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scored heavily. Still the old-time publishers continued |
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frown upon the popular songs, calling them trash and insisting that there wonld be no demand for such rubbish when ''After the Ball" died out. Hut they were behind the times as ''Kiss and Let's Make Up" proved that the public wanted a song with a story—a story with a moral.
The next difficulty that confronted me was to get new topics for songs. It was claimed that then; would not be topics enough which would prove acceptable, but 1 kept close watch on the current events of the day. Being an inveterate theatre-goer, I received many suggestions from the stage. For example, about ten years ago such plays as "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" and "The Crust of Society" were in vogue. 1 then wrote "Cast Aside," "Fallen by the Wayside" and "There'll Come a Time Some Day." The public snapped at them. Over 300,000 copies were printed of each of these songs, amounting to almost one million copies. Then came an era of society dramas, such as Belasco's "Charity Ball" and "The Wife." I wrote and published at that time "While the Dance Goes On," "Hearts," "You'll Never Know," and "Can Hearts So Soon Forget," which sold enormously.
Despite these successes the old fogy publishers and music trade buyers were still skeptical and would only purchase in quantities to fill absolute orders. They would not advertise my songs nor announce them in their catalogues or advertisements, leaving it entirely to the composer to create a demand for his compositions.
During the J. K. Emmet, W. J. Scanlon and Gus Williams epoch I wrote "Humming Baby to Sleep," "Creep, Baby, Creep," and "School Bells," differing entirely from those heretofore mentioned. Then came Bronson Howard's "Shenandoah," Gillette's "Held by the Enemy," "Secret Service,"
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