THE MICHIGAN DAILY Fridci , 1'. . arch 3, 1944 Friday, March 3, 1944 THE MICHIGAN DAII V Brown, Henderson Swing Out Tonight r r i I t L., I Y i l ,,, 1 1 1 'd 7 /" . I L.l f"\ I L. T I I Feet Serve Music Masters Give Out Tonight As the Best Men, Overrun by B Pin Brigades, Seek Les Brown-Sweet and Novel- Marks '44 V-BalI High Spot Les Brown, with his sensational band, and Fletcher Henderson, "the colored king of swing," with his famous radio, recording and dance orchestra, will mark the highspot of Michigan's 1944 Vic- tory Ball in the Intramural Build- ing. In the top class among band leaders, Brown will furnish sweet, swing and novel varieties of mu- sic to satisfy the tastes of all Uni- versity students and other college and servicemen guests attending the dance. He can please the jit- terbugs as well as those who pre- fer old time tunes. Voted in Top Ten . One of the top ten musical or - ganizations in the country, ac- cording to a national poll of radio editors in Radio Daily last year, Brown's band will return to the University campus for its third' consecutive appearance. Featur- ed on the second night of J-Hop in 1942, he also played for the V-Ball last year. The customary arrangement of the two bandstands on opposite sides of the I-M Gym will be fol- lowed. Brown's orchestra skyrocketed to fame within a brief time. Back in his undorgraduate days at Duke Un:;1-sity he made his first at- tempts at organizing an orchestra. In 1936 he led an enthusiastic group of collegiates, called the "Blue Devils" on a tour through the North, but parental interven- tion broke up the band after only one season of appearances. Spent "Hungry" Year Referring to the following year which he then spent in New York doing arrangements as a "hungry" one, the popular orchestra leader candidly admits that he did "any- thing to get money to eat with." He did, however, gain invaluable experience for his later career. Brown organized his second or- chestra in 1938, spending more than a year and a half developing and organizing this new unit be- fore he felt sufficiently confident to make public appearances. The big break came not long afterward when the "Band of Re- nown" was booked at Mike Todd's Theatre-Cafe in Chicago for four weeks. Engagements at the Log Cabin in Armonk, N. Y., the Blackhawk in Chicago, the Palla- dium- in Los Angeles, the Hotel Astor Roof in New York City, cli- 4 - f maxed with the famous Meadow- brook in Cedar Grove, N. J., fol- lowed. Lessons Begun Early Brown began his first piano les- sons when he was only eight years Two Reporters Fnd Sad Qhost Of J -Hops Past Two Daily .reporters, attracted to the I-M Building by a rumor that the place was haunted, found the spirit of J-Hops past climbing disconsolately among the rafters. Unabashed by the spirit's wild streaming locks, his emaciated,, evanescent form and his morbid expression. the journalists per- suaded him to come down and talk to them. Spirit Reveals Name' Materializing and disappearing into a thin blue mist by turns, the' spirit squeaked in a thin, sad voice that his name was Faulk, Cecil Cedric Faulk. He wept copiously, his bitter tears splashing down and making little puddles on the floor. With only a little encourage- ment, Faulk was persuaded to blow his nose, dry his tears and relate a sad, sad tale. "Things aren't. like they used to be," he lamented. "Every year -I come back, hoping to capture that gay, youthful abandon, the glamour and romance of my youth." Here he began to weep again and it was fully five minutes before he could be coaxed into continuing. Past Recalled "It's no use, no use at all," Faulk groaned. His voice was sepulchral, his expression even more morose. "You of the younger generation don't know what it was like. The house parties, the wine, the wo- men, the song-ah, the pity of it all. Those were the days, the. good old days. The days of J-Hop and Senior Ball, of Frosh Frolic and Soph Cabaret, of 1:30 permis- sion every Friday night, the days' of fraternities., "And then too, football was the big thing way back there. One_ year we had a tremendous bell that we lowered at midnight. It opened wide and little footballs came spilling out as dance sou- venirs. And then there was an- other time that we had big stars that unfolded to drop chrysanthe- mums among the dancers." Faulk's wispy frame glowed with enthusiasm while he recounted many such stories of the Michigan that was. But then he again lasped into melancholy. "Michigan, Michigan," he lam- ented. "what has happened to[ Fletcher Henderson-Radio, Swing King--Shares Spotlight Fletcher Henderson, famed com-, of the country's "best sellers" for poser of "Christopher Columbus,"lefnhono r e or co- his radio theme song, and his leading phonograph recrd com- swing orchestra which