in there Prime which Show had your attention the most?also which Show influenced your tastes the most? which Show inspired the most Fashion,Dances,Coolness,&Seemed like it would never end?? Thoughts:

“Soul Train”
Was a unique television show were people wore beautiful clothing that gave fashion its name. Those people loved dancing and I would love to watch them dance all afternoon.

Soul Train ... hands down. Once upon a time, it had CHARACTER.
Everybody knew the "asian chick" with the hair down 2 her butt, flinging it around in circles (see "SuperFreak, Rick James) ... the "chick" with the platter hats and skin tight suits that always did the splits ... that light-skinnned pimp that never danced, just shuffled his way through "the line" and "chilled.
Now, it's just a bunch a strippers advertising (no offense) 2 come holla at 'em when ur in the vicinity of the club ... and Shemar Moore - EGADS! - dancin' with the hired talent ... u'd NEVER catch Don Cornelius dancin' wit' hired help ... too cool 4 dat! yes, yes, y'all ... PEACE

OOOH YES!! I remember all those people. I'm only 26, but I remember it all. Soul Train now has very little soul.

I was on soul train so i'm a little biased

As a kid growing up in the 70s,I remember waking up on Saturday mornings and watching 'Soul Train' at 10 O'Clock,then switching to 'American Bandstand' at 11.Both shows were wonderful but nothing can top 'Soul Train'.

Does anyone remember seeing The Time and Vanity 6 on 'Soul Train' in the early 80s?
[This message was edited Tue Aug 13 2:37:19 PDT 2002 by DavidEye]

Both shows had memorable performances on them. But SOUL TRAIN was the show. Man, Don was so cool as the host. The brothers were cooling than ice, the women were super fine and those musical guests were awesome.

Do you remember the infamous episode of 'Soul Train' where Elton John was the guest? This was back in '74.He was the first White artist to appear on that show.He sat at his big piano and sang "Benny and The Jets",which was getting alot of airplay on R&B radio back then.

DavidEye said:

Favorite Soul Train Moments...


1.Spinners Show...This was the episode where the Spinners was the only musical guest. They performed "Games People Play" "Sadie" and "Love Don't Love Nobody"

2.Stevie Wonder...Stevie performs "Superstition" on the Soul Train show. I think he was the only musical guest on this episode too.

3.Ojays ...The O'Jays performs "I Love Music" LIVE on the show.

4.The Jacksons Episode...The Jacksons are the only musical guest...The perform "Shake Your Body Down To The Ground, "Things I Do For You" and Michael takes the stage by himself for "Push Me Away". All of these songs are from the Jacksons 1978 album DESTINY.

5.Elton John Episode...Yes DAVIDEYE, I remember when Elton perfomed "Bennie And The Jets" on the show. I remember liking that song every since that performance. I think he also perfomed "Philadelphia Freedom" on that same show.

6. Marvin Gaye Gettin It On With The Ladies..This was the episode where Marvin was walking out in the audience singing his classic hit "Let's Get It On" to the ladies. He had on a green shirt and a green pull over hood on his head.

7.The Floaters Shining Moment...LOL...Ok DAVIDEYE you're not going to like this one..LOL, The Floaters performs their only hit "Float One". These dudes were smooth with those polyester suits on. I still think "Float On" is a good song minus the rap lines. These dudes sing their behinds off..particularly Charles with his soaring falsetto.

8.Angela Winbush...Angela sings LIVE on Soul Train and brings the house down. This woman can sing.

9.David Bowie's Blue Eyed Funk...David performs his number #1 hit "Fame" on the Soul Tran music show.

10.Brothers Johnson Episode...The Brothers Johnson are the only musical guest. They sing "Runnin For Your Lovin", "Right On Time" and of course "Strawberry Letter 23".

Thanks for the thread Mistermaxx. Man, I'd LOVE to have these old 70's Soul Train episode on tapes. Some of those performances were sung live and not lip-synched.

, and SOUL...

Brother915 said:

Man thank you for bringing Back the Many Cool Acts that Gave it up on there.Props to everybody for sharing there Reflections.

mistermaxxx said:

Man...I barely scratched the surface. Those are just a few of the greatest Soul Train moments that came to my mind within that particular time frame.

"soul train" wuz cool...back in the day. nowadays... "ab" wuz never as cool as "soul train"...then again i never really grew up with both programs. i wuz born in the age of t.v. syndication.

