're notsupposed to move." Now it seems to be just the opposite. Now if agroup doesn't have a stage production, everyone says, "Wow, what abore." And everyone is now trying to outdo everything that was done.

The next step for us, now that it's the accepted norm, now thatpeople understand it, is to turn it into true entertainment. Entertainmentin terms of old show biz. Of living out everyone's fantasies. In otherwords, the first step seemed to be shock in terms of "we can tell theworld about our fantasies, no reason why we can't." If we have a fantasyabout getting guillotined, let's tell the world about it. Now everybodytells the world about their fantasies in their stage shows, or tries to-whether it's a beautiful thing like a Gregg Allman tour, his fantasy ofsouthern trees, beautiful mornings. For us, it's at the point where we nolonger have to shock people to present a fantasy. For example, Alicewith Groucho. That's something that four or five years ago we couldn'tdo because nobody was ready to accept it. That's as much of a fantasyfor Alice as getting guillotined on stage was. l think it's a fantasy thatevery kid would like to live out.

RW: The violent end of it is working it's way out, even thoughGroucho was violent in a way too.

Gordon: Exactly. But in a different sort of way. Four or five years ago,if you were a kid, you could never admit you liked anything yourparents liked. You just couldn't do it. Now, because of Alice, becauseof things like Alice, just because of the times and the way things change,now the kids are able to accept what their parents like, and everybodycan live out the same fantasies. And hopefully, the old kind of Holly-wood can start coming back in.

Everyone is starting to realize there's no difference between Alice onstage and Frank Sinatra on stage, except for what they do. I think therewas a fear of rock and roll, even within the industry itself. No onethought it was legitimate. They felt it was something that would comeand go. And now it's been accepted-because of the quality of what'sbeing done, because of the acceptance of the rock and roll industry,

because it is entertainment and you have to entertain people and alsobecause of the type of personalities that are being developed. Grouchomade a remark once which I think, as a matter of fact, I read in RecordWorld, where he said that the last hope of vaudeville is Alice Cooper.

RW: And that's where the production company with Joe Gannon fitsin?

Gordon: There are certain ways of going on a tour, or launching anact after a record. One way is to just play the music. The second way isto take the essence of what the act is doing and translate it on stage ina way that fulfills the needs of the audience. And that's basically thepurpose of the company.

RW: The reverse role of the studio producer.Gordon: Exactly the reverse. For example, the Gregg Allman show.

We know that when people come to a Gregg Allman show they'recoming there to hear the music. For the beauty of the music. When Ithink of the Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman, I think in terms of reallysitting back in my chair and listening to a beautiful, melodic show. Soin our attempt to stage that show, it was to reinforce that feel. We didthat by putting trees all around, putting the right kind of lighting behindGregg to add to that feel. And in a sense to make it more commercial.To fulfill the need more. It's understanding a need and then puttingsomething around it, that makes that feeling come alive. People canuse their eyes as well as their ears.

I think the bottom line of entertainment, the job of the peoplearound the entertainer is to minimize the gamble . . . no performercan be on every night, there's no performer ever who's been onevery single night. If it's just the performer on a bare -stage and hehas a bad night, the audience doesn't get off. The job of the peoplearound him, the manager, the producer, is to build an environmentaround him that works unto itself. So that if a performer has an offnight the audience still gets off. If the entertainer has a great night ittakes him that much higher. That's really the purpose of the company,to build an environment around each act so that if a performer has theworst night of his life, the audience still has something it can enjoy.

RW: The last time you spoke to Record World, just about a year anda half ago, the "Alice at the Palace" idea had just fallen through. Nowwe've had Mott the Hoople on Broadway.

Gordon: Exactly. And that is a direct reflection of what we just talkedabout, and I think it's really healthy for the industry. Rock can become,in a sense, a continuing art form. Obviously there are always going tobe people in rock and roll, as there are people in movies, who are goingto say, "No, we're not entertainers, this is true art." But there is now amajority of people in rock and roll who understand what their purposeis-to entertain an audience. And once they understand that you canseparate the two ... I think that's what's helped make the whole thingcredible. I know the Stones have an offer from Vegas. We had an offerfrom Vegas. It's interesting in a sense because I think it's the first timethat the two generations have started to merge, at the same time.

"The record company still doesn't under-stand the thing of 'entertainer.' They wantto hear what the next album's going to be."

F tu 11 11 1 1 1 1 1111 1111111111111 11 1 1 1 1 11111111111111111111

RW: There still comes the matter of records versus live music. Youget someone like a Bob Ezrin who now says "I don't want to work withpeople who don't really know how to make music anymore." And thenyou get the other side which says "I want to adapt this and make therecord express what comes over on stage." You're going into film tomake Alice more viable. That would presumably be the medium rightbetween the two. How do the three separate media relate to eachother and to Alice?

Gordon: Musically I don't see as much of a blending as I do on apersonal level. In other words, in the same way that I couldn't get intoa record by a Lawrence Welk, I can appreciate what he is as an enter-tainer. I think that works both ways. I don't particularly see fifty-fiveyear old people going out buying Alice's records. It's different times,



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THE C 'MSTBy CRAIG FISHER

MULTIPLE NEWSFRONTS: The past week's newsemanated from diverse metropolises. New York,of course, was one of them. Word from there wasthat, in addition to securing original cast albumrights to Broadway's "The Magic Show," CliveDavis has begun his tenure at Bell by signinga singer -songwriter, Richard Supa. And back here,Lou Adler remarked that the business world,at least, was pleased with the Davis appoint-ment. "You noticed the stock market went up

the day it was announced," Mr. Adler was reported to have said . . .Also here, Ringo Starr cancelled his planned recording sessions withRichard Perry and flew to London Tuesday last, to attend to what weredescribed as "personal matters." He's set to return at the end of thismonth, and Tony King will be accompanying him . . Also in the U.K.,filming continues on the movie version of "Tommy," and Pete Towns-hend has written at least three new songs for the flick . . . In Paris,meantime, Bette Midler is still vacationing. Miss M should go into thestudio again within two months, however, and some heavies are saidto have expressed interest in producing her, like Paul Simon, DavidBowie, Elton John and Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson . . . Backhere again, the Troubadour will be the site of what should prove to betwo interesting evenings Monday and Tuesday. Phil Ochs is to appearthere, once more for the benefit of Chilean refugees, and Doug Westonis set to share the stage with him ... At A&M, offices are being readiedfor Dark Horse Records. George Harrison and company, reportedly,will move in November . . . Steppenwolf has signed with Mums.The label says it's looking for material . . . Bobby Womack's Hot Bar-becue Sauce-rumor is that Mr. Womack sold the idea for it for wellinto six figures-should debut from Best Foods later this month . . .Back in New York once more, after a week of recording, George Segal hasjust about finished his first album for Flying Dutchman-inimitablevocalizing, banjo -playing and all. One night Harry Nilsson dropped byto visit, and he got so absorbed contributing background vocals that heJailed to show up at his own session ... The week of the 24th is the newrelease date for that Bob Dylan/Band package-delayed, according toElektra/Asylum, so that both album and tape could ship at the same time.