gained' na- panies. tional fame less than a year ago Called Ace Arranger through broadcasts and record- old, continuing with a thorough study of music. His real interest in music developed when he took up the saxophone. Butch Stone, in the sax section, one of the best novelty-perfoiq- ing musicians in the game, Willy Roland at the keyboard, Dick Shanahan, hot rhythm drummer, and the Town Criers, a har- monizing quartet composed of two sets of twins, are a few of those making up the 23 active people on the stand. Instrumentation is full. Roberta Lee Sings with Band Roberta Lee, five-foot, six-inch, 120-pound enchanting bundle of dark loveliness, supplies the female vocal refrains for Les Brown and his band. A native of Dayton, 0., Miss Lee was selected as the best from a talented group of 43 singers, au- ditioned for the vocalist spot with this leading orchestra. She sang on various radio stations and in fashionable hotels before joining Brown's organization. ings, will share the musical spot- light at the 1944 Victory Ball. Henderson and his orchestra of- fer a great variety of entertaining novelties, also being the country's ace exponents of swing music. Their special arrangement of "Shoe Shine Boy," "Lime House Blues," "Down South" and "Jig Town Blues" are real classics in the realm of so-called swing mu- sic. He has made these and scores you? What degradations have you suffered? Where are the friends of yore, the days of my youth?" Affected by Faulk's unhappy re- flections, the reporters joined the spirit in a quavering chorus of: "I'll ne'er forget my college days, Those dear, sincere old college days." Henderson is also regarded throughout the country as the na- tion's "ace" swing musical ar- ranger; he spends all of his spare time making musical arrange- ments of hit tunes for some of the nation's best known band leaders -Benny Goodman, Jack Hylton, Jimmy Dorsey and the Casa Loma orchestra. A native of Georgia, Henderson, tall suave colored "king of swing" took up the study of piano at the age of six, under the tutelage of his father and continued musical study during grade school and lat- er at Atlanta University where he majored in chemistry and math, never considering music as a pro- fession. While in New York furth- ering his studies in chemistry. Henderson got a part-time job as a piano player and demonstrator for W. C. Handy, famed composer and writer of "St. Louis Blues." Formed Orchestra In 1924 Henderson formed his own orchestra of ten men. Fol- lowing his seven week success at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, Henderson's engagements includ- ed the Willow at Oakmont, Pa., Castle Farms, Cincinnati, O., and Crystal Beach at Ontario, Canada, climaxed by an opening at the Grand Terrace in Chicago in 1936. Jimmy Allen on the clarinet and the Rhythm Debs, featuring Thel- ma Grissom, with Linton Gardner at the piano when Henderson di- rects, are tops. The orchestra plays predominantly sweet tunes, but it can step out and jive with the very best of them, cooking up swing and boigie-woogie that should not take second honors in any contest. Conveyance Getting to V-Ball can be rela- tively simple if you just follow a simple plan. H. Hollingsworth Smith has perfected one of the best methods to date. You're sure to get there if you follow his ad- vice. The first necessity is a date. You can secure one in any num- ber of ways. In a flustered mo- ment you will probably ask some girl and ten minutes later wish you hadn't. But even that is bet- ter than resorting to taking some- one's friend (She will undoubtedly be a washout, despite the descrip- tionsagiven by the friend.) Then you can always import the queen from back home. She'll be willing 'o come since it's V-Ball, even if she does have to go with you. Once you have a date you will be faced with problems. The nat- ural thing to do will be to spend the afternoon before the dance in some tavern downing beer as fast as possible. By dinner you will both probably be under the ta1le but a cab home and a cold shower will take care of everything and you'll be all set for the evening ahead of you. If you possess the necessary capital you will probably take her out to dinner before the dance. After dinner make the usual round of parties and consume your share of the liquor that will be around in great quantities. Don't expect to get a cab to the dance because there won't be any. So stay sober enough to walk to the I.M. Building if you really want to go to the dance. Cabinet Leaves as FDR Stays (Continued from Page A) pressed doubt that one could work tangibly with impossibilities. Frank Walker, who was at last reports Postmaster-General, was seen entering the optometrist's office this morning to check1 against color-blindness. Accord-! ing to his