Hey i was wondering how could i get some old 80's episodes of soul train??Any help would be greatly appreciated.Hell i'll kick in a finders fee if it's legit.

For people who wanted to keep up with the latest dances Soul Train was where you tuned in. If you wanted to see Prince say 3 words during a short interview you tuned into American Bandstand.

mistermaxxx said:

American Bandstand always seemed like the mainstream, watered-down, corporate guinea pig/hand-me-down version of Soul Train. It had its brief moments: LL Cool J's first appearance, whenever the Jacksons, Michael or Janet appeared, but it was pretty much garbage. I never turned to AB for fabulous fashion, just to tease at the white kids that couldn't quite get the robot.

On the contrary, Soul Train at its peak was the source of the latest hairstyles, music, fashion, dance styles, coolness and seemed inimitable. Now it's just a bunch of female models moving around go-go boxes looking like they're trying to get scouted for a rap video. What happened to the Soul Train line...what's up with all the models walking down the runway like its a fashion shoot, muthaf***a you better prance!

Supernova said:

theC
Supernova you never cease to amaze me.You know your shit.
That is so true.Prince didn't go to soul train till way late in his career(when he needed a boost).I remember being at soultrain when morris performed the colour of sucess.I thought i was going to have a heart attack.Damn it was fun being young back then

Brought to you by Johnson cosmetics..makers of Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen cosmetics. Posner, aboslutely beautiful.

I remember when Don Cornelius had the New Kids On The Block on the show, they did a couple of songs...the audience was kind, and little Joey McEntyre sang his little ass off.

Afterwards, Don interviewed them...and said something like, "Yeah, Darren Starr (or whoever it was who was behind them, production-wise) said he was gonna do 4 u what he did with New Edition...frankly I just don't think so."

Or something 2 that effect... I was shocked. Slammed by Don Cornelius on Soul Train!

Of course they went on 2 become one of the biggest acts of the late 80's early 90's!

2 funny!

Here are some other classic 'Soul Train' moments...



***The Spinners (1975)---The Spinners appeared on the show performing their hit "Games People Play (They Just Can't Stop It)".In this song,there is a female vocalist singing the lines "Nowhere to go,it's hopeless so,I guess I'll leave it alone".However,for the Soul Train performance,one of the guys in the group lip-synced to the female vocal! It was hilarious to watch.


***Donna Summer (1976)---In early 1976,Donna was still a relatively new artist.She was very "sexual" at this early stage.She performed the sexy "Love To Love You Baby" and then came back and did her new single,a remake a Barry Manilow's "Could It Be Magic".Incredibly,they didn't edit out the part in that song where she fakes an orgasm! The camera simply focused more on the dancers...lol...

***War (1975)---Can you believe that,on a 1975 episode of 'Soul Train',they showed a music video for War's hit "Why Can't We Be Friends"? This had to have been one of the first real music videos ever! It was rather cheesy though.

***David Bowie (1976)---Yes,I recall this episode! David Bowie performed his song "Fame".That song is funky,and the dancers loved it.It was fun watching David do some funky dance moves near the beginning of the song...lol...

***Minnie Riperton (1975)---Oh man,this performance is priceless! The late Minnie Riperton appeared on the show in '75,performing a LIVE version of her smash hit "Lovin You".That's right,she sang it live,no lip-syncing!! It will give you chills when you see this episode.

Let's petition Don Cornelius to release these episodes on DVD or something!!!

theC said:

Actually I didn't even see him on Soul Train, but I saw the clip of him. Wasn't that sometime in the 90s? I remember seeing Prince on Solid Gold too, but it was a few years later (after he was on AB), and no interview. At the time when I saw him on Bandstand I don't remember thinking anything in particular about that excruciating interview until years later. I was just a kid at the time. Now I sort of cringe when I think about it or see it, because Prince had little social skills. It had to be uncomfortable for the kid.
[This message was edited Wed Aug 14 11:05:57 PDT 2002 by Supernova]

DavidEye said:

Yes LET'S DO THIS PETITION, the reason why those classic 70's Soul Train episodes are not available on DVD and VHS is a BIG mystery to me. Man, those things would sell like hotcakes. I know I'd buy them in a heartbeat. Don has to know that these episodes would sell well.


Yeah...I rememeber that Soul Train episode with that War video " Why Can't We Be Friends"???