BOOTH ANNOUNCER:
Shady Train...
the hippest trip in America!
Brought to you in part by...
Johnson Products Company
...makers of
Ultra Sheen...
Afro Sheen...
and Ultra Sheen cosmetics.
Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen...
The largest selling products
in the "Natural" world.
And now the host of
Shady Train...
Shady Train...
Don Cornelius!
Hi there, you're right on time.
Welcome aboard for another
raucous ride on the Shady Train.
You know the drill. Only the
cool kids get in and every
tune's a bad mamma jamma.
And joining us for the first time
is a funky band from California,
a group of young men who are
responsible for the smash
recording on the Mercury
label entitled "Ffun."
Formerly known as Project Soul,
they now call themselves--
Con Funk Shun!
"Ffun" - Con Funk Shun
(Dec. '77/Jan. '78, highest cht. pos. #23 Hot 100/#1 R&B)
Now meet the dynamic trio responsible for one of the
biggest breakthroughs ever in black music. They
ushered in the 80s by introducing the nation and
the world to the art of rapping. With a song called
"Rapper's Delight" they launched their own careers
and probably helped the careers of many others who
have since emulated their style. As they join us to do
their latest single on the Sugar Hill label entitled
"8th Wonder," get some hands together for--
The Sugarhill Gang!
"8th Wonder" - The Sugarhill Gang
(Jan./Feb. '81, highest chart pos. #15 R&B/#82 Hot 100)
And we are excited to welcome back aboard the big train
one of the greatest and most successful soul groups of all
time, and they're runnin' down a ditty we think is doggone
pretty. It's their latest single on the Philadelphia Inter-
national label entitled "Use Ta Be My Girl." A big
Shady Train welcome, gang, for our good friends--
the mighty O'Jays!
"Use Ta Be My Girl" - The O'Jays
(June/July 1978, highest chart pos. #4 Hot 100/#1 R&B)
And let's welcome a delightful and talented young man
who visits us, believe it or not, from London, England,
and, believe it or not, is responsible for one of the
funkiest records we've heard in some time. It's
his latest single on the Mercury label entitled
"Mama Used To Say" and his name is-- Junior!
"Mama Used To Say" - Junior
(Mar./Apr. 1982, highest chart pos. #30 Hot 100,
#2 R&B/#7 UK, from Feb. 1982 album Ji)
#2 R&B/#7 UK, from Feb. 1982 album Ji)
START PLAYING VIDEO
AT 45 SEC. MARK!
And that's only half the trip. You hang onto
the spot you got for much more fun and
much more soul right after this
message from Ultra Sheen!
A guitarist in the original lineup of The Time, this
gentleman's name was called out by Morris Day
in the song "Jungle Love": "Hey Jesse! N-N-Now
Jerome!" Now a solo artist, he has a hit on his
hands with a little thing called "She (I Can't
Resist)." The Shady Train gang's lookin' fine
and layin' it on the line for-- Jesse Johnson!
"She (I Can't Resist)" - Jesse Johnson
(Feb. '87, highest chart pos. #28 R&B/#18 U.S. Club Play)
"Give Me Tonight" - Shannon
(Mar./Apr./May 1984, highest chart pos. #1 Dance, #6 R&B,
#46 Hot 100, live perf. on June 29, 1984 ep. of Graffiti Rock)
And making their debut aboard the big train is another
great funk band, this one from Dayton, Ohio, a city
that in recent years has become a funk mecca.
As they join us to do "The Sound Of Music,"
the lead song from their new Capitol album
eel The Music, give it up please,
gang, for-- Dayton!
"The Sound of Music" - Dayton
(Apr. 1984, highest chart pos. #69 R&B)
That oughta hold you for a while. We hope you'll
come back and get into it with us again next time,
and you can bet your last money, it's all gonna
be a stone gas, honey. I'm Don Cornelius,
and as always in parting, we wish you
love... peace... and soul!
Not familiar with the music, but the Afro Sheen commercial was a nice touch!
ReplyDeleteHi, Alex!
DeleteYou reclaimed early bird honors this week, good buddy. Thanks for coming!
I'm glad you appreciated the commercial for Afro Sheen from Johnson Products Company, long time sponsors of Soul Train. I hope you enjoyed the tunes as well.
