Talk:Paul Stanley (composer)

Notable?

There is information about this person's death, mostly repeating his own claim that he composed "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay". It appears from both sources given, however, that he did *not* write "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay". So, unless you can find some information about his career, I would agree that this person is not notable enough to be in Wikipedia and that the article should be deleted. Instead of adding photographs of news clippings, which don't really fit, it is necessary to add narrative information. -- Ssilvers (talk) 16:10, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

From the research material available to me it would appear that the only record of Stanley’s career exists in old newspaper advertisements and entertainment columns announcing his coming engagements. I’m not sure it’s so cut and dry that Stanley did not help Sayers clean up the song for the general public, though it is clear its true popularity began after Morton quickened the music for Lottie Collins. Below is a new name to add to the mix with information that differs a bit from the 'Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!' article.

Henri D'Alcorn (1827–1905) from his obituary in The Era

In 1872 Henri gave up his retail business, and in 1877 he began to dispose of his other music interests and moved to a farm in Lincolnshire. But he still had contacts in show business, and in 1891 he heard about a new song by Henry J. Sayers. This had flopped in the USA, but, properly marketed; it might succeed in the UK. Henri saw its potential and bought subsidiary rights. He interested a music-hall artiste called Lottie Collins in including it in her next show, and 'Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!' – with a saucy swing of the hips on 'Boom' – then became an enormous hit: 100,000 copies of the music were sold in the first five days alone. John F. Barlow (talk) 00:02, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Sure, Stanley may have done an arrangement for Sayers, or may have done some other work on the song, but it is not clear that he was a notable person. Lots of people performed in vaudeville, but to be notable for Wikipedia, entertainers need to satisfy the criteria under WP:ENT. -- Ssilvers (talk) 00:20, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Just on the surface I thought a man whose death was reported nationwide and as far away as Australia would be considered noteworthy. I do think those entertainers around before the age of film, radio and television are at a disadvantage when determining notability, especially if they weren’t big headliners. There are plenty of actors on these pages who played minor roles in a few films or television shows and then disappeared from the public eye. I will continue to seek out more about Stanley’s career and let others determine his notability.John F. Barlow (talk) 02:24, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

My judgement of the obits is that there is no substance to them except to repeat, falsely, that he wrote the song. Basically, he was a very effective liar, even fooling you initially. If someone were to nominate this article for AfD, I would vote to delete. I'm not mad or anything, but it's my opinion that this article does not belong in an encyclopedia, and I probably would also think that those actors you mention above should not be in the encyclopedia. Really, please read WP:ENT. My opinion is that we should (and do!) set the bar higher, so that we spend our valuable time working on more important articles. -- Ssilvers (talk) 04:02, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Birthdate

Please add a footnote to verify the birthdate. -- Ssilvers (talk) 04:26, 25 May 2012 (UTC)