Dancers get down many years ago on "Soul Train." |
Cornelius, who established the long-running show "Soul Train,"died recently at age 75.
I always thought of Soul Train as "American Bandstand"s older, wilder brother. American Bandstand, though fun for me to watch as a kid, was a little too wholesome and earnest. The mostly white dancers on the show were just a little too reserved. The music they danced to was just a little too conservative, a little too mainstream.
Soul Train, on the other hand, was a hot party in the Big City, something I regretted missing out on as I sat in the living room of the family home in the Grand Metropolis of West Rutland, Vermont. (Population about 2,400 at the time)
The Soul Train music was more raw, more joyous, more raucous that the stuff you heard on American Bandstand. The dancers, mostly black, were fabulous, somehow both cool and hot, and they hinted at a sexual, dangerous audacity.
On Soul Train and in the video of the Times Square event, you see all these mod, huge afros, straight from the year 1970. Or maybe frizzy from the year 1970. The hairdos went out of style way back when, but with the death of Cornelius and the fondness and nostalgia for Soul Train and the passage of time, those afros to me are hot, hot, hot again.
I smell a fashion trend coming in those afros and big round sunglasses. Like I said, Hot!
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