MAKING RECORDS: The Beau Brummels went into the studio herelast week. Warners will have the album, which Ted Templeman isproducing . . . Sarah Kernochan came back to town. She's recordingnow with Nick Venet producing, and also, she says, planning to cut asingle with Harry Nilsson sometime next month . . . Redbone's next isunderway at Devonshire Studios. "Beaded Dreams Through TurquoiseEyes" it's to be called. Pat and Lolly Vegas a re co -producing it, andit's scheduled for release late next month . . . Also at Devonshire,Terry Garthwaite began recording with Michael Stewart at the controls.This one, it appears, will be on UA . . . Definitely for UA, and forAugust, is the album Vernon Burch is cutting at Angel City Sound. TomWilson is producing this one . . . At the group's Ruedi Valley Ranch inMissouri, David Anderle and Glyn Johns began co -producing the OzarkMountain Daredevils' next last week . . . In Miami, at Criteria Studios,King Biscuit Boy has been playing harp for the Electric Flag. He'll prob-ably also do some dates with them when they're finished . . . LarryGatlin is recording in Nashville. Fred Foster is producing . . . TheManhattans are at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia, with Mickey Eichnerserving as executive producer, while Bobby Martin is at the controls. . . Dave Brubeck went into New York's C.I. Studios last week tobegin his next for Atlantic ... Jerry Wexler is in Muscle Shoals, workingwith the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as he produes Donny Fritts'first for Atlantic. Fritts used to be with Kris Kristofferson's band, and healso played a small part in "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid." Sitting in onthese sessions have been Mr. Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, John Prineand Tony Joe White . . . Bill Szymczyk is set to produce WishboneAsh's next beginning July 8 at Criteria . . . And among upcoming re-leases which seem germane here are Joe Walsh's "No One CanSee You When Your Eyes Are Closed" (he produced it himself), duein early July, and "James Gang Miami," due late this month.

IN GROUP NEWS: Jackie Lomax and Kim Gardner are in town, hop-ing, they say, to put together a Los Angeles band. The group wouldprobably be called White Lady . . . In injuries: a half -dollar -sized baldspot, where stitches were made, was, fortunately, the only consequence


Sol Rabino witz:

The Pop World Goes InternationalBy ROBERTA SKOPP

NEW YORK - The Americancharts and airwaves have been re-cently invaded by a variety of musicfrom all corners of the world, andthis influx is particularly visible toSol Rabinowitz, a music businessveteran who, for the past sixyears has helmed CBS Records In-ternational, for which he supervisesthe music publishing and a&r divi-sions worldwide. In a recent inter-view with Record World, Rabino-witz discussed, from his vantagepoint the changes in music on aninternational level.

'Established Styles'Rabinowitz feels that American

and British music had previouslybeen "the only universal music inthe past, other countries had beencopying those established styles,original material is now being gen-erated, and these countries havebeen getting progressively moresophisticated and distinctive by ourpop standards. Proof positive canbe found by one glance at TheSingles Chart, with strong showingsfrom Blue Swede, ABBA andGolden Earring, and by checkingout the FM Airplay Report, whereNektar and Tasavallan Presidentti,among others, are causing quite astir.

"No longer are poor copies ofAmerican/British material being pro-duced," continued Rabinowitz."Rather they have become commer-cial in their own right. Holland, 4

Epic Promotes Harris NEW YORK-Charlie Lourie, di-rector, product management, Epicand Columbia Custom Labels, hasannounced the promotion of BruceHarris to the position of productmanager, Epic and Columbia Cus-tom Labels.

Harris, who has held the positionof associate product manager sincejoining CBS Records in March,1973, will continue to monitor thereleases of assigned product inaddition to creating marketing andmerchandising plans for variousartists. He will continue to reportto Lourie.

Bruce Harris

very musical country, was one ofthe first to sell outside of its ownboundaries-with groups like BlueMink, Golden Earring and Focusoriginating there." Rabinowitz be-lieves that Holland became a cen-ter of creative activity for world-wide acceptance largely becauseEnglish is a strong second languagethere.

Foreign language records are stillvery difficult to sell in any foreignmarket, Rabinowitz emphasized,but are more readily acceptable inEurope where speaking several lan-guages is commonplace. Here,where English is the predominantlanguage, foreign language records,unless extraordinarily ear -catchingwill not sell. Because of this factor,Rabinowitz reports that product isnow being recorded in English inevery country in the wad: "Eng-lish is the best language for singingcontemporary pop music, musicianstell me."

In addition to his internationalresponsibilities, Rabinowitz' func-tions include releasing foreign prod-uct here that he feels has strongcommercial potential. "More andmore artists are making records that


London Meet MapsMarketing Plans CHICAGO - London Records'national promotion meeting heldhere (June 1-2) kicked off the na-tional merchandising and market-ing campaigns for the company'sJune -July product, spotlighting Or-phan's new album, "More OrphanThan Not."

National promotion directorDon Wardell and national promo-tion manager Dave Marshall pre-sided over the conclave while a&rvp Walt Maguire previewed newsingles releases from Bloodstone,10cc, Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles,Thin Lizzy, Ferret, J. R. Bailey,Olympic Runners, Gary & Daveand Silverback.

AlbumsNew album product announced

at the meeting in addition to theOrphan package included 10cc's"Sheet Music," the debut album"Leviathon" from Hi Records'Mach label, "Wolf" and Blood-stone's "I Need Time."

Stone County Formed LOS ANGELES - Lance Smith,former president and founder ofAthena Enterprises, and Keith Case,former executive vice president ofAthena Enterprises, have foundedStone County, Inc., a creativeartist development company.



Steve Barri: At Home LOS ANGELES - ABC Records'head of a&r oversees a creativestaff of producers who handle thechores for the company, whilebeing immersed himself in theproducer's role (with acts like BoDonaldson & the Heywoods, theFour Tops, Bobby Bland and FreshStart). While others with his trackrecord (many million sellers forthe Grass Roots and Tommy Roe)have opted for the independentproducer role, Steve Barri sees thein-house atmosphere as a plus inthe hit -making process.

"The advantages for me," he says"and for the other people here, arethat because of the over-all imageof the company, I think you get anopportunity at acts that you mightnot get if you were an independentproducer. We're developing some-thing here like the old Hollywoodstudios with their company signa-ture. We just have to make surethat we don't get into a rut withthe people we're producing. That'sthe only disadvantage, and I'vechecked that by challenging myselfwith a variety of acts in the record-ing studio.

"The Grass Roots and TommyRoe were very successful, and manypeople thought 'That's his bag: hedid that one thing.' That's whywhen the opportunity to cut theFour Tops came along, I jumpedat it . . . I was influenced to a cer-tain degree because of hearing the

Steve Barri

Tops in the past."Although in all honesty, when

we went in to record them, the ideawas to move them into some newdirections." The act's soundachieved on current charter "OneChain Don't Make No Prison"seems to prove the validity of thatparticular assertion.

