2.2.12 Hero of the Day: Don Cornelius

BECOME AN AFFILIATE OF T-SHIRT HELL AND MAKE SOME MONEY! DON'T FORGET TO "LIKE" BEE-OTCH OF THE DAY ON FACEBOOK! ------------------- A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY Name: Don Cornelius Age: deceased Occupation: creator, Soul Train Last Seen: in the morgue Awarded For: being one of television's great pioneers --- OK, so Don Cornelius isn't really a hero, but more like a coward. After all, three years ago, he was arrested and paroled for three years for assaulting his wife Viktoria. Plus, his cause of death was suicide from a shotgun. While many are talking about Don's death in that light, many still consider him as a role model for for taking one of the greatest risks in the history of TV, or even broadcasting for that matter. He spent most of his 20's doing everything from serving as a Marine to selling tires and life insurance. But as he was about ready to hit his 30's, Don found his real love: broadcasting. He enrolled in a broadcast school where the instructor told his students that only a 1/4 of them would ever work in the industry. And yes, Don ignored that statement. Don eventually found work as a part-time news man and jock at WVON for only $50 per week. However, it was television that was his real calling. So, he started working for WCIU-TV, doing news reports and eventually hosting that daily music show that became Soul Train. That show got excellent ratings, and its sponsor, Johnson Products, agreed to help Cornelius make it big. So, Don packed his bags and flew out to Los Angeles. In the beginning, Soul Train had very little support from affiliates, but then, the reviews came in. New York Times even claimed that Soul Train was champagne, thenAmerican Bandstand was seltzer water. Yes, Soul Train was almost easily a Bandstand knockoff; both had kids dancing to popular records, but the kids on the mighty Train had funkier dance moves, and who could ever forget the infamous Soul Train Line, where dancers danced down the line, showcasing the freshest moves for the week? Oh, yeah, there were the guests: James Brown, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and even Joe Tex, who infamously serenaded dancer Damitra Jo Freeman onstage. It paid off for Don, who went from $50 per week jock to a millionaire in just five years. Soul Train grew from only seven affiliates to a few hundred, and even more homes thanks to cable TV's WGN. In many markets where Soul Train and Bandstandcompeted, the Train won. True, Dick Clark even launched his own knockoff called Soul Unlimited in 1973 to poor reviews and ratings, but that ended when Cornelius and others claimed that his show was nothing more than an excuse to insult blacks from what they created. Unlimited was canceled after just a few episodes. But as disco in the late 70's and rap and hip-hop started to nip away at soul music's core in the 80's, the once-funky train took a hit and was even parodied on In Living Color for being old. Don stepped down from its host in 1992 and allowed others to host for him. The show finally ceased production in 2006 and Don sold the show in 2008. Don proved to a lot of people that a black man can make it in America as long as he had all the right ideas. It's why even today, Soul Train still makes money for its owners. Soul Train Holdings. While Bandstand's owner, billionaire Dan Snyder has to deal with the fact that it has many missing episodes and the sad fact that the majority of its 1960's broadcasts were all preserved only on cheap 16mm film, all 1,000-plus episodes of Soul Train still exist on their original tape. We can still see Al Green performing live - not mimed - and all those images of that funky Asian chick with long hair down to her shins the way people first saw them in the 1970s. Simply put, Don believed that his shows were more valuable than the tape it was taped on. Yes, Don was a coward of sorts in the end, but just like Kurt Cobain, his art's good outweighed the bad. He created a legacy to be proud of and many spent Wednesday singing his blessings. While Don was a shewed businessman, at least he built a franchise that made people all around the world proud to enjoy the funky sounds of soul music. After all, the show's theme song, "TSOP", was a #1 hit on the pop charts. Thanks Don. You've spent your last money and it was good. --- Got a Bee-otch to nominate? E-mail us @ chuck69dotcom@gmail.com. All suggestions (except for me) are welcome! Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com ! Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!