ospel ensembles such as The Ink Spots, or the rhythm and blues sound whose roots lay in less sophisticated musical forms, Cole was a well-trained, disciplined vocal artist. Only Billy Daniels and Billy Eckstine rivaled him in vocal polish, and neither had the number of hit recordings produced by Cole.
Between 1944 and 1957, Cole had forty-five recordings which were listed in the competitive charts maintained by Billboard magazine. Several of these songs—"For Sentimental Reasons," "Nature Boy," "Mona Lisa," and "Too Young"—reached the number one position, and thirteen were listed in the top ten. In the period 1940-1955, Cole records were on the Billboard charts for a total of 274 weeks. This made him the ninth most popular recording personality in that fifteen-year period—ahead of such celebrities as Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Tommy Dorsey, and Dinah Shore.
Cole did well in early television. He appeared on network TV as early as June 1, 1948 when he was the principal guest on the CBS human interest series We, the People, when it debuted as the first regularly-scheduled program aired simultaneously on radio and television. Typical of his later appearances were his performances on Showtime U.S.A. in 1951 and Chance of a Lifetime the following year. Throughout the first half of the 1950s Cole was spotlighted on most top-rated variety programs for whenever he appeared with such personalities as Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, or Perry Como, his style elicited strong audience approval. In mid-1954 when he signed with CBS to make ten guest appearances, it was rumored that this was in preparation for his own forthcoming show.
Compared to Robeson and his social militancy, Cole was assimilated, unthreatening, and popularly accepted. While he was not the first black host of his own network series, as the top African American recording artist of his generation Cole had the best chance of success. The premier of The Nat King Cole Show on NBC on November 5, 1956 seemed to open a new era for black performers.
The program was a quarter-hour feature which aired on Mondays as a lead into the quarter-hour evening news with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley at 7:45 P.M. (EST). It was a spirited program with a mellow mixture of upbeat tunes and slower ballads. Cole was backed by first-rate orchestras—Gordon Jenkins when the show emanated from New York City, and Nelson Riddle when in Hollywood. An occasional guest bandleader, such as Count Basie, only enhanced Cole’s show.
Cole was aware of the significance of his program. He referred to himself as "the Jackie Robinson of television." In 1956, he defined his undertaking as a struggle against racism.
I have a fight right now in my own business in TV. I realize what 'TV is doing. I know they are freezing the Negro out. I know that no Negro has a TV show. I'm breaking that down. I'm fighting on the inside, without publicity."
That conviction stayed with Cole throughout his television career. In September 1957, he told TV Guide that his program was "a step in the right direction" toward allaying network fears about black shows being televised to prejudiced viewers.''
By any standard, The Nat King Cole Show was top-flight entertainment. Cole smoothly hosted this showcase for his musical talents. He sang his famous ballads and played piano in front of a first-rate orchestra. Sometimes, too, he exhibited the jazz dexterity that made him famous in the first place.
Unfortunately, however, the seeds of destruction were within the program from the beginning. First, the show was never popular with the mass audience. Opposite it on CBS was Robin Hood, one of the top-rated shows on TV, especially with youngsters still not ready for bed. This half-hour British import attracted over half the audience at 7:30 P.M. As Figure 5.1 attests, during the few times The Nat King Cole Show was rated by A. C. Nielsen, it failed to demonstrate a sizable following.
|Table 5.1 Comparative Ratings of|
The Nat King Cole Show and Robin Hood
|Date of Rating||% of Potential Audience||% of Sets-in-Use||Relative Ranking|
|