Having worked with the Tops, itwas a natural thing to delve furtherinto blues with Bobby Bland. Barricomments: "He was a great changeof pace in the studio. All of a sud-den, I was getting very heavily intodoing r&b things which is music Ilove. And when the Heywoods cameto the label, I felt it might be a goodthing to go back and do lighterthings." So whether it's the rawnessof "Goin' Down Slow," or thehappy -sad top 40 quality of "BillyDon't Be a Hero," Barri is at home.

Although Barri and his staff areconstantly going to clubs to catchnew talent in its formative stages, he


RCA to Terminate

Home Audio Products NEW YORK - The RCA Corpo-ration has announced its decisionto terminate production of homeaudio products by next year. In-stead, they will concentrate ontelevision and television -relatedequipment.

RCA, who manufactured radios,audio tape players and recordersin addition to phonographs, willmarket a line of 1975 models, andthen cease production. An RCAstatement indicated that con-sumer electronics busineses haddecreased to approximately fivepercent, and had not been a prof-itable operation.

CPI PubberiesSet Annual Meet NEW YORK - Executives fromall major offices of Screen Gems-Columbia/Colgems Music andScreen Gems -Columbia Publica-tions will gather at Columbia Pic-tures' Burbank Studio June 17-20for their annual Music Publishingand Publications meeting. Presid-ing over the meeting will be LesterSill, president of the music divi-sion of Columbia Pictures Indus-tries, Inc. Among the topics Sillwill cover are the new studiomusic operation and the status ofmusic for motion pictures andtelevision projects.

Paul Cooper Joins

Wilson, Kay Companies LOS ANGELES - Monte Kay,president of the Flip Wilson andMonte Kay Companies, has an-nounced that Paul Cooper hasbecome an associate with them inthe area of creative services.

Cooper began June 3 as directorof public relations for some oftheir affiliated companies, whichinclude Clerow Productions, Inc.,producers of the NBC "Flip WilsonShow," Little David Records,Monte Kay Management, FlipMusic (ASCAP) and other associ-ated publishing companies, andClemont Productions, Inc., pro-ducers of "The Helen ReddyShow" and the new NBC MacDavis summer replacement show.

Cooper previously was withTri-Lo, Inc. (Trini Lopez' Company),and A&M Records. Prior to thisposition, Cooper was associatedwith the late David E. Bright, whowas the founder and creator ofCATV (H & B American Corpora-tion).

UA Names Choran LOS ANGELES-Wally Schuster,vice president, United Artists MusicGroup, has announced the addi-tion of Eddie Choran to the musicpublishing company's professionalstaff. Choran will be headquarteredin Los Angeles.

GARY MEISTER SAYS "THANKS" FOR PLAYING IT AGAIN.

AND AGAIN. AND AGAIN.Gary Meister's record "Neon Lady" is getting a lot of play and a lot of praise:

(exclusively on BASF records)

"Neon Lady is a great record. Listen and do yourself a favor." - Cash Box

"Neon Lady has a hypnotic beat and appealing vocal which give it thegreen light for good chart activity."- Record World

"One of our 'Recommended New Releases.' "- Janet Gavin, The Gavin Report

In addition to these people and publications, Gary would liketo thank the following radio stations for making "Neon Lady" a hit:

WPNX W104 -FM KLACWEAS WRCP (nites)WKDA WEET WILWMQM WCMS KCKNWBIE-FM WHIM KTCRWCOP WFGL KRWCWPOR WCOU WWOL

WBCS KBUYKNUZ

XPRSKWJJKEREWBBXWKTPWNWY-FMWKXAWFMP-FMWOLC

WFAU WBGWWMNI WHOUWSEN WDLCWOTW WEEPWNHV WI VKWDNH WWVAWTVL (nites)WMKR

"Neon Lady"- BASF B-15343

Listen to Gary Meister on the Wheeling Feeling Hour,Saturday evening, June 22, on WWVA, Wheeling, W. Virginia.

"Neon Lady" produced by Carl Strube.BASF Systems, Crosby Drive, Bedford, Massachusetts 01730

RECORD WORLD JUNE 15, 197411

RCA Releases 2.7 for June NEW YORK-John Denver's newalbum, "Back Home Again," headsRCA Records' 27 -album release forJune. Included are a five -recordbluegrass release, a group of im-portant jazz albums on the FlyingDutchman label, albums by thePhiladelphia Orchestra, Arthur Fied-ler and the Boston Pops and theCleveland Quartet on Red Seal andnew albums by such artists as Mat-thew Fisher, Crown Heights Affair,Jim Dawson and Elephants Memory.The release, by label, includes:

VictorVictor -"I'll Be There," with

Matthew Fisher; "Crown HeightsAffair;" "Back Home Again," byJohn Denver; "Bluegrass for Collec-tors" with various artists; "AngelsForever" with Elephants Memory;"It's That Time of Night" by Jim EdBrown; "The Best of Lester Flatt;""Bluegrass at Its Peak" by the Mc -Peak Brothers; "Live Bluegrass Festi-val" by Lester Flatt with guest, BillMonroe; "Jim Dawson;" and"Twice Around the Houses" byJonathon Kelly.

Flying Dutchman-"Old Rags"by The New Sunshine Jazz Band;"Yesterdays" by Gato Barbieri; "ILove You" by Elek Bacsik; and"Good News" by Teresa Brewerand the World's Greatest Jazzbandof Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart.

Copeland Forms BTM;Names Ray CavianoU NEW YORK Miles Copelandhas announced the opening of hisAmerican company, British TalentManagers, Ltd., at 65 East 55 Streetin New York City.

The management company,through Copeland's English basedScope International Talent, Ltd.,holds exclusive worldwide repre-sentation of English bands Wish-bone Ash, Climax Blues Band,Renaissance and Al Stewart, andU.S. representation of Thin Lizzyand Stackridge.

American ActivitiesRay Caviano will co-ordinate all

American activities of the com-pany from the New York -basedoffice. Exclusive bookings of BTMLtd's acts will be through RichardHalem of CMA. Public relationswill be handled by The WartokeConcern.

New NAIRD Officers CHARLOTTE, N.C.-The NationalAssociation of Independent Rec-ord Distributors elected a newslate of officers at its fifth con-vention held here May 10-12.

Newly elected officials are chair-man, Charles Mitchell, TakomaRecords; secretary, C.R. Freeland,Rebel Records; treasurer, BillThomas, Tant Enterprises; and par-liamentarian Bill Shubart, PhiloRecords.

Wooden Nickel-"Sketches" byMegan McDonough.

Camden - "This Time theDream's on Me" by Glenn Miller;"Paper Roses" by various artists;"The Sound of Bluegrass" by vari-ous artists; "Living Guitars PlusCountry Strings Play a John Den-ver Songbook;" and "Rockin' WithRed" by Piano Red.

Red Seal

Red Seal-"Spectacular March-es" by Eugene Ormandy and thePhiladelphia Orchestra; Schubert:Quartet No. 14 in D Minor (Deathand the Maiden) and Mozart:Adagio and Fugue in C Minor (K.546) by The Cleveland Quartet;"The Greatest Hit Songs from theSpecial TV Offers-Vol. 2" byArthur Fiedler and the BostonPops Orchestra; and "SpectacularChoruses" by Eugene Ormandyconducting the Philadelphia Or-chestra Chorus.

