UPERCHARTS! See giant pull -out, put -up centerfold Lib ,`e GkLENLYMV?iTf.t 08120 MONTY Gf2LENLY 374'} ELM NEWSPAPEF LONG BEACH CA Ott A Billboard Publication The Radio Programming, Music /Record International Newsweekly March 21, 1981 $3 (U.S.) '81 Store Expansion U.S. Showcase Clubs R &B Catalog Face `Bleak' Future Seen Close To 10% By KIP KIRBY & ROBYN WELLS Neglect: Say By JOHN SIPPEI. in renovating or building freestand- NASHVILLE -With fewer artists Bobby Brooks states, "It's bleak. LOS ANGELES - Record / tape / by ing sites. lining up long -range road tours. Clubs have to be run as businesses, video /accessories stores operated Millions Lost The continuing upturn in square mushrooming production costs and which many of these weren't. Before U.S. chains will in 1981 increase / By JEAN WILLIAMS footage of footage is necessitated by all chains' a dearth of label support behind I book a tour, I have to know that the I 9.5% and average square top 2,900 square interest in video software and. in new acts. the future of limited -ca- club will still he open and operating LOS ANGELES -Record com- new locations will to a survey of 30 rep- (Continued on page 16) pacity showcase clubs appears to be when my act gets to town. Econom- panies, retailers and artists are losing feet. according in jeopardy. ically, these clubs are in peril be- millions of dollars annually through resentative firms. Fewer listening room clubs exist cause they just don't have the room the neglect of black catalog product. The present 1.427 stores in the 30 today than two or three years ago; or the budgets to compete any more. That's the consensus of label execu- chains will grow to 1,561 according Tower Sprouts among the recent casualties are the And bad management is also a prob- tives and record dealers surveyed by to the canvass. Those chain entre- Exit /In in Nashville, the Main Point lem with some of these operations Billboard. preneurs admit their anticipated 136 New Tokyo Unit in Philadelphia, C.W. Shaw's in At- when they'd rather blame it on "Black catalog product is pre- new locations in the remainder of lanta and Brother's in Birmingham. something else." destined to die because it's totally 1981 are a conservative guess be- LOS ANGELES -In what's re- a U.S. And the traditional clubs which re- "The future isn't bright for these neglected. As a result. a lot of money cause of present lagging business garded as an industry first, main successful on the national little venues," admits Bill Hahn of is being lost by the entire industry." conditions. The current interest record /tape /accessories retailer is a fledged scene have, in many cases, begun Magna Artists Corp. in New York. says Gerald Richardson. owner of crunch is stymieing commercial build- operating stores on fully on soil. booking new wave dance groups to "And it's a damn shame, too. These Atlanta's Music Scene retail record ing construction, resulting in spirited basis foreign /presi- enliven business. are the kinds of clubs the acts enjoy chain. competition for impending mall and Tower Records founder has opened his Referring to the fate of the 200 to playing and the audience can really To varying degrees. Richardson's strip center openings. The same high dent Russ Solomon on page 16) 500 -seat showcase rooms, ICM's (Continued on page 66) (Continued on page 76) interest rate inhibits chain operators (Continued Probe C'righ t Filing Cost By JEAN CALLAHAN WASHINGTON -Rep. Robert W. Kastenmeier (D- Wisc.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration ofJus- tice, has ordered a General Accounting Office study of the cost -effectiveness of copyright registration to begin by the end of this month. According to Register of Copyrights David Ladd, the Copyright Office spends $18 million each year registering copyrights. The U.S. is the only coun- try in the world which requires copyright registration, Ladd says. Rep. Kastenmeier wishes to consider whether the U.S. might use the Euro- (Continued on page 12) Introduce New Billboard Radio Charts LOS ANGELES -Billboard debuts a new array of radio charts this week which will enable AOR programmers, particularly, to see at a glance which albums are the hottest and which tracks are most played countrywide. The three new features -a top 50 Rock Albums, a top 60 Top Tracks and the ten Top Adds -have been developed utilizing research from the nation's lead- Presenting SHERBS with their own special brand of positive Rock 'N' Roll. LENNY LeBLANC'S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM IS A BREAKTHROUGH! Backed by ing album- oriented stations, as well as those stations programming a mix of "The SHERBS' debut on Atco Records won instant AOR acceptance. the polished punch of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Lenny LeBlanc Skill," single product and LP cuts. Their single, "I