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Show rhyme with "sou of a gun and the theater reverberates with applause. ap-plause. Wars are fought on the Impulse and impetus of "raggy" songs. It was true of the Spanish-American war and it is more notably true today. The "Sammies" if they do not rise in wrath against the "haud - picked" sobriquet will ' thrill to the ungrammatieal appeal of the popular song, while remaining remain-ing singularly aloof and unmoved when supplicated to "Arise. Arise," etc., and unfurl liberty's immaculate immacu-late banner to the breeze. Emotion is spontaneous, and the failure of the carefully "created" song Is the inevitable failure of spontaneity to come in "made to order" proportions. It has been Along comes a ragtime artist who makes Hun rhyme with son of a gun and it goes like . wildfire. said that American popular songs have the quick, nervous energy that is a component of American nature. "No one can forecast the success of a song." says William Rosslter, pioneer song publisher. "Whether a song's appeal is patriotic or sentimental, it may fail utterly or succeed beyond the most optimistic prophecy. The writers of -Tipperary, ' had they been told to write a good marching and trench song, in all likelihood would have failed utterly. "Today new war songs are being devised almost hourly. Which shall succeed and which shall fail no experienced song writer or publisher can say. Perhaps a song in which no allusion is made .to the war 'will finally enjoy the greatest favor. "In the song publishing business it is peculiarly true that notliing succeeds tike success. 1 employ the seemingly meaningless old expression to epitomize epito-mize the idea that song psychology is still an mi explored domain. Why did 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' succeed while a score of other songs just as melodious, just as eccentric and just as Tnggy' failed'.' "No one knows. "It isn't necessarily .merit in words or music that inn ks a popular song 'go over." Out of a vast collection collec-tion of -rimgy.' 'spooney.' 'dippy,' -catchy1 and sentimental senti-mental effusions released siiuuHanemisly one or two will succeed and the others sink into oblivion. We in the publishing business know the hazards of gauging gaug-ing public taste. But we do know that the war excitement ex-citement has developed a craze for patriotic expression expres-sion through slangy and 'raggy' songs. Torbaps we wish to cloak our emotion with flippancy. Perhaps we are a little ashamed to express ex-press our deep-seated sentiments in boldly printed words or phrases. It may be the spirit that makes one so jocular while standing at the station in an- Can't Forecast Next Success, Says William Rossiter Of a Dozen Compositions J w . of a Type, None Can - ' Foretell Which Will (L, n Spread Over the gY Nation But Ipf Our Raggy, -( American Airs Will Live Europe's ' ry -'rmies Sing Them s,u Going to - XX 1 f'4XX A f Battle Mfu i- Can't Forecast Next Success, s X ---1 Says William Rossiter ' f JfeM S0?- l , . Of a Dozen Compositions S "xr ' y?V , imr . .Ct.'. . of a Type, None Can XWftM :z"' J ' ' ; -'.'1 Foretell Which Will fyrU Y r - Spread Over the & HJVfri V, r"-' " Nation-Bnt l'KW American Airs Will v , t ; 4jK ' uWM Live-Europe's ,y:l. M lfe ' ' ' , yS, - armies Smg Them ,,f,f$ty , :" jt 1M , X, :r -- :j Battle VaM ISTV1 X kT t forecast the next V,''A V f ImimmmA IW , H ' JJ yW " , "P - r" . tftX M i ' , -Af i ;,, jrSr s -lgs, .true o iv T7 V in the white heat of suddenly X Jt&4f Wj lffi HVvVI W ..... " - Py P crystallized purpose or emotion. I MiW VK XT . ? j , ' A , V A L-' iff Our earliest war songs were W?A X l f X ' A-i. wild, triumphal chants or pon- TOV i'T f 7 ? ifeif ' ' , . XS?250 clerous, stately epics, reciting ticipation of having to say a last Wf4 1 ' 1 ,n' t with historical accuracy and favcwell i0 an old friend. Possibly MiljWL!7 V tbel are no arbitrary standards. A song ' ""V pamstauiug detail every incident in a whole cam- it l8 for none of these reasons that lgffi " from an unknown writer ,nay be pur- vyr' T" ' , paign. With the advent of the civ.l war the hnmoi- . thc ragtime war song is such a ;hu. KXfAPlSX chased for $100. On the other hand, 1 S ous and the Jocose took the place of ballads of ln thc song publishing game one M?g paid $7,000 for 'Meet Me Tonight in gjit' fj!, ) " ZfX l'lJ 1 ' J higher sentiment and more solemn expression early learns to answer, 'I don t fi- , Dreamland." which was written by Miss M IVM'f t Xlf -Marching Through Georgia1 thnl.ed s the kmnv . .. ' y Bet,, whitson and Leo Friedman about , 4 ' f formal laureate productions could never thnll. The The musical turnstile of time has fS.IVz' AkX ten vears a-o t. 'f i ',1 ' national anthem ceases to bo as effective a recruiting cIlcked 0(lt many a pnlseiitckentng Urj-Q Moon VinUs1 was purchased for V mJ ' j. agent as some lyric like "Tipperary. compounded melodj- since William Rossiter, pro- 3- i , S 'tv'f 98.100. and the price was considered so J;.