RIP: Donald Cortez "Don" Cornelius - September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012
Yes, we also lost Dick Clark (November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012) this year, and it can be argued that American Bandstand did far more for popular music than Soul Train did. But the theme for American Bandstand just is miles away from being cool.
Search your heart, you know it's true.
Soul Train oozed cool from the moment it started to the minute it finished. Soul Train taught me more about music than 1,000 music classes ever could. Soul Train showed me a world of color that I had never seen before.
Understand, I'm not talking just about peoples complexions, though that was an important part of it, especially growing up in the early days of MTV, where they basically only played white, European new wave bands. And Michael Jackson. No, I'm talking about the talk, the clothes, the dancing, even the stage design and lighting. Everything was just more brilliant on Soul Train that it ever was on American Bandstand.
And, finally, it allows me to give the last word for Tribute Week to Mr Cornelius himself, who had the coolest closing lines ever spoken:
