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

[Jeff Sultanof]

I read the book a couple of times and I don't remember this coming up. But
it has been several years since I last read it. Coslow wasn't the sort of
person to bring this up, contrasting with Jerry Herman's book, where he
doesn't give details, but certainly is quite emotional over the Hello
Dolly/Sunflower situation. He certainly could have skipped it, but didn't.

When I first joined WB Publications back in 1979, a lot of the old guard
was still there. For this sort of situation, I used to ask a man named
Walter Evans, who had a memory that was simply amazing. If I mentioned a
case of this sort, he would find data from his office library and leave it
on my desk for me to read. What an education I received from these people!

As I said earlier, it all boils down to what was agreed at the time.
However, the courts tend to rule that since there are several new
technologies that generate income for songs, movies, etc., that the estates
should benefit from them. The other side of course is that this makes a
mockery of the idea of public domain. How much money do these people want
anyway? The original writers are long gone, but companies like Disney have
powerful people working in their favor.

This subject always generates a spirited discussion from my show-business
lawyer acquaintances.

Jeff Sultanof

On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 11:28 AM, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>wrote:

> 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
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> *****
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