Quadradiscs

Quadradiscs-"It's Been a LongTime" by the New Birth; "Euph-rates River" by The Main Ingred-ient! "Hugo in Wonder -Land" byHugo Montenegro; "Danny Davisand the Nashville Brass in Blue-grass Country;" and "Greatest Hitsof the '70s, Vol. 2" by Arthur Fied-ler and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Pat WilliamsSet For Film ScoreMI LOS ANGELES - Composer PatWilliams has been signed to writean original score for "Harrad Sum-mer" by producer Dennis F.Stevens. The film, directed bySteven H. Stern for Cinema Arts,will be released in July.

Epic Rings Labelle

GTO Records Formed LOS ANGELES - Negotiationshave -been completed betweenDick Leahy, retiring United King-dom chief of Bell Records andLaurence Myers of the Gem TobyOrganization to form a new rec-ord company which will tradeunder the name of GTO Records.

June 7

The company will go into im-mediate operation upon Leahy'sdeparture from Bell on June 7.

For the time being, GTO Rec-ords will operate from 252 RegentStreet in London, and 6565 Sun-set Blvd. in Los Angeles, Cal.90028. The phone number of thelatter is (213) 461-4091.

Times Gets HalfOf Thunder Roar NEW YORK - Murray Deutch,president of the New York TimesMusic Publishing Corp., a divisionof the New York Times, has an-nounced the acquisition of a 50percent interest in record pro-ducer Joe Saraceno's Thunder'sRoar and Antigua Music publish-ing firms.

Fifth In Series

The current agreement is thefifth in a series of diverse expan-sion moves made by the NewYork Times Music Corp. since thefirst of the year. These includethe acquisition of MetromediaMusic, the Clyde Otis Eden Musicpop -soul catalog, the "MemphisSound" of Charlie Chalmers' Rho-mers Music, and a co -publishingand administration deal with Plain& Simple Music which includesa writing and in-house productionagreement with singer/writer/pro-ducer Jackie De Shannon.

IANEpic Records has announced the signing of the popular group- Labelle to an exclusiverecording contract. Shown above at the official signing of Labelle to Epic are (backrow, from left): Ron Alexenburg, vice president, Epic and Columbia Custom Labelssales and distribution; Don Ellis, vice president, a&r, Epic Records; Gregg Geller, assist-ant to the vice president, a&r, Epic Records; and (bottom, from left) group members,Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash and Patti LaBelle. The group is currently at work on theirfirst album for Epic.

Stones Won't VisitStates During '74 NEW YORK - Atlantic Recordshas received word from the RollingStones office in London that theRolling Stones have not made norare making any definite plans orarrangements to come to the U.S.this year.

Anni Ivil, director of publicityfor Atlantic Records, stated, "Atthe moment the Rolling Stones arevery busy in London working ontheir newest album and are notcontemplating a visit to the U.S.this year."

Turrentine Time

Stanley Turrentine has signed an exclu-sive recording contract with Fantasy Rec-ords; his first album on the label will beproduced by Gene Page, and will containhis jazz interpretation of "I'm in Love."Pictured here at the signing are (from left)Fantasy president Ralph Kaffel, Turrentineand "Mr. T's" manager, John Levy.

Hilary Ups FebreNEW YORK - Bobby Ragona,

president of the Hilary Group ofCompanies, has announced theappointment of Ralph Febre asvice president and general man-ager of Hilary Records, Inc.

Febre has been associated withthe Hilary Group for the past ninemonths, involved in management,promotion and publishing. Hisnew position within the companywill involve the added responsi-bilities of tour coordination fortheir newly signed acts, continua-tion of his publishing activities andproduction of rock and r&bproduct.

Hilary's "Ebony Sound" label(under it's newly formed distribu-tion deal with Buddah Records)makes its debut with the singlerelease of "Praying For A Miracle"by The Soul Generation, arrangedand produced by Tony Camillo.Coinciding with the release Febrewill be travelling to the west coastto coordinate promotional activi-ties on the single.

The Hilary Group of Companiesis located at 39 West 55th Street,New York, New York 10019,phone: (212) 245-8560.

CTI/Kudu Releases TwoIII NEW YORK-CTI/Kudu Recordsis releasing two new albums thisweek: Bob James' "One" and "InConcert," featuring Freddie Hub-bard and Stanley Turrentine.


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NEW YORK: 1700 Broadway, New York, New York 10019 (212) 765-5020HOLLYWOOD: 6290 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California 90028 (213) 465-6126NASHVILLE: 806 16th Ave. So., Nashville, Tennessee 37203 (615) 244-1820

SINGLE PICKSVICTOR TRUMPER-MCA 40260THE PRESIDENT SONG (prod. by Qwertuyiop Prod.)

(RSO, ASCAP)

Co -writer of "Jesus Christ Superstar" TimRice has penned a controversial and veryenigmatic copyright here, one that couldtake off just like "The Americans."

WILSON PICKETT-RCA APBO-0309TAKE YOUR PLASURE WHERE YOU FIND IT (prod. by

Brad Shapiro) (Street People, ASCAP)

Taking a song by Paul Butterfield andBobby Charles, Wilson wails one out likehe hasn't in years. His most commercialpowerhouse since moving to the label.

JOE SIMON-Spring 149 (Polydor)THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE (prod. by Brad Shapiro)

(Gaucho/Belinda, BMI)

Joe co -penned this change of pacer forhimself, a most summery sound set afloatby Jamaican rhythms and his typically coolbreezy vocals. Surely one of his best.

ALBERT HAMMOND-Mums ZS7 6030(Columbia)

AIR DISASTER (prod. by A. Hammond, Roy Halee)(Landers-Roberts/April, ASCAP)

Each of Albert's discs presents a new sideof his talent. Here he's into a Simon &Garfunkel -type sound, akin to "DanglingConversation," exploring jet set pitfalls.

MOMENTS-Stang 5054 (All Platinum)SWEET SWEET LADY (prod. by T. Keith)

(Gambi, BMI)

Currently co -charted with Sylvia, the "ShoNuff Boogie" men get down to their ownfollow-up to their "Sexy Mama" smashwith danceable sweet soul music.

TOMITA-RCA APBO-0308CLAIR DE LUNE (prod. by Plasma Music) (P. D.)

As the most melodic of all the Moogersabout, this Japanese citizen may well havethe successor to "Tubular Bells" here fromhis "Snowflakes" album. Lune tuneful.

PERSUASIONS-A&M 1531I REALLY GOT IT BAD FOR YOU (prod. by Jeff Barry)

(Broadside, BMI)

Streetcorner symphony crew adds instru-ments for the first time, augmenting theiracapella power with mainstream momen-tum. Their vocal expertise is still astounding.