Have The Skill," (7325) is sure to take it all the way. emerges as a versatile pop /rock performer with Breakthrough (ST- 12134), is swing away from album and singles formats toward a spec - They've really got the skill. On Atco Records & Tapes. featuring the single "Somebody Send My Baby Home" (4979). Produced Focal radio's Listen for SHERBS. on page SD38.137. Produced by Sherbs and Richard Lush. (Advertisement) by Barry Beckett, a Muscle Shoals Sound Production on Capitol /MSS (Continued 31) Records and Cassettes. (Advertisement) (Advertisement) An album with pull. Includes "Spiders" and "Jimmie Jones" v 1481 hberi, www.americanradiohistory.com -Capitol Records Worldwide +atulafcs Neil Diamond FOr His Triple Platinum Album. _____..--w._m_.,mw --1Wkiiiw je=7-10,valiza="im, .,41% alimililliti 71.4 , AE(Nk. NC ,f-t I 11.."3"...14414"".°1"1""-*-www.americanradiohistory.com 5 General News Jacket Makers Cautiously Hopeful '81 Brighter After 2 Years Of `Substantial' Reductions By IRV LICHTMAN NEW YORK -Business -wise, Glinert explains, "labels are oper- Glinert also monitors greater they're not shouting to the skies, but ating with a greater degree of con- "sensitivity in album jacket costs by key album jacket fabricators project trolled and efficient inventory man- manufacturers." leading to less a measure of optimism for 1981. agement. Instead of getting several double -fold. "fancy" packaging. Perhaps the greatest factor chang- big orders as in the past, we receive Ellis Kern, president of Ivy Hill, ing the order of things in jacket bill- more frequent orders, reflecting cur- admits the firm had an "off' year in ing, most declare, is tighter returns rent returns privileges. It's a trite 1980 in terms of album jacket units - policies instituted by labels early last phrase, I know, but I'd say we're "no question about it." year. But, that by itself is not neces- `cautiously optimistic.'" (Continued on page 8) sarily deemed a negative factor in terms of general industry welfare. "For the past two or three weeks Canadian Antipiracy Office we've been feeling a pickup in busi- ness." says Richard Block of Album Graphics Inc. Seeks C'right Act Change But, Block admits to a two -year- By DAVID FARRELI. Billboard photo by Chuck Pulin run of a "substantial" reduction in TORONTO -Canada's six -month ger, ajudge dismissed charges on the Records, units produced, reflecting the im- BLACKWELL BACKSTAGE-Chris Blackwell, left, founder of Island old, record industry funded antipi- grounds that the defendants showed with U2 singer Bono Hewson and Paul McGinnis, manager pact of label returns policies. chats backstage racy office has asked the govern- a lack of knowledge of any wrong- group's at the Ritz in New York. "In the past, the manufacturer or- of U2, following the Irish SRO appearance ment here to amend the Copyright doing. dered far more jackets in relation- Act to make infringement a serious What the investiga) arm of the ship to the consumer out there. but crime, although no penalties have association has been successful in now we seem to be producing one been recommended thus far. doing is identifying the size and Ready To Debut jacket for each consumer. I think it's CBS Brian Robertson, president of the scope of this sub- industry in Can- healthy the industry will be bet- and Canadian Recording Industry ada, Robertson says. But being so ter off in the long run. It's a much Assn., says: "Inadequate penalties (Continued on page 90) Disks sounder business practice." New Low-Noise and convincing the law to prose- As most others, Album Graphics By GEORGE KOPP cute" are the two biggest challenges has put increased efforts into pro - facing the new antipiracy office. NEW YORK -Disks incorporat- pany as to whether or not to proceed indus- ducing packaging for other Former Royal Canadian RCA RAISES ing CBS noise reduction encoding with its development. The dissenting tries. be they cosmetics, toys, liquor. Mounted Police officer John Lang- will be on the market in a few weeks, factions have evidently been won food, etc. ley is now the association's salaried LP PRICES even though decoders are not ex- over, but CBS still has the task of Floyd Glinert, executive vice pres- investigator. To date, the office has NEW YORK -RCA Records in- pected to be available until late sum- convincing the rest of the industry to ident of marketing at Shorewood succeeded in getting several convic- stitutes two album price hikes April mer. go along. The first public demon- Packaging. cites a "fairly good year" tions against retailers selling boot- 1, bringing $7.98 product to $8.98 Sources inside CBS say the corn- stration of the system will be held at in 1980, with units produced up legs and has also exposed several and all $4.98s, including Victrola, to pany has made a firm decision to put next month's NARM convention.