( CNN ) -- The 1970s were the first full decade after civil rights legislation all but obliterated racial segregation in the United States . And it was in large part because of this great sea change that a bright , bold flowering of African-American popular culture affecting music , movies , fashion , television , sports and literature burst forth , its impact resonating with a breadth and force that had never been witnessed before -- or seen since . Don Cornelius , who was found dead Wednesday , at age 75 , in his Los Angeles home , was one of the significant figures of this transformative era . As the creator and longtime host of the TV music-and-dance show , `` Soul Train , '' Cornelius took an established broadcast genre of dancing teenagers , hit records and live performances by pop stars and infused it with assertively African-American style and attitude so electrifying that its appeal crossed racial , ethnic and even generational lines . As filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles helped set off the black-movie boom with 1971 's `` Sweet Sweetback 's Baadasssss Song '' ; as Richard Pryor 's ribald , so-real-it's-surreal stand-up comedy hit its stride by mid-decade ; as Alex Haley 's 1976 epic family saga `` Roots '' became the keystone to a nationwide phenomenon whose culminating TV miniseries is still talked about 35 years later , so did Cornelius establish , through `` Soul Train , '' a crucial gauge for pop music 's ebb and flow that no one in the entertainment business could ignore . The elite of late-20th century black pop musicians , from Aretha Franklin , Smokey Robinson , James Brown , Teddy Pendergrass , Marvin Gaye , Al Green , Diana Ross and Gladys Knight , to the Jackson Five , O'Jays , Spinners , Gap Band and Commodores took live turns on the `` Train '' -- and frequently delivered some of their more potent televised performances . Eventually , white artists such as Elton John , David Bowie , Sting and Robert Palmer played on the `` Soul Train '' stage . Though he wisely never made himself more conspicuous than the music or the dancers , Cornelius ' buttery smooth baritone , colorful attire -- though relatively understated when compared to the dancers ' flashy duds -- and avuncular presence provided an anchor for the show 's dazzling grooves and slick moves . He also became something of a star himself , making appearances at live concerts and political gatherings looking to share some of the youthful energy he presided over as host from 1970 to 1993 . Other TV shows may have had live acts . But if you wanted to know how to move your body to funk , disco and soul music , `` Soul Train '' provided the first and best lesson for much of its long and legendary run . Fred Astaire , in a `` 60 Minutes '' interview , said he was a `` Soul Train '' fan . One imagines the great man studying and perhaps even attempting many of those moves . If you were a true dance aficionado , you waited every week for the `` 'Soul Train line '' in which improbably limber young couples enacted breathtaking inventories of what would become known as `` breaking '' and `` popping . '' Before he became an innovator , the Chicago-born Cornelius sold insurance for Golden State Mutual Life for $ 250 a week . In 1966 , he decided to change his destiny , and reduce his salary by $ 200 , to work as a substitute disc jockey , news reader and interviewer at WVON radio . Within two years , he had acquired enough facility as a broadcaster to secure an on-camera job as sports anchor on Chicago 's WCIU-TV show , `` A Black 's View of the News . '' With his own money , Cornelius produced a pilot episode of an all-black version of Dick Clark 's venerable `` American Bandstand '' to be telecast on WCIU . He had trouble interesting sponsors until the locally based Sears Roebuck & Co. expressed interest , believing the show could boost its record sales . The program , dubbed `` Soul Train , '' debuted in 1970 , achieving such formidable ratings among the city 's black community that it was nationally syndicated the next year . Cornelius not only served as `` Soul Train 's '' host , but was also responsible for drumming up advertisers and seeking more stations nationwide . Some of these advertisers were black-oriented companies such as Johnson Products Co. , the beauty specialists behind Afro-Sheen hair spray . By mid-decade , `` Soul Train '' had powered its way to more than 100 markets . By the time it ceased production in 2006 , after a series of guest hosts , `` Soul Train '' had become one of the longest running syndicated television programs in history . One wonders whether it 's possible in this digitized age to build a cultural phenomenon from the ground up as Cornelius did . If so , his example of chutzpah and daring will serve as the template for future dreamers and cultural mavens to follow . That , along with the blend he suavely , fervently prescribed to his audiences week after week at the end of each `` Train '' : `` Love ! Peace ! And -- all together now -- Soul ! '' Join the conversation on Facebook . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gene Seymour .
Gene Seymour says in 1970 , black culture burst forth in theater , music , dance . He says Don Cornelius contributed singular dance show with cross - cultural appeal . He says the pioneers of black pop music performed ; Soul Train showed teens how to dance . Seymour : Cornelius was self - taught impresario , innovator who built cultural phoneomenon .