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

Mon Dec 17 16:27:21 PST 2012

Now, here's a twist.
The song "Midnight Moon" (with the "Everybody Loves Somebody"-melody) 
was recorded - and you can listen to it here:
http://archive.org/details/MidnightMoon

And it may even be that Coslow didn't write the song! The Actuelle disc 
credits Hare-Schafer-Bernard as songwriters, and here's more about that:

http://books.google.se/books?id=2hTmIYzDdN0C&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=%22midnight+moon%22+%22coslow%22&source=bl&ots=xot5GmOGVH&sig=O5TaRAHKbfnz-usaZSRINX9EDCY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PoPPUOnQCNH24QSEsICoBg&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22midnight%20moon%22%20%22coslow%22&f=false

So who is gonna sue Coslow now?
Kristjan

On 2012-12-17 21:40, Jeff Sultanof wrote:
> Thanks for confirming my memory.
>
> Jeff
>
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 12:56 PM, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>wrote:
>
>> I've found the book. No reference to the song, to Irving Taylor or to Ken
>> Lane,
>> or even to Dean Martin.
>>
>> An odd thing about the book..the dustjacket has an odd finish and was
>> sticking
>> to the inside pages.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> On 12/17/2012 11:50 AM, Jeff Sultanof wrote:
>>> 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
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> *****
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 78-L mailing list
>>>> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
>>>> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 78-L mailing list
>>> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
>>> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 78-L mailing list
>> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
>> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>>
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>