Died On This Date (February 1, 2012) Don Cornelius / Creator & Host Of “Soul Train”

Don Cornelius
September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012

Don Cornelius was the creator, writer, producer, and host of the extremely influential American dance program, Soul Train.  Launched in October of 1961 after Cornelius noticed a void of nationally broadcast television shows that catered to the African-American audience, Soul Train ran until March of 2006.  Cornelius hosted the program from its inception until 1993.  Soul Train has been praised for influencing countless African-American kids while bringing black music into the white neighborhoods.  Over the years, the show featured lip-synched performances by everyone from James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, to Michael Jackson, Ice Cube and Prince.  Two popular segments of the show were the “Soul Train Scrabble Board” where two dancers tried to un-scramble letters to identify a significant person in African-American culture, and the oft-imitated “Soul Train Line” where the dancers formed two lines and then strutted their stuff with a partner down the middle.  In 1987, Cornelius launched the Soul Train Awards, a nationally broadcast program that honored the year’s best artists in R&B, Soul, Jazz and Hip-Hop.  The show ran until 2000.  Throughout the years, Cornelius was honored and/or parodied in countless sit-coms, rap songs, and films.   In the early hours of February 1, 2012, police responded to the home of Don Cornelius where they found him dead of what initially appeared to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He was 75.

Thanks to Bruce Kilgour at Slipped Disc Entertainment for the assist.

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Died On This Date (January 16, 2012) Jimmy Castor / ’70s Funk Great; Had Hit With “Troglodyte (Cave Man)”

Jimmy Castor
January 23, 1947 – January 16, 2012

Jimmy Castor was one of the greats of funk. Period.  Born in New York City, Castor began his career as a doo wop singer during the mid ’50s.  He made his first record in 1956 – the self-penned “I Promise To Remember.”  The following year, he replaced Frankie Lymon in the Teenagers.   By the mid ’60s, he was playing saxophone on others’ records while making his few of his own that were starting to find an audience on the dance floors of New York City.  His first hit came in 1966 with “Hey Leroy, Your Mama’s Callin’ You.”  In 1972, he formed the Jimmy Castor Bunch who were quickly signed to RCA Records.  Later that year, they released It’s Just Begun, which contained the part novelty, but all funk classic, “Troglodyte (Cave Man).”  The song quickly lit up radio request lines across the US and is now a must-have for  any respectable funk collection.  The song hit #6 on the Billboard pop charts and sold over a million copies within weeks.  It has since become one of the most heavily sampled songs of the era.  The list of those who have borrowed from it include Kool Moe Dee, N.W.A., Neneh Cherry, Lil’ Kim, Ginuwine, the Beastie Boys, Ice Cube, and Christina Aguilera.    Castor followed with other hits like “The Bertha Butt Boogie (Part 1)” and “King Kong (Part 1).”   During the ’80s, Castor made several more records and ran his own record label.  Jimmy Castor was 64 when he passed away in a Nevada hospital on January 16, 2011.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

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Jimmy Castor Bunch

Died On This Date (July 26, 2010) Melvin Bliss / Heavily Sampled ’70s Soul Singer

Melvin Bliss
DOB Unknown – July 26, 2010

Born in Chicago, Melvin Bliss began his career in music at the age of six, first performing gospel and then moving on to jazz.  In 1973, he released “Synthetic Substitution” a soul record that went on to become one of the most sampled songs in music history even though it was an obscure b-side.  Below is a partial list of songs that borrowed elements from Bliss’ recording.  Melvin Bliss was 75 when he passed away on July 26, 2010.