Thanks again for dropping in, good buddy Alex, and enjoy the rest of your week!
Tom,
ReplyDeleteMuch of your mewsic selections are introductions. The only one I knew was by the O'Jays. I met former band member, Nathan Best, years ago. I think it was in the mid to late 90s. That was a real cool experience and he was super nice. Con Funk Shun is a sound I really like and can't figure out I don't recall them, as well as I like Shannon's vocals especially when she gets really soft. I plan to check YT for more these artists mewsic to see what other discoveries I make come across. Thanks for sharing another edition of Shady Train with host, Don Cornelius! Have funkytastic week, my friend!
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteThank you very much for hustling back over here two days in a row during the summer slowdown, dear friend. I appreciate that!
Many of these Soul Train selections were new to me until recently when I created the Shady Train series and started digging for soul gold. If I had started a series of this kind ten years ago it would not have amounted to much, because the pickings were slim. There were plenty of Soul Train clips on YouTube back then, but the vast majority had poor sound and picture quality. That has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Producers are uploading hundreds of videos that bring musical performances of the 60s, 70s and 80s back to life in remastered HQ audio and restored HD video.
I remember you telling me about meeting O'Jays member Nathan Best and how nice a guy he is. Shannon's "Give Me Tonight" topped the dance chart but didn't cross over as effectively as her first hit "Let The Music Play." Nevertheless, the thrush is credited with redefining dance music in the early 80s, following the backlash and death of Disco. I never get tired of listening to brassy funk bands like Con Funk Shun.
Thank you again for spending some more time this week sampling sounds in the Shady, dear friend Cathy. I wish you a funkytastic week as well! :)
Tom,
DeleteThis series is always a delight because I was not into the Soul Train TV production like I was American Bandstand, so I find this simply delightful to listen to sounds that fit by ear better today than yesteryear.
I appreciate you stopping by today for my surprise Friday Sillies post and for pointing out that you featured "Foxes" on SDMM which I made a point to check out. When i came across this artist I kept thinking, it somehow seemed familiar and wondered if it was you who introduced her to me but after visiting that post I noticed had not commented. Either I did and it got lost in cyberspace or I meant to and didn't. I do that sometimes when my brain is going a million directions.
Well, let me get off for now. The weekend is here again. Have a good one and I'll see ya around Blogosphere next week, my friend!
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteIt is very kind of you to return to chat, dear friend. I am always delighted to connect with you!
Brilliantly restored Soul Train performances from the 70s and 80s are making this Shady Train series possible. The best part about it is that more restored videos appear on YouTube practically every week. Apparently there are many skilled production people out there working around the clock to remix, remaster, sync and upload these vintage clips to the delight of music (mewsic) bloggers like us. I'm thrilled that my comment about the artist known as Foxes inspired you to listen to her "Body Talk." It is a terrific song and video performance, isn't it? Her look on that video, her voice and the arrangement on that recording all remind me of The Motels doing "Suddenly Last Summer." Take a look and see if you agree:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4ZLLSWoul4
I enjoyed your Friday Sillies, Cathy, and I thank you again for coming back over to continue our thread. Enjoy your weekend. I hope to meet up with you again Monday at both your place and mine. Take care!
I feel like I've been to a disco today! Complete with disco balls and everything! I never heard of Shannon. But I like her voice. It's mellow.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I had some difficulty getting to this pad. I usually click on your name from your comments on my blog to get to your blog. But it didn't work. It said your profile was not accessible. So, I went to an old post and found your old black and white profile photo name, clicked on that, and it brought me to your old blog. Then I followed the link to get here.
Thought I should tell you, in case anyone else is having trouble getting here.
Hi, Sherry!
DeleteWelcome back over to Shady's Place, dear friend! I'm sorry you had some difficulty finding me here. We certainly don't want that to happen. I notice that "black & white Shady" commented on your latest post. That is because I was logged onto my old blog Shady Dell Music & Memories at the time. I have been going back over there to search my archives for spam and remove it. This morning, while still logged on to SDMM I saw your post and left a comment. From now on I must remember to comment on your posts this new site. I see that you have already clicked to follow SPMM. Therefore you should be able to find my latest posts in your blog roll. One way or another, I hope you will stick with me, Sherry, because I don't want to lose you.
