prominence of the Lockers, Soul Train wasnât always smooth. Basil, who had more showbiz experience than her Locker peers, felt the dancers should be compensated for their contribution to the showâs success. According to dance historian Naomi Bragin and Soul Train dancer Tyrone Proctor, Basil went to Don asking that Campbell be paid because of his popularity on the show. Not only was Basil turned down, but for a time Campbell and the Lockers were banned from the show. In fact, even locking was forbidden for a while. This conflict was short-lived, but it set a tone for the relationship between star dancers and Soul Train âthese performers would be granted amazing exposure by the broadcast, but theyâd have to make their money elsewhere. For example, aside from dancing with the Lockers, Campbell would make cash as a Chippendales dancer using the charming name King Dingaling.
Campbell and the Lockers would have a profound impact on an embryonic scene developing across the country, including in the most impoverished sections of New York City. A prime example of Soul Train âs impact on the emerging hip-hop scene is provided by Curtis Walker, one day to be known as rapper Kurtis Blow, who was a regular Soul Train viewer as a child in Harlem. âYouâre nine years old,â said Walker, âand here comes this guy Don Campbellock [one of Campbellâs nicknames, as well as the title of a 1972 single on Stanson Records] and the Campbellock Dancers, and theyâre dressed all wild with vibrant colors almost like clowns. They would do routines incredible to see.â
Years before heâd rock microphones with hits like the gold twelve-inch âThe Breaks,â Walker was part of the cityâs break-dance scene. While the head spins and floor moves of hip-hop dancing were New York creations, the upper-body isolation moves of the Lockers were incorporated into what would become known as breakinâ.
Walker: We owe a lot to those Lockers and we owe a lot to Soul Train . . . They actually contributed to hip-hop and the formatting of break-dance routines. The Campbellock dancers would all come out and all do a routine, and when the routine was done, they would go out and do solos. Each member would get a chance to do a solo for ten or fifteen seconds. That format served as the basis of break-dance routines all the way here in New York. It was incredible to see how the connection and the vibe was there. Those dancers set the trend for the hip-hop dancers to come.
Chapter 3
Itâs Star Time
EIGHT YEARS after riots ripped through the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley, a former policeman and city councilman, built a coalition of blacks, Hispanics, Jews, and white liberals to get elected as the cityâs first black mayor. Bradley, who had never been a marching, protesting street activist but rather a consummate political insider and consensus builder, would go on to be the cityâs longest-serving mayor in history.
But even with a black manâs presence in City Hall, Los Angeles would never be a bastion of racial equality, as discriminatory real estate practices, intimidating policing, and income disparities created a very segregated metropolis. Blacks in LA who thrived did so through their own alliance building within the community. Don Cornelius would quickly build relationships with key local activists like Danny Bakewell. Bakewell, like a large percentage of black LA residents, migrated west from New Orleans and began a career in social activism in his twenties. He became president of the Brotherhood Crusade, one of the regionâs leading civil rights organizations, and would run it for more than thirty years. It was through Bakewell that Don met most of Los Angelesâs black middle-class movers and shakers, while Don gave him access to black show business. In 1974 Bakewell founded the National Black United Fund, a national philanthropic organization
Campbell and the Lockers would have a profound impact on an embryonic scene developing across the country, including in the most impoverished sections of New York City. A prime example of Soul Train âs impact on the emerging hip-hop scene is provided by Curtis Walker, one day to be known as rapper Kurtis Blow, who was a regular Soul Train viewer as a child in Harlem. âYouâre nine years old,â said Walker, âand here comes this guy Don Campbellock [one of Campbellâs nicknames, as well as the title of a 1972 single on Stanson Records] and the Campbellock Dancers, and theyâre dressed all wild with vibrant colors almost like clowns. They would do routines incredible to see.â
Years before heâd rock microphones with hits like the gold twelve-inch âThe Breaks,â Walker was part of the cityâs break-dance scene. While the head spins and floor moves of hip-hop dancing were New York creations, the upper-body isolation moves of the Lockers were incorporated into what would become known as breakinâ.
Walker: We owe a lot to those Lockers and we owe a lot to Soul Train . . . They actually contributed to hip-hop and the formatting of break-dance routines. The Campbellock dancers would all come out and all do a routine, and when the routine was done, they would go out and do solos. Each member would get a chance to do a solo for ten or fifteen seconds. That format served as the basis of break-dance routines all the way here in New York. It was incredible to see how the connection and the vibe was there. Those dancers set the trend for the hip-hop dancers to come.
Chapter 3
Itâs Star Time
EIGHT YEARS after riots ripped through the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley, a former policeman and city councilman, built a coalition of blacks, Hispanics, Jews, and white liberals to get elected as the cityâs first black mayor. Bradley, who had never been a marching, protesting street activist but rather a consummate political insider and consensus builder, would go on to be the cityâs longest-serving mayor in history.
But even with a black manâs presence in City Hall, Los Angeles would never be a bastion of racial equality, as discriminatory real estate practices, intimidating policing, and income disparities created a very segregated metropolis. Blacks in LA who thrived did so through their own alliance building within the community. Don Cornelius would quickly build relationships with key local activists like Danny Bakewell. Bakewell, like a large percentage of black LA residents, migrated west from New Orleans and began a career in social activism in his twenties. He became president of the Brotherhood Crusade, one of the regionâs leading civil rights organizations, and would run it for more than thirty years. It was through Bakewell that Don met most of Los Angelesâs black middle-class movers and shakers, while Don gave him access to black show business. In 1974 Bakewell founded the National Black United Fund, a national philanthropic organization
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