Soul Train Pulls into New Depot

MadVision Promises to Update Show, Bring Old Shows to DVD, Internet

The purchase of the Soul Train television show franchise by three urban media veterans may become the ultimate in baby boomer music treasure trove soon.

The New York Times ran a story on the historic sale of Soul Train in its June 17 edition to MadVision, made up of Kenard Gibbs, group publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines, Anthony Maddox, a former NBC producer, and Peter Griffith, formerly of Vibe magazine.

The franchise, owned by its creator and host Don Cornelius for 38 years, began in national syndication in 1971 after airing in Chicago as a local program the year before. The urban music and dance show had strong similarities to American Bandstand, which had either no or only a token minority presence at the time.
The three promised not only to revive and update the Soul Train show, but also make the old shows available on DVD and the internet, which immediately got many fans of the old show excited.

"This is a great move because people for years have been crying for the release of the old Soul Train episodes," said Jarrell Mason, a senior at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and creator of "The Time Machine" talk show on WUAG-FM. "When I interviewed Tony Cornelius (Don Cornelius' son) on my show, he was still up in the air about Soul Train producing new shows because Paramount had converted (the show's) studio into a movie lot. They were looking for a new home."

Some expressed surprise that Cornelius actually sold the franchise, which he molded and staunchly protected from rip-offs and piracy over the years. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to the New York Times.

Soul Train proved to be a huge success from its very beginnings. Nearly all of the top African-American artists were drawn to the program because there were limited avenues to show their work at the time.

Hip Hop News said Soul Train then introduced its audience to early rap performances of the Sugar Hill Gang, The Fat Boys, LL Cool J, Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, Kool Moe Dee and Salt-N-Pepa.