guys are not cool anymore like don cornelius.> reporter: before long "soul train" was where the eris tock rahcy of it came to play. >> it has nothing to do with music. it's don cornelius playing basketball against marvin gaye. refereed by smokey robinson. >> reporter: the first black owned program on national television also created opportunities for black owned businesses. >> announcer: today's beautiful queen uses aafro sheen. >> when you see that you'll never see anyone with a hat on their head. the reason it's johnson products. >> reporter: he caught a cross-country flight to california after first seeing the show. >> i left philadelphia september 22nd 1972 at 10:22 pacific time on a tuesday. >> just because you wanted to be on "soul train." >> i wanted to go and be where those dancers were. >> reporter: regular dancers like proctor and demeta jo freeman showed they could hold their own along some of the biggest stars. >> this is the first time that black kids off the streets who have dreams never ever thought that they would