I spent much of the weekend watching all these 'Soul Train' videos from the 70s.I have about ten different videos,each one containing a TON of footage from the 70s.It brings a smile to my face when I watch it,because it reminds me of my youth.Growing up in the 70s,'Soul Train' was THE SHOW to watch on Saturday morning.The hottest R&B and funk artists and bands were showcased every week,and you could learn the hottest dances while watching the 'Soul Train' dancers doing their thing.From watching these old episodes,I have some interesting observations...


***On one of the tapes from 1976,they show Johnnie Taylor performing his monster hit from that year "Disco Lady".When he sings the line "girl,you oughta be on TV,on Soul Train",the audience goes WILD...lol...but if you watch this performance closely,you will see a pretty girl in the crowd named JODY WATLEY! Yes,she started her career as a Soul Train dancer.A year later,she joined Shalamar and the rest is history.


***There is priceless footage of David Bowie (!!) performing two songs "Golden Years" and "Fame" in 1976.Anybody remember this performance?

***Most artists were lip-syncing their songs,but on a 1975 episode,Minnie Riperton sings her hit "Lovin You" LIVE!! This is an incredible performance,to say the least.

***Lots of Michael Jackson footage from the mid-70s.He's singing songs I never heard of,like "Just A Little Bit of You" and "We've Got Forever",anybody know those songs? He joins his brothers for a song called "All I Do Is Think Of You",which was successfully covered by Troop in 1990.

***Thumbs down performance: The Supremes!! Let's face it,this girl group was over the moment Diana Ross went solo,but that apparently didn't stop them from appearing on 'Soul Train' continuously in the 70s.Their music from this period is embarassingly bad,and so are their dresses...lol

***Best performance: Marvin Gaye performing "Let's Get It On" on a 1973 episode.He walks into the crowd during the song and the ladies go WILD!


***Funniest performance: On a 1975 episode,The Spinners performed "Games People Play (They Just Can't Stop It)",which is my favorite song by them.The song features a female vocal,but for the Soul Train taping,one guy in the group lip-syncs her part!! He's got a big smile on his face as he does it,so this must have been an intentional joke?




So,let's hear YOUR memories!! How many of you woke up on Saturday mornings,grabbed that bowl of cereal,and turned on 'Soul Train'? How many of you tried to mimic the dancers? How many of you miss the 70s?

are these full soul train episodes from the 70's??? OMG thats what i have been looking for...man i have too many memories... of dancers and performances... especially that asian sister with the reallly long hair

Finess said:

That "Asian sister with the long hair" doesn't appear on the videos that I have.She came on the show much later (early 80s?),and the footage I have is from the years 1972-76.

I remember David Bowie on Soul Train! That was a great show...I was around 4 or 5 when I saw it.

I also remember Elton John performing "Bennie and the Jets"...that was cool.

I LOVED the Soul Train Scramble Boards!

Don Cornelius was the man

It was so cool to watch "Sir Graves" from 1-3(Detroiters know!) and then Soul Train from 3-4. Now those are Saturday afternoon memories!

Thanks David

It's really a shame what Soul Train has become now...

Yeah,Elton John performing "Benny and The Jets" in 1973 is CLASSIC!! Other memorable moments...


***Donna Summer making one of her first TV appearances in early 1976.She sang two songs,her debut hit "Love To Love You Baby" and her steamy remake of Barry Manillow's "Could It Be Magic".During the latter,there is a LONG,moaning segment where she apparently fakes an orgasm...lol...surprisingly,they kept this part in her performance!

***Watching The Dynamic Superiors perform their 1974 hit "Shoe Shoe Shine".The lead singer,who was openly gay,is wearing eyeliner,fake eyelashes (I think) and make-up.This became the norm in the 80s,of course,but in 1974 it was shocking to see.

***Seeing one of the first music videos ever---in 1975! On a 1975 episode of 'Soul train',they aired an exclusive video for War's hit "Why Can't We Be Friends".It's really cheesy though,but still significant considering music videos were basically non-existent at this point.

***On a 1976 episode,they played The Sylver's hit "Boogie Fever" during the infamous line dance segment.One silly guy drops something ( a pen?) while dancing and he has to stop dancing to pick it up...lol...


***The O'Jays performed on the show MANY times.During a 1973 episode,they sang their hit "Love Train",but they changed it to "Soul Train" for the taping..."start a Soul Train,a Soul Train".

NettieSmiles said:

In my area,'Soul Train' always came on in the morning.We would watch it around 10:00,then 'American Bandstand' would come on at 11:00 (but that's another thread...lol)

Hey,I was born in Detroit btw...lol...do you remember a dance TV show called 'The Scene'? I remember watching it alot in the summer of '81,when I was on vacation back there.I was watching it one day and they aired a new song called "Get It Up" by a new band called The Time.