I'm surprised you don't remember Shannon, an artist some say ushered in the dance-pop era with her back-to-back #1 dance chart hits "Let The Music Play" and "Give Me Tonight." Both of those singles played often in the clubs I frequented during that period. Shannon probably didn't win over many Disco haters of the 70s, but her HI-NRG recordings breathed new life into dance music, and the sub-genre "freestyle" became a dominant force in popular music throughout the rest of the 80s.
Thank you for persisting until you found your way here, dear friend Sherry. I appreciate your commitment. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Ultra Sheen, Afro Sheen. Well that certainly brings back memories! ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved the O'Jays. Con Funk Shun sounds really familiar. Did they have any other bigs hits?
Hi, Kelly!
DeleteThank you very much for coming over today, dear friend. I am happy to see you!
I'm relieved that you didn't seem to mind me running a "sponsored post."
:) I am also glad that you remember Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen hair styling products and cosmetics from Johnson Products Company, regular sponsors of Soul Train.
I'm pleased to know you like the O'Jays, the longest running and most successful of the acts featured in this edition. Con Funk Shun charted 27 singles, but only 8 of them registered on the pop chart. Of those only 4 reached the Hot 100. The others merely Bubbled Under. However Con Funk Shun scored 8 top 10 hits on the R&B Singles chart. Therefore, to answer your question, yes the band had other big hits, but none that crossed over as well as this one, "Ffun," which reached #23 on the pop chart.
Thank you again for your kind visit and comment, dear friend Kelly. I hope to see you again next time!
Hi Shady! It's another hot and grimy day in the Lone Star State. I am so ready for this heat to subside! How about you?
ReplyDeleteJunior is good, isn't he! I've think you have showcased him before in a previous post, because I recognize him, though not this song. Well, he really does a great job of getting the dancers out there! This entire video was fantastic, love the dancers and their costumes!
In a concert venue, I believe Shannon would really take command of the audience with "Give Me Tonight". She is such a cute lady, and gives a very strong performance of this song, which I liked!
You brought some pretty good stuff to the table this week, Don! I don't know most of the entertainers, but they are all great! How about that Sugarhill Gang and "8th Wonder"! What a fun song, with the best dance beat! Sounds like they added a Mexican flare to the instrumentals!
I was pretty good at gymnastics, but...wow! The dancers on the Jesse Johnson video "She" take the gold medal, Don! Never heard of the Con Funk Shun group either, but they are one talented, I'll say multi-talented group who truly have it together to put out a fantastic song! Cool guys!
I always liked the O'Jays! I haven't heard "Use Ta Be My Girl", but I did like seeing them perform the song. I best remember them for "Back Stabbers", "For The Love of Money", and of course, "Love Train".
Great show today, Don and Shady! The Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen commercials bring it all home! And, the dancers make me feel old, lol! No, actually, I may have to try a few of their lower impact moves!
Have a great week, Shady! Thank you for a wonderfully, delightful post! Take care!
Hi, Suzanne!
DeleteIt's great to see you, dear friend! Thanks for joining the fun and riding the Shady Train on a hip trip across the tracks of your mind into the exciting world of soul!
If I ran Junior on Shady Dell Music & Memories, and I think I did several years ago, it must have been the official music video for this same song "Mama Used To Say" because it is the only Junior song I know. For a year or more, a great HQ/HD clip existed on YouTube of Junior's entire performance of the song on Soul Train. However, to my dismay, that video was removed a few months ago before I could use it in an episode of Shady Train. Luckily, this new video turned up recently, an extended version of the recording which cuts back and forth between footage of the Soul Train gang dancing to the song and Junior's live appearance on the May 6, 1982, episode of Top Of The Pops back home in England. Therefore most of the lavish costumes you admire in that clip are the studio dancers on Top Of The Pops plus members of the show's in-house dance troupe of the period. Legs & Co, the dancers you have seen perform on Top of The Pops in my series Bandstands in Foreign Lands, were retired at the end of October 1981, shortly after Junior's single was released in the UK. They were replaced in December of '81 by a new group of dancers called "The Zoo." Therefore, the acrobatic dancers in that video are most likely members of "The Zoo" the new TOTP dance company which included males as well as females.
