Music: Foreign Records

In London this winter, the bright young people of Mayfair danced nightly to "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" and "You're Blase," smart tunes made right in London. In Paris, people go to swank Monseigneur especially to hear Lucienne Boyer sing "Parlez-Moi d'Amour," a.soft, fragile French song. In Berlin Tenor Richard Tauber, the monocle man. is making "Du bist mein Traum" a worthy successor to "Dein ist mein Ganzes Herz."

Apparently Tin Pan Alley's dictatorship over the world's popular tunes has ended for last week Manhattan's smart Gramophone Shop reported that this season had been by far its biggest for popular records made abroad. London has sent several outstanding numbers: "The Pied Piper" arranged with a catchy, recurring ^'piper" motif; a good dance record of "You're Blase" and a two-piano version neatly embroidered by Peggy Cochrane and William Walker. From Paris there is Lucienne Boyer's "Parlez-Moi d'Amour" which took a prize last year for being the best popular record made in France; and colored Josephine Baker's "J'ai Deux Amours." From Germany there is a Marlene Dietrich record, "Jonny" on one side, "Peter" on the other, for people who like naughty lyrics and do not mind harsh, off-pitch singing.

U. S. popular records are not so popular this year as usual. Those selling best are from the musicomedies Face the Music (Irving Berlin), Hot-cha (Brown & Henderson), Of Thee I Sing (George Gershwin). Despite Depression there is a steady demand for symphonic records, but radio quickly kills many a good domestic popular tune.