The years of the songs on the show span from 1975 to 1985, Cassidy tells Variety. Beginning as a low-budget affair, in black and white, the first episode of the program featured Jerry Butler, the Chi-Lites, and the Emotions as guests. The program moved its taping location to Hollywood Center Studios, from its previous location at the Charlie Chaplin Studios; the show would remain there through season 22. "Your attire had to feel like you were going to a nightclub," Perez said. Don Cornelius stopped hosting after 22 seasons (19711993), though he remained the show's main creative force from behind the scenes. This show has now spanned four decades of music. Don Cornelius became one of the first Black men to own and produce a nationally syndicated franchise. Three months later the company entered into a licensing agreement with Time Life to distribute Soul Train DVD sets. Soul Train was an iconic TV program that aired from 1971 until 2006 and featured many of the biggest superstars of all time. Thank God they were hot. Perez, who had come from a New York City street dance aesthetic where unisex sportswear was the norm, arrived at the studio in jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt, and staffers told her it wasn't proper Soul Train attire. Blake Cale for NPR Cassidy calculates that since he began the series on the web as a reaction to quarantine in May 2020, hes passed the mic to 190 of his R&B and hip-hop favorites. He has a song with Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige on Snoops new album, Algorithm, coming out Friday on Def Jam. Sep 25, 2021 11:30 A.M. Heather Hunter was a popular name in the adult film industry, but her lifelong ambition had been to be a dancer on the popular TV show "Soul Train." Soul Train introduces a new theme song: "TSOP '87" by George Duke (vocalized by Howard Hewett). Soul Train creator Don Cornelius kills himself Lehman: The dancers and performers had a symbiotic relationship. For the first season, artists such as Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler, and The Chi-Lites made appearances as, like the dancers, they were based in Chicago. Black music is too big and too powerful not to have its own awards show.". If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Come in.' Clark lasted only two years as the full-time host.