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[This message was edited Mon Mar 17 6:45:31 PST 2003 by DavidEye]

AprilMichelle said:

Wow,does 'Soul Train' still come on? They should let it rest in peace.I saw a few episodes in the 90s and the thrill is gone.But that has more to do with the sorry state of today's music than with the show itself.

Anybody remember Prince's 1994 appearance on the show? Why did he FINALLY appear on the show when it was on it's last legs?

Thanks SO much for posting this thread DavidEye! Gosh, I could go on and on with this, but I'll try to keep it brief.

While of course there are plenty of musical acts that stand out, like Grace Jones wearing a catsuit with a horse's tail attached while singing "Do or Die", I have fond memories of the Soul Train dancers.

Back then viewers got to know the names of dancers (I think Right On! magazine did a monthly feature on them.) My FAVORITE was a guy named Leonard (Lenny) Allen Jones. Boy, was he FOIN!!! I must've been about 12 when I wrote him. When he actually wrote back I was the happiest girl in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn! It was such a warm letter. He told me that he had an album in the works and that it was going to be released in 1976. Don't know if that ever happened.

I also remember other dancers like, Pat Davis, Shabadoo and his sister Fawn Quinones, Gary Keyes, Fred Berry, Mr. X (the guy who carried the LARGE toothbrush, I think he wore suspenders also), Jeffrey Daniels and Jodi Watley and SO many more. Two others that stand out were dance partners Sharon (?) and Tyrone ("The Bone") Proctor. (They actually won the annual American Bandstand contest way back when. On a similarly related note Prince's dancer Cat and her partner Pat were also contestants years later. Can't remember if they won, though.)

Here's an "It's a small world" story about Tyrone. Back in the 80s I was reading the NY Post when I noticed a write-up on a small surplus store in the Village called I-Buss. The guy in the photo was named Tyrone Proctor! I absolutely KNEW this was the same guy I'd watched for years dancing on Soul Train!!

I decided that I was going to visit the store and say, "Hi!" When I met him I told him that I'd watched him on Soul Train. I think he must've been floored that I'd recognized him. Soon afterwards I got a job a few doors down and we became friends. The last time I remember seeing him was during his record release party at the Tunnel.

Oh yeah, and I also remember when guys and girls danced down the Soul Train line TOGETHER!!! And when a dancer would feature a new dance. I'll never forget one of them. It was called "The itchy-scratch plus everything else." WTF???

Can't forget the commericals for Afro-Sheen and that "Oooh, Oooh, Tamba!" commercial. (Doesn't RU Paul give it a shout out in his "Back to My Roots" video?)

Okay, I said I was going to try to keep this short, but I grew up loving me some ST. I really could go on...

DavidEye said:

Oh, snap! I just caught this! I remember her! If you recall she's one of the freaks in Rick James' "Super Freak" video!

OMG! HOW could I forget watching actress Rosie Perez? I loved watching her groove. She could dance and had such a great figure! What a BIOTCH!!! Don't get it twisted. I'm not hatin' on homegirl AT ALL. I meant that in an endearing way. Actually, I've seen other dancers go into acting, but I never knew their names, just their faces.

Anyone remember Lou? He was the tall, light-skindid, brother. He wore shades and was always well-dressed, and always seemed to be doing more prolifin' than dancing!
[This message was edited Mon Mar 17 8:19:05 PST 2003 by UptownDeb]

UptownDeb said:

she wuz also in a couple of the commodores's videos...man, she wuz everywhere back then, it seemed like...

my favorite was from 1973. it was an hour with james brown in the studio with live band. great show. i think it was after bootsy and all the legendary folks had left, but the band was tight and jb was in great form. it was before he had gone disco, and was putting out the major funk.

I'm a '69 baby so I don't remember the shows from the early seventies but I always have wanted to see episodes from then because they have my favorite artists. The new Soul Train sucks. Other than a live performance by Jill Scott a couple of years ago, there's hasn't been anything to get excited about. I hate to say it, but with exceptions of a very few songs, I hate rap, and that's all that's been on there lately. My favorite memories of Soul Train come from the 80's with any DeBarge performances. Yes, they're fluff, but I really loved them as a teenager. Also, I loved the Soul Train dancers. You know, back before the women were real slutty looking. I had a favorite dancer in the eighties. He wore a long coat and sunglasses and always did the same dance every episode. I don't know who he was, but I saw him in a couple of New Edition videos. Me and family used to call him "The Undertaker" cuz he was dressed in all black. And, of course, the Prince performance back in 94. I really wish they would release all the old episodes on tape/DVD. I would buy them in a minute.

stymie said:

Sound's like Lou! (See the end of my second post.) I know he's been in some videos. Now that you've mentioned NE I [i]think he was in their "If It Isn't Love Video." I could be wrong.

