[78-L] 1st Family

[Michael Biel]

David Lennick wrote:
>
>>> As a matter of fact, people stopped listening to the album after the
>>> assassination, Volume 2 was withdrawn, and sales of comedy albums were
>>> dismal for the next fifteen years.
I disagree.  Cosby, Newhart and Smothers Bros were big sellers.  I see 
no real lasting continuing sales of Steve Martin.  They went up and down 
the charts like pop records.  Of course Cosby and Newhart started their 
careers while JFK was still alive, but they never stopped selling.

>
> Don't have sales figures, but I hardly ever run across even Richard Pryor's 
> more popular albums in the Goodwill. Or for that matter Bob Newhart or Bill 
> Cosby. Rusty Warren, yes.
>
> dl
>   
As for Cosby and Newhart, I think we have the Caruso effect.  These are 
the albums they save when they throw the others out.  I worked for a 
rack jobber record distrubutor in 66 and 67 and can tell you that the 
sales of Cosby were HUGE, and Newhart and Smothers Bros were good.  We 
sold very few Jon Winters, Tom Lehrer, Mort Saul, Shelly Berman, Dave 
Gardner, Myron Cohen. Homer & Jethro and others that were on the major 
labels.  But 5 albums of Cosby and perhaps 2 or so each of Newhart and 
Snothers Brios were always in our top 120 album sales lists.   (We 
didn't rack Warren, Foxx, or Pryor.)  We had a lot on Nichols & May in a 
huge Mercury overstock sale.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com