motd Wed Feb 8, 2012 - Don Cornelius

[Guest guest]

THE

S-O-O-U-U-U--L TRAIN!

Wednesday, 08 February 2012

Oh, my heart was just broken when I heard

about the tragic passing of that great American music

& dance icon, Don

Cornelius! I grew up watching another dance

show icon, Mr. Dick and his American

Bandstand. I'm telling you, every Saturday

morning back home on St. Louis Street in New Orleans,

our house was filled with music. I'd sit there every

Saturday morning and watched as those teenagers danced

away to hits from artists like Petula to even

The Beatles.

Soul Train came along and

made R & B the hot new sound for everyone to dance

to.

Later, after my college years, Soul Train came along and

made R & B the hot new sound for everyone to dance

to. Oh, what would this world be like without musical

greats like Aretha lin, Marvin Gaye and oh yes,

! Soul

Train helped

bring down the "color barrier" in music. And boy, did

I ever learn how to shake my own behind, while

watching those Soul

Train dancers

strut their stuff.

Okay, back then, while I was tuned in to Soul

Train, I

may as well admit that my feet weren't the only things

moving. My hands were moving, too as I polished off a

big bag of potato chips and a bottle of Barq's Root

Beer while watching the show. Oh, wait, Gladys Knight

& The Pips are on singing Midnight

Train To Georgia! Gotta put those chips down

for a minute and watch. You go,

Gladys!

Soul Train was much more

important than I realized at the time.

Looking back, Soul

Train was

much more important than I realized at the time. See,

back then, the races, blacks and whites especially,

were still pretty much seperated in our society and in

so many ways. But, isn't it wonderful, how Don

Cornelius, Soul

Train and musichelped

bridge that divide. And, I'm very happy to say, music

became the common ground from which a much more United States

of America has grown.

I can't end this message without talking about the

fabulous Soul

Train dancers.

My own dance moves got more soulful from watching them

and I still use some of their steps. And oh, the

outfits they wore! Those big bell-bottom pants, the

colorful and outrageous tops and, of course their

great big curly afros! Hmmm, I guess I could still be a Soul Train dancer

considering my hair and some of my own outfits today! LOL.

If you've sweated along

with any of my Sweatin'

To The Oldies DVDs, you'll

spot a great feature from every Soul Train episode. The Soul

Train Line!

If you've ever sweated along with us on any of my Sweatin'

To The Oldies DVDs, you'll

spot that great feature from every Soul Trainepisode. The Soul

Train Line! At the end of each show, many of

the dancers got to dance down the line, grabbing

their moments in the camera's spotlight while showing

off their dance moves. My Sweatin'

To The Oldies dancers

do their own Sweatin'

Line at

the end of each DVD. And not only do they shake,

shake, shake their

booties down that line, as they shaked, we'd show on

the screen how much weight each of them had lost! Oh

yes, it was the Sweatin'

Train!

Thank You, Don Cornelius! Not only did you

teach America how to dance with a lot more soul, you

also helped us come together as a nation. Yesterday's

teenagers watching Soul

Train are

today's adults. And growing up together watching Soul

Train made us realize that we're much more alike than

we are different from each other.

Love,