YouTube Video Of The Soul Train Line Dancing To The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series that showcases the 1982 Funk song "Let It Whip" by The Dazz Band.

Part II provides information about the television show Soul Train and showcases a YouTube video of the Soul Train line dancing to "Let It Whip". Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are also included in this post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-dazz-band-let-it-whip-information.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I provides information about The Dazz Band and showcases a YouTube video of The Dazz Band performing their hit song "Let It Whip". Lyrics for this song are also included in this post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/comments-about-similarities-in.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III showcases The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip" and Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and includes comments about how the beginning of each record sounds the same.

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The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyright remains with their owners.

Thanks to The Dazz Band for their musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are featured in the Soul Train video and all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
The Daz Band's song "Let It Whip" came to my mind as a result of United States' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up her copy of Donald Trump's State Of The Union address. https://www.vox.com/2020/2/5/21124293/nancy-pelosi-gif-trump-speech-papers-state-of-the-union. Yes, I know- the word "whip" doesn't have the same pronunciation and meaning as the word "rip". But the two words sound almost the same and are spelled almost the same.

That said, sharing information about and examples of The Dazz Band's now iconic 1982 Funk song "Let It Whip", the television series Soul Train & the Soul Train line, and Michael Jackson's 1982 Beat It song, is one way of honoring Black history in the month of February that United States annually designates as "Black history month". (As for me, I celebrate Black history and Black culture all year long.)

Too often people think that the only way of celebrating Black history is to talk about slavery, famous African American inventors, and the civil rights movement in the United States. Our history is waaay more than that, and we are making history every day.

Peace and stay woke!

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INFORMATION ABOUT SOUL TRAIN AND THE SOUL TRAIN LINE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Train
"Soul Train is an American music-dance television program which aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 27, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, dance/pop, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists also appeared. The series was created by Don Cornelius, who also served as its first host and executive producer.

[...]

Program elements
Within the structure of the program, there were two enduring elements. The first was the "Soul Train Scramble Board", where two dancers are given 60 seconds to unscramble a set of letters that form the name of that show's performer or a notable person in African American history. In describing the person's renown, the host concluded their description with the phrase "...whose name you should know". Cornelius openly admitted after the series ended its run that the game was usually set up so everybody won in an effort not to cause embarrassment for the show or African Americans in general.[citation needed]

Soul Train line
There was also the popular "Soul Train Line" (a variant of the 1950s fad then known as The Stroll), in which all the dancers form two lines with a space in the middle for dancers to strut down and dance in consecutive order. Originally, this consisted of a couple—with men on one side and women on the other. In later years, men and women had their own individual lineups. Sometimes, new dance styles or moves were featured or introduced by particular dancers. In addition, there was an in-studio group of dancers who danced along to the music as it was being performed. Rosie Perez, Damita Jo Freeman, Darnell Williams, Cheryl Song, Louie "Ski" Carr, Alfie Lewis, Pat Davis ("Madam Butterfly"), Alise Mekhail, Andrea N. Miles, Carmen Electra, Nick Cannon, MC Hammer, Jermaine Stewart, Heather Hunter, Fred "Rerun" Berry, Laurieann Gibson, Pebbles, and NFL legend Walter Payton were among those who got noticed dancing on the program over the years.[18] Two former dancers, Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels, enjoyed years of success as members of the R&B group Shalamar after they were chosen by Soul Train talent booker/record promoter Dick Griffey and Cornelius to replace the group's original session singers in 1978.[19]"...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Let it Whip - Soul Train Line 1982



Cali Livin, Dec 29, 2010

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(with numbers added for referencing purposes online)

1. L Kat, 2013
"Dear Soul Train Dancers (wherever you are): Thank you for teaching me how to dance :) RIP Don - thank you!"

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2. Brittany Speaks, 2013
"the chick in the beginning with the long hair DID THAT!!"

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3. Malvavisco, 2014
"0:40 Sister is kicking it Fosse-style!"

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REPLY
4. Nama Farm, 2015
"yes she was daybreak good! :-)"

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5. 00x98pd, 2014
"u can tell these people don't have the internet or play station or x-box in there home they are fit and not fat lol"

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REPLY
6. TheScott3387, 2015
"Those were the good ole days! Internet didn't exist back then."

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7. 00x98pd, 2015
"@TheScott3387 that's right"

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8. yax girl, 2016
"True dat!"

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9. TheIlluminedOne, 2016
"Not as we know it but universities were already linking up via their own high bandwidth networks for research purposes. People had been doing internet-ish type activities using telegram since the 1800s. People would play Tic tac toe and other games via telegram using special codecs."

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10. TheOlskool4ever, 2018
"00x98pd there was no X-Box, Internet or PlayStation in 1982."

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11. Nubiamancy, 2018
"@TheScott3387 Internet existed. Just not for the general public."