((Sf BPllH Ml of one part rhythmic melody and mne parts sheer 11Per publisher of popular songs ' 4r sf JfrJmX high at U,e time as to make me the J h?0 'S ' i 1 V'U W nonsense. American sentiment is today being ex- produced his first great "song hit." S ft i' ' XT f 1 William Rossiter, : .y who has published 3,000 songs, but modestly declines to forecast the next success. yTl'HfNt KRT war in history ha., 4 Jf "s sonSS, struck off V 1 the wuite lK'!lt o slltkl''nl V Bj Y crystallized purpose or emotion. AV sL Our earliest war songs were 'A wik1, trluml)ual chants or pon-U3p pon-U3p derous, stately epics, reciting with historical accuracy and painstaking detail every incident in a whole campaign. cam-paign. With the advent of the civil war the humorous humor-ous and the jocose took the place of ballads of higher sentiment and more solemn expression. "Marching Through Georgia" thrilled as the formal laureate productions could never thrill. The national authem ceases to be as effective a recruiting agent as some lyric like "Tipperary," compounded of one part rhythmic melody and nine parts sheer nonsense. American sentiment is today being expressed ex-pressed in war songs. But the kind that touch a responsive cord in our emotional American natures are not the carefully worded and staidly musical appeals to honor, duty nnd patriotism. Such songs have been sung in large numbers, but press agenting and prestige alike fail to quicken the tlame of enthusiasm. And then along comes an Inspired ragtime artist who makes "Hun" ticipation of having to say a last farewell to an old friend. Possibly it is for none of these reasons that thc ragtime war song is such a 'hit.' In thc song publishing game one early learns to answer, 'I don't know.1 " The musical turnstile of time has clicked out many a pulse-ciuickening melody since William Rossiter, pioneer pio-neer publisher of popular songs, produced his first great "song hit." lie has witnessed the vogue of the Indian brave who was calmly sleeping sleep-ing while the apprehensive Choctaw damsel named Laughing Starlight was weeping or creeping or doing to PUL Lue linn " v.u..v..L.w.. abject devotion to the marathon theory and practice prac-tice a stranger to him. Yet 'he responds very candidly can-didly ill the negative when asked if he is an infallible in-fallible bulge of public taste or an oracle of song successes. He declares that he knows "song types'1 well enough, hut individual song "hits" not at all. "I could assert very definitely that a song of the 'Sweet Angellne' type would not be a popular success now," he say, "hut when you spread out before me a score of present day 'numbers' 1 could not detect the winner' in seven chances out of twelve. In proof of what I say." he remarked. re-marked. "I'll narrate a pertinent incident. While still a novice in the business busi-ness a ynung man named Charles lv. Harris sold me two or three songs. Their success was not very notable, and when he came In with a subsequent sub-sequent one anil offered it to me I felt that I had to refuse. "lie was a mighty likable lik-able chap and I told him that I would make every "We Don't Know Where We're Going, but We're On Our Way," one of the newest hits, was written by W. R. Williams while sitting up with a sick lodge brother. whatever else was necessary to supply the rustic rhyme scheme. He has seen the rise and fall of the Lochinvarlike cowpuncher who carried the coy cow- "&Xi girt into ineyenue or .,11 " a"' or wherever else cow-punchers carry coy cowgirls in two verses and a chorus. He has beeu the exploiter of the gentry who yearn with soul-con-sumiug arder to be restored to their native heath somewhere in Dixie or in the sun-kissed hills of dear old Idaho. He has listened to the tuneful Hawaiian who Is perpetually making elaborate farewells fare-wells and as persistently and illogically sticking around. The man who is worried because the charming opposition will not make her orgaus of vision conduct themselves them-selves with propriety is no mystery mys-tery to him, nor is the yodeler of ardent assurances that it devolves upon some American son of a gun effort to help him place it with some one eles. A dozen publishers were appealed to, but all of them turned us down. Finally I asked Harris if he would care to risk publication of the piece himself. White paper hadn't - developed any skyrocket tendencies at the time and we figured that we could have it published for' about $0. "Out of his meager funds Ikj courageously decided to float the venture. I took him to my printers and engravers and gave him such 'tips' as I could in the matter of ways and means. 