Looking Back: Remembering when some (then) big acts came to the Fair

It was a long time ago, but some of these appearances were hard to forget (for a number of reasons)|

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Bill Cosby, perhaps the most popular entertainer in America, came to the Petaluma Fairgrounds last night. Unfortunately, he didn’t sell tickets to Petalumans nearly as well as last year’s headliner, Huey Lewis. Held in the Speedway grandstands, there were 3400 spectators in the 7,000 capacity arena. Fair Manager Bev Wilson reported this morning that she and the entertainer had settled on a fee less than the 150,000 originally negotiated. Prior to the show, she and Cosby agreed to 50,000 for his two-hour show.

(Excerpted from a story by Richard Bammer and Doug Brown, originally appearing in the Argus-Courier on June 24, 1988.)

As the Sonoma-Marin Fair kicks off another five-day extravaganza of rides, games, food, critter activities, weird gizmo demonstrations and glittery entertainment, we take a look back to 1988, when the fairgrounds hosted three of the (then) biggest performers in America. One of those legends is now officially retired (and reportedly keeping pet goats), one is clean-and-sober and has a new cable reality show - and one is currently awaiting sentencing.

They are, of course, Kenny Rogers, Eddie Money and Bill Cosby.

Starting at the end of that list, the once esteemed comedian and TV superstar Cosby - who was found guilty of aggravated indecent assault in April of this year - appeared in the fairgrounds’ speedway amphitheater on Thursday, April 23, 1988. The show, talked up for weeks leading to the big night, ended up a huge disappointment, drawing less than half of the audience numbers that had been anticipated. The shockingly low attendance required Fair management to renegotiate Cosby’s promised fee, a third of which the comedian agreed to take.

Today, of course, Cosby’s reputation is so tarnished that the 3,400 fans who did show up that night might be remembering the show as being less funny now than it seemed at the time, three whole decades back.

Faring better, after all this time - reputation-wise, anyway - are country legend Kenny Rogers and rocker Eddie Money. Rogers, best known for such country-tinged hits as “The Gambler” and others, turns 80 this August, and he’s now retired from touring and (probably) recording. In 2015, he announced an international farewell tour, to be called “The Gambler’s Last Deal,” with concert dates scheduled around the world throughout 2018. In April, however, the bulk of the tour was canceled due to undisclosed health concerns.

Kenny Rogers’ final concert was held in Nashville on Oct. 25, 2017. He lives in Georgia, where he has been reported to keep a pet goat named Smitty.

As for Eddie Money, the rocker whose hits include “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Baby Hold On,” and “Maybe I’m a Fool,” is still creatively active, though his hit-making career did cool quite a bit in the ’90s. He recently launched a cable reality show titled “Real Money,” featuring the rock star and his family. His Fair-performing career has certainly not ended, by the way, as Money and his band will be taking the stage at the Marin County Fair this July 2.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Bill Cosby, perhaps the most popular entertainer in America, came to the Petaluma Fairgrounds last night. Unfortunately, he didn’t sell tickets to Petalumans nearly as well as last year’s headliner, Huey Lewis. Held in the Speedway grandstands, there were 3400 spectators in the 7,000 capacity arena. Fair Manager Bev Wilson reported this morning that she and the entertainer had settled on a fee less than the 150,000 originally negotiated. Prior to the show, she and Cosby agreed to 50,000 for his two-hour show.

(Excerpted from a story by Richard Bammer and Doug Brown, originally appearing in the Argus-Courier on June 24, 1988.)

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