SUNNY GALE & THE SAINTS & SINNERSDIXIELAND BAND-Thimble 009(AFE)

BIRMINGHAM RAG (prod. by Eddie White/Whiteway Prod.) (Shapiro Bernstein, ASCAP)

That Gale gal's back and about to shinewith an MOR giant. This rag over Alabamais a spirited nostalgia stomper -romper.

THUNDERTHIGHS-Mercury 73497CENTRAL PARK ARREST (prod. by Steve Rowland/

Heavy Dogg Prod.) (ATV, BMI)

"Do -do -do" ladies from Lou Reed's "Walkon the Wild Side" do their own hit shop -pin'. Famed N.Y. action spot is immortal-ized by neo-vice voice squadron.

VICKI BRITTON-Bell 453FLIGHT 309 TO TENNESSE (prod. by Al Capps/

Blue Monday Prod.) (Peso/Mighty USA, BMI)

Sounds like Linda Ronstadt singing a songwritten for Cher. The second talentedVicki at the label moves the setting fromGeorgia with no smash impetus lost.

SYLVIA-Vibration 530 (All Platinum)EASY EVIL (prod. by Sylvia) (E. H. Morris/Zapata,

ASCAP)

The "Pillow Talk" lady sharing the bill withthe Moments on "Sho Nuff Boogie" has astrong solo outing here. It's about timefor the Alan O'Day tune to break.

RONNIE LANE-A&M 1524HOW COME? (prod. by Glyn Johns) (WB/H. G.,

ASCAP)

Gallagher & Lyle lend their piano -mandolinsound to the solo debut of this formerFaces member. Dylanesque vocals andcatchy chorus make it all come round.'Face' that launched a solo hit.

MASTER FLEET-Sussex 516WELL PHASE II (prod. by J. Briggs & E McCaskill)

(Interior, BMI)

Combine the spark of "Shaft" soul withthe togetherness of a new powerhouseact a la Earth, Wind & Fire: now you've gotthe message. Fleet -footed finery.

MINNIE RIPERTON-Epic 5-11139REASONS (prod. by ScorBu Prod.) (DickieBird, BMI)

First solo single from former hub of RotaryConnection inspired by "Wonder burnin'bright." Sounds like Stevie provided allthat was needed to spark her "inner light."

DUNCAN McDONALD-UA XW436-WYOU CAN TAKE MY LOVE (prod. by Jack J. Gold)

(Unart/J. J. Gold, BMI(Folk -rocker's debut is a catchy country -tinged effort-a solid "take." Strong useof vocal overdubs and voices help thisparticular melody linger on and on.

JIMMY BRISCOE & THE LITTLE BEAVERS-Pi Kappa 600

MY EBONY PRINCESS (prod. by Paul Kyser)(Wanderik, BMI)

Wall-to-wall symphonic soul has been thisgroup's forte for their last few releases.The best so far features double lead vocals.Could prove an r&b chart queen.

JOHNNY T. ANGEL-Bell 472TELL LAURA I LOVE HER (prod. by Hailey &

Gilliand/Ahead Music) (E. B. Marks, BMI)

Death -rock classics seem to continue theirchart -haunting. This is the Ray Peterson '60hit which pre -dates the Beach Boys' hotrod efforts. Grease up and watch out!

CHAMBERS BROTHERS-Avco 46381-2-3 (prod. by Jimmy lenner) (Champion/Jobete/

Double Diamond, BMI)

Len Barry's first hit after splitting from theDovells ('65) is re -done by the rejuvenatedbrethren. Looking for pop and soul chartsto match the funky count -off.

ESTHER PHILLIPS-Kudu 921 (CTI)SUCH A NIGHT (prod. by Creed Taylor)

(Walden/Oyster/Cauldron, ASCAP)

Dr. John tune gets a rinky-dink renderingthat sounds especially commercial in thewake of "The Entertainer" success. Bright,light and fun. Such a record!

MARGO THUNDER-Haven 7001(Capitol)

SOUL OF A WOMAN (prod. by Dennis Lambert &Brian Potter) (ABC-Dunhill/One of a Kind, BMI)

"What you see is less than what you'regonna get" seems to be Margo's foxy ladyself-image in this pop soul effort. Wherethere's Thunder, there's l!ghtning.

YVONNE FAIR-Motown M 1306FFUNKY MUSIC SHO NUFF TURNS ME ON (prod. by

Norman Whitfield) (Stone Agate. BMI)

Former Edwin Starr r&b charter gets afantastic female reading from a lady who'sgot a lot more in the talent departmentthan her last name implies. Yvonne-derful!

LAURA LEE-Invictus ZS7 1264 (Col)I NEED IT JUST AS BAD AS YOU (prod. by

Brian Holland) (Gold Forever, BMI)

Laura hasn't released anything in a while,so she works doubly hard to make up forlost time. Never badder, never better!

UNIVERSAL MIND-Red Coach 807(Delite)

SOMETHING FISHY GOING ON (prod. byGene Redd Jr. & Freddie Vee/Trimph Prod.)Stephanye/Blockbuster, BMI)

Scaling new heights of r&b excitement, actswims upstream all the way, start to fin-ish.

LOIS ANN STRUCK-Plantation 113(SSS)

THANK YOU (prod. by Bob Struck/River RegionRecords) (Shelby Singleton/Bob Struck, BMI)

Watching TV news makes your own lotseem jolly -to -ecstatic by comparison. Manywill be "Struck" by the stark message ofthis folk -rooted contemporary melody.


ItaEarth

"Chained"Strong.

Produced

byFrankWilson.

(8°ALBUM PICKSDAY TO DAY DUSTMURRAY McLAUCHLAN-Epic KE 32589 (5.98)The writer of the renowned Tom Rush -recorded "The Child Song" has completedhis third set for Epic-this one sure tobring the recognition that is deservedlyhis. Delicate production enhances thehighly emotive lyrics, with "You Need ANew Lover Now" being a veritable gemand "Revelations" a startling tour -de -force.

I'LL BE THEREMATTHEW FISHER-RCA APL1-0325 15.981

Ex-Procol Harum organist (and producerof the critically acclaimed "Salty Dog"album) takes a harder approach on hissecond solo venture, interspersed withmore familiar soft -styled selections. "NotHer Fault" and "Do You Still Think AboutMe" are poignant pleasers, and "It's SoEasy" is rollickingly provocative.

THE BEST OF DAVE MASONBlue Thumb BTS 6013 (6.98)

A compilation of the finest solo effortsfrom this singer/songwriter. A master of thetechnique of skillfully blending lyrics, melo-dies and deliveries to attain optimumimpact, this mellow ex-Traffic-ite has firmlyestablished himself as a soloist supreme,with proof positive in these grooves.

SNOWFLAKES ARE FALLINGTOMITA-Red Seal ARL1-0488 (RCA) (5.98)Debussy has been commercially Mooged!Classically -oriented compositions are cur-rent contenders for top FM airplay andMoog -master Tomita delivers first-rate ad-aptations here. All the potential for longand steady success is in the grooves, withthe recently -released single "Clair de lune"leading the pack.

