Soul Train
Other (ended 2006)
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Pop music has always had shows like American Bandstand to sing its praises, but R&B music had to wait a while for its own major weekly showcase. Just the same, Soul Train proved to be well worth the wait when it hit the airwaves in the 1970s. This weekly extravaganza, which showed off the latest and greatest in soul music and dance moves, became a national sensation in the mid-1970s and became a pop culture juggernaut that broke new ground for African-American entertainment.
Soul Train was the brainchild of radio announcer Don Cornelius. After studying broadcasting in college, Cornelius got a job at WVON, one of Chicago's most popular urban radio stations. During this time, he pondered breaking into television with a dance and music show from an African-American perspective. In 1969, he produced a pilot episode and dubbed it "Soul Train" after a local radio promotion he had done in Chicago. The pilot impressed the Sears Roebuck Company, which gave Cornelius some funding in exchange for the rights to use Soul Train to promote a line of record players. With this help, Cornelius launched Soul Train on WCIU-TV, a Chicago UHF station. It premiered on August 17, 1970 as a weekday series airing from 4:30-5:30pm. Cornelius himself hosted the dance-stravaganza, which took place on a club-set. The show featured performances by soul music acts, appearances by guest hosts, and scorching dance numbers from the Soul Train Gang. Local word-of-mouth made Soul Train a big hit in Chicago, which won it another sponsor in The Johnson Products Company, makers of Afro-Sheen.
Soul Train's relationship with The Johnson Products Company also helped it make the move from local television to syndication. With this company's financial backing, Cornelius moved the show to Hollywood and got it into television syndication in the fall of 1971. Only seven cities were on the initial lineup, but the Soul Train quickly picked up steam and began playing in new cities as its reputation spread. Pretty soon, people all over the country were enjoying the funky thrills that only Soul Train could provide. By the mid-1970s, Soul Train was a force to be reckoned with. Each week, the latest hits and coolest dances were served up in a slick package that had kids of all ages and races dancing around the TV-room floor. Cornelius cut a stylish, unflappably cool figure as the host, making him an often-imitated icon in the entertainment community. Music groups clamored for an appearance on Soul Train, since it was practically a free ticket to r&b (and often pop) chart success. Today, many critics fondly remember Soul Train as the television show that did the most to bring African-American popular culture into American households.
As the 1980's began, Soul Train was as popular as ever. Tribune Entertainment, a Chicago-based company, became the exclusive distributor of the show and helped launch The Soul Train Music Awards. This yearly awards gala has become one of the most popular and respected awards ceremonies for r&b musicians and now enjoys "institution" status in the music world. The success of this awards show has also led to other popular Soul Train spin-off specials like The Soul Train Lady Of Soul Annual Awards Special and The Soul Train Christmas Starfest.
In the 1990s, Don Cornelius stepped down as Soul Train host and passed the role to others. Guest hosts were used from 1993-97 (seasons 23 through 26). Mystro Clark became host in 1997. Following him, was Shemar Moore who hosted seasons 29 through 32. Dorian Gregory is the current Soul Train host. Cornelius remains active as an executive producer for the show, which shows no signs of slowing down. With r&b music more popular than ever in the mainstream, viewers everywhere continue to shake their groove thing to the churning wheels of the Soul Train.
Soul Train continued with new episodes through the 2005-06 season. The final, first-run episode aired on March 25, 2006. The 2006-07 season began with repeats from 2005-06. As of December 9, 2006, the series has been retitled The Best of Soul Train and features c episodes from the 1970s and 1980s. 1970's & early 1980's Soul Train airdates On this guide, we've listed the earliest known airdates for episodes 1 - 163. The original Los Angeles airdates are listed for episodes 164 - 366 (Dec. 27, 1975 - June 20, 1981). In the 1970s through the early '80s, the episode airdates varied from city to city. Instead of using communications satellites, tapes of the episodes were mailed directly to individual TV stations. And once a station aired an episode, the tape would then be forwarded to a station in another city. (This practice, called "bicycling," was common with most 1970s first-run syndicated shows.) Sometime in the early 1980s, Tribune Entertainment began using satellites to distribute Soul Train resulting in standard airdates across the country.
Find at what television station and time the train pulls up to your TV:''http://tv.tribune.com/showfinder/search/1,1001,soultrain,FF.html
Contributors to this guide include: --Nick Puzo (Nickfresh) - editor of the Soul Train Yahoo Group''--Jabar Robbins (Calatine9)''--Robert Spiegel''--Edward Loney ("ehloney")moreless
Show Summary
- Ended
Pop music has always had shows like American Bandstand to sing its praises, but R&B music had to wait a while for its own major weekly showcase. Just the same, Soul Train proved to be well worth the wait when it hit the airwaves in the 1970s. This weekly extravaganza, which showed off the latest and greatest in soul music and dance moves, became a national sensation in the mid-1970s and became a pop culture juggernaut that broke new ground for African-American entertainment.
