Don Campbell (dancer)

Don "Campbellock" Campbell (January 7, 1951 in Saint Louis, Missouri) is an American dancer and choreographer best known for having invented the "locking" dance, and for his work with Toni Basil and the Lockers.

Campbell discovered dance while studying commercial art at Los Angeles Trade–Technical College.^[1]

In 1971, Campbell joined the cast of Soul Train once the program arrived in Los Angeles. He was a featured dancer until 1973, when he was removed from the program for requesting that performers be paid.^[2] He then recruited other dancers who had been removed for the same reason, and with them founded the Lockers.

^[3]

Don recorded a song appropriately titled, “The Campbellock”, to go with his new high-flying, groundbreaking new dance, in March 1972 Stanson Records released his single "the Campbellock". Don also established his own dance ensemble, “The Campbellock Dancers”. The name was later changed to “The Lockers”.

Fred Berry (Dancer/Actor “Rerun” from TV’s What’s Happening), Don’s girlfriend at the time-Toni Basil (Choreographer/Recording Artist), and Adolfo “Shabadoo” Quinones (Dancer/Actor “Ozone” from the films- Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2-Electric Boogaloo) were onetime members of the group. As was Deney Terrio( Host/Choreographer from TV’s Dance Fever) who would go on to teach John Travolta how to dance for his role in the late 70’s film “Saturday Night Fever”, using moves created by Don somewhat 10yrs. earlier.

Don and “The Lockers” appeared with some of the greatest entertainers of all time: Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Carol Burnett, Doris Day Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, Bill Cosby, Roger Miller, Johnny Carson, Dick Van Dyke, Aretha Franklin, John Denver, Roberta Flack, Michael Landon, Richard Pryor, Bette Midler, Donny and Marie Osmond, Howard Cosell, and Cheech & Chong.

“The Lockers” also appeared on TV shows like: The Carol Burnett Show( as The Campbellock Dancers), The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson( first as The Campbellock Dancers, then as The Lockers), What’s Happening( as The Rockets), ABC in Concert, The Grammys, The Oscars, and Saturday Night Live( as the first non-musical group to ever perform on the show). Don and his various troupes went on to amass over 80 credits to their name before calling it quits in the early 80’s.

Some of the most popular videos of years past have featured Don’s signature steps. Predominantly by Artists such as: The Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Wyclef Jean, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Busta Rhymes, Aaliyah, Mya and so on. The videos Janet Jackson made to help promote her “Rhythm Nation” album and subsequent videos since feature Don’s Original steps. Michael Jackson used Don’s Locking Style extensively in his choreography for all of his tours and videos. Actor/Comedian Eddie Griffin has highlighted some of Don’s moves throughout his movie career.

New generations of Street dancers have helped bring back The Legendary Don “Campbellock” Campbell and his Revolutionary dance. The dance is making its way back thru the clubs, thru videos, and in the street. “Locking” is now considered a part of HipHop Culture, under the umbrella of Street Dance.

Don’s new role is that of an Innovative Instructor and Ambassador, using a documented video biography, and combining it with revolutionary hands-on teaching. Don has taught Master Classes in Cities and States such as: Philadelphia, New York, Hawaii, Colorado, Atlanta, Miami, Oakland, and San Francisco. Don has also taken his approach around the world to such countries as: Japan, Canada, Portugal, England, The Netherlands, and Germany.

Because of the state of HipHop culture’s expansion worldwide, Don has made his presence felt attending many of the culture’s prominent events that encompass the full spectrum of HipHop: Rennie Harris Puremovement Presents Illdelphi Legends and The Legends of HipHop, The Back to Mecca Conferences, The Bboy Summits, The American Street Dance Championships, The 1st Annual HipHop Dance Awards( Where he was Honored for His Accomplishments), The Bboy Pro-Am, The Zulu Nation Anniversary, The USA/World HipHop Dance Championships( where he was Honored for His Accomplishments), Up Jump The Boogie, and so on.

Don was also Honored at The 1st ever HipHop Conference sponsored by and at The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This event covered HipHop’s Past, Present, and Future. Artifacts, such as Don’s outfits worn during His career, were on display inside The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as well as abroad, as part of a exhibit designed to help promote awareness about HipHop Culture.

The Media has had renewed interest Don over the years, as well. Articles have appeared in Publications Like: WAV/Kotori Magazine (2005), Elemental Magazine (05/04), V Magazine (09/02), RapPages (04/99 and 12/98), Insomniac (1/99), Vibe (9/98), New York Press (9/98) LA Times (3/94), as well as, 360HipHop.com (07/00) and Charged.com (09/98). Don also headlines a chapter on early LA HipHop in the coffee table book “Vibe’s History of HipHop” (09/

Presently, as well as making Teaching, Judging, and Speaking engagements, Don is also working on a number of projects with His Oldest Son-Dennis which include: An illustrated book of His dance and Its teachings, An autobiographical Book, A DVD that details His Life, and a feature films based his life story

References

1. ^ The Bio of Don "Campbellock" Campbell, from Campbell's official MySpace page, posted July 3 2006, retrieved March 1 2011
2. ^ Hip Hop Culture], by Emmett George Price, p. 147, published 2006 by ABC-CLIO (via Google Books)
3. ^ Independent Record Labels Of Ohio: Stanson Records, at 45RPMRecords.com, retrieved March 1 2011

Persondata
Name	Campbell, Don
Alternative names	Don Campbellock, Don "Soul Train" Campbell
Short description
Date of birth	January 7, 1951
Place of birth	St.Louis,MO
Date of death
Place of death