The Roots bandleader, Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, will release his book titled Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation on October 22.

Delving into an the era that produced iconic acts such as Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5 and Aretha Franklin, Questlove explores how the TV show, Soul Train, helped to launch the careers of countless artists.

To write the book Questlove watched over 1,100 episodes of the show and was granted exclusive access to the entire Soul Train archives that featured hundreds of never-before-seen photos.

Hosted and created by Don Cornelius, Soul Train was an important platform for artists and integral to the evolution of black entertainment. Cornelius hosted the show from 1971-1993, with the show finishing up in 2006 making it the longest running syndicated television show in history.

As well as being a launching platform for artists, Soul Train was also responsible for launching the careers of numerous other celebrities that started out as dancers on the show including Carmen Electra, MC Hammer and Mariah Carey’s husband Nick Cannon.

Questlove also lectures at New York University teaching a class called ‘Topics In Recorded Music: Classic Albums’ that dissects classic albums such as Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall and the Beastie Boy’s Paul’s Boutique. This is in addition to his band commitments with the Roots that includes the role of house-band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

With so much already on his plate, it’s amazing that he can find the time to research and write a book.

Questlove and the Roots will be touring Australia as part of the Falls Festival this December-January.

Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation will be available October 22nd, both physically and digitally.

More about the book:

From Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of the award-winning hip-hop group the Roots, comes this vibrant book commemorating the legacy of Soul Train—the cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of artists such as Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Whitney Houston, Lenny Kravitz, LL Cool J, and Aretha Franklin. Questlove reveals the remarkable story of the captivating program, and his text is paired with more than 350 photographs of the show’s most memorable episodes and the larger-than-life characters who defined it: the great host Don Cornelius, the extraordinary musicians, and the people who lived the phenomenon from dance floor. Gladys Knight contributed a foreword to this incredible volume. Nick Cannon contributed the preface.

With its smooth, soulful tunes and groovy dance moves, Soul Train launched the careers of countless African American artists and set lasting trends in music, dance, and fashion for more than three decades. To create this unparalleled tribute to the show, Questlove, the brilliant frontman for the Roots, has pored through more than 1,100 episodes of the show and been given exclusive access to its archives to present hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and the riveting, unfiltered story of how Don Cornelius revolutionized black entertainment.

In this incredible volume, Questlove takes you on a journey from the show’s conception and first episode in 1971 to Don’s final episode as host in 1993. You will learn how all-star performers such as Ike and Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, LL Cool J, Lenny Kravitz, the Beastie Boys, and Mariah Carey, to name a few, got their start, and get an up-close look at the show’s most memorable dancers, and the moves and fashion they popularized.

Soul Train was the longest-running syndicated program in television history. It was beloved by generations of youth, like Questlove, who eagerly awaited every episode, and young music lovers are still discovering it today. It’s taken more than forty years for the awesome legacy of Soul Train to be celebrated in a proper way, and this book does just that.

http://www.harpercollins....0062288387

I didn't know MC Hammer & Carmen Electra were Soul Train dancers. I knew about the pre-Howard Hewitt lineup of Shalamar, Fred "Rerun" Berry, The Good Girls, Rosie Perez, and a few others that started out on the show.

Charlie Wilson speaks about a appearance on Soul Train

I already pre-ordered my copy

There's also another Soul Train book that was released a few months ago.I'm gonna get both

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On top of those two, , Nelson George also has a Soul Train Book coming out early next year! LOL, there's gonna be three......

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lol...three books,huh? That's great! Several years ago,there was talk about a Soul Train motion picture.Wish that proejct would finally happen,too.