Revolution Televised.pdf

What You See Is What You Get 63
back to back, at Metromedia’s Hollywood studios. In 1974 an observer
for TV Guide noted that the shows were filmed at these odd
times because they were “the only time the real stars of the show
can make it.” 24 As he described, these nonprofessionals set the style
for the American public.
To the untuned-in observer it is audio-visual anarchy—every dance
style from Golliwog’s Cakewalk to Martha Graham. Ballet. Acrobatic.
Eccentric. Jitterbug. Bugaloo. But mostly unidentifiable Free-style
Soul. That is, until Pam Brown (Soul Train Dance Leader) points
out couples doing the Robot, the Manikin, the Breakdown—three
of the fad-dances that have originated on the show. Dress and hair
styles are even more profuse. Bells, cuffs and tights. Tank tops, turtle
necks, ruffles. Jeans, knickers, minis, maxis. Bow ties, scarves, stoles,
chains and chokers. Unisex earrings and bracelets. Clogs, platforms,
Adidas. Afros, cornrows, skinheads and pigtails. Sequined matadors,
straight-arrow Harold Teens. Gatsbys, Po’ Boys, Sportin’ Lifes,
American Graffitis. Rita Hayworths and Billie Holidays. Clothes out
of the ’20s, ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, and ’70s. 25
In the 1970s the Soul Train dancers primarily performed to the
music of contemporary black artists. As music critic Nelson George
stated, “The potential of having an artist exposed to a mass market,
which ‘Soul Train’ provided, made major record labels take black
artists more seriously.” 26 The list of guest appearances on Soul
Train reads like a who’s who list of black artists of that decade,
many of whom have cultural currency today. Curtis Mayfield, B.B.
King, Al Green, the Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, Kool and the
Gang, Lou Rawls, Ike and Tina Turner, Barry White, the Temptations,
Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, the Supremes, the Jackson
Five, Michael Jackson, and Marvin Gaye all made guest appearances.
The show also featured cameos by Fred Williamson, Cicely
Tyson, Lola Falana, Richard Pryor, Melvin Van Peebles, and Reverend
Jesse Jackson, to name a few. 27 The relationship between
Soul Train and black music was symbiotic, and the combination of
these elements led to communal moments that had distinct political
ramifications.
For example, during the 1972–73 season, James Brown made
an appearance on the show. Brown, although representative of
often-contradictory politics, was a model of black entrepreneurship
and self-sufficiency. 28 Unlike the majority of guest appearances,