MORE ORPHAN THAN NOTORPHAN-London XPS 645 (5.98)Long-standing Boston -based band has comea long way, with this being their finesteffort to date. Jonathan Edwards guestswith musical adeptness via guitar, har-monica and back-up vocals, with Orphanperforming some of his previous recordings,such as "Train Of Glory" and "Have Your-self A Good Time For Me." Highlightingthe set is "I've Been Working."

RAGTIMETHE NEW FAYETTEVILLE GUTBUCKET BAND-

Murbo MCA 6030 (5.98)America's own ragtime sound has comeinto its own of late and this collectionof new and original material has all theauthentic, vital feelings that surroundedragtime at its inception. The vibrancy ofthe music is capably captured by thisensemble and will undoubtedly fare well.

ANGELS FOREVERELEPHANTS MEMORY-RCA APO -0569 (5.98)

John Lennon's famed back-up band dis-plays musical expertise in grand style ontheir recent release. Tight tracks and huskylead vocals form a commercially viableset, with the chuggin' single, "Rock 'n'Roll Streakers," and the metalic title trackstanding out as the catchiest cuts.

MURRAY Mc LAUGH A DAY TO DAY JUS

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TALES OF THE GREAT RUM RUNNERSROBERT HUNTER-Round RX 101 (6.98)

After biding his time as the poet/lyricistof the Grateful Dead, Hunter steps into thelimelight with this flavorsome first release.In addition to the lyrical expertise exhibited,Hunter's talents are displayed via guitar,pipes and heart -felt vocals. "That Train"and "Standing At Your Door" highlightthe country -oriented set.

CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKSTHE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS-A&M

SP -3631 (6.98)

An anthology of the music of this classiccountry -rock band will assuredly pleasetheir old following as well as garner newfans. Some of the all-star entourage in-cluded the late Gram Parsons, Chris Hill-man and Sneaky Pete Kleinow, weavingcollective talents to form a never -to -be-forgotten band. A sure-fire seller!

TOBYCHI-LITES-Brunswick BL 754200 (5.98)Perennial r&b chartmakers set for anotherheavy score with these soulful selections,highlighted by their hit single, "There WillNever Be Any Peace." Former hits of otherartists are tastefully covered, includingRoberta Flack's "The First Time" and B.B.King's "I Like To Live The Love." Bright-Lites!

COME SEE ME 'ROUND MIDNIGHTNINO TEMPO 8 5TH AVE. SAX-

ABM SP -3629 (6.98)

April's gone but June brings out the bestfunkified sounds ever to emerge from thislong-standing musicman. Tuneful thumpin'and sax soul reign supreme, with thepalpitating title track and a jazz -orientedversion of the classic "What Now MyLove" being the best of the batch.

THE DRUMSVARIOUS ARTISTS-Impulse ASH -9272-3

(ABC) (7.981

Music greats take jazzy jaunts on thisthree -record set dedicated to drum giants.A few of the top-notch percussionists in-cluded are Art Blakey, Max Roach, BuddyRich and Chico Hamilton; with contribu-tions from Milt Jackson (vibes), John Col-trane (sax) and Freddie Hubbard (trumpet).A jazz devotee's dream -come -true!

BENJIORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK-Epic KSE 33010 (6.98)This "family film's" lilting score, composedarranged and conducted by Euel Box, isgreatly enhanced by Charlie Rich's rendi-tion of the film's theme, "I Feel Love."Rich brings added depth to the touchinglywarm track, with children's backgroundvocals sweetly embellishing the song. Andif "Ben" could do it, why not "Benji?"

THE WORLD BECAME THE WORLDPREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI-Manticore

MC 66673 (Atlantic) (5.98)Second time out for this talented Italianassemblage shows their classical -orientedhard rock sound developing added dimen-sion. Orchestral rock variations stand outas their pillar of strength, with "Just LookAway" possessing potent programmingpossibilities.


CONCERT REVIEW

Bassey CaptivatesCarnegie Crowd CARNEGIE HALL, NYC - Forfour nights in late May and earlyJune, Shirley Bassey (UA) hadthem giving her standing ovationsbefore she had sung a note. Be-fore a family -oriented Saturdayevening crowd (1), the Englishchanteuse proved she could easilytake total control of an audiencefor almost two hours, withouteither the traditional intermissionor the seemingly obligatory "Gold -finger" performance.

After a short set by the thirty -plus piece orchestra assembled intown for her appearances, Ms.Bassey wafted onto the stage in ared -sequined outfit that lookedlike it had been designed by onewhose own ancestry was halfmermaid and half belly dancer.Outrageously effective, the gasp -provoking outfit worked on torchsongs like "All the Sad YoungMen" as well as on the hip -shakerslike "Big Spender" which shestrutted through twice in rapidsuccession.

Non -Stop MusicWhile she cautiously left "Gold -

finger" out of her program, shedid sing other hits from herpast including "This Is MyLife," "Never, Never, Never" and"Something." Instead of one longintermission, she periodically leftthe stage for short breaks duringwhich time the audience screamedfor more until that more wasbrought back to them. Her finalencore, "Danke Schoen," was amost fitting farewell to an audi-ence that couldn't have been moreappreciative if they had been asea of felines and she a carload ofcatnip.

Robert Adels

Toasting Shirley Bassey's return tonegie Hall, where she sold out four con-secutive shows are Mike Stewart (right),president, United Artists Records andSpencer Proffer, United Artists nationaladministrator a&r. The trio was all smilesat the intimate backstage party, thrownafter Ms. Bassey had just lbeen informedthat the top ticket price of $15 was anall time high for the venerable hall,added proof, if any was needed, ofShirley Bassey's atypical following in NewYork. Ms. Bassey's loyal fans alsoshowered her with hundreds of flowersand were treated to a diverse repertoirethat included mention of her currentUnited Artists single, "Davey," and herforthcoming album, "Nobody Does It LikeMe."

Car -

20th Taps Spidell

Russ Regan, president of 20th CenturyRecords, has announced the appointmentof Sandi Spidell to the position of man-ager of a&r administration. In her pre-sent role at 20th, Ms. Spidell worksclosely with Russ Regan from the begin-ning of a recorded project until its com-pletion. Duties include the preparationof label copy, booking of studio time andclose coordination with artists and theirmanagers.

NARM Meeting(Continued from page 6)

jobber stated as he reiterated com-ments made at the meeting. "Itcosts 20 percent to open yourdoors. We need a greater pricedifferential to compete with theretailer." The average differentialtoday is approximately 61/2 per-cent, down from 10 percent, henoted, and he surmised there waslittle chance for the differential tobe raised to 15 percent. "But youcan see our problem-we sellrecords to our account for around$3.50, and it's difficult to competewith the retailer who buys for$3.10 or $2.85."

The retailers, however, ex-pressed an opposite view, askingthat they be sold at the same priceas rack jobbers, and that all differ-entials be abolished: "We've gotall sorts of expenses, personnelexpenses, people on the payroll,"etc. "We've got the same expensesand should get the same price."

