As late as a week ago I was trying to figure out , how to incorporate some of Don Cornelious' success and ideas into the live events of The Music And Entertainment Report. Hey if you are going to "steal"? "Steal" from the best. Let's look back to what the world he stepped into was like.
Imagine a world with no internet, no MTV and no cable, and no Black Music TV Shows.
ENTER THE DON!
Mr. Cornelious was able to flip his job as a DJ , into a local TV show....
Before you knew it.
He had connected Black People coast to coast. From Watts to Harlem. From Houston to Detroit.
That is not to say that white people didn't watch either.
But in a very real sense Mr. Cornelious created the urban TV market. And not the glorified Minstrel Show we see today on black cable stations.
I am still amazed that he had the vision to connect up his show with Johnson Hair Care Products.
If you called Soul Train, The Afro-Ceen Show, you would not be wrong.
Watching Soul Train in the 70's was full of teachable music moments, where America learned the names of the Jacksons' not named Michael, where America learned to do the bump, where America could all be cool for one hour.
Today when I reflect on Soul Train...the teachable moments are about turning your talent into a business, how to build your business into an empire and how to connect your empire with other powerful businesses so that you all enjoy The Peace, The Love, The Soul.
If we learned nothing from Mr. Cornelious during the 1970's or about business. Let us all remember and not pass up the lesson that DEPRESSION is real. That MONEY does not BUY YOUR WAY OUT OF DEPRESSION.
How ironic is it that the man who gave us so many hours of PEACE, LOVE AND SOUL.
Did not have enough when HE NEEDED IT MOST.
THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER LIKE HIM. AND THE WORLD IS TRULY POORER for his passing.
I can remember my 1st time seeing Michael doing the Robot, realizing that Roger Troutman's voice didn't sound like that all the time, seeing Shalamar and thinking that Jody Watley was the most beautiful woman on the planet, watching The Time perform and thinking "Man I gotta find some Baggies and some Stacey Adams shoes fast!", Seeing Vanity 6 & thinking that if my Mom came in she would make me turn off the TV, Seeing Elton John singing Benny & The Jets. Seeing Public Enemy on the stage & thinking that if there were 2 more members of PE up there the stage would probably collapse. I remember seeing the movie Can't Buy Me Love starring Patrick Dempsey and his character wanted to learn how to dance...so he tried to tune into Soul Train...but didn't realize he watched a African Dance special instead.
ReplyDeleteSould Train was the best! Every Saturday for years everybody learned (and practiced) new dances, picked up fashion tips and got to see the best on R&B, Soul, Funk, and Hip-Hop...all courtesy of Don Cornelius. RIP brother may you have love & peace because we all know you have SOUL!!!!!