First the Cain Train, now the Soul Train.

rest in peace, maestro and master of funkalicious ceremony.

always,
another funkateer

What the hell were we thinking in the 70's? Our everyday clothes back then make skinny jeans look normal....

.......make skinny jeans look normal....

#3 | Posted by MUSTANG

not possible

Really sad that a guy who was this much of an icon felt his life was so worthless that he had to end it. There is not one of us alive in the 70's who did not know this man and his show and tuned in at least once.

Soul train started out at a small family owned TV station in Chicago, that I used to work at.

From Wikipedia:

The origins of Soul Train can be traced to 1965, when WCIU-TV, an upstart UHF station in Chicago, began airing two youth-oriented dance programs: Kiddie-a-Go-Go and Red Hot and Blues. These two programs -- specifically the latter, which featured a predominantly African American group of in-studio dancers -- would set the stage for what was to come to the station several years later. Don Cornelius, a news reader and backup disc jockey at Chicago radio station WVON, was hired by WCIU in 1967 as a news and sports reporter. Cornelius also was promoting and emceeing a touring series of concerts featuring local talent (sometimes called "record hops") at Chicago-area high schools, calling his travelling caravan of shows "The Soul Train". WCIU-TV took notice of Cornelius's outside work and in 1970, allowed him the opportunity to bring his road show to television.

.

What the hell were we thinking in the 70's?

#3 | Posted by MUSTANG

Does it matter? Didn't y'a have a good time?

I did.

And I ain't ashamed to admit it: I loved the Disco era. I had a Great Time. I was introduced to that disco/electronica scene in a night club called Maddoxx on the Costa Brava in Spain. I was the tender age of 17. Wow!

Soul Train, back was MoTown was great.

Thanks, Don.

Anybody miss Solid Gold (the dancers, that is)?

That's when I learned to do the Chicken Dance.

I threw my back out just watching those blasts from the past. I was one of those white kids that really dug R&B until it morphed into disco. (Aretha Franklin's Chain Of Fools always takes me right back). Don Cornelius was once described to me as having the "perfect" radio voice. Another part of my life passes...so it goes.

Look! They're doin the "Slide the EBT card boogie! Mama needs a food stamp man...Woop Woop homie. Americas 2008 brain fart lives on. NOBAMA 2012!

His death will come as a heavy blow to African American culture.

Those were great days. Love the video clips.Cornelius had a great show, why would he kill himself? #11 your an ass.

Every saturday morning, in the 70's, you could watch bugs bunny, then american bandstand, then the soooooouuuuuullllll train.

unless my dad was home. he hated black people and wouldn't let us watch it.

luckily, he was usually off at work.

I would go put on my big bell-bottomed striped pants and it was on....

I never understood the singers lyrics.....

"Every saturday morning, in the 70's, you could watch bugs bunny, then american bandstand, then the soooooouuuuuullllll train. unless my dad was home. he hated black people and wouldn't let us watch it."

Why did God invent golf? So white guys could dress like black guys and get away with it?

BTW... Actually used to say I was the first white guy allowed on Soultrain, and out of her being drunk or desperate, it happened to work...

The need for cornelius to shoot a black person was so overwhelming he shot himself. When will black people ever get their violent urges towards other africanus Americanus under control?
Cornelius was a racist.

That is an interesting observation 101Chairborne. I think if this nation really wanted to end racism in America and the unconscionable death of so many African Americans Congress and the Supreme Court would agree that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to black people.

Him and Robert Culp were great in "I Spy."

Suicide?
LOL.

The Authorities Need To Discover The Whereabouts Of Local KKK Members.

Be Well.

In LA it's the browns that hate the blacks dipshit.

As Don always said at the end of the show.

PEACE!

#18 | Posted by 101Chairborne
sick , but very funny

**** Peace & Soul!

it was, 'Peace, Love and Soooouuuuuulllllll'.

The Soul Train Brain Scramble Board.