The retailers and jobbers ex-pressed views on the $6.98 list.Retailers said there was minimalnegative effect on superstar orestablished artists, but warnedmanufacturers not to go $6.98across-the-board. The consensusof the jobbers, however, was thatthere would be no ill effect ifmanufacturers increased their en-tire catalogues to $6.98.

Both sides reportedly agreedthat the move to $1.29 for singleswould have a positive effect onthe industry, but they simultane-ously saw a need to keep theretail price under a dollar. It waspointed out, however, that inlocations where sales tax is col-lected, the price is already overa dollar. But both manufacturerand retailing/ subdistributing sidesview the increase as a way to makethe single profitable to manufac-turers and profitable to sell. Theretailers and subdistributors alsoexpressed the hope that their mar-gin on singles would be increased.

CONCERT REVIEW11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111101111111111111111111

War, EW&F Explode

At Nassau ColiseumI NASSAU COLISEUM, N. Y. -Pulsating rhythms driven by Latinovertones penetrated Nassau'shuge Coliseum recently (29) whenWar (UA) and Earth, Wind & Fire(Columbia) shared the bill.

Although War was the headlin-ing act, Earth Wind & Fire's exhu-berance, tightness and overwhelm-ing desire to entertain the audi-ence also brought them into thespotlight. The ensemble had theiract totally together, coordinatingthe audio and visual effects to aperfectly precisioned timing. Theirspecial blend of jazz, rock, r&band Latin influences kept the audi-ence moving and the fast -paced,high-energy level that they at-tained didn't let down for a sec-ond. Musical highlights of theirset included the slower-tempoedtitle track of their second album,"Head to The Sky," which seguedinto a well -harmonized trackfrom their "Open Our Eyes" al-bum, "Devotion."

EW&F's visuals, although notnovel in that they've been donebefore by hard rock groups (e.g.Emerson, Lake & Palmer), wereeffectively performed and fan-tastically received. At one pointsmoke exploded and the bassist,

had been focusedupon, was drawn up into the air.Later, towards the end of theirsuperior set, a fog machine wentoff and the keyboardist, with hisinstrument, performed somersaultsrhythmically coordinated with themusic. Terrific!

War, which performed a skillful,professional set, didn't quite meetthe standard previously set on-stage by EW&F. Palpitatingrhythms, propelled by Lee Oscar'ssoulful harp playing, elicitedstrong audience response on theirmore renowned selections: thepulsating "Gypsy Man," their hitsong "Cisco Kid," the bluesy "TheWorld Is a Ghetto" and the Latin -oriented "Slippin' Into Darkness."

Roberta Skopp

RCA Red SealPromotes MohrII NEW YORK-Tli appointmentof Richard Mohr as executive pro-ducer, Red Seal artists and reper-toire, RCA Records, has been an-nounced by Thomas Z. Shepard,division vice president, Red Sealartists and repertoire. In his newposition, Mohr will take on addi-tional executive and managerial re-sponsibility for the Red Seal Divi-sion. The announcement coincidedwith a luncheon in Mohr's honorfor having achieved 30 years ofassociation with the company.Mohr joined RCA Records after

having freelanced as a writer ofradio scripts for the RCA "MusicYou Want When You Want It"series while he was on the staff ofthe Columbus Dispatch.

When he joined RCA, it was inCamden, N. J., and his first positionwas as editor of the old VictorRecord Review. Three years later, hecame to New York as assistant toRichard Gilbert, head of the RedSeal division. Three years later, hebegan recording artists, among thefirst of whom was the late WandaLandowska.

In those early years, it was virtu-ally a one-man Red Seal productionoperation, and when Gilbert leftRCA, Mohr took over all recording.He recorded many of the laterToscanini discs, and later took onall of RCA's operatic recording, aspecialty he retained when the in-dustry and RCA expanded into theIp era, and others were added tothe Red Seal staff.

Richard Mohr (center) is flanked by KenGlancy (right) president of RCA Records,and Thomas Z. Shepard, division vicepresident, Red Seal artists and repertoire,at the luncheon in Mohr's honor on the30th anniversary of his having joinedRCA Records.

Record World Presents

"SOUTHERN MUSICEXPLOSION"

An in-depth report on Southern influencesin contemporary music, spotlighting centersof musical activity throughout the South.

Issue Date: June 29New Ad Deadline: June 17

RECORD WORLD JUNE 15, 1974

Heywoods High Time

Rick Joswick, Mike Gibbons and BoDonaldson of the group Bo Donaldsonand the Heywoods (ABC) are shown withproducer Steve Barri at ABC Studios inHollywood, during recording of their newalbum for ABC/Dunhill Records. The al-bum, entitled "Bo Donaldson And TheHeywoods," will contain group's currentsingle "Billy Don't Be A Hero." Bothsingle and album are Chalice Produc-tions for ABC Records. Pictured from leftare Joswick, Barri, Gibbons and Donald-son.

CLUB REVIEW

Pointers' AnniversaryMI NEW YORK-Opening night atthe Empire Room in the WaldorfAstoria (30) marked the first an-niversary in "Show Biz" for thePointer Sisters (Blue Thumb). Theyear, a successful one by anyone'sstandards, saw a top five single anda top 10 album for the quartetfrom Oakland.

Orchestra and Quartet

Ably abetted by Bob Rosen -garden and his orchestra and theirown quartet, the Pointer Sisterssoulfully and jazzily boogiedthrough their own renditions ofsome truly grand favorites. Open-ing the set was their recent singlefrom the "That's a Plenty" album"Steam Heat" followed by theDizzy Gillespie and K. Clark tune"Salt Peanuts."

A brilliant accomplishment wasthe performance of a self penned'country tune' entitled "Fairy Tale."Somewhat different from theirusual sound, the song had a countrytwang and knee slappin' gospelflavor that capitvated the sophisti-cated Waldorf audience. The othersong written by the Sisters was"Shakey Flat Blues" a slinky bluesnumber depicting the ups anddowns of living in the city.

First and Second Albums

Other numbers deserving men-tion, mostly from the second al-bum, were "Love In Them ThereHills," a Charleston Rag, "That's aPlenty" and, especially noteworthy,"Little Poney." From the first albumcame "Old Songs," and their hitsingle of last year, "Yes We CanCan."

A dynamic and spectaculargroup, the Pointer Sisters are im-mensely diversified in their talents,as proved in their scat -singing andimprovising throughout the in-credibly enjoyable set.

Toni Profera

CLUB REVIEW

Ashford & Simpson:'Waves of Delight' NEW YORK - Rarely do song -writing, singing and entertainingtalents make as strong a combina-tion as when Nickolas Ashford andValerie Simpson (WB) take to thestage-as they did for four nightsrecently (13-16) at the BottomLine.

With a decade of Motown hitsto their credit (they've written forDiana Ross, Marvin Gaye andTammi Terrell, Gladys Knight andthe Pips and a host of others), thepair have most of their set readymade for them. They offer medleysas well as full renditions of suchsure -to -be standards as "Ain't NoMountain High Enough," "You'reAll I Need," and "I Need Some-body." And while each takes abrief solo segment in the course ofthe set (backed by an excellentquintet and two vocalists), they areat their strongest singing together,shooting energy at each other andsending waves of delight throughtheir audiences.