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12. Domino, 2019
"@TheScott3387 no, not like it is but the internet has been around since around 1966.
The military tried to sell it to AT&T but they didn't know what to do with it"

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13. horkaloopa, 2015
"Okay, who let Carlton in the house (2:14)? Some great moves here.... :)"
-snip-
"Carlton" is the name of the character that Alfonso Ribeiro played in the 1990 to 1996 American television series The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. In that series Carlton did a signature dance that is now named after him.

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxqa2Haf8lo for a video clip of Carlton doing that dance on that show.

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14. Brittney McQueen, 2016
"Dude at 2:10 looks JUST like Jerome from Martin! He had to be watching this episode to get that character and look!"

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REPLY
15. James Jones, 2016
"Yep but doing the Carlton dance"

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16. Mom2BbyG KaTeraD, 2019
"@James Jones Doing the "Carlton dance" before there ever was a "Carlton"🕺🏾🎶. This was the 80's, meaning dude at 2:10 did it 1st.😉💗"

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17. agenttheater5, 2016
"Please tell me I'm not the only one who'd rather spend my days watching re-runs of Soul Train rather than new So You Think You Can dance or whatever other dance shows are out today?"

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REPLY
18. M.J. C., 2016
"You're not, I'm with you :-)"

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REPLY
19. GA Perry, 2016
"I'm right here with y'all., October 2016."

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20. rodimuspm, 2016
"agenttheater5 i could watch reruns of soultrain all day"

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21. kaykay Jones, 2016
"Nope. You are not the only one. ;)

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22. Jenny Pancoast, 2016
"I watched Soul Train every Saturday"

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23. Kate Brown, 2018
"Jenny Pancoast I did too!"

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24. nuffflavor, 2016
"Me and my bro always like the very end when the poppers, lockers, and wave dancers went beast mode in the line."

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25. REAL TALK, 2018
"Couldnt miss it every Saturday I watched that's how I can dance so good"

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26. 1990758, 2018
"Me too I watch it every Saturday and I tape just about every show I was watching some of them this morning my roommate she danced on Soul Train I went to a taping when Mariah Carey was on there for the first time that place was like a ice box and yes they feed you fried chicken Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch they only put the camera on the most beautiful girls"

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27. Concerned Party, 2020
"Me too and this is why my dance moves are poppin’"

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28. asalux, 2017
"2:09 Carlton copied that guy´s dance..."

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29. Cheril, 2018
"Asalux: The dance Carlton did was one of if not THE dances/dance moves during that time. It was popular with new wave fans. All the hip people did it and each person put their own spin on it. Carlton's version was the most energetic and fun. I danced that much different but it was the same moves.
Carlton is a professional. Love watching him dance. BTW, I don't think that guy here was Carlton.

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30. Udo Ka, 2018
"It was a popular dance then but by the 90s it was the equivalent of doing the sprinkler or something cheesey"

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31. Game Master, 2018
"Also Alfonso Ribeiro himself said that his version was inspired from Courteney Cox's dance (Bruce Springsteen video dancing in the dark) along with a dance from Eddie Murphy."

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32. Sunny Island, 2017
"2:19- she "brushing off" her skirt....
Then she does what's gotta be one of the greatest dance moves of all time on the Show, that SOMERSAULT, preceded by those quick set up steps, followed by those hops."

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33. Pete C, 2017
"Geez, everyone was skinny back in the 80s.

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34. Melissa Smith, 2018
"Or at least the dancers were."

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35. M&M LINDSEY, 2018
"4REAL"

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36. Cherrybomb510, 2018
"Just everyone on TV was skinny in the 80s."

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37. becky martin, 2018
"cause we danced, and jogged and roller skated our asses off,,, yep... still skinny,,, cause i do all but jog still,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,lol"

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38. mtlicq, 2019
"It was before "Supersize" size fast foods, and also soft drinks just started to contain HFCS (which does not satiate), instead of cane sugar (which does satiate)."

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39. resireg, 2019
"The 80s were the beginning of the ruin. Mothers stopped cooking dinners, so families started to rely on take out and fast food, and the trend grew because sugar, sodium, msg, and fat are addictive."

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40. Marco De Santiago, 2018
"We had a BLAST dancing to "Let It Whip" on Soul Train. Yeah ,LOL.. that's me @2:12....this was years before "Carlton" or "Jerome"..LOL. It was a typical dance done at New Wave clubs. That's right 😉 a lot of us Soul Train Dancers went to SKA, Punk Rock, and New Wave clubs. Dancing is Dancing, it never mattered where we did it."

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41. annihilated, but coming back, 2018
"Cant belive no one has commented on what you said, anyway cool story and you can dance😁👌"

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42. danks den, 2018
"Great work marco"

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44. tressinar, 2018
"Marco De Santiago Great song....and someone doing the floss too!!! 11-29-18"

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45. Unit 1211, 2018
"THANK YOU. That dance was SO common even in the 80’s. It was SO annoying when people started calling it the “Carlton” dance in the 90’s, like it was new.🙄"

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46. blkindians, 2018
"Marco De Santiago thank u for responding, u guys are the real celebrities and yall gave us memories that will last a lifetime. I remember being in the house screaming and dancing around once the soul train line starts."

