SOUL TRAIN: The Hippest Trip in America

The screening took place in the John H. Mitchell theatre, part of The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills.





The film traced the show's humble beginnings in Chicago to its later home in Los Angeles.
It stressed the fact that the dancers where a major compenent of the show's success.
I was sitting a seat away from, frequently referred to as "the asian girl with the long hair"...



...Cheryl (Sung/Song i've seen it spelled both ways)

Other dancers that I recognized in attendance were Tyrone Proctor, Juliette Hagerman, Marco DeSantiago and of course Louie Carr (along with others whose names I don't know).



The post-screening panel consisted of Questlove, Cuba Gooding Sr., Jody Watley, Smokey Robinson and Don Cornelius with Cheo Hodari Coker serving as moderator.






Questlove and Cuba Gooding Jr.'s bust-up in the third pic probably had something to do with the repartee going on between Don Cornelius and Smokey Robinson most of the evening.



Let's just say that Don had a tendency to be long-winded.



Most of the Q&A segment was consumed by the former dancers.
Smokey seemed to get a bit miffed when a member of the audience asked why Don sold the rights to the show. Instead of Don answering, Smokey jumped in and declared as part of his answer that people had asked the same question of Berry Gordy. The jist of the answer was that they both had earned the right to do so.

A few interesting points.
1) The Scramble Board was fixed.
2) During the early days of the show in Los Angeles when he was having trouble getting name acts, Curtis Mayfield and The O'Jays were two of the artists that would always agree to appear.
3) According to Don, a bone of contention between himself and O'Bryan was that Don was a better lyricist.





A very enjoyable evening.
The documentary will be well worth watching when it airs on VH-1.





Music for adventurous listeners


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Tribal Records
[Edited 2/6/10 18:45pm]

Smokey needs to stop with all that mess with his hair and act his age.

What date it airs on vh1? I forgot.

This Sat

theAudience said:

I kinda thought that might be the case.

Got my DVR set!

That scramble board was easy as hell. A toddler could figure it out

Nice.
Smokey is killing me with the baby curls.

Is that Jr. or Sr.?

If so, Jr is looking more like Sr.

scriptgirl said:

for real, and they made it seem so complicated.

StarMon said:

Can't be jr.....

That's Sr. definitely. Not Jr. at all.

She was one of my favorites. How is she looking these days?

how long was the Asian lady with long hair on there? And who is the JR and SR y'all are talking about?

scriptgirl said:

She was on Soul Train for at least 10 years maybe a lil' more. That's Cuba Gooding Sr. in the foreground. The guy with the fro'.... his name escapes me but he's the brotha that worked with Erykah Badu on her album "Baduizm". Right? Out of Philly? What's his name Timmy?

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[Edited 2/1/10 13:40pm]

Qwestlove.

Neal(or anybody), do you have any idea when will the film be released through DVDs?

scriptgirl said:

Yep, that's it! Thanks script.. it was driving me crazy.

The Main Ingredient...



...Everybody Plays The Fool - That's SR.


Jerry Maquire...



..."Show me the money!" - That's JR.





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vainandy said:

She looks good for her age.
Still has the long hair. It's curly w/blonde streaks.


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How old is she?

Ahhhh.....one of my tricks. She's a smart lady. The gray blends in with the blonde streaks so it looks like part of the hairstyle and you don't really notice the gray.

I found a recent clip of her. Go to the :58 part of the video.


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[Edited 2/1/10 17:12pm]

Go girl. Wonder how much they paid those dancers

vainandy said:

Every time I watch this....

Harlepolis said:

Uh yeah inquiring minds wanna know?

Harlepolis said:

I don't believe there's a hard date yet.
There appears to be potentially good and bad news here.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
'Soul Train' vaults opened for DVD deal
Library houses more than 1100 hours of archival footage
By Gail Mitchell, Billboard

July 9, 2009, 03:34 PM ET


Fans of television's long-running "Soul Train" will now have the chance to purchase DVDs of the pioneering dance show. Soul Train Holdings has partnered with Direct Holdings Americas Inc., granting the latter the domestic home video and worldwide clip licensing rights to the "Soul Train" library. Direct Holdings' Time Life brand will produce and distribute DVDs of vintage "Soul Train" episodes and also launch a comprehensive marketing campaign to license show clips worldwide.

The announcement comes a year after the famed music variety show's longtime host/producer/owner Don Cornelius sold the franchise to MadVision Entertainment. Los Angeles-based Soul Train Holdings, a union formed between MadVision and Intermedia Partners, is headed by co-CEOs Peter Griffith and Kenard Gibbs. During its 30-plus-year run, "Soul Train" evolved into a mainstream cultural institution that played host to such R&B and pop icons as Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Prince, Elton John, Whitney Houston, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce. All told, the Soul Train library houses more than 1100 hours of archival footage.

Griffith said that partnering with Time Life and Direct Holdings is "a natural fit. There's been a growing consumer demand for the episode DVDs and a lot of third-party interest in clip licensing. We knew from the start that we wanted to tackle both of those markets first and foremost."

Direct Holdings executive VP Gary Newman noted in a statement, "Their ["Soul Train"] archives are incredibly rich and deep, reflecting a vibrant part of pop culture that no other show could capture or has been able to replicate ever since."

The clip licensing half of the agreement is already under way. Show clips can be viewed at globalimageworks.com. Fans can also visit the Soul Train YouTube channel. In regards to the DVD rollout, Griffith said music clearances are still being processed. Once that is completed, the company will determine its initial release slate and other details.

In the meantime, BET's new Centric channel will bring back the Soul Train Awards this November. The channel is licensing old episodes of the dance show for broadcast as well. And a "Soul Train" documentary is being developed for VH1, according to Griffith. Also in discussion for next year: a new "Soul Train" show.

"We're talking to some very well-known producers," adds Griffith. "It would have to be updated for today's world of competitive reality programming like 'American Idol' and 'Dancing With the Stars.' It's not something we take lightly. We want to do it with the same kind of passion and respect that Don had."

http://www.hollywoodrepor...3d18cfe6f9
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They keep using the word "clip", so it makes me thinks it's not full eps. Speaking of that, Centric needs to quit with those damn Soul Train repeats. That is just trifling.

That don't make no damn sense that those fools keep airing the same episodes. Last week made three times in a row.

theAudience said:

They were about to release a DVD on MJ and cancelled it at the last minute when this deal was announced