Where You’ll Hear Melvin Bliss Samples

From the-breaks.com

3XDope – “Funky Dividends”
Alkaholiks – “Bullshit”
Alkaholiks – “Turn the Party Out”
Almighty RSO – “One in the Chamba”
Big Daddy Kane – “Just Rhymin’ with Biz”
Big Daddy Kane – “Looks Like a Job for. . .”
Biz Markie – “Cool V’s Tribute to Scratching”
Blessed Union of Soul – “Let Me Be the One”
Boss – “Comin’ to Getcha”
Brotha Lynch Hung – “24 Deep”
Brothers Like Outlaw – “The Real McKoy”
Chubb Rock – “My Brother”
Chubb Rock – “The Night Scene”
Coolio – “I Remember”
Criminals at Large – “Times are Getting Hard”
Da King & I – “Flip Da Scrip”
De la Soul – “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa”
De la Soul – “Potholes in My Lawn”
De la Soul – “Sh.Fe.MC’s”
Deee-Lite – “I Won’t Give Up”
Def Jef – “Black to the Future”
Depeche Mode – “In Your Room”
Digital Underground – “Tie the Knot”
DJ Honda – “Out for Cash”
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – “Groove”
DOC – “Mind Blowin'”
Dr. Octagon – “A Visit to the Gynecologyst”
Dr. Octagon – “Wild and Crazy”
Eazy-E – “Eazy Street”
En Vogue – “Hold On”
EPMD – “Mr. Bozack”
EPMD – “Scratch Bring it Back”
Gang Starr – “Code of the Streets”
Gang Starr – “Dwyck”
Ghostface Killah – “Deck’s Beat”
Ghostface Killah – “Mighty Healthy”
Goats – “Do the Digs Dug”
Gravediggaz – “Bang Your Head”
Gravediggaz – “Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide”
Group Home – “So Called Friends”
Guru – “Take a Look (At Yourself)”
Guru – “Transit Ride”
Ice Cube – “2 N the Mornin'”
Ice T – “Depths of Hell”
Ice T – “Original Gangster”
Imani Coppola – “It’s All about Me, Me and Me”
King & I – “Flip Da Scrip”
Leaders of the New School – “Bass is Loaded”
LL Cool J – “Crossroads”
MadKap – “Here Comes the Break”
Masta Ace – “Saturday Nite Live”
MC Lyte – “Never Had Nothing Like This”
Mellow Man Ace – “Silly Rabbit”
Method Man – “All I Need”
Naughty by Nature – “O.P.P.”
Naughty by Nature – “On the Run”
Naughty by Nature – “Yoke the Joker”
Nice & Smooth – “Cake & Eat it Too”
Nice & Smooth – “Pump it Up”
Nikki D – “The Beauty Shop”
NWA – “Alwayz into Somethin'”
NWA – “Real Niggaz Don’t Die”
ODB – “Cuttin’ Headz”
Onyx – “Nigga Bridges”
Onyx – “Throw Ya Gunz”
Orb – “Supernova at the End of the Universe”
Papa Chuk – “Make Way for the Rudeboy”
Peanut Butter Wolf – “I Will Always Love H.E.R.”
Penthouse Players Clique – “P.S. Phuk U2”
Pharcyde – “Ya Mama”
PM Dawn – “On a Clear Day”
Public Enemy – “Don’t Believe the Hype”
Public Enemy – “Miuzi Weighs a Ton”
Redman – “I’m a Bad”
Redman – “Jam 4 U”
Run-DMC – “Wreck Shop”
Scarface – “For Real”
Scarface – “Murder by Reason of Insanity”
Schoolly D – “Saturday Night”
Slick Rick – “Venus”
Sloan – “Stove”
Souls of Mischief – “A Name I Call Myself”
Special Ed – “5 Men and a Mic”
Tim Dog – “I Ain’t Takin’ No Shorts”
Tone Loc – “On Fire”
Too $hort – “Hoes”
Tupac – “The Streetz R Death Row”
Tupac – “When I Get Free II”
Ultramagnetic MCs – “Ego Trippin'”
Ultramagnetic MCs – “Pluckin Cards”
WC & the Maad Circle – “A Crazy Break”
Wu-Tang Clan – “Bring Da Ruckus”
Wu-Tang Clan – “Clan in Da Front”
Wu-Tang Clan – “Method Man”



Died On This Date (May 17, 1996) Johnny “Guitar” Watson / Legendary Electric Guitarist

Johnny “Guitar” Watson
February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996

Johnny “Guitar” Watson was a dynamic electric guitarist whose profound influence can be heard in blues, rock, soul, R&B, funk and hip-hop. Given his first guitar at eleven, Watson would soon be called a “prodigy” and would be exchanging licks with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Albert Collins. And this all before he turned 15. By his late teens, he was living in Los Angeles and making a name for himself throughout the Southern California juke joints. The crowds quickly grew as music lovers gathered to catch a glimpse of this fancy dresser with the showy aggressive style of guitar playing. And apparently that guitar playing wasn’t his only source of income, respected author Peter Guralnick has claimed that Watson was an actual pimp. Watson’s influence can readily be heard throughout the hip-hop community through samples on tracks by the likes of Snoop Dogg, Redman, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, and Mary J. Blige. Watson suffered a fatal heart attack on May 17, 1996 while on stage in Japan.

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