Sinatra Family News

Frank Sinatra Headwear Available This Fall

Sinatra™ Headwear to Launch this Fall from Dorfman Pacific

STOCKTON, CA./NEW YORK, NY - Leading headwear company Dorfman Pacific announces the completion of an arrangement with Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE) under which Dorfman Pacific will market an exciting new collection of structured headwear. The Sinatra™ collection will launch with various fedora styles that are representational and inspired by Mr. Sinatra’s wardrobe. All will feature traditional haberdashery with details such as silk linings, grosgrain ribbon trim, classic hat pins, and each one will include touches of his favorite color orange on its interior as a tribute to him.

Seldom, if ever, has a man been more closely linked to hats and style than Frank Sinatra—“The Chairman of the Board”— to the fedora. Always perfectly dressed for the occasion, always the epitome of elegance, Ol’ Blue Eyes was rarely without a perfectly selected hat. Now, with the Dorfman Pacific relationship, the classic style of Sinatra will be available. Dorfman Pacific will debut the collection at MAGIC in August this year, and will showcase the line in its major showrooms across the country. It will reach consumers in better department stores and specialty retailers for the Fall/Winter 2010 season.

“Frank Sinatra was every bit as much of a perfectionist in his dress as he was on stage and screen,” said Dorfman Pacific‘s President and CEO, Douglas Highsmith. “He was and remains today almost as famous for his superlative tailoring and style as for his artistry—and hats were absolutely central to his look. This is an exciting moment for us. Frank Sinatra remains one of the most recognizable legends of film and music in America or anywhere else. With our world-leading skills in handcrafted, quality headwear, Dorfman Pacific will flawlessly design a collection that depicts Mr. Sinatra's look and is right for today’s buyer. We are looking forward to launching a truly authentic tribute to his legacy.”

In addition to the Frank Sinatra brand, in the last year Dorfman Pacific has added Stetson®, Tommy Bahama®, Woolrich®, Panama Jack®, Blue Chair Bay™ by Kenny Chesney, Cappelli Straworld™, Discovery Expedition™, John Deere and Mossy Oak® to its line up. These top names have taken their place alongside the company’s core brands including Scala™, Scala Pro™, Callanan, Christys’ London, Headers, Tropical Trends and DPC™, Stacy Adams®, and Indiana Jones. Its Milano division features Larry Mahan and Justin Authentic Headgear.

Dorfman Pacific, founded in 1921 is based at its 287,000 square foot facility in Stockton, California. It is the largest full-line in-stock headwear company in the world and has customers worldwide for its men’s, women’s and children’s headwear, bags and accessories. The company attends at all major trade shows. It recently opened a new, expanded showroom in Atlanta, and has other regional showrooms in Dallas, Boston, Honolulu and New York, where it also has a satellite office.

Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE) is a joint venture between the Sinatra family and Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). FSE owns Sinatra’s recordings from the Reprise era as well as a treasure trove of films, television specials and unreleased footage, photos and audio recordings, which collectively represent one of the foremost bodies of artistic work of the modern era. FSE also owns and manages Sinatra’s name and likeness rights and represents the artist’s rights to the Columbia and Capitol catalogues. FSE pursues innovative new product and venture opportunities with respect to the legendary entertainer’s name and likeness, as well as Sinatra's audio and visual recordings.

Media Contacts:
Shelley Lipton, Lipton Publicity for Dorfman Pacific: 212-750-6654/Liptonpublicity@aol.com
Lellie Capwell, Sacks & Co. for Frank Sinatra Enterprises: 818-384-1180/Lellie@sacksco.com

Posted by: Nancy | Jul 9, 2010 11:24 AM | Comments(8)

Crosby Family Wins Lawsuit

After an arduous ten year battle, the heirs of Bing Crosby finally got their day in court. On June 30th, a jury in Santa Monica, California awarded them in excess of 2 million dollars in their lawsuit against Universal Music Group. It’s a significant victory for the Crosby family, as well as for all recording artists whose royalties have been underpaid by record labels.

Crosby’s daughter Mary commented, “Recording artists have a long history of being taken advantage of by their labels, and despite the incredible contribution my father made to the world of music, he was no exception. I give my mother a lot of credit for her willingness to hang in there for over a decade. It seems that record companies prefer to keep things in litigation for as long as possible because most people don’t have the resources to stick it out. This tactic generally works, because the majority of artists settle out of court for far less than they’re due.” Mary was in the courtroom with her mother, Kathryn Crosby, when the verdict was read.

Bing Crosby, who died in 1977, recorded exclusively for Decca Records from August 1934 until December 1955. The Decca catalog was later obtained by MCA Records, which ultimately became part of Universal Music Group. Among Crosby’s 1200 recordings for Decca is “White Christmas”, the best selling record of all time. The Guinness Book of World Records reports worldwide sales for Crosby’s recording of the song at over 100 million copies. “White Christmas” has entered the American pop charts twenty separate times. The vast catalog of Bing Crosby’s non-Decca recordings is currently being issued through Collectors’ Choice Music and Mosaic Records.

Bing Crosby has sold close to one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital downloads around the world. He may be the biggest selling recording artist of all time. Only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson can rival his sales figures. Crosby had sold 200 million records by 1960 and the figure had doubled by 1980. Crosby is the most recorded performer in history, having made over 2000 commercial recordings and approximately 4000 radio programs in addition to an extensive list of film and television appearances. He scored 38 number one records – more than The Beatles (24) and Elvis Presley (18). His recordings reached the charts 396 times - more than Frank Sinatra (209) and Elvis Presley (149) combined. Crosby’s closest rival is Paul Whiteman (220) with whose orchestra he sang early in his career.

For additional information about Bing Crosby visit: www.bingcrosby.com
Bing Crosby is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bing-Crosby/44544738326
The Bing Crosby Archive Series is available from Collectors’ Choice Music at:
http://www.ccmusic.com/room.cfm?id=212
The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings 1954-56 from Mosaic Records is available at:
http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=245-MD-CD
For information about the pubic broadcasting special, The Legendary Bing Crosby visit:
http://www.aptonline.org/catalog.nsf/vTitle/LEGENDARY+BING+CROSBY,+THE

Posted by: Nancy | Jul 1, 2010 6:41 PM | Comments(8)