The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After
BILL COSBY
“Little Ole Man (Uptight-Everything’s Alright)”
(Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby)
Warner Brothers 7072
No. 4 October 14, 1967
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A phenomenon … Bill Cosby. What’s left? He was the production seer and “acting” head of the house on one
of TV’s biggest blockbusters, the top-rated NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show:’He is one of TV’s most sought-
after commercial pitchmen-he has plugged away for Coca Cola, Ford, E. F. Hutton, Jell-0, Kodak, and
Texas Instruments. He is also a pack-’em-in stand-up come dian, with a 1988 asking fee of $250,000 a
night; a TV star with a history (“I Spy;'”The Bill Cosby Show;'”The New Bill Cosby Show;’ and “Cos!”); a
successful author (Fatherhood, Time Flies); a movie star (Uptown Satur day Night, California Suite,
Hickey and Boggs, Leonard Part 6); and a whole lot of fun.
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Time magazine has noted that solid-gold Cosby has dominated the media like no star since the days of
Lucille Ball and Milton Berle. His earnings for 1987 were estimated at $57,000,000, making him at that
point the highest-paid entertainer on the face of the earth. Perhaps no performer in history has or ever will
be as successful as Bill Cosby, but in terms of Top 40 success, Bill is but a one-hit wonder.
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In terms of album sales, Cosby was the hottest comedian of the ’60s: his first seven comedy albums,
recorded from 1965 to 1968, were all million-sellers. Three of these LPs even went platinum-S!tarted Out
As a Child (1965), Wonderfulness (1966), and Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow, Right! (1966).”Little Ole
Man;’ a novelty number based on a Stevie Wonder tune, was his only single to crack the Top 40. Cosby’s
funny boned follow-ups, though less successful, still made the Hot 100 listings:”Hooray for the Salvation
Army Band” (#71, 1967), “Funky North Philly” (#91, 1968), “Grover Henson Feels Forgotten” (#70, 1970),
and “Yes, Yes, Yes” (#46, 1976).
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