Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-26

Whereupon the tireless thumper would run
his fingers over the keys while the vaudeville
performers carelessly over the words exc
cutting improvised steps and gestures the while
Yes, the professional rooms are still there
But since the talkies and the radio they've
grown quieter and quieter. Unless an act can
"get on the air" with song what's the use?
One performance can reach only thousand
persons, while a general broadcast can reach
millions.
RY such steps as these, the "song plug" has
arrived at the staggering ramifications Of
today:
First. The birth of the modern song-selling
age came just after the Spanish American War
Just as every war stimulates the music makers.
so this produced "Just Break the News to
Mother" and half q dozen other tear-jerkers
This period saw the rise of that grand old man
OF songdom. Charles K. Harris. with his Hello.
Central. Give Me Heaven" and After the
Ball" to which good folk waltzed back in the
days of the Chicago exposition
Then came the stereoptcon and with it the
Illustrated songs" of sentimental memory.
Ballads were in great favor-"Only Bird in a
Gilded Cage" and the lkeI
Bands were next on the plugging" list, with
Sousa at the head. But the minstrel show had
also taken on considerable vogue, and the
burnt-cork boys created song popularity This
field was headed by Primrose and Dockstader
and AL G. Fields, with performers such as
Honey Boy" Evans in particular favor g.
1t was out Of the minstrel troupe that Al
Jolson rose great song plugger then he is
looked upon today as the most important hit
maker In the entertainment world. Witness
for instance. Sonny Boy" with which Warner
Brothers started their talking picture fortune.
And after the band came dance music and
the real beginning OF today,s song market
When it became moral to dance in public.
the entire tone Of the music industry changed
Time was when nice little girls weren't allowed
70 60 out TO public dances. And suddenly the
bars began to come down. In came the old
gramophone record, and then the dance record.
Here it was that Paul Whiteman FIRST got his
tremendous following. He was far and away
the most popular of the dance record maestros.
THERE had been one other step: the cake
walk. And since this period is linked with
the rag" and the band plug" era, it also
ushered in Irving Berlin, with his "Alexander's
Ragtime Band" 1t was upon the cakewalk
that Leo FeiSt, the music publisher, began hin
business career. He was the big cakewalk man
from Manhattan. The canny MT. Fest II was.
too. who kept an eye on Whiteman and finally
arranged with that band to popularize Feist
tunes. Whiteman'S success followed him TO the
radio broadcasting rooms. where he became the
higheSt-priced attraction Of the aerial circuits.
Aho AOE 6nAro 6AIae tne SnreWQ Mf. Fe1Ss
had an eye to the keyhole For he was the first
to leap on the movie theme song. 1t should be
too fresh upon the public memory to need re-
caling-but, anyway. Ramona" was the frse
theme song. It's success caused all the other
publishers to make "tie-ups" with talkAe
concerns.
Strangely enough. Mabel WAYNE. who wrote
Ramona" was the last to succumb to the can
OF Hollywood Only recently did she agree 70
head westward. when the hills of Santa Monica
already echoed with the noises of the boys and
girls from Tin Pan Alley.
With all these changes had come q metamOr.
phoSis In the types Of statesmen. The old "city
slicker" salesman no longer was seen in tine
land.
TODAY another type is to pe found. He
Is nothing ike either Of his predecessor
II you met him, you'd probably mistake him
for q banker OF . successful Wall street broker
You might even see him in Q top hat 1T the
opera His clothes are quietly and severely tai
lored. He's middle-aged and impressive. For
he has TO mingie with big people," He has %
"Scll" TO men who have founded solid bNsa-
nesses and solid furtunes. In other words no
has TO sell so-and-so for Raise Quick Baktnm
Powder hourl And by so doing he becomes
party 70 the gigantic plug" system Of today
The Old-timer with the horseshoe pin anA
the white spAts Is gone. The day Of organized
national plugging is at hand.
And with it begins q new era In popular
music. Don't ask where It will end Nv own
hunch Is that what with international broad
casting television just around the corner and
the Theremin machine, there win be stin an