Diana Ross and Soul Train.

[mowsville]

Was there any particular reason that Diana never promoted any of her 70s releases on the MEGA Soul Train...i know she made a breif appearence at one point but that did not include a performance...and i know about the 80s special for her...its always puzzled me.

[reese]

When Diana left the Supremes, I believe Berry was aiming to shape her into the sort of a across the board megastar like Streisand who didn't need television. As such, Diana didn't do a lot of tv in the 70s unless she was promoting a film, hosting or appearing on an awards telecast, or her own specials.

The shows she did do were like Dinah Shore, Bob Hope, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, etc, show-biz institutions, so to speak. Shows like Soul Train and American Bandstand might have been seen as too youth-oriented, although they might have helped her sales tremendously.

[Boogiedown]

I think you have it right Reese.


The Supremes did:



Is there a comprehensive list of which Motown artists appeared on SOUL TRAIN and when?? Seems like that might've been a topic done here already. ?

[khansperac]

Supposedly this is what her characters appearance on the BET show will be about . So the question should be answered.

[blackguy69]

Diana did do a cAmeo appearance on ST in April 1973 to talk about LSTB but didn’t perform. She did appear in 1982 and sang Its Never Too Late and the solo version of Endless Love.

[vgalindo]

It was said that while at Motown Berry Gordy would not let her perform on Soul Train. And as soon as she signed with RCA Diana was really excited to do the show to promote her first new album with RCA.

[blackguy69]

I think you have it right Reese.


The Supremes did:



Is there a comprehensive list of which Motown artists appeared on SOUL TRAIN and when?? Seems like that might've been a topic done here already. ?

there is a list. Let’s see if I can remember:
Supremes were on it 4 times [[73-77)
Martha and the Vandellas appeared once [[1971)
Kim Weston appeared once [[1971 or 1972)
Mary Wells appeared once [[1981)
Temptations appeared at least 9 times [[1972-1998)
Four Tops appeared 8 times [[1972-1988)
Stevie appeared 3 times 1973-1992)
Jackson 5 appeared 4 times [[1972-1979)
michael Jackson solo appearance one time [[1974)
jermaine solo appeared 4 times [[1976-1989)
smokey Robinson appeared 8 times [[1973-1987)
Miracles appeared 3 times [[1973-1975)

[reese]

there is a list. Let’s see if I can remember:
Supremes were on it 4 times [[73-77)
Martha and the Vandellas appeared once [[1971)
Kim Weston appeared once [[1971 or 1972)
Mary Wells appeared once [[1981)
Temptations appeared at least 9 times [[1972-1998)
Four Tops appeared 8 times [[1972-1988)
Stevie appeared 3 times 1973-1992)
Jackson 5 appeared 4 times [[1972-1979)
michael Jackson solo appearance one time [[1974)
jermaine solo appeared 4 times [[1976-1989)
smokey Robinson appeared 8 times [[1973-1987)
Miracles appeared 3 times [[1973-1975)

Gladys Knight and the Pips, as well as Eddie Kendricks, performed on the first national episode in 1971, as well as several other times.

David Ruffin appeared a few times, as did Marvin Gaye and Thelma Houston.

Martha Reeves appeared once as a solo artist.

Bettye Lavette appeared once as well.

[blackguy69]

I just gave a partial list.
Eddie Kendricks appeared 9 times [[1971-1987)
Marvin Gaye appeared 3 times [[1974-1983)
The Commodores appeared 5 times 1974-1993)
Thelma Houston appeared 6 times [[1971-1984)
Syreeta appeared 3 times [[1974-1980)
Martha Reeves solo appearance [[1974)
Gladys Knight and the Pips appeared 6 times [[1971-1988)
David Ruffin appeared 6 times[[1973-1987)

I didn’t include The Isley Brothers , The Spinners and a slew of other artists. I tried to keep it to the classic Motown period.

[reese]

It would be nice to know if any of the Chicago episodes of Soul Train have survived. I've seen photos but no footage.

[blackguy69]

According to Don C. They didn’t tape it.

