Love, Peace, and Soul: Behind the Scenes of America's Favorite Dance Show Soul Train: Classic Moments by Ericka Blount Danois

Author:Ericka Blount Danois [Danois, Ericka Blount]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: music history & criticism, Soul & R 'n B, music, Performing Arts, Guides & Reviews, reference, Television
ISBN: 9781480363984
Google: qTi0AQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Published: 2013-08-01T23:51:27.698747+00:00

By the early ’80s the dream had come true: SOLAR Records had become a hit-making factory of Motown proportions, with a SOLAR artist gracing the stage of Soul Train nearly every week. But Michael Jackson had defined the decade with his indispensable album, Thriller, in 1983. He broke the color barrier on a new youth-oriented cable music station—MTV—and had become the king of pop. Once he reached this worldwide superstardom, like many other crossover artists who yearned to reach a larger market, Jackson never performed on Soul Train again. His last appearance was after his acting debut in the Motown production of the movie The Wiz, scored by Quincy Jones.

“Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz had earned a nomination for a Grammy Award and an Academy Award, and Cornelius focused his interview on Michael’s acting debut on the show in February 1979. “There’s a difference in your scarecrow and the original Wizard of Oz and the Broadway play—it’s a little hipper and funnier,” Cornelius says. “Yeah, that’s true, it has a little more razzamatazz,” Michael says, his voice still at the high octaves of his youth.

Michael would have fewer and fewer television appearances, period, as his fame grew. His inaccessibility added an air of mystery to his persona that would only catapult him further into stardom.

Artists like Luther Vandross, a mainstay for black audiences, continued to appear on the show. White artists like Teena Marie almost exclusively performed on Soul Train, because they catered exclusively to a black market. When Madonna released her eponymous first album, she garnered three hits that resonated in gay discos and in the black community: “Holiday,” “Borderline,” and “Lucky Star.” But Cornelius didn’t feel that she had the chops to make it very far, so he never invited her on the show.

Prince was reluctant to come on Soul Train when he started having success in the ’80s—eager to cross over, he, according to popular opinion, thought performing on the show would harm his image. Cornelius invited him on the show in the ’90s, when he had changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol (known as the “love symbol”) and was promoting “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.”

Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna would come to define the music scene for the next decade, as crossover success became the brass ring. By 1978, the listenership for FM stations exceeded AM stations and Top 40 stations abandoned AM radio altogether. Slick-sounding production, synthesizers, and technologically advanced sounds would dominate the airwaves. The concept of the group act returned with groups like New Edition, Boyz II Men, Mint Condition, and Guy—with a slicker presentation and sound than their doo-wop predecessors from the 1960s. New jack swing was the new sound for urban youth. Everything was new, polished and perfect.

As a result of the Harvard report called “A Study of the Soul Music Environment,” more black executives were hired at mainstream labels—and everyone started making a ridiculous amount of money.

There were annual conventions like the Black

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