Detroit evening times., 1942-05-20
GoIdke++e.
Glenn Gray
Given Honors
Phonoeraph. Juke Box
Cause Of Craze
By DAMON RUNYON

I'LL PiiOiiObi dPii AtNCAtS oih
the juke boxes are largely
responsible for the current band
craze, TO pursue the theme !
started on yesterday.
1t is said the war has cur
tailed the production of records
by about 20 per cent because of
the scarcity of shellac sed in
their composition. which I sup
pose will lengthen a bands road
to fame.
i used to see the name Harry
James posted over the portals
of Roseland Ballroom on Broad
way in New York City. and /
cannot say that it registered
with me, save as ! may have
casually wondered If Harry
James was related 10 Jesse or
Frank.
l was familiar with tho ia
nous names of OzZic Nelson and
Benny Goodman and Tommy
Dorsey and Glenn Miller and
Sammy Kaye and other bands
but James was not exactly
craven on the tablets OF my
memory.
THAT was not many months
L ago. Today. on the strength
of one record, Harry James Is
one of the hottest band names
In the country. The record was
II Don't Want to Walk Without
You" and the playing OF this
nifty little number by Harry
James apparently probed the
emotions of the band enthusi-
asts to the very depths. Sud-
denly Harry moved into the
large money.
He played the Palladium Ball
room out in Hollywood recently
and broke all kinds of records.
The Palladium is an establish
ment built by members OF the
movie colony. 1t has a capacity
of 5000. which makes IL the
largest establishment OF the
kind in the country. II has six
o. seven bars. hard and soft. the
admission price is 85 cents and
you bring your own Mary and
settle for everything you get
except the space in which TO
move your puppies around in
tripping the light fantastic.
TT PLAYS all the big name
Il bands. Many of the movie
stars go there TO shake a leg.
as the saying is. The dancing Is
rather on the conventional side.
except when the Younger Utter
bugs give out. There are quite
number of public bathrooms in
the Los Angeles area though
not nearly as many as you find
in the East / rather fancy
that term ballroom. II is now
the same thing that was once
called a dance hall. A ball
room then was for stately ma
neuvers such as waltZing.
The iitterbug is an offshoot
of the Charleston stopper OF 20
wears -iiiSt-aS- the So-called
swing music Of today is merely
the evolution Of the method best
exemplified by the old five-piece
Dixieland jazz band only with
out the Slurs. No matter what
anybody tells you. that is what
il is. You just do not hear the
"waugh-waugh" of the muted
trumpets. ! must saw the swing
bands of the era go in more for
tone and quality than in the jazz
age.
lean GO4DKEFTE. out Of
y Detroit. had the first swing
band that | remember and
Glenn Gray and his Casa Iona
band. also from Detroit, must
have been a pioneer of the cur
rent era. So is Ben Pollock,
whose band is now under the
leadership of Chico Marx.
"Wingy" Manone, called
"Wingy" because nc is shy an
arm. may not have been the
first OF the exponents Of the jive
or hep-cat type of low-down
swing but he is certainly one
of the greatest.
I heard a young fellow named
Vaughn Munroe sing in Flor
ida night club called the Drum
couple OF winters back and
his weekly stipend could not
have been imposing. but now he
has a band. is blazing hot on
the records and gets $500 per
week for his organization. That
is band business today.
A ND yet I can take you back
"A TO another period when the
money was comparatively even
bigger because the taxes were
not so great. Whiteman. Lom-
bardo Ted Lewis and Abe Ly-
man. who still figure among the
top-notch standard bands, COM
manded high figures and Fred
Waring got $4,000 week right
along. Then there was a blond
chap named Rudy Vallee, who
did not do badly.
He set an all-time record for
opapioht etapd business He
toured the South and other sec
tions of the country through
1892. '33 and "a. hopping from