[marv2]

Switch
High Inergy
Rick James
Teena Marie
Ozone
Dazz Band
DeBarge

All appeared on Soul Train. Diana Ross and Berry Gordy were stupid not to have her on there more. If Barbra Striesand could have been on Soul Train, she would have! It was one of the most popular music related TV shows in the 70s.

[blackguy69]

There’s more to the list than that but I was going to list every single Motown act that ever appeared.

[marv2]

Willie Hutch, Yvonne Fair, Bonnie Pointer, Jr. Walker and the Allstars

[midnightman]

Gladys Knight & the Pips were one of the first acts - PERIOD - to be on the show when it debuted nationally in October 1971.

As for Diana and Soul Train, I recall she made a guest appearance around the show's second season in 1972:



She didn't perform on there obviously but she was there. The Jackson 5 only got on it after they had started to take a dip. The first one was clearly an attempt to promote Jermaine while they appeared in 1973 [[for the Get It Together release), 1974 [[Michael solo) and 1975 [[after they decided to move to Epic but they still promoted material from their last Motown album). And then one more time in 1979 when they released the Destiny album [[MJ never appeared on ST during his "King of Pop" heyday).

[PeaceNHarmony]

When Diana left the Supremes, I believe Berry was aiming to shape her into the sort of a across the board megastar like Streisand who didn't need television. As such, Diana didn't do a lot of tv in the 70s unless she was promoting a film, hosting or appearing on an awards telecast, or her own specials.

The shows she did do were like Dinah Shore, Bob Hope, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, etc, show-biz institutions, so to speak. Shows like Soul Train and American Bandstand might have been seen as too youth-oriented, although they might have helped her sales tremendously.

I agree; in fact, an annual Diana appearance on ST with whichsoever new single/lp would have been a good thing. Gordy didn't always get things quite right!

[blackguy69]

Gladys Knight & the Pips were one of the first acts - PERIOD - to be on the show when it debuted nationally in October 1971.

As for Diana and Soul Train, I recall she made a guest appearance around the show's second season in 1972:



She didn't perform on there obviously but she was there. The Jackson 5 only got on it after they had started to take a dip. The first one was clearly an attempt to promote Jermaine while they appeared in 1973 [[for the Get It Together release), 1974 [[Michael solo) and 1975 [[after they decided to move to Epic but they still promoted material from their last Motown album). And then one more time in 1979 when they released the Destiny album [[MJ never appeared on ST during his "King of Pop" heyday).

Diana Appeared on Soul Train April 9, 1973. Not 72
Jackson 5 first appearance was October 7, 1972 to promote jermaine’s solo album and also introduced Corner of the Sky.
J5’s second appearance was November 7, 1973 to promote The Get it Together album also Jermaine’s new single and Michael’s new single.
Michael’s solo appearance was October 8, 1974 to promote the Dancing Machine album
J5’s third appearance was January 24, 1976 right after they signed to CBS [[they weren’t assigned to Epic til a year later)
The Jackson’s last appearance was February 3, 1979 to promote the Destiny album .

[midnightman]

^ Thanks for the date. Wasn't sure if it was in late 1972 or early '73.

[midnightman]

Motown acts that performed and/or appeared on ST [[while on the label as opposed to when they left, like DR):

Gladys Knight & the Pips [[October 2, 1971, March 4, 1972 and September 23, 1972)*
Eddie Kendricks [[October 2, 1971, September 30, 1972, December 22, 1973, April 27, 1974, April 26, 1975, September 27, 1975 and March 13, 1976)$
The Undisputed Truth [[January 15, 1972, October 14, 1972 and April 13, 1974)
The Jackson 5 [[October 7, 1972, November 3, 1973, October 7, 1974 [[MJ solo with the J5 act MDLT and January 24, 1976+)**
Diana Ross [[as a guest interviewee, April 7, 1973)
Stevie Wonder [[January 13, 1973, September 15, 1979 [[Minnie Riperton tribute), December 18, 1982 [[music video, not actual appearance), September 21, 1991 and June 17, 1995)
Marvin Gaye [[February 16, 1974 and May 7, 1977)***
Jermaine Jackson [[save for the 1972 show with the J5; October 9, 1976, August 27, 1977, May 10, 1980, June 6, 1981 and October 30, 1982)#
Martha and the Vandellas [[November 13, 1971)
The Supremes [[May 12, 1973, August 23, 1975, March 27, 1976 and January 1, 1977)

