Just saw this on CNN.com...
The founder of 'Soul Train', Don Cornelius died early this morning. Sad news. I had always prefered Wolfman Jack's 'Midnight Special' or Don Kirshner's 'Rock Concert', but Don did open a lot of doors for a lot of artists. I know he will be missed by family and friends...
Read the article and watch some footage here...
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/01/showbiz/soul-train-founder/index.html?hpt=hp_t1Clark
As a young kid growing up in the 70's in a lily-white working class neighborhood I had little or no interaction with people of color. Soul Train was on late saturday mornings and I was fascinated and taken in by it. Every week there would be legends in the making on the show {Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Aretha, Ike and Tina, The Ojays ect. He basically turned mainstream white america to these artists live and in person. It's sad to hear of his passing and even sadder the way it went down{suicide}He left a huge mark on pop culture for sure. R.I.P
I grew up on "The other side of the tracks" so to speak and did have interaction with people of color. They were my neighbors and friends.
Every Saturday (after the cartoons were over on TV) we watched American Bandstand and Soul Train. Don was as much a fixture as Dick Clark. I saw "The Spinners" for the first time on his show. He really promoted the Philadelphia sound, though the show was based in Chicago (I think).
I enjoyed the "different takes" on how this man's efforts impacted you, Ben and Bob. I grew up in the segregated south and can remember seeing the interest this man's creativity caused in both communities. It's so sad that his life ended this way. May he rest in peace.