"8th Wonder" is one of my favorite early rap songs and my favorite by The Sugarhill Gang. Don Cornelius was an old schooler, part of an older generation of Afro Americans that did not easily embrace rap, and very much disliked hardcore rap and hip hop. As the decade of the 80s wore on, Don became more and more reluctant to showcase certain artists of the genre even though they were wildly popular with his young audience.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the tight funk band Con Funk Shun. The band placed singles on the chart over a span of 20 years from the beginning of 1977 to early 1997, but the song featured here, "Ffun," recorded near the start of their career, remains their greatest success.
I never thought I'd sell out and place advertising on my blog, but I did so this time by running that Afro Sheen commercial. :) In return, Johnson Products Company is sending me a lifetime supply of the stuff. :)
Thanks again for being here today, dear friend Suzanne. I really appreciate your support. Enjoy the rest of your week and please come back next Monday if you can when another member of the Shady Bunch DJ staff goes on the air with his first radio show!
How awesome!!! I totally remember the commercials for Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen. Little secret fact, I myself buy hair products from the "ethnic" aisle because of my crazy curls and frizz. Yep!
ReplyDeleteLet the music play is one of my all time fave disco songs that I roller skated to as a kid. I also liked Shannon's song Give me tonight. All of these were so great and who doesn't love the Sugarhill Gang!
Hi, Holliberry!
DeleteHow are you this week, dear friend? Thank you very much for dropping by! I'm very happy to see you and glad you decided to hop aboard the big train with Don and the gang.
Thanks for sharing that you shop the ethnic aisle for hair straightening products from Johnson and other companies that manufacture shampoo, conditioners and cosmetics for people with curly, kinky and frizzy hair.
You win the prize for being the first person who remembers HI-NRG/freestyle vocalist Shannon and her big post-disco club hits "Let The Music Play" and "Give Me Tonight." How about that hip hop TV show she appeared on - Graffiti Rock? I never heard of it. Wiki sez it was intended to grow into a series, but only the pilot episode was aired on June 29, 1984 << on WPIX channel 11 in New York City and 88 markets around the country, to good Nielsen ratings. >> I wonder why it wasn't picked up! By the way, Wiki gives the artist's name as Shannon Brenda Greene, but the All Music Guide and other sources list it as Brenda Shannon Greene with Shannon as her middle name.
Thanks again for your visit and generous comment, dear friend Holli. Stay cool over there and enjoy the rest of your week!
Feeling sorry for myself and quite miserable, friend Shady … as broke my knee cap … sorry, me not good company right now and me not purring much … meouw … Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteOh, NO! cat, I'm so sorry to learn that you broke your knee cap! How did that happen? That must be an incredibly painful injury. You are a great friend and a genuine trouper for showing up here in spite of your injury and letting me know what's going on with you. Please take good care of yourself. I hope your knee heals quickly and completely. Bless you, dear friend cat!
DeleteLubbins?
DeleteLubbins lubbins lubbins, cat - you need them!
DeleteHi Shady,
ReplyDeleteGreat, I already had "Bad Mamma Jamma" stuck in my head and I was singing it throughout the post! I'll probably be singing it all night.
Sugarhill Gang and the O'Jays are my favourites! I am glad to see you include them on this train. I wasn't familiar with the other artists, but I enjoyed grooving to them as well. Thanks for airing Soul Train tonight, dear friend. I sure do miss watching it every Saturday morning.
Have a great Tuesday!
Hi, Jessica Marie!
DeleteThank you very much for coming over to ride the train, dear friend!
I agree that Carl Carlton's hit "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)" is the kind of song that gets stuck in your noggin for days. I remember it well from my clubbing years. I'm pleased to know you like two of the featured acts in this episode, The Sugarhill Gang and The O'Jays.
I'm curious. Do you remember Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds and Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless) as the host of Soul Train from 2000 until 2003? By that time I had stopped watching the series regularly but I saw a few episodes.
