soultrain (Photo credit: Pants Pants)On the first day of Black History Month, TV pioneer Don Cornelius took his own life at his home outside Los Angeles. He was 75.Cornelius started a little "American Bandstand" type of TV show in Chicago that was aimed at African-American audiences. It grew into a national syndicated powerhouse that ran from 1970 to 2006, the longest such show in TV history ("Wheel of Fortune" is in its 29th season), with Cornelius hosting for much of it. The name of the show was "Soul Train".
"Soul Train" was not only the place where the hottest R&B acts performed, and where one could watch the latest dance moves, but it was also where the kids could learn a few things about African-Americans and their history through The Scramble Board. That's where contestants had a minute to decipher the name of a person or event.
This is what "Soul Train" has wrought besides dance trends and music careers: Exposure for African-Americans on TV in an era before cable and the Internet. Advertisers started to take notice and began marketing to that audience. And products intended for African-Americans started turning up in suburban shopping malls.
"Soul Train" was a big deal in cities with significant African-American populations such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. But in places like Minneapolis-St. Paul, where there's not as much of a minority population, coverage was hit-or-miss. When a station chose to carry "Soul Train" and other shows like it, it would seldom be on when people could actually watch it. It sometimes seemed as if those stations used "Soul Train" as evidence to the FCC of their commitment to minority programming.
Should someone bring "Soul Train" back to TV, maybe a future pair of contestants will try to unscramble the name "Don Cornelius" on The Scramble Board. But for now, "Soul Train" and its conductor have left the station. As Cornelius would say to close his show: "Wishing you love, peace and soul".
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