[78-L] 78-L Digest, Vol 51, Issue 22 -" Everybody loves Somebody"

[David Lennick]

8 million showbiz books here and I know I have "Cocktails For Two" but haven't 
found it yet.

Fascinating stuff, hey?

dl

On 12/17/2012 11:25 AM, Jeff Sultanof wrote:
> Now this is interesting. I checked ASCAPs website, and the song is there
> with Coslow's name. When I worked at Warner Music, I used to use this song
> in folios all the time. On no piece of printed sheet music was Coslow's
> name listed, and I've never seen it listed on any recording.
>
> Which makes me think of a possible scenario which took place with "Here
> Comes Santa Claus" and other songs: Lane may have written the song without
> ever hearing Coslow's song, Coslow heard it, took Lane to court, and a deal
> was made for Coslow to collect royalties. In such cases, the rights to the
> song usually remain with the publisher and the writers (in this case,
> Sinatra Songs, and later Sands Music) with Coslow getting whatever percent
> everybody agreed to, but him having no individual rights to the song. Of
> course this is all moot until someone can produce the records of the court
> decision, which would certainly spell out what Coslow's rights were.
>
> Jeff Sultanof
>
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 9:50 AM, David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>wrote:
>
>> Interesting that Nat Shapiro's Popular Music books list only Taylor and
>> Lane as
>> composers, and the song being published in 1948. The Variety book doesn't
>> list
>> it at all, so I presume it's non-ASCAP.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> On 12/17/2012 9:32 AM, Kristjan Saag wrote:
>>> The court has probably decided long ago. The article was from 1997.
>>> Kristjan
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2012-12-17 14:38, Jeff Sultanof wrote:
>>>> Unfortunately, my copy of Coslow's autobiography is in storage. Does
>> anyone
>>>> have access to a copy? Does he bring this up?
>>>>
>>>> Midnight Moon may not have been published. Sam was a great salesman of
>> his
>>>> own music, and perhaps he played the melody for Ken Lane. Lane was all
>> over
>>>> Hollywood as a vocal coach at the time; he was also on the radio as a
>> vocal
>>>> group leader. By all accounts, he was a nice guy and not a crook; this
>> is
>>>> certainly not a scenario where a song was simply stolen, or the artist
>> had
>>>> his name attached to get royalties.
>>>>
>>>> I think the court will probably side with Coslow's daughter.
>>>>
>>>> Jeff Sultanof
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 5:45 AM, Kristjan Saag<saag at telia.com>   wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> And the interesting thing is how Ken Lane got to be the composer...
>>>>> Kristjan
>>>>> --
>>>>> On 2012-12-17 11:25, Nigel Burlinson wrote:
>>>>>> John:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here's the answer:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> SAME OLD SONG: A New York music company is asking a Superior Court
>> judge
>>>>> in
>>>>>> Los Angeles to review a 47-year-old case and declare that the wife of
>>>>>> composer Sam Coslow is no longer entitled to royalties from the 1960s
>>>>> Dean
>>>>>> Martin hit "Everybody Loves Somebody."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Coslow, who died in 1982, got his start on Tin Pan Alley, and some of
>> his
>>>>>> songs became well-known standards for such artists as Bing Crosby,
>> Billie
>>>>>> Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Spike Jones. He even
>> won an
>>>>>> Academy Award as the producer of a short film featuring Groucho Marx
>> and
>>>>>> Carmen Miranda.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> At issue is an agreement reached between Coslow and two lyricists in
>>>>> 1950 to
>>>>>> split royalties from "Everybody Loves Somebody." A court fight
>> determined
>>>>>> that Coslow wrote the melody during the 1920s, only he called his song
>>>>>> "Midnight Moon." Ken Land and Irving Taylor penned the now-familiar
>>>>> lyrics.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sands Music Corp., which according to the suit obtained "Everybody
>> Loves
>>>>>> Somebody" from Sinatra Songs Inc., claims that the copyright to
>> "Midnight
>>>>>> Moon" expired on Dec. 31, 1995. Therefore, the company no longer
>> wants to
>>>>>> pay royalties to Coslow's heirs.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But the copyright held by the two lyricists still has years to go, and
>>>>>> Coslow's daughter thinks it's unfair that two men who slapped some
>> words
>>>>>> onto her father's song should receive all the royalties.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But fair or unfair, "that's the way we interpreted the agreement,"
>> said
>>>>>> Sands' lawyer, David S. Olson. "We're just asking the court to tell us
>>>>> what
>>>>>> to do."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Coslow's daughter, Cara, says the copyright's clock should have
>> started
>>>>>> ticking for everyone in 1950--when they signed the agreement splitting
>>>>> the
>>>>>> royalties.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "They took a song and attached different lyrics to it," Coslow said.
>> "I
>>>>>> could add lyrics to 'Rhapsody in Blue' tomorrow and it would still be
>>>>>> 'Rhapsody in Blue.' "
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Coslow, who is director of casting at Carsey-Werner in Studio City,
>>>>> insisted
>>>>>> that everyone is still singing the same old song. "I can give you all
>> our
>>>>>> records,' she said. "I'll show you the sheet music. I'll even hum a
>> few
>>>>> bars
>>>>>> for you."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As for "Everybody Loves Somebody," its latest incarnation was as a
>> jingle
>>>>>> for Western Union commercials. The lyrics went something like this:
>>>>>> "Everybody needs some money sometime." Try singing that to "Rhapsody
>> in
>>>>>> Blue."
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> (taken from "The Los Angeles Times"" August 3 1997)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I found no recordings of "Midnight Moon" and it's not listed on his
>> ASCAP
>>>>>> file!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Nigel Burlinson (burlinson at orange.fr)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Message: 14
>>>>>>> Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:04:58 +1100
>>>>>>> From: "John Rogers"<johnhrogers at optusnet.com.au>
>>>>>>> Subject: [78-L] Everybody Loves Somebody question
>>>>>>> To:<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>>>>>> Message-ID:<000001cddc35$9a81fd00$cf85f700$@com.au>
>>>>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Everybody Loves Somebody (Sometime) was published in 1947 and
>> recorded
>>>>> by
>>>>>>> Frank Sinatra.  It was successfully revived by Dean Martin in 1964
>> and
>>>>> was
>>>>>>> used as the theme of Martin's television series.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sheet music from 1947 and 1964 shows words by Irving Taylor and
>> music by
>>>>>>> Ken
>>>>>>> Lane.  However, a number of internet sites including the ASCAP
>> database
>>>>>>> credit Sam Coslow as co-lyricist.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I would appreciate it if anyone can explain how Coslow was added to
>> the
>>>>>>> lyric credits.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> TIA
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> John Rogers
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> *****