Soul Train was the brainchild of radio announcer Don Cornelius. After studying broadcasting in college, Cornelius got a job at WVON, one of Chicago's most popular urban radio stations. During this time, he pondered breaking into television with a dance and music show from an African-American perspective. In 1969, he produced a pilot episode and dubbed it "Soul Train" after a local radio promotion he had done in Chicago. The pilot impressed the Sears Roebuck Company, which gave Cornelius some funding in exchange for the rights to use Soul Train to promote a line of record players. With this help, Cornelius launched Soul Train on WCIU-TV, a Chicago UHF station. It premiered on August 17, 1970 as a weekday series airing from 4:30-5:30pm. Cornelius himself hosted the dance-stravaganza, which took place on a club-set. The show featured performances by soul music acts, appearances by guest hosts, and scorching dance numbers from the Soul Train Gang. Local word-of-mouth made Soul Train a big hit in Chicago, which won it another sponsor in The Johnson Products Company, makers of Afro-Sheen.
Soul Train's relationship with The Johnson Products Company also helped it make the move from local television to syndication. With this company's financial backing, Cornelius moved the show to Hollywood and got it into television syndication in the fall of 1971. Only seven cities were on the initial lineup, but the Soul Train quickly picked up steam and began playing in new cities as its reputation spread. Pretty soon, people all over the country were enjoying the funky thrills that only Soul Train could provide. By the mid-1970s, Soul Train was a force to be reckoned with. Each week, the latest hits and coolest dances were served up in a slick package that had kids of all ages and races dancing around the TV-room floor. Cornelius cut a stylish, unflappably cool figure as the host, making him an often-imitated icon in the entertainment community. Music groups clamored for an appearance on Soul Train, since it was practically a free ticket to r&b (and often pop) chart success. Today, many critics fondly remember Soul Train as the television show that did the most to bring African-American popular culture into American households.
As the 1980's began, Soul Train was as popular as ever. Tribune Entertainment, a Chicago-based company, became the exclusive distributor of the show and helped launch The Soul Train Music Awards. This yearly awards gala has become one of the most popular and respected awards ceremonies for r&b musicians and now enjoys "institution" status in the music world. The success of this awards show has also led to other popular Soul Train spin-off specials like The Soul Train Lady Of Soul Annual Awards Special and The Soul Train Christmas Starfest.
In the 1990s, Don Cornelius stepped down as Soul Train host and passed the role to others. Guest hosts were used from 1993-97 (seasons 23 through 26). Mystro Clark became host in 1997. Following him, was Shemar Moore who hosted seasons 29 through 32. Dorian Gregory is the current Soul Train host. Cornelius remains active as an executive producer for the show, which shows no signs of slowing down. With r&b music more popular than ever in the mainstream, viewers everywhere continue to shake their groove thing to the churning wheels of the Soul Train.
Soul Train continued with new episodes through the 2005-06 season. The final, first-run episode aired on March 25, 2006. The 2006-07 season began with repeats from 2005-06. As of December 9, 2006, the series has been retitled The Best of Soul Train and features c episodes from the 1970s and 1980s. 1970's & early 1980's Soul Train airdates On this guide, we've listed the earliest known airdates for episodes 1 - 163. The original Los Angeles airdates are listed for episodes 164 - 366 (Dec. 27, 1975 - June 20, 1981). In the 1970s through the early '80s, the episode airdates varied from city to city. Instead of using communications satellites, tapes of the episodes were mailed directly to individual TV stations. And once a station aired an episode, the tape would then be forwarded to a station in another city. (This practice, called "bicycling," was common with most 1970s first-run syndicated shows.) Sometime in the early 1980s, Tribune Entertainment began using satellites to distribute Soul Train resulting in standard airdates across the country.
Find at what television station and time the train pulls up to your TV:''http://tv.tribune.com/showfinder/search/1,1001,soultrain,FF.html
Contributors to this guide include: --Nick Puzo (Nickfresh) - editor of the Soul Train Yahoo Group''--Jabar Robbins (Calatine9)''--Robert Spiegel''--Edward Loney ("ehloney")moreless
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Soul Train's Don Cornelius Dies at 75
By Tim Surette, Feb 01, 2012
Soul music and television lost an icon today. Don Cornelius, host of Soul Train, was found of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to TMZ. He was 75 years old. Cornelius created Soul Train, a variety music show focused on… more
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Chanelle Stevenson
Dancer 1989-1992 Has idential twin sister whom she performs with regularly
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Chanelle Stevenson
Dancer 1989-1992 Has idential twin sister whom she performs with regularly
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Don Cornelius
Host [ seasons 1-27 ]
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Who was the Italian guy on soultrain in the 80s?
11/06/092Reply
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I can't add/edit anymore...whats goin' on?
09/26/082Reply
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longest series ever
07/16/084Reply
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WILL "SOUL TRAIN" RETURN TO THE AIR WITH NEW EPISODES?
02/29/086Reply
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Add to the Internet site
12/24/072Reply
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