Thanks again for stopping in, dear friend JM. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Shady,
DeleteI remember watching only two episodes of the newer Soul Train and it wasn't bad, but I preferred watching Don Cornelius with my dad. That was around the time I was getting into older shows and music. By 2003, my taste in music shocked my mom, I still remember her reaction when I bought my Skynyrd and Zeppelin CDs. Haha.
As we speak, I'm listening to Sugar Hill Gang before I switch over to classical. Classical helps me get through my work day.
Have a great Thankful Thursday!
Hi, Jessica Marie!
DeleteThanks for returning to chat, dear friend! I'm glad you are poking me here because, for some reason, your new posts are not showing up in my reading list in a timely manner.
Don Cornelius changed a lot over the years he hosted Soul Train. In clips from the first couple of seasons, Don wore an Afro hairdo and was over the top, too animated for my taste, trying too hard to appeal to his young black audience. Around 1972 or '73 his look changed and so did his personality. Don became a slick soul authority, the King of Cool, and the early and mid 70s were the glory years of the show. By the 1980s Don looked and sounded tired, and you could tell his heart wasn't in it, largely because he disapproved of the sexy attire and dance moves that went along with the increasingly popular hip hop and rap trends in black music.
Switching from the Sugarhill Gang to classical is what I call a jarring juxtaposition. :) Thanks again for coming, dear friend JM, and enjoy your Thankful Thursday!
Hi Shady,
DeleteI can't say I've seen the earlier episodes, but I've seen from 1973 until the 1980s. I agree with you; my dad said he stopped watching Soul Train in the 80s because he could tell Don was getting tired and my dad wasn't a big fan of where music trends were heading. Ironically, now dad likes gangsta rap... however, I guess having a daughter and working with a lot of young men has that effect. My parents started dating in the mid 80s, they were married in 1987, and had me in 1989, so I know both of my parents' tastes in music changed a lot in the 80s. It's funny how different things can change one's tastes in music!
I love WRTI and the host, Gregg Whiteside. Breakfast with Bach is amazing and I sent Gregg a few photos of my breakfast. On Thursday, my breakfast wasn't the best (ancient grain hot breakfast) and Gregg being the awesome guy he is, said on air that my breakfast sounded and looked delicious. Yesterday, I had a bean burrito and he did the same thing. Sometimes, those positive affirmations help make my restricted diet a bit easier.
Have a great Saturday, dear friend!
Hi again, Jessica Marie!
DeleteIt is interesting that your dad and I both like hardcore rap. It was much different thirty years ago when my ears were struggling to embrace or even accept rap music. At the time it seemed too intense, too extreme. How far the genre has come since then! The world has changed a lot since the Sugarhill Gang and similar artists broke ground with their rap recordings. As society changes and gets tougher, meaner, more in-your-face, I think we become conditioned to styles of music that reflect the current state.
It is wonderful that you found a friend in that radio host and that he offers you words of encouragement on the air. You are doing an excellent job of adjusting to your restricted diet and finding many exciting things to eat. Keep those positive affirmations coming.
Thank you again for coming over to chat on your weekend, dear friend JM. Enjoy the rest of it and come back Monday if you can when the curtain goes up on SPMM's first full length Brady Bunch DJ radio show. Which of the six personalities will it be? Come see!
Sorry I am so late.
ReplyDeleteGranddaughter is here with Mum, on a cool day 110, we are wilted. iwinston is ill and having a really hard time. My Fibromylgia is flaring up and have a battle with the arthritis.
But your post was wonderful and I remember the commercials.
cheers, parsnip and badger
Hi, Gayle!
DeleteThank you very much for coming over in the midst of all that turmoil. Seems several of my friends are having a tough week. I am sorry to learn that Winston is poorly and that you are having Fibromyalgia and arthritis flare-ups. That triple digit heat can't be helping. I hope your granddaughter's visit cheers you up and makes you feel better soon. I also hope the vet can help Winston. My Toto often had problems immediately following a trip to the groomer.
I'm glad you like the post, commercial and all. Thank you again for being a great friend and coming to see me, dear friend Gayle. I hope your week only gets better from here!
You actually have two Ohio groups. The O'Jays are from Northeast Ohio (Canton, the southern most part of Northeast Ohio, but that's never stopped Clevelanders from claiming them as their own.)
