For a very white kid growing up in a very white town in the Seventies, "Soul Train" really was "The Hippest Trip in America," and a kind of weekly master class in soul music that taught me more than I can say here in a few works. Tragically, I never quite learned how to dance from that Soul Train Line of dancers, but I did learn all about the beauty and power of soul music and the remarkable artists who made it. Those are the kinds of lessons one never forgets.
Here are just a few of the sights and sounds enjoyed by this clueless Caucasian growing up in Tenafly, New Jersey back in a day when you couldn't just download or YouTube any music you wanted. As I write these words, I hear helicopters overhead covering the death of Don Cornelius in my neighborhood, but I prefer to remember that being able to board "Soul Train" changed my life -- and countless others -- for the better. As always, please share your own "Soul Train" memories below.
LOVE TRAIN - The O'Jays
USE ME - Bill Withers
THAT LADY - The Isley Brothers
LET'S GET IT ON - Marvin Gate
SIR DUKE - Stevie Wonder
DACINING MACHINE - The Jackson Five
BRICK HOUSE - The Commodores
ROCK STEADY - Aretha Franklin
DANCE TO THE MUSIC - Sly & The Family Stone
LOVE'S THEME - Love Unlimited Orchestra
THE CISCO KID - War
SUPER FREAK - Rick James
BENNIE AND THE JETS - Elton John
FAME - David Bowie
TSOP - MFSB
SUPER BAD - James Brown
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD - Rufus
MIGHTY MIGHTY - Earth, Wind & Fire
ON AND ON - Gladys Knight
DISCO LADY - Johnny Taylor
IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME BY NOW - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
YOU MAKE ME FEEL BRAND NEW - The Stylistics