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

[David Lennick]

The page won't open. But when did Ernie Hare ever compose popular songs?

dl

On 12/17/2012 7:27 PM, Kristjan Saag wrote:
> 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
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>