ReplyDeleteI like all the selections as well as the Afro Sheen commercial. I imagine Soul Train was one of the few shows on TV that actually aired those ads, but I could be wrong.
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteThanks for swinging over for a visit, good buddy! I'm happy to see you on board as the big train takes its 9th ride through the history of soul, funk, R&B and rap.
Thanks for pointing out that The O'Jays are from Canton, Ohio. It's easy to forget because most people associate them with the sound of Philadelphia and their massive success with Gamble & Huff at Philadelphia International. I read that the group was originally called The Triumphs and then the The Mascots. They eventually derived their long-lasting and rather unusual stage name from Cleveland DJ Eddie O'Jay. I actually prefer The O'Jays sixties output before they reached the big league, songs like "Lonely Drifter," "Stand in for Love," "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow," "Look Over Your Shoulder" and "One Night Affair."
I'm delighted to know that you liked all of these musical selections and even watched the commercial in the middle. I don't remember seeing commercials for Afro Sheen or Ultra Sheen on any other TV program, but I imagine they ran on the BET channel quite a bit.
Thanks again for your visit and comment, good buddy Kirk!
Good Morning, Shady Tom!
ReplyDeleteWhenever I watch the Soul Train videos, I'm amazed at the pure energy and positive vibes the performers and dancers give off. They are a good antidote to so much of the opposite of both out there right now.
The ads and commercial for the "natural" products aren't familiar, although they are on the shelves of stores where I shop. I wonder why, with all the t.v. commercials and print ads for everything from cars and prescription medicines to online dating sites and fast food, we don't see more of the Ultra Sheen type today. The ads shown here represent a kind of pride and celebration of ethnicity, and I'm curious why that kind of product promotion isn't prevalent now, given our demographics. Perhaps we aren't yet ready as a society to be comfortable with such things.
The musicality and talent of the Con Funk Shun guys is impressive. They really are "Ffun" to watch! They sing, dance AND play musical instruments; one fellow even plays two different ones! I especially loved their routine with the brass accents as well as the wonderful flute solo that reminded me of Herbie Mann's sound years ago.
How about those classy and upbeat outfits, with stars and graphics showing as they turned around? To me, this again shows confidence and pride, and definitely contributes to their great stage presence. I got a kick out of the one young man's outsized glasses and shiny neck chain. (Was Elton John watching, I wonder?) There's such contrast in terms of dress that so many local grunge bands now show, so I enjoyed this relaxed and happy exuberance as opposed to so much angst. (I have enough of that on my own!) However, I know that like all the arts, it is a sign of the times.
The Jesse Johnson video really fascinated me too, so much so that like the first one, I had to watch it several times. How did the producers ever achieve that split screen magic in the days before CGI? It reminded me of the designs in kaleidoscopes, only with fractured images of people rapidly morphing into new shapes by moving rhythmically to the music, instead of just fragments of colored glass changing form as a tube is turned. How neat is that!!?
Is it just my imagination, or is there also a variety of ethnicity seen in the dancers, particularly in the later videos on this post? Isn't it great that music and dance are so universal and "color-blind"?
Was Don Cornelius a local DJ before he hosted Soul Train, and where was it filmed? He certainly found a popular niche with this program. Lots of questions here because of my unfamiliarity, but I am curious to know.
Thanks for the "lift" this Sound of Music brought to my morning!
Hi, Kathleen!
DeleteWelcome aboard the Shady Train, dear friend! I am very happy that you joined the discussion about Soul Train, one of the longest running and most influential series in television history.
Kirk (above) also brought up the scarcity of commercials for Afro Sheen and related products in mainstream media. There are several vintage Afro Sheen spots available on YouTube and I don't remember seeing them outside of Soul Train. As I told Kirk, however, there is every reason to believe that commercials for Johnson Products Company and other manufacturers of products targeting an ethnic market are aired heavily on BET - Black Entertainment Television. Wiki describes BET as << the most prominent television network targeting African American audiences, with approximately 88,255,000 American households (75.8% of households with television) receiving the channel. >> Nowadays there are many commercials featuring black people that run on mainstream networks during shows that have popular black characters such as This Is Us and How To Get Away With Murder. In my experience, however, they are for goods and services used by people of all races. It makes sense that products sold exclusively to minorities are embedded in programming made specifically for those groups on a channel devoted to them.