'Preview'

Previewing their second albumby performing two or three songsfrom it, including their new single"Mainline," they closed out with apowerful version of "Gimme Some-thing Real." Ashford and Simpsonare more than something real,though, and it shouldn't be longbefore their popular success is asstrong for their live performancesas it has been for their writingefforts.

Opening the show was RobinKenyatta (Atlantic) playing a lyrical,well -tempered jazz set.

Ira Mayer

CONCERT REVIEW

Triumphant Return for Marvin GayeIN LOS ANGELES - Marvin Gaye'shigh, seductive tenor voice and hishypnotic, sweetly ululant songshave probably steamed up morelate -night parties - with dancerswrithing singly or pressed close to-gether-than the work of any otherMotown artist; and when Gayemade his first local appearance insix years last month (17) at theForum, it was not hard to imagineall the sweat and other bodilylubricants his records must havegenerated themselves filling the vastarena to the brim. But despite hislong absence from performing (andno doubt partly because of it), Gayehad obviously had no trouble at-tracting an audience. There wereover 19,000 people at the Forumthat night, and wiat they witnessedwas, for Gaye, a personal triumph.

Looking somewhat overweight,wearing white, rhinestoned overallsover a white T-shirt and carrying ared knit cap, Gaye seemed slightlynervous as he first took the stage,following sets by Bottom and Com-pany (also Motown) and Redbone(Epic). This audience hardly neededto be wooed, however - they'dgone crazy when Gaye's brothercame out to introduce him-and ashis performance progressed, he vis-ibly eased and began to reveal anextraordinary presence and charm.Though scarcely looking the sexsymbol, he had only to move to theedge of the stage for the nearestfemale members of the audience torush forward, but he didn't appearto be coldly calculating thesemoves. Rather, he acted good-hu-mored about it all, even slightlysatirical.

As a vocalist, of course, Gaye

new york centralBy IRA MAYER

BRING AD FOR DISCOUNT: Marilyn Lipsius, who purchased theBitter End coffeehouse from Fred Weintraub last March, has found her-self "too much involved in the business of negotiating and too littlein the creative side of working with acts," and has placed the clubup for sale. In a telephone interview, she pointed out that the clubhad been in a "six month period of decline" when she took it over.Having since found that a complete overhaul of concept would benecessary, to remain in business (i.e. a different kind of booking policyand acquisition of a liquor license, among other things), she was, atpress time, planning to put an off-Broadway show in the room for thesummer in the hope of selling it by fall. The club will remain openfor the next few weeks.

SLICK AND IN FULL COLOR: Bruce Pollack is handling editorialchores for Contemporary Music, a new magazine scheduled to debutin September. The magazine is to be given out free at record stores,and Pollack hopes to build the issues around concepts rather thanindividual features.

ROLE CALL: Bob Sarlin has been appointed head of publicity atEpic, taking over for Penny Ross. Sarlin, whose book "Turn It Up (ICan't Hear the Words)" created some controversy earlier this year forits anaylses of rock lyrics and lyricists, will also be teaching a fallcourse at the New School-"The Song Poets."


was superb. His set was disappoint-ingly short, just over an hour, buthe managed to squeeze in "TroubleMan," "Mercy, Mercy Me," "InnerCity Blues," "Keep Gettin' It On,""Let's Get It On" and a medley ofsome of his older hits before clos-ing, in peak form, with "What'sGoin' On." Throughout, he wasbacked more than ably by GenePage, conducting a 32 -piece orches-tra, and by a four -man vocal groupwhom he introduced as Ladies'Choice. They were okay as singers,but too distracting doing that lowcamp hand -jive choreography forthe entire set. At one point, to em-phasize Lord knows what lyric,damned if they didn't, all four inunison, mime rocking babies intheir arms.

Craig Fisher

Weiss Guy

Larry Weiss (20th Century) took timeout on his recent promotional tour ofthe east to sit on RW's couch and talkabout his past, present and future. Thesinger -performer is planning his firstseries of personal appearances, begin-ning with an upcoming Troubador date.His current album is "Black 8 Blue Suite"and the first single pulled from the pack-age is fast becoming his nickname,"Rhinestone Cowboy."

Steve Barri(Continued from page 11)

doesn't feel that "theatricality" perse, or even simple stage presence isnecessarily a key to success: "Thegroup's image is more important to-day but the studio is still the gov-erning factor. There are some actsthat you get involved with thatmay not be a great in -person act,but you know that they are verystrong in recording and they can sella lot of records."

Hit -maker

"Knowing" has helped the Brook-lyn -born songwriting partner of P. F.Sloan ("Eve of Destruction," "SecretAgent Man," "You Baby") becomea multi -faceted hit -maker with amost enviable position both in-house at ABC's Los Angeles base ofoperations, and throughout the in-dustry in general.


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THIS ALBUM CONTAINSLOVE UNLIMITED'S NEW SINGLE

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RECORDS & TAPESA SU8SiCIARY OF

20TH CENTURY FOX F.011CORPORATION

WhOE_RIE .1112_VASE _NJ _ALRI it I

AM ACTT N(Compiled by the Record World Research Department)

George McRae (TK). This record, which broke out ofthe discotheques, continues its climb to the top.It moved 12-5 WQAM, 13-4 WPIX, 13-9 CKLW, 18-10WHBQ, 27-22 13Q, 30-22 WSAI, HB-22 WFIL, 29-22 KHJ,and added: KYA, KSLQ, KIMN and WIXY. This willbe a #1 record.

John Denver (RCA) has beeen moving very well forthe last couple of weeks and this week filled inmany of the holdout markets with additions at:KLIF, KSLQ, CKLW, WRKO and WCFL. Some interestingjumps include 11-5 WDGY, 17-10 WSAI, 20-11 WOKY,29-21 WFIL.

Gladys Knight and the Pip_ (Buddah). "On and On"from the "Claudine" soundtrack has taken more thanthe usual time to break in the pop market, but nowappears assured of being yet another top tennerfor one of the hottest groups in the country. Thisweek's jumps included: 9-6 WIXY, 5-4 CKLW,20-19 WPIX, 15-12 WCOL, 24-20 KLIF and new airplayat: KFRC, WHBQ, WQXI and KJR.

Golden Earring (MCA). This new act,which is currently touring with TheWho, has a hit record on their firsttry. Some of the interesting actionthis week included moves of 6-4 KJR,13-10 KILT, 37-31 WIXY and majoradditions at: WQAM, WSAI and WIXY.

ilk CROSSOVERSGolden Earring Blue Maglc (Atco). "Sideshow,"

which is currently #3 on the r&b chart, is nowbreaking as a

Documents

HITS OF THE WEEK...1974/06/15 · s Sin Enjoyin ny He's Don ddity.' See Story HITS OF THE WEEK SINGLES CHICAGO, "CALL ON ME" (prod. by James Wil-liam Guercio) (Big Elk, ASCAP). Bass