FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 17, 2017 • DANCE • THE QUEENS COURIER 55
dance
When dance ruled the TV airwaves
BY RONDA ADDY
Long before MTV and VH1 there were
two shows that became part of American
culture and changed the way we listened
to music. Th ese shows were American
Bandstand and Soul Train. Put on your
dancing shoes and let’s go back and take
a look at the history of these two trendsetters.
Bandstand began in 1952 on WFIL-TV
in Philadelphia. Bob Horn, a local disk
jockey, hosted the live show that showed
teenagers dancing to records. Th e success
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spawned a radio program hosted by
Dick Clark, while Horn stayed in front of
the camera. During an anti-drunk driving
campaign sponsored by the station
in 1956, Horn was arrested and was soon
replaced by Dick Clark. Th e show’s popularity
increased, and by the fall of 1957,
Clark had convinced ABC programmers
to include the show on the network lineup.
American Bandstand aired its fi rst
show on Monday, August 5, 1957, and
from then on Monday through Friday
from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. EST. It was a hit,
and on September 7, 1963, it was given
a permanent time slot on Saturday aft ernoon.
In 1964, American Bandstand moved
from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to
be closer to the center of the recording
industry. In 1989, the show moved again,
this time to the USA Network, along with
a new host, David Hirsch. Th is version of
the show only lasted six months. In 1997,
VH1 began showing 30-minute
versions of American Bandstand
highlighting the stars that helped
make the show famous.
Part of the success of the show
can be traced to host Dick Clark,
“America’s Oldest Teenager,”
and his racial integration of the
show. Even when the show went
to the network, it kept its racially
mixed image, which provided
American television with an
ongoing image of ethic diversity
that was unheard of at the time.
Regular features on the show
included “Rate-A-Record,”
“Th e Spotlight Dance,” “Dance
Contest” and “Top Ten.”
In 1969, Don Cornelius, a
Chicago disk jockey, produced
a pilot and called it Soul Train
aft er a local radio promotion he
had done. So impressed was the
Sears Roebuck Company that
it gave Cornelius some funding
in exchange for the rights to use
Soul Train to promote a line of
record players. With this funding
Cornelius started the show on a local
UHF station, WCIU-TV. With Cornelius
as its host, the dance show featured guest
hosts, soul music acts and dance numbers
featuring the Soul Train Gang. It grew in
popularity through word of mouth and
gained another sponsor, Th e Johnson
Products Company, which made Afro-
Sheen.
In 1971, Cornelius moved the show to
Hollywood. Syndicated in only seven cities,
it quickly gained more cities, and by
the mid-1970s, it was a force to be reckoned
with. Musical groups clamored for
appearances on the show, which could be
translated to R&B and sometimes even
pop chart success. In the 1980s, Soul
Train was as popular as ever, and Tribune
Entertainment helped launch the Soul
Train Music Awards in 1987. Th e awards
are still presented annually in prime
time. Th e show’s current host is Dorian
Gregory, and even though he is no longer
the host, Cornelius continues his association
with the show as executive producer.
Soul Train has now become the longest
running TV program of any kind in
the history of fi rst-run, nationally syndicated
programs.
It may be hard to measure the exact
impact that both of these shows have
had on American culture, but they have
helped launch countless musical careers
and gave TV viewers a look into ethnic
diversity that they had never seen before.
All in all, that’s not a bad claim to fame.
Soul Train host Don Cornelius (second from right) with The
Staple Singers in 1974.