I'm glad you appreciated the brassy band Con Funk Shun. As the title of their song indicates, much of the music on the R&B charts of the 70s had to do with having fun. Indeed, in the early 80s, softcore R&B bands like Kool and The Gang were still going strong with hits that included ""Big Fun," "Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La, La, La)" "Joanna," "Fresh," "Misled" and "Cherish," but "the times they were a changin." Young people of all races were embracing the tougher, more street wise look and sound of rap and hip hop.
Elton John was actually invited on Soul Train as a guest, one of the few white artists ever to appear on the show. You're right. The emphasis on Soul Train was young, energetic, happy young people looking clean and well dressed. Setting a good example for the black community was always important to Don Cornelius, and that is why he became disenchanted in the 80s when the girls started dresing in much sexier outfits and the gang performed more sexually suggestive funky street dances like "popping."
That video of the Soul Train Gang dancing to Jesse Johnson's "She" is most likely the creation of a modern producer, one of the many talented people who in recent years have been taking vintage music clips and, using today's state-of-the-art technology and FX, restoring, remastering and remixing them and uploading them on YouTube. Therefore, I do not believe the original episode of Soul Train contained all of those FX.
To answer another of your questions, white dancers showed up on Soul Train in its later seasons.
Don Cornelius started out as a car and insurance salesman and police officer, then became a radio announcer and DJ and host of a TV black affairs news program. Soul Train originated in Chicago and eventually went into syndication and moved its base of operations to Los Angeles.
I'm pleased that you got so much enjoyment from the post, Kathleen, and thank you very much for contributing these interesting questions and observations. Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend, and meet me back here next Monday when another member of the Shady Bunch goes on the air with his first radio show!
So my favourite of the bunch is the first one with the horns. It was a great song to listen to and enjoy the entire band. 8th Wonder is good but nothing to make me want to go out and buy a record. I actually know Use to be My Girl but it’s not my fav. Junior is just meh for me and the same for Shannon because I have heard that style many times before. She made me giggle with the real 80’s vibe and that amusement park mirror style. The Sound Of Music is another one that was ok but ..meh...I know, I guess 8 am a hard one to please.
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
DeleteThank you very much for dropping in for a ride on the Shady Train, dear friend, I am delighted to see you!
I am pleasantly surprised to discover that most of the readers are making a fuss about Con Funk Shun, you included. WHAT??? You aren't going to run out and buy that rap record by the Sugarhill Gang? :) I'm sure you can see and hear the difference between rappers of those early years and the hardcore gangsta rappers of the 2010s who practically commit assault and battery on the listener.
It seems like your ears are not tuned in to the "freestyle" form of electronic dance music that emerged in the mid 80s and burned white hot through the early 90s. Shannon is credited as launching the trend. Other artists of the genre included Company B, The Cover Girls, Exposé, Information Society, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Nancy Martinez, Nu Shooz, Pretty Poison, Rockwell, Sa-Fire, Seduction, Starpoint, Brenda K. Starr, Stacey Q, Stevie B and Sweet Sensation, to name the artists with which I am familiar.
Yessum, I notice that you tend to be hard to please, BB, but I am confident that I will delight you when I run my salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein. :)
Thank you again for making time for a visit and comment, dear friend BB. I wish you a safe and happy weekend!
"Yessum, I notice that you tend to be hard to please, BB, but I am confident that I will delight you when I run my salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein. :)"
ReplyDeleteI don't want to spoil it, but I suspect you just made an in-joke
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteI love it when you quote the great ones. :) By the way, fans are always coming up to me on the street and asking, "Shady, why do you use the word YESSUM so often?" For the first time, I will now reveal the reason. "Yessum" is a word frequently uttered by Ruby Lee Gissing, the main character in my favorite film Ruby In Paradise (1993) starring Ashley Judd.
Nay nay, good buddy. When I promised to delight BB with my salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein I meant every word. The post is finished and saved as a draft. I already have it penciled in on the schedule as my post for New Year's Rockin' Eve in the Shady 2066. Be there!
Thanks coming back over to artificially inflate my comment total, good buddy Kirk, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!