UptownDeb said:

I'm sorry. I didn't even see the end of your last post! Yes, that's the guy I am talking about. He was in the If It Isn't Love video and also the N.E. Heartbreak video. Do you remember the guy that used to come down the Soul Train with him later on? The guy did the same tired dances as he did and even looked like him. We used to call him "The Undertaker's Brother".

stymie said:

OMG! I sure do! If you hadn't mentioned this, I don't think I would've ever remembered that dude again in life! I can see his face as plain as day. Unfortunately, (or fortunately?) I never knew his name.

DavidEye said:

HECKS YEAH I remember The SCENE!!! I didn't know you were from the city, too

The evening was not complete or hadn't started until we watched "The Scene". If we were ever bad (brother, sister arguing, etc.) our punishment was no Scene for the day or week!! Talk about TORTURE!!

Many of my teenage memories are built around The Scene...it was like XTC, man I had to see it and see who was on there (Prince look-alikes!!! ) A lot of them went to my high school, too.

I miss it sooo much! Nat Morris! Whoop, Whoop!


Tina (~!~)

stymie said:

Yup!! I definitely remember Prince's performance and DeBarge!! I also remember Sister Sledge! They were such the rave when we were younger...pretty sisters ("We Are Family")

Tina (~!~)

where do I start? Stevie Wonder tribute back in the day on there.I think Al Green's Performance back in 73 was Incredible.Smokey Robinson on there back in the day was tight.Rick James Performances which I have on tape were tight.the Jackson 5&Michael Solo were cool as well."All I Do is think of You" was from there "Moving Violations" Album from 1975.James Brown on there,Elton John,David Bowie,.My hardest Show of then to watch was Minnie Riperton with Stevie Wonder playing Behind Her because She was about to Die.it was truly moving.The Soul-Train Scramble Board,the Pop-Lockers dancing with Fred"Re-Run" Berry Popping&Locking.I rember Prince on there,Debarge,Gino Vanneli,Spinners&Yeah David I tripped off Dude Singing the Female Part.Isley Brothers on there I also Remember.Chaka Khan&Rufus on there as well.Barry White on there as well.The Asian Chick I truly Dug Her.She&Her Sister were Dancers on there as well as Jody Watley,Jefferey Danials.the O'jays,Whispers,Aretha Franklin on there as well.I got so many Memories from that Show it ain't even Funny.POUND,POUND DavidEYE for taking me back on this One MAN!!!

AprilMichelle is ABSOULUTELY correct:
Soul Train should have been CANCELLED the minute Don Cornelius said "ça suffit"
(well, if Don spoke French, he would've said that = "that's enough")

I came across the show once last year (while flipping channels, of course) & they had some lame, barely known actor, trying to be all "hip" & "cool" & whatever..
This Soul Train just seemded so.. fake..
like the people on there (I could hardly call most of them "dancers") were only there to be seen, thinking that they look good or whatever..
of course, the quality of the music they were dancing to was..
let's say..
INFERIOR...


Anyway:

back to the GOOD OLD DAYS
when Soul Train was THE SHIT:

- I remember AL GREEN when he did "Tired Of Being Alone"..
& he wore, like this..
[oh my goodness.. I was very young when this particular show came on.. but I did remember it rather vividly & my recollection was later confirmed in that movie "Dead Presidents" (I think that's the title) with Chris Tucker..]
Al wore this HUGE, BIG, WIDE hat..
& these...
short, short, short PINK SHORTS..
with, like.. these go-go boots!

I swear.. you had to see it to believe it!!!
Al, of course, worked the song..
but that outfit..??? OH LAWD!


- The Commordores were on there several times back in the day, back when Lionel Richie was FUNKY, before he sold out & crossed all the way over..

- The O'Jays worked it too.


I mean, I remember SO MANY groups & performers, from Gladys Knight & The Pips to Earth Wind & Fire..
any group who was any good-
they wanted to be-
they HAD to be on Soul Train
because they knew that would be good exposure for their latest song/album/tour.

Soul Train WAS the shit, back in the day!


I did see Prince on Soul Train once..
unfortunately, it wasn't any of the good late 70s early 80s work, this time it was (I think) the "Mustang Mix" of The Most Beautiful Girl In The World"..
back when he was "The Artist"
(ugh! I distinctively remember the announcer announcing P's name that way..!)


