Cozy Cole - Topsy Part II

Cozy Cole (October 17, 1909 – January 31, 1981) was a jazz drummer who scored a #1 Cashbox magazine hit with the record "Topsy Part 2". "Topsy" peaked at number three on Billboard Hot 100, and at number one on the R&B chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The recording contained a lengthy drum solo, and was one of the few drum solo recordings that ever made the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single was issued on the tiny Brooklyn-based Love Records label.

William Randolph Cole was born in 1909 in East Orange, New Jersey. His first music job was with Wilbur Sweatman in 1928. In 1930 he played for Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, recording an early drum solo on "Load of Cole". He spent 1931–33 with Blanche Calloway, 1933-34 with Benny Carter, 1935-36 with Willie Bryant, 1936-38 with Stuff Smith's small combo, and 1938-42 with Cab Calloway. In 1942, he was hired by CBS Radio music director Raymond Scott as part of network radio's first mixed-race orchestra. After that he played with Louis Armstrong's All Stars.

Cole appeared in music-related films, including a brief cameo in Don't Knock the Rock. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Cole continued to perform in a variety of settings. Cole and Gene Krupa often played duets at the Metropole in New York City during the 1950s and 1960s. He died of cancer in 1981, in Columbus, Ohio.
Cole is cited as an influence by many contemporary rock drummers, including Cozy Powell, who took his nickname 'Cozy' from Cole.

"Topsy Part 2" was a 1938 instrumental release for bandleader, Benny Goodman. His release of "Topsy Part 2" was a number fourteen pop hit. In 1958, drummer Cozy Cole had a #3 pop hit with his version of the instrumental. Part 1 of the release made it to #27. Cole's version of "Topsy Part 2" was also a number one on the R&B chart for six weeks.

" The above text is a mashup from Wikipedia."