secretary, Postmaster Walker has spent weeks working out a new color scheme for post- age stamps to suit the fancies of the new Republican president. "Mr. Walker was so taken back that he fears for the safety of his1 vision," his secretary said. Walker submitted his resignation to the President a few hours earlier. The President received along with the ten, resignations a state- ment signed by all cabinet mem- bers stating that "a cabinet divid- ed cannot stand . . . We can no longer decide on which term we were born in," the ftatement said in part. The President, though remorse- ful concerning the resignations, said optimistically that "greater calamities happen in Europe every day." He then called his faithful Fala in from the Pekingese Ken- nels for consultation and indi- cated that new cabinet posts would be announced soon. GOOD FOOD AMIABLE SURROUNDINGS ANN ARBOR'S MOST CHFERFUL HOST LEO PING'S ' THE TOWN CRIERS ... feature attraction of Les Brown's Band. ABE MAST . . . toots 'em sweet and low and hot on his clarinet with Les Brown's band. RALPH YOUNG .tickles the ivories for the crowning touch when Les Brown gives forth tonight. 1 Tom Collins Has Some Ideas By HOMER SNERD WT OMEN without men. Men without women. That these two themes have been the plots of the most exciting, the most pulsating, the most captivating books of all time cannot be de- nied. To think that the very thing is happening right here, now,- there on the diagonal, in the Parrot, at Martha Cook, or better yet down at the P-Bell or at the Arb- This man's school is overrun with bare legs and bobby pins. But not only the school is over- run; the men are too. The service schools here have formed a new way of walking to classes called marching. Accord- ing to Pfc. Joseph Blfsk of Com- pany J this measure was taken for defensive protection to save the helpless and uniformed males from being swarmed on by the particularly vicious females known to live in the vicinity of the U. of M. Pfc. Blfsk also stoutly main- tained that he doesn't go to the USO because he couldn't find a date otherwise (as has been ru- mored) but that: "I go because I know I'll be safe there as there are always chaperones For Mixing, Fixing and linking close by in to in case men from have agree NROTC's d cause, acc sources, th- shadows w Some pe as to say changed. , for the day "There su: more won must be b schools.) A it be said here for ar a purely ac "academic' exciting qu esting indi what life the profess The mos wartime c the colorfu sporting. about a gi: sergeant's ture tank, blem all o makes one tism. My name is Tom Collins, but I'm not a very good mixer. At least that's what my friends say. I'm really quite sociable, but somehow when I have a choice be- tween talking about nothing in a bull session or learning something out of a textbook, I usually choose the textbook. I don't know why, I'm just different, I guess. However, there's one thing peo- ple like about me. I get these good ideas all the time. For instance, one day last semester there was a bluebook at 3 p.m. that I hadn't studied very much for so I just stopped all the clocks at five min- utes past two and it was a whole day before B&G men got around to fixing them. So they didn't give the bluebook and everyone was happy. Nobody could beat my time. And then there was once when University authorities got mad be- cause people walked on the grass all. the time. They racked their brains for days, but couldn't think of a single way to prevent the wanton destruction of the gay young blades. Finally I conceived the idea of letting everyone walk KLINI D E P A R T M E N T S on the grass and wear down beau- tiful dirt paths. No one walks on the grass anymore because there isn't any. My idea. The best one of all, I haven't got all thedetails quite worked out. You see, I figure this here town needs a good hangout for all the kids. I mean some place with very few lights, soft music and no rstrictions. A place where you can go and pay 50 cents and get a good meal. A place where you can dance and hold her close. But the beer in this place would be the big attraction. It would come in tall glasses and would be smooth and wouldn't taste like last year's dish water that some- body had-well, never mind. And tnen there would be a sign on the door where everybody could see it: TO ENTER THIS PLACE YOU MUST BE UNDER 21 AND PROVE IT. But all this is pretty much in the realm of fantasy and I guess nothing will ever come of it. May- be if I ever get so I can talk to people, somebody will consider my idea. 306-310 SO. MAIN ANs S'pring's Newest Color in (;* -L....y rf r -ti.fy -71 " '-h Cr ... 4 F F .k aF . ':t:x SLIP( CAF Step forw color of sj boxy slipo am -wol warmth,. charm! 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