Isaac Hayes

Don Cornelius, brought us the “hippest trip in America” and always wished us “love, peace… and SOUL!

They’re are certain things in popular culture that unites a people and yields commonality across a race…

Roots…

Thriller…

Good Times…

The Color Purple…

…and Soul Train.

All these things are ingrained in the DNA of Black popular culture. I bet, and hope, that those reading this will instantly remember a setting, feeling, person, story linked to each of those examples above…

From 1971 to 2006 (and beyond on Centric), Soul Train provided wonderful moments for us all…

Whether it was your favorite artist singing their top seller… an act your weren’t aware of… but after hearing them went out to get the album…

Or if it was to see if that tall sister was going to be dancing in the red hot suit with the high heeled boots again this week…

Maybe it was to solve the all-too-easy “Soul Train Scramble Board”…

Perhaps, the intro with the train tip-toeing and skipping along the tracks caught your eye…

Certainly, the Soul Train line made EVERYONE stop and see if there was any new moves that needed to added to the repertoire…

…we’ve ALL had those Soul Train moments.

With the passing of Don Cornelius, I immediately wanted to scrap the “Do Better Mixtape, Songs for the Movement!” for Black (Music) History Month… and replace it with 28 of the top Soul Train performances… but that would be unfair to suggest they’re 28 best performances of a show that featured great acts for 1,117 episodes… Plus, it would take a heluva undertaking to go through them all…

Thus, I’ll simply post 5 clips from my favorite artists on the Train!

Hope you dig it…

“and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace… and SOUL!”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbbSo-WuSeU]

MJ performed several times but nothing’s like seeing him bust out into the Dancing Machine…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhBAJHzIkQk]

Interview and performance by Brother Marvin… “Lip syncing, what?” and check the “Politically correct reply to the Diana Ross question”…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOj9lPbp1I4]

Rock Steady, baby… The Queen doing her thing…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SUEyf_2fbo]

21-year old Steve Wonder jamming on his clavinet… Damn near 30 and I got a blog… Yeah, I’m not jealous…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Sl7FKpMkY]

He only performed once on the Train… but is my fave artist… check out the people’s bop to “Shaft”…

BONUS!!! THEE M#THAF@^K!N JAM…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75BlzjqGVcc]

Cornelius was present during the recording of this song… “Say Don, say Don, say man, I didn’t know you were in here.”

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