Soul Train, back was MoTown was great.
Thanks, Don.
Anybody miss Solid Gold (the dancers, that is)?
#8 | Posted by ZOT at 2012-02-01 01:58 PM

Solid Gold was more about a specific crew dancing. No offense to Don in his own RIP thread, but I miss Deney Terrio's Dance Fever most of all. The variety of dancing and costume was outrageous. Never understood why both programs were pulled nearly simultaneously. It was probably the anti-gay movement enforcing it's value system on television viewing. Once Dancing With The Stars was realized some of that glamor was brought back.

Now, being gay and recognizing that you are not, I have to let you in on a little secret. You see those skinny dudes gettin' they funktion? Some nearly smacking each other as they bust it loose down the lineup? Other dudes wearing womens ensemble? High-assed kicks and snaps and spins? Yeah? There was a lot of bitchiness among the male dancers (winkwink).. for who gets to be where, and that's what I watched it for - the pairings were often hilarious, out there and passionate. Soul Train is a vehicle for a newer form of minstrelsy, this time for gay Black youth. Damned!

Don Cornelius emceeing such a popular program played a huge role in terms of positive, energetic, artsy, balls-to-the-wall Black image and particularly equalizing gay with straight. What a super cool cat. In fact, his voice would have been incredible for audiobooks. "Would you could you. In ahhhhh, boat? Sure thing to hiply swing my orange ring into said moat we are rowing with which shall keep us both afloat minus the clothing. Yess, that's some goood wet pussy." Ah, uhm.. That might not work out. The man had sexually appealing larynx. [insert missing orifice joke here] But seriously, he's like losing Chocolate Captain Kangaroo. Hopefully the documentary will explore what led to this moment. Sad bidings permeate this mystery.

I loved SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOUUUUUUULLLLLLL Train. Don Cornelius was fantastic. An icon back when motown music rocked America!!

he last 24 hours has seen the passing of two of popular culture’s icons, Don Cornelius and Mike Kelley, both from apparent suicides.

Cornelius, 75, was founder and host for 22 years of TV’s Soul Train, which ran in syndication from 1971 to 2006. Soul Train, along with Motown Records, was a major crossover influence in popular music, introducing white audiences to African-American culture.

Kelley, 58, was born in Detroit, and founded the influential proto-punk band Destroy All Monsters while studying at the University of Michigan in the mid-1970s. During that time, Kelley was active in the musical movement which spawned Iggy and The Stooges and MC5.

Gotta dust off my MC5 album.

The need for cornelius to shoot a black person was so overwhelming he shot himself. When will black people ever get their violent urges towards other africanus Americanus under control?
Cornelius was a racist.

#18 | Posted by 101Chairborne at 2012-02-01 04:02 PM | Reply | Flag: Flag:

That is an interesting observation 101Chairborne. I think if this nation really wanted to end racism in America and the unconscionable death of so many African Americans Congress and the Supreme Court would agree that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to black people.

#19 | Posted by BradfordWinston at 2012-02-01 04:05 PM | Reply | Flag:

101 has a new boyfriend.

No Citation needed.

Shame, good tunes.

All in all he did OK by himself, good role model for kids as far as his "on screen" personalty went, I knew nothing of his life "off screen".

Hit the books, work hard, demand more of yourself, never quit.
Seems like the right message to me.
Bye dude, it was fun.

Sounds like he quit.

African American culture.

#12 | Posted by BradfordWinston at 2012-02-01 03:13 PM | Reply | Flag:

oxymoron

Soul Train was one of the funniest shows on Television. It always cracked me up.

African American culture.
#12 | Posted by BradfordWinston

oxymoron
#34 | Posted by vernon | Flag: Moron

African American culture.
#12 | Posted by BradfordWinston

oxymoron
#34 | Posted by vernon | Flag: Moron

#36 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2012-02-02 10:17 AM | Reply | Flag: Funny but too obvious

I blame this morning's inadequate coffee supply.