Before that, I remember 1 show where
WENDY & LISA (!!!)
did "Are You My Baby" on Soul Train! This of course, was probably in '89..!
The 1 thing that still stands out in my mind about this perforamce was Lisa's sister.. "Cole".. I believe that's who it was..
there she was on stage, singing..
LITERALLY

BAREFOOT & PREGNANT!

(I was like.. WHAT THE FUCK???)


Then, I remember when Vanity-
OOPS, sorry! (ahem)

Denise Matthews

was on the show..
I believe she did the song "under the influence"
& what I remember about that was after she did the song, Don came up on stage & he was like..
ALL OVER Vanity! Like, trying to touch her, he was really flirting with her, I would say. She seemed to be digging it (we know how she was back in the day)


So yeah..
the BEST episodes of Soul Train-
especially all the ones from the 70s, but any episode where Don Cornelius was the host-
are a brilliant archive of not only some of the best music of all time, but also a very special style, a way of being..

1 more thing to be nostalgic about!


Does anyone know if you can buy (on video or DVD) any of those classic Soul Train shows???

I would fork out SERIOUS amounts of money to have these original shows!

UptownDeb said:

That was him name... "Lou" always had a cane?... i remember that brotha hell yeah

Finess said:

He was down with New Edition.He was in all of there Videos.

Check out soultrain.com. I think there was a time when you could view vintage ST clips, I don't know if that feature is still available.

Hey, ever notice how the ladies get more air time during the Soul Train line than the guys do? Anyway, check out the dancers:

This woman's been dancing on the show like, forever! Is she still on??? I remember that she used to dance on Nia Peeples short-lived dance show. (Don't remember the name of it.)



This dude just plain creeps me out. Way too much going on with his look. The Pocahantas-like ponytails...Ugh!

UptownDeb said:

ugh, looks like a milli vanilli reject...

I have about 7 of the SOUL TRAIN video tapes and they're
DA "SHIT"!!! BEST MOMENTS..THE J-5 (WHEN MJ looked normal
and was a mini-james BROWN) jermaine was my BOY,then,

all fo james BROWN's performances (the one with his little
daughter gettin' down is GOOD. the TIME's appearance on the
show. MORRIS was real SHY.

the Tempts-masterpiece and papa was a rollin' stone...

and AL GREEN...especially LOVE amd happiness and
MARVIN...DISTANT LOVER and let's get it on...mannn...

for people who don't KNOW. SOUl train originated as a local
CHICAGO SHOW in 1970 and 71. i know cuz i wa sin school
back then and KNEW people who APPEARED in the show.
believe it or not-the show was better back then.
(if those tapes ever surface you'll see what i mean.

oh yeah,..DAVIDEYE all of your opinions are RIGHT on.

other people who started on the show when it moved to LA
(shaba-doo...he was the star of BREAKIN' and electric
boogaloo..his sister FAWN was also on the show...she's in
the MARVIn gaye' let's get it on PERFormance when he's
down in the audience and the girls are going CRAZY!

fred "re-run" barry was a dancer on the show too.

the chicago version had groups like the O'jays,chi-lites,
emotions plus local acts.

like i said it began in 1970 and moved to CALI in 1972.

dancin' machine-is a CLASSIC moment with MJ doin' his
stuff...why did he LOSE his mind?
oh well...money can't buy happiness,huh?

youngca said:

Wow! memories. She, Pat Davis, and some other of the ladies used to wear their hair parted down the middle, with 2 ponytails that were tied cross-wised over the part; and butterfly hair ornaments topped off the 'do. I tell ya, I was feeling that look. Got me some smaller butterflies and did the same. Couldn't tell me I wasn't ready for the "hippest trip in America!"

Fred Berry was also married to a dancer on the show. I believe her name was Francesca. (Chocolate sister with a very short natural.)

ok. i confess. i soo wanted to be a soul train dancer. my favorite performance of all time was patrice rushen. she did 'you remind me'. i also remember rolls royce.

UPTOWNDEb...i remember PAT davis! man...you KNOW yo SOUL
TRain people!!! also..damita jo freeman...the baddest
dancer on the show. she was the "funny looking brown skin
sista who danced on SUPER BAD during a JAMES BROWN
performance. She ended up in a tv series. i can't recall it.

i can't remember the asian girls's name but she was ALL
over the show back in the day.

A good movie that shows nice clips from SOUL TRAIN was
CROOKLYN.

GREAT SONGS done on THE TRAIN:
j5-daddy' home-the love you save..
moments-if she wants to make love
spinners:could it be falling in love
james brown-hot pants

I have an old issue of Right On magazine,it's from December 1976.They have a segment devoted to the Soul Train dancers.Do you guys remember "Lil Joe Chism"?