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47. Yvonne D Cave, 2018
"Way to go Marco. U rally had a good time.u guys were way too cool😘😘😘😘"

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48. Shortblock Flexinit, 2019
"Loved you on the show Marco. I hope you're still dancing. I grew up with Soul Train from the start, and I've always been a Soul Train dancer in my head. Still dance like that. lol.."

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49. Vins Nan, 2019
"Lucky you, I remember watching Soul Train on Saturday mornings and dancing trying to do what you guys were doing:)"

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50. unojtl, 2019
"Marco De Santiago SALUTE"

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51. Voodoo Chile, 2019
"Yep, 'The Carlton' was the basic go-to dance for those who were 'rhythm challenged.' 😆
I 'helped' a girl 'get in the groove' with that at an end-of-summer camp dance in '84. 😆✌"

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52. Michael WatkinsM 2019
"That is why Soul Train was so innovative popping locking moon walk breaking even new wave dancing soul train dancers exposed the world to these moves"

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53. Michelle Villamagna
"@Michael Watkins I totally agree. I remember watching this show for the fashion also. Lord knows I don't know ave a lick of rhythm lol I still love the fashion. In fact a lot of the outfits I see are in style today"

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54. Chris L, 2020
"Get outta here! Dude, you're an absolute legend💯🔥🔥"

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55. Dangitdanny, 2020
"Wow God bless you man"

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56. Bindy Bu, 2018
"SOUL TRAIN
the hippest trip in AMERICA!!"

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57. Andre Foy, 2018
"Women weren't "thick" and their hair was Real"

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58. Imani Alexander, 2019
"There’s plenty of weave and relaxers in this video. Curvy women has always been loved."

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59. Mom2BbyG KaTeraD, 2019
"@Imani Alexander Thank you! There are many beautiful body types."

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60. Da'kinebud187, 2018
"This was when black people and white people loved each other, danced with each other while enjoying the greatest music on Earth ! California was the greatest place to live, we all loved one another. God Bless you all ! Couldn't wait for the weekend to watch Soul Train !
Let's return to these days, something happened, let's fix it."

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61. tressinar, 2018
"Da'kinebud187 i think the love was better at WOODSTOCK"

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62. Pthirus, 2018
"Da´kinebud 187 I absolutely agree. What happened? Somebody should do some serious research about it."

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63. Herbal Shaman, 2018
"Black and people and white people have never loved each other. White people liked the things Black culture produced not black people. Michael Jackson's the reason why MTV was desegregated in the 80s."

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64. Complete Surrender, 2018
"More confirmation I am not alone in recognizing this insanity. Thank you.@Herbal Shaman"

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65. Complete Surrender, 2018
"Thank you also for assuring me that some of us are not falling for the okie doke. @COMRADE"

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66. Pthirus, 2018
"Most people don´t really love anybody. Much less the racists. Let us be more positive. The fact is: people of diverse colors used to hang out together with great ease. I did it back then. That has changed a lot. We should look at the reasons. I feel some fads arose that encouraged the concepts of Us and Them. And some self-segregation played a role, maybe. @Herbal Shaman"

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67. Raymond Brown, 2019
"Woodstock was the sleaziest example of white hippy 60's behavior."

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68. kathy williams, 2019
"Tressinar, I second the motion!, I grew up in California, & Blacks, & whites others danced with each other to the best R&B & Rock music ever created, we didn't think about race, it didn't matter. We experienced dynamite clubs, music, clothes, & people, Wow!

Oh!, watching Soul Train is where I learned all my dance moves, Hey!"

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69. kathy williams, 2019
"@Herbal Shaman, That's a blanket statement, what gives you the right to speak for the masses...you will find Black & White love all through history. No!, I don't like every Black person or every White person, love doesn't work like that; it's who you connect with, and Black & White people established friendships, become lovers, and marry past and presently...love is deeper than color."

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70. Herbal Shaman, 2019
"@kathy williams [having sex with]* black people is one thing. Loving us is something altogether different. If white people ever loved black people they would have revolted against slavery globally, apartheid regimes, the capitalist system and the lies taught in the history books. Y'all would have been and offed the rich so we could live in harmony. You haven't. So why should I believe you? If love was deeper than color this world would be a different place. The dichotomy if dark against light is harmful to the psyches of dark-skinned people and false inflates the egos of pale skinned Eurasians. It's found in every single part of the world.
-snip-
* I replaced the expletive word with these words since pancocjams is a family friendly blog.

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71. Imani Alexander, 2019
"This one of the biggest lies I’ve ever read."

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72. Dee Pea, 2018
"I was a soul 🚆 dancer in my mind at 7years old...great memories, best dancers...popping song"

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73. Mom2BbyG KaTeraD, 2019
"Me too! We had so much fun!💃🏽🎶"

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This concludes Part II of this three part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.