Soul Train

#30 in an occasional series of repressed 70's memories that turn out to be true.

Stop me if you've heard this:  Soul Train is now on DVD.

Right ON. 

I will let the Soul train site do its own selling.  Loads of merch, an on-screen video jukebox, ya'll, and a nine CD box set.  Run tell dat, Bandstand.

Now, I won't re-write history.  I did adore Bandstand.  Dick Clark is a puppet, but dance contest, rate-a-record, clumsy interviews, showing the giant record sleeve.... all fantastic.  what it didn't have....

was SOUL.

In the town of my roots, where we were newly integrated, but still mostly separated, Bandstand and Soul Train ran back to back.  So you could get the info you needed to move between your two worlds.  Some things crossed lines:  Welcome Back Kotter, Now & Laters, Soul Train. 

You could learn disco on either program, you could get fashion advice for the suburbs or the city.  But you could only learn funk on Soul Train.  the Bump.  Pop n Lock.  The Robot.  White guys on bandstand doing the robot looked silly.  Well, they looked silly because of the part down the middle of their heads, but suspenders and platforms didn't help.

Understand that Bandstand grew into the 70s; Soul Train was born in them.  Bandstand was already your parents' weekend afternoon pop music dance show, at a time when that was a Thing.  Soul Train would earn that distinction later, by staying past the prom into 2000-god help us - SIX.  But in its time... oh, in its time.

If you need the funk (got to have that funk) queue up Vol. 1 today.  Zip on your ankle boots and puff out your Bern Nadette Stanis popcorn pigtails.  Cause the Train is pulling into the station.