I wonder why he was so against having rappers/rap groups on his show in the beginning. He had to know that during the late 70s/early 80s that times were changing and that everyone couldn't be Al Green or the O'Jays. I know that in time he learned to tolerate it and had more and more rappers performing but on the VH1 special they did on ST, you know he didn't care it at first.
Nevermind who you thought I was. I'm Rick James, bitch!
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Yet 30+ years later and it's still going strong, for better or for worse. Rap was supposed to respesent the Black youth back then just as Soul Train was but Don was a good businessman by playing it anyway. I guess he'd have a stroke if he heard the so-called rap that's out today.
That's not the life you live. You live alone in a crowded bed..
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Well rap isn't exactly soul music.
shareRap was great back in the early 80's until the early 90's. A lot of people didn't like it back then. I wonder if I was born in the 70's, and was a teenager in the 80's or so, would I have liked rap then? Being born in the late 80's, i can say that I dislike rap music of today. It doesn't have a meaning or anything like it used to.
I'm surprised "Soul Train" lasted as long as it did playing that stuff up until about 2006. After Don Cornelius stepped down from the show in 1993, it seems as if rap music went down as well.
Now the VH1 special about "Soul Train",really showed Don Cornelius. This was like the first time outside the show I got to see how he was. From the special when he moved the show from Chicago to Los Angeles, he didn't realize how different the kids danced in California then it Chi-town. Then when he interview Kurtis Blow, he basically put him and rap down. Hey, that was the early 80's. However, rap was just a form of funk back then. Like the OP said, not everyone was like The O'Jays and Al Green. By the way, I rather listen to them then rap.
I guess Rap was like Heavy metal rock, people didn't like it at first but it stood the test of time.
Go to the 53:25 mark, where it starts talking about rap's influence on Soul Train:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8sJobVw5vc
Yeah,I saw that special too. I must say, I understand where Don was coming from. You are hosting this show where it had such greats such as M.J., Aretha Franklin, David Ruffin, Harold Melvin and the blue notes,etc.... So I imagine that must have been a very ough transition for him. You go from introducing The Jackson 5 to Snoop Dogg. When you think about it, it is kind of depressing. I like all types of music,but I guess hhe always thought the style of Soul Train was always going to be soul music,and just that.
shareThink whoever it was put it right.
Rap is a whole different kind of music.
I could of sworn that VH-1 mentioned Don not liking Disco. Though I believe disco did evolved out of soul and r&b.
Of course Don himself was over 30 when ST debuted and so many people when they get passed 30 or 40 tend not to keep up with various trend like music.
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Maybe the oddest band I saw on Soul Train was also one of the last, right before it went off the air in my area. They had Fishbone on. Fishbone was more-or-less a metal band, with a lot of funk/punk/ska mixed in. Don Cornelius wasn't sure what to make of them... I got the feeling he was uncomfortable with it but was trying to keep the show relevant. In any case, Fishbone did a great job.
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