Monday, October 13, 2008

You Gotta Read This!

The long-running R&B television program Soul Train quietly faded from the airwaves this year, as Don Cornelius sold the show to an outfit called Madvision, which does intend to revamp the show and bring it back in the future. I had known for a long time that the show had started on Chicago's WCIU in 1970 and had continued to run in a local format for some years after Don Cornelius took the show to Los Angeles and national syndication in 1971. Information about the show, which aired daily in glorious black and white on WCIU with Clinton Ghent at the helm, has been very scarce, until recently. Jake Austin's article in the Chicago Reader about the show provides an interesting and very-welcomed account of the show, for which film footage appears to be non-existent. Hopefully this article will provide impetus to further study of this program!

3 comments:

Keith said...

I watched this show religiously when I was growing up. It introduced me to a lot of artists that I didn't hear or see anywhere else.

Invisible Woman said...

That was a really interesting article--thanks for posting the link.

Invisible Woman said...

That was a really interesting article--thanks for posting the link.