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Bill Cosby And Ray Charles Delighted Local Audiences
by Bob
Lowe
July 27, 2004
The
recent announcement that Bill Cosby has been booked for two
shows on Nov. 5 at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in
Appleton and that legendary musician Ray Charles passed away
brought back some pleasant memories of past performances that
these two entertainers have put on in the Fox Valley.
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I
was privileged to have met both men during their appearances
– something I consider major highlights in my 30-year
journalistic career. I first met Bill Cosby while I was a graduate
student working as a reporter for The Advance-Titan, the campus
newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. I covered
the 90-minute speech he gave to a jam packed audience at Albee
Hall on the UW-O campus. His talk consisted mainly of reminisces
of his childhood, his experiences with his parents, his adventures
in school, his wild escapades with cars and his early married
life. I interviewed him a second time backstage when he came
to the Weidner Center in Green Bay for two sold-out shows on
June 4, 1994. The third and most memorable occasion when we
met was on March 5, 1999 at the Pickard Auditorium in Neenah,
where the ground breaking comic appeared for two performances.
I was on assignment for The Post-Crescent and inadvertently
found myself part of his act. Cosby opened his routine by asking,
"Where am I?’ After the audience responded in unison,
"Neenah!," he said, "My wife sends me to the
darnedest places." He later added, " Neenah? I didn't
know if it was the name of a city or a yell after a stiff drink."
Cosby then glanced at me, the only black person in the audience,
and said, "What are you doing here? You come stay with
me. I'll protect you." The audience roared. In a backstage
interview after the show, Cosby said he does these concerts
because unlike TV shows and movies, stand-up comedy gives him
an immediate feedback for his special brand of comedy. "It
has nothing to do with money; it never did," he said. "You
have something to give and it makes some people feel very good
so you do it." Cosby, 67, was born in Philadelphia. He
attended school up to 10th grade but often neglected his studies
for athletics. He joined the Navy and completed his high school
via correspondence courses while in the service. After he was
discharged, he enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia
on an athletic scholarship, hoping to become a physical education
instructor. Cosby later received a bachelor’s degree from
Temple University and a master’s degree in 1972 and doctorate
degree in 1977, both from the University of Massachusetts.
To support himself during his college days, Cosby tended bars
at night, where he found a ready-made audience for his humor.
He began appearing at several nightspots like The Underground
and The Gaslight in Greenwich Village. It was while he was on
the night club circuit that he attracted the attention of TV
producer Sheldon Leonard, who signed him to star with Robert
Culp in the adventure series, "I Spy." He became one
of the first blacks to be cast as an equal partner with a white
actor and won three Emmy Awards for best actor in a dramatic
series. He continued to break down racial barriers by appearing
in a number of situation comedies and movies. He also produced
a number of comedy albums and jazz recordings and has written
several best-selling books, including "Fatherhood,"
"Time Flies" and "Childhood." His latest
(2003) is "I Am What I Ate...And I’m Frightened,"
a collection of humorous musings about his obsession with food.
He attained his greatest visibility when, in September 1984,
NBC cast him as Dr. Cliff Huxtable, an obstetrician and head
of an upper class black family in "The Cosby Show."
He was cast opposite Phylicia Rashad, who played his lawyer-wife,
Claire Huxtable and the mother of their four children. "The
Cosby Show" left a lasting legacy, ending the stereotypical
and one-dimensional fashion in which blacks have traditionally
been cast on television. The show won numerous Emmy awards,
was watched by more people than any other situation comedy in
the history of television and earned NBC a cool billion dollars.
In recent months, Cosby has been attracting a different kind
of attention – and some controversy – with his remarks
about the negative effects of the black street culture. He has
become a critic of blacks who use street slang, have misplaced
spending priorities like buying $500 sneakers, have multiple
babies out of wedlock and can’t care for them, "millionaire
football players who can’t read..." and "million
dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs."
He
said blacks cannot blame white people for all their ills and
"we as black folks have to do a better job." I can’t
wait to ask Cosby about this and other social issues when he
appears at the PAC for two shows at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on
Nov. 5. Tickets range in price from $40 to $75 and can be obtained
through Ticketmaster outlets or by calling 920-731-5000 or online
at www.tickemaster.com.
Ray Charles, 73, died of acute liver disease at his home in
Beverly Hills on June 10, 2004. The innovative singer and pianist
whose combinations of blues and gospel pioneered soul music,
was a major force in contemporary music. His was a distinctive
voice across many musical genres – rhythm and blues, jazz,
country, big band and pop. Charles brought his 16-piece band
and five backup singers to the Pickard Auditorium in Neenah
on June 23, 1992 and left little doubt why he is called "The
Genius of Soul." From the moment he was escorted onto the
stage to his climactic finish, the singer-composer-musicians
put on a foot-stomping’, funky and pulsating performance
that electrified the crowd. Dressed in a striped black tuxedo
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