Don Was
Don Was
Don Wasis an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was led the 1980s funk rock band Was. In later years he produced songs and albums for a large number of popular recording artists. In 2012, he became president of jazz music label Blue Note Records...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth13 September 1952
CountryUnited States of America
hosting mounting
Almost all of what I learned about mounting and hosting a dance show I learned from Dick Clark.
awards black heard industry motivation music phenomenon secondary tends viewed
One motivation for the 'Soul Train' awards was the grumbling that all of us in the industry have heard about the way black music tends to be viewed as a secondary phenomenon by the other awards shows.
figured good hot music reason stayed
I figured as long as the music stayed hot and important and good, that there would always be a reason for 'Soul Train.'
admired brain needed taught work worked
My father worked real hard. I admired him. My father taught me you needed to work with your brain and not your back. I've made that a passion.
job lose means patience people time work
When I have a job to do, time means nothing. I lose patience with people who work on a clock.
awards music
Black music is too big and too powerful not to have its own awards show.
portrayed tv
Blacks on prime-time TV are only portrayed as comedians - and often in no better a light than 'Amos & Andy.'
felt mission national opportunity
I felt that it was my mission to see to it that black talent had an opportunity to get national television exposure.
artists easier gain mtv music pop videos
MTV essentially killed 'American Bandstand' and 'Solid Gold,' because music videos are an easier way for pop artists to gain television exposure.
developed radio
'Soul Train' was developed as a radio show on television. It was the radio show that I always wanted and never had.
american-producer change
You know that clicker? It's going to change the world more than any other thing.
appealed gotten saying
We appealed saying they should not have gotten any credit.
happiest simple
Those are the happiest times. Having fun, doing the simple things.
closer game hit key needed shot time type
Those back-to-back threes ... that was big right there. We couldn't hit a key shot ourselves. It wasn't really a 14-point type of loss. I thought the game was much closer than that. But every time we needed a big shot, we just couldn't get it to go down.