What's up y'all? It's the one and only Vain Andy sitting in for The Audience who is on vacation on a cruise. I hope he's having a good time right now and look forward to his return. Until then, I'm holding it down with this week's episode of "The Best of Soul Train".

Eaten Alive - Diana Ross

The Dance Electric - Andre Cymone

Performance: All Fall Down - Five Star

Scramble Board (Desmond Tutu): Part Time Lover - Stevie Wonder

Video: Money For Nothing - Dire Straits

Pop Life - Prince

Performance: Sister Fate - Sheila E.

Freeway of Love - Aretha Franklin

Performance: Let Me Be The One - Five Star

Soul Train Line: Party All The Time - Eddie Murphy

Performance: A Love Bizarre - Sheila E.


You can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas honey. I'm Vain Andy and as always in parting, we wish you love...peace...and SOUL!.
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[Edited 9/8/07 12:50pm]

Sounds like a fantastic episode, can't wait, Sheila E. Performance, & Party All The Time Soul Train line, haha, I really need 2 start taping these, has anyone been taping them? I've missed some great ones the Mary Jane Girls episode last week, the Vanity 6 episode, they need 2 release some of these on DVD.

The Sheila E. performances were great. I had forgotten how much she dressed like and had every dance step of Prince's. It was great to hear "The Dance Electric" playing for the dancers. "Party All The Time" was another highlight. The Dire Striats video had absolutely no place on "Soul Train". The rest of the episode was just so-so.

Once again, get out of the late 80s and take it back to either the mid to late 70s or the very early 80s around 1980, 1981, or 1982 at the latest.
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[Edited 9/8/07 13:03pm]

I missed it but I do remember seeing this episode back in the day,when it originally aired.

I've been recording every single episode except the few where they have gone too far into the late 80s or played an episode that had too many songs that were in a previous episode.

You didn't miss much except for Sheila E. Don's stuck in the mid to late 80s right now.

Watching it right now!

I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time! Unfornately, I was on the phone while Five Star was on (I love "All Fall Down") but I think they play this on WGN Sundays...I should start taping it! I'm so glad they came up with this format and I hope it stays like this. Someone is paying attention the nostolgia factor of Youtube. The ratings have got to be higher considering I doubt the kids really made "Soul Train" appointment TV (I also doubt big stars like Beyonce were going on there). This is so great...not just the music/performacnes, but damn that eighites fashion and dancing!

Anyone surpsied by "Money For Nothing" as the video choice? I mean, embracing white arists is one thing...but a Dire Straits video? Madonna, maybe..but Dire Straits?

Aww damn! I'm watching it tonight! They need to start putting this on DVD

I'll b watching at 1am 2nite!

I missed it. I was working. I did catch it last week though.

Baby doll in her gold

Good job Vain

LOVED this episode!! You could tell this was when Sheila was in love with him. When Don asked her what the connection was between her and "Mr. Nelson" she automatically said "LOVE" and said he's special awwwww

But during Love Bizarre I don't know whose lame idea it was to have her guitar player sing Prince's part

I stayed up til 2 am and got to see FIVE STAR... yeeeaaaaa.. i was so excited. .and then i found out sheila e was going to perform... i was happy...

this was the best soul train.. or atleast my favorite..... I wish i could have recored it but oh well... it was really nice... (the performances and interviews) ... but the dancing was terrible.. and the cloths extremely ugly.... the hair styles really ugly...

anyways... that asian lady... she has like a 20 year old body but her face looks like she is 35 years old.. and a lot of people on sould train looked like they were in their 30's and 40's.... there was a guy on stage wearing this costume.. and he looked crazed

im sorry but the dancing and cloths were ugly....

TotalAlisa said:

The people were so funny! There was one white guy that was so out of place. He looked like a guy from the Village People with a mustache but not camp clothes...in fact he was dressed really plain in a white shirt. And then there was some crazy eighties ladies in some crazy eighties clothes. Hot!

VinnyM27 said:

i know the guy your talking about he did look like a village person.. lololol... he didn't fit in place... did you see the guy in blue out fit that looked like a tiger tore it to pieces... he was dancing in the soul train line... and what made it so funny they were playing eddie murphy party all the time that had me and my mom laughing the whole night

Exactly. That video had absolutely no place on a show like "Soul Train". It was the mid to late 80s though and the show was trying to appeal to a wider audience. Crossing over or trying to appeal to larger groups of people weakened a lot of R&B music and it was starting to weaken "Soul Train" also.

Thanks. The Audience has large shoes to fill and I wanted to do him justice.

A lot of the dancing was terrible, at least by the females anyway. The ladies had become too stiff and the men started doing more acrobatic type dancing. It was the mid to late 80s though....the crossover era (yuk).

I like a lot of the clothes but some of them looked horrible like the ladies dancing in what looked to be prom dresses with big bows on them and in their hair also. Shitney had made her mark on fashion also during that era with her tired little "girl next door" ass.
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[Edited 9/9/07 19:06pm]

What did u guys think about the "Soul Train Slide" that was done in the intro? If I am remembering correctly, that was about the same time that the Electric Slide had become the rage on the east coast and ST wanted to get something started on the West Coast.

I thought it was cool, just a little too many steps (for it to be a party dance).

Are you talking about the dark skinned guy? I love that outfit. It was wild. Hell, I'd wear something like that today if I could find it in a store.

I never have liked choreographed dancing. I like "shake ass, do your own thing, and feel the music" type dancing. Kinda like Robin was doing in Prince's "Thieves In The Temple" long version video. Just shake it any way you feel it...but you can't be stiff.
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[Edited 9/9/07 19:13pm]

vainandy said:

your too crazy.... you know that outfit was too much... lolol

He always wore something wild or torn with little shimmies all over that shaked when he shaked. Actually, that was one of his more conservative outfits.

The guy that trips me out is the pale light skinned guy with the curl that comes out and does a dance called "the shake". He used to shake like hell coming down that line. My grandmother used to watch it with me back in the day and when she saw him she said....."Lord have mercy, he looks like he's got hot ashes all over his body and trying to shake them off".

vainandy said:

i like your grandma.. she is funny she is like my grandma... always making a joke.. and always have a funny story to tell

Cool Episode, I remember watching this one back in 85' when I was Six, at the barbershop waiting to get my hair cut. Everytime one of those ladies wuold come on the screen you'd hear a collective "DAMN!!" from the old heads at the shop.


Was it me or was the Sister Fate Performance cut short

vainandy said:

I saw your comment above later. Glad I wasn't alone in that thinking. I mean, I was thinking when watching the video "Was Dire Straits really an R&B act...or soulful or anything...Am I missing something?". Like I said, it's cool to embrace some white audiences that make honest attempts at "blue eye soul" or R&B (George Michael was on there, right) but Dire Straits?

BTW, during the episode, I heard Don mention a UK Soul Train and he joked around that Five Star must be on there all the time and absolute favorites...have you every heard of it, seen it?

VinnyM27 said:

I remember seeing a clip of Soul Train UK on an episode of Soul Train US back in the 1980's. It was hosted by Jeffrey Daniel (ex-Soul Train dancer/ex-Shalamar member). I haven't found any info about the series on the internet. Perhaps, it was something everyone wants to forget.

Since I'm here...

Five Star were the bomb!!! They had it all: class, talent, looks. They made some of the best R&B/pop records of the era. Much respect to Don, who clearly had great admiration for them. Denise, we're still waiting on that solo record! TICK-TOCK! None of us are getting any younger.

4everYoung said:

lol i was thinking the same thing about the prince's part of the song.


i loved this episode. i loved five star and of course sheila is pure gold. the dire straits video was odd. lol