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Biography
Cozy Cole (October 17, 1909 – January 9, 1981) was an American jazz drummer who scored a #1 Cashbox magazine hit with the record "Topsy Part 2" (also known as "Topsy II", "Topsy 2", and so on). That song 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 track, which also peaked at #29 in the U.K. Singles Chart in 1958, contained a lengthy drum solo and was one of the few drum solo recordings that ever made the Billboard Hot 100. The single was issued on the tiny Brooklyn-based Love Records label. According to his bio from Billboard.com, "Cozy Cole's drumming was an essential ingredient in much of the jazz recorded during the 1930s and '40s".
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.
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