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The Spectacle Blog
Don Cornelius, the longtime host of the nationally syndicated TV program Soul Train, died this morning of an apparent suicide. He was 75.
Soul Train was a showcase for mostly African-American musicians specializing in R&B and soul music. It began to air nationally in the fall of 1971. Although Cornelius was from Chicago, the show became associated with Philly Soul. Indeed, the theme song for Soul Train was “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” which was recorded by MFSB, a group of studio musicians organized by the songwriting duo of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (along with The Three Degrees on vocals.)
Over the years, Soul Train has featured the likes of The Isley Brothers, Kool & The Gang, and Earth, Wind & Fire. From time to time, one might also see an act one might not expect to see such as Elton John or Gino Vannelli. Soul Trainwas known for the Mighty, Mighty Soul Train Dancers who specialized in the Soul Train Line in which Cornelius would participate on rare occasions. But the heart and soul of the show was Cornelius and his low key, smooth voice which you can hear in this conversation with Mariah Carey in 1991.
Cornelius hosted Soul Train until 1993 although he remained behind the scenes until the show went off the air in 2006. He was said to have disliked rap and hip-hop and although Cornelius would book rap and hip-hop acts that it contributed to his decision to stop hosting.
In recent years, Cornelius was in poor health, had been arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence, mired in a messy divorce and these may have been factors in deciding to take his own life.
View all comments (11) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/02/01/don-cornelius-rip
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Bob Grant| 2.1.12 @ 2:24PM
Aw yes, Soul Train. It was a show I watched as a kid on those lazy Saturday Afternoons in the 70's i.e., Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Wide World of Sports, American Sportsman, and Jacques Cousteau.
RIP sir.
Paul McGrath| 2.1.12 @ 4:37PM
I came of age when the British Invasion hit American shores so I grew up a fan of the Stones, the Beatles, the Kinks, and a whole load of other bands that came and went and made an impression. The Dave Clark Five, Tommy James, Donovan, the Troggs, the Standels, Louie Louie, 96 Tears, etc.
Never got into soul that much until one day at a friend's house I saw Curtis Mayfield singing Superfly on Soul Train, and man, that was a great song. Suddenly, soul was a pretty cool thing, and it finally occurred to me that there were a lot of great bands on that show.
From then on, Soul Train turned out to be the thing to watch when it was on for me and every other kid in the neighborhood. Great show.
And yes, the dancers in the dance line: that was hot.
And you, Grant: if you are implying that black people and their music is somehow comparable with watching shows about wild animals, you are a discredit to conservatives and a discredit to the human race.
I hope you didn't mean it that way but I'm not sure how else to take it.
Bob Grant| 2.1.12 @ 5:03PM
Oooorrr,
Maybe it had something to do with the local network programming in my area during that time.
To link my comments (which were meant as a compliment to the show and Mr. Cornelius) with racism says more about you than it does about me.
I also mentioned "lazy"; I suppose that was racial as well?
I hope you were being sarcastic. If not you should work for Debbie Wasserman Shultz.
Oy Vey!!!
Occam's Tool| 2.1.12 @ 5:28PM
Mutual of Omaha was syndicated in Saturday afternoons in Chicago. Soul Train, in Chicago, was played on Saturday afternoons. As a kid, it marked the end of cartoons, if I recall.
If you look at the Wikipedia on the original wide world of sports, you will see the following:
"Wide World of Sports was intended to be a fill-in show for a single summer season, until the start of fall sports seasons, but became unexpectedly popular. The goal of the show was to showcase sports from around the globe. It originally ran for ninety minutes on Saturday afternoons, and featured two or three sports per show. These included many types not normally seen on American television, such as hurling, rodeo, curling, jai-alai, firefighter's competitions, surfing, logger sports, demolition derby and slow pitch softball, and badminton. NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup racing was a Wide World of Sports staple until the late 1980s, when it became a regularly scheduled network feature. Traditional Olympic sports such as figure skating, skiing, gymnastics, and track and field competitions were also regular features of the show. The broadcast was hosted for most of its history by Jim McKay.
Wide World of Sports aired from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time and later 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 Eastern Time."
Holy Gee: 4 PM-5: 30 PM on Saturdays in Chicago.
Mr. McGrath, an apology is owed. Sometimes, as the great Freud himself said, "a cigar is just a cigar."
Paul McGrath| 2.1.12 @ 5:37PM
Well, all right. Three of the four shows he mentioned were about animals, but the fourth was not. I obviously took his comment the wrong way, and considered the fact that I may have.
There is some occasional nastiness on this site, however, and I wasn't sure if he was trying to be sly about it. I'll take him at his word.
Case closed.
Occam's Tool| 2.1.12 @ 5:43PM
I knew I liked you. An intellect capable of coolly analyzing facts.
Bob Grant| 2.1.12 @ 11:11PM
Agreed. I had only fond memories of all those shows from my youth.
Occam's Tool| 2.1.12 @ 5:32PM
By the way, Paul, I like 99% of everything you write.
Clint| 2.1.12 @ 10:04PM
So Get A Motel Room Sugar Pockets,Tool Job.
Bob Grant| 2.1.12 @ 10:36PM
Clint,
Does Jack from WI whisper passages from End the Fed in your ear during y'alls' rendezvous?
ggoblue| 2.2.12 @ 12:01AM
he was cool. real cool. he will be missed.