1 had secretly resolved to repay the loss I felt the struggling young song writer was going to incur. Well, the thing was published finally, and 1 never had one moment's worry over the matter of making mak-ing up the deficit. The song was 'After the Ball,1 the most smashing song success of the Had the authors of "Tipperary" been told to write a good marching song probably they would have failed. century. Its sale was about 2.000,000 copies. The extraordinary success of 'After the Ball' made Harris Har-ris 'overnight,' as it were, and he became mv most f rxtsX rrW All manner of melodies have been submitted to Mr. Rossiter, from the Indian brave's dances to the tuneful Hawaiian who is perpetually making farewells. successful business rival. At the present time he is rated one of the most notable song writers and publishers in the world." "How many songs have you published?" queried the interviewer. "About ;i,000," he rescinded, re-scinded, "and I have sold over 100,000,000 copies. "I was the Hrst publisher pub-lisher to get out the f and 30 cent song books. I was also the first to introduce in-troduce the 10-cent sheet music. I was the first to induce Ihe department stores to handle popular music, nnd I think I am entitled to most of the credit, or blame (if you want it that way), for the tremendous success of the popular song business busi-ness today. "The prices paid for popular song rights vary as widely as those pa'r' for shows, stories, novels, etc. In this kind of work there are no arbitrary standards. A song from au unknown writer may be purchased pur-chased for $100. On the other haud, 1 paid $7,000 for 'Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland.1 which was written by Miss Beth Whitson and- Leo Friedman about ten years ago. " 'Moon Winks' was purchased for $S.100, and the price was considered so high at the time as to make me the laughing stock of the trade. Both of these numbers fully justified my faith in them, the former particularly being a tremendous success financially. Among other notable old-timers were 'The Cat .Came Back,' 'Sweet Nellie Bawn,' 'Sweet Tillie Taylor,1 'He Never Came Back,1 'Turkey in the Straw,' 'When the Moon plays Peek-a-Boo,1 'If uie -iian in ine .uuou neie a Coon,' 'Clover Blossoms.1 'Some of These Days,' 'Where the Silv'ry Colorado Wends Its Way,1 'The Cruel Hiss,1 'She's Good Enough for Me,' 'If I Only Had a Home, Sweet Home,1 'Gee! but There's Class to a Girl Like You,' 'The Minstrel Min-strel Show Parade,' 'I'd Love to Live in Loveland "With a Girl Like You.1 'Napanee,1 'Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland,' and last hut not least 'He Enlisted With the U. S. Volunteers.' which was one of the big hits during the Spanish-American-war. They were all extremely successful. 1 can't recall the names of the writers of but few of them right now. "How the writers get their insniration is an interesting phase of the work. For instance. 'Sweet Nellie Bawn' was written by Mr. Williams on his way to his aunt's funeral. 'He enlisted en-listed in the U. S. Volunteers1 came to him as he was witnessing a boxing contest. 'We Don't Know Where Wc'e Going, but We're on Our Way,' Williams' latest war song, was written while he was' sitting up with a sick lodge brother. He started writing to keep awake." That the popular song needs no apologist is one of Mr. Rossiter's favorite themes. "The popular song with the catchy, raggy swing will never die out," he says. "A hundred years from now it will still he popular. And Europe-Europe Europe-Europe of the ultra-classical musicians and son;: writers is appropriating for its music hulls and regimental bands all the ragtime that America cau produce. We could hardly ask for sincerer flattery. "The fact that the soldiers going Into action like lively music, and that the 'poilus' and Tommies' and 'Sammies' are singing or marching march-ing or fighting to the air of American popular song hits is proof that the mueli-iualigued American music must really have a soul. "The acid test of the popular song has been America's declaration of war. The war will be won by a singing soldiery, and their songs will be ragtime songs interspersed with the simple yet deathless ballads like 'Hume. Sweet Home' and 'Way Down on the Suwanee River.' High brow' music simply doesn't seem to figure in the. scheme of things at all." Copyright, 1917, by J. Kcclry l P XXX, XX&yj?j ) 73 I y X:XX' k tit ' v fy jftixyA?'? m xM'U -) kii kff 1 XX XXX " 4 - sr-?"-- - - v . 4 V-' m iK,cmtfcxx ? foGGLST m inX(!XAlj$ i I L Vt', ; , 4 GOOD HNOUGH ...FOSnlE." 4- ') y.y.y .v..;... .BS.ifc," i -Xtt . lt ft--? .''mvWl Sweet Nellie tawn 1 - w- iS J j ' : V -T. ' 1 ' " Xt? 'iV.'n M WOWti'B iiq' f ? tpan '1W. '- P ' ' ,".''-. -.t p' 4 U&Xa S VI ft CK W I'-l ' Xi ufV - - ' , i ? v 1 , u . as - I ; X ( rty- -CI X y Xi! fi r X' fi)4 j-fc l1 I v Z&JL-'" "'' fi?i j, v.svj( I X, " ! WIILKXtMMI? ' - U.-i?.v i.3:-Ary. ..ai.A .V. -V.,;ixxUJiV.i(.Wft.-S(.-;.&.J , Five of the biggest successes of recent years. J fin |