The Temptations [[November 18, 1972, December 1, 1973, January 10, 1976, May 31, 1980, June 4, 1983, January 5, 1985 and January 27, 1990)^^
David Ruffin [[April 21, 1973, January 25, 1975, December 13, 1975 and October 2, 1976)$
Smokey Robinson [[November 24, 1973, June 14, 1975, April 30, 1977, October 15, 1977, November 17, 1979, December 1, 1979 [[salute to Aretha Franklin episode), April 24, 1982 and January 16, 1988)
Jr. Walker & the All-Stars [[December 4, 1971 and September 22, 1973)
Switch [[August 27, 1977, December 23, 1978 and October 6, 1979)
Tata Vega [[October 9, 1976, September 24, 1977 and September 24, 1979)
Bonnie Pointer [[October 6, 1979)
Billy Preston [[April 7, 1979)
Syreeta Wright [[April 7, 1979)
Rick James [[November 18, 1978, October 20, 1979, October 11, 1980, June 13, 1981 and October 17, 1981)
Teena Marie [[October 20, 1979, October 18, 1980 and April 18, 1981)^
DeBarge [[October 30, 1982 and December 10, 1983)
Bunny DeBarge [[April 18, 1987)
Chico DeBarge [[March 21, 1987, October 17, 1987 and June 13, 1998)
El DeBarge [[March 11, 1989)
Georgio [[April 29, 1989)
Stacy Lattisaw [[April 28, 1990)
Johnny Gill [[May 5, 1990, March 9, 1991,
Today [[March 25, 1989 and June 23, 1990)
The Good Girls [[November 4, 1989, June 23, 1990 and April 3, 1993)
The Boys [[November 3, 1990 and June 13, 1992)
Gerald Alston [[March 9, 1991)
Shanice Wilson [[January 18, 1992 and January 23, 1993)

----
I'm gonna stop here lol

* - Gladys & the Pips of course appear on it on May 4, 1974 singing "On & On" and "Neither One of Us". Their other appearances were on May 17, 1980 [[salute to Gladys Knight & the Pips) and April 9, 1988. Gladys Knight appeared in one more episode afterwards [[October 5, 1991 - tribute to Gladys Knight; three days to the day she and the Pips performed on the show's first episode on October 2, 1971).

** - The Jackson 5 performed as the Jacksons on February 3, 1979 releasing the "Destiny" album on Epic Records.

*** - Marvin appeared one last time on May 11, 1983 [["Tribute to Marvin Gaye") after the release of "Midnight Love".

# - Jermaine showed up again in 1989.

$$ - Ruffin & Kendricks performed together in the late 1980s [[I'm not gonna search the date, okay?)

Teena Marie performed on the show numerous times after leaving Motown into the final episodes.

^^ The Temptations performed on December 30, 1978 during their brief Atlantic Records tenure with Louis Price.

The Four Tops were the only Motown group to show up AFTER leaving Motown. I think they performed during their return to Motown, I forget the year though.

Of course we know of Diana's appearance/performance in 1981.

----
You can correct me later. I'm done! LOL

[TomatoTom123]

LOL well done midnight. I know The Tops did "Ain't No Woman" and "Keeper Of The Castle" around 1972, and appeared a few other times in the 70s. David Ruffin & Eddie Kendricks did "One More For The Lonely Hearts Club" [[one of my faaaaaaaaves) on Soul Train around 1988.

[marv2]

Motown acts that performed and/or appeared on ST [[while on the label as opposed to when they left, like DR):

Gladys Knight & the Pips [[October 2, 1971, March 4, 1972 and September 23, 1972)*
Eddie Kendricks [[October 2, 1971, September 30, 1972, December 22, 1973, April 27, 1974, April 26, 1975, September 27, 1975 and March 13, 1976)$
The Undisputed Truth [[January 15, 1972, October 14, 1972 and April 13, 1974)
The Jackson 5 [[October 7, 1972, November 3, 1973, October 7, 1974 [[MJ solo with the J5 act MDLT and January 24, 1976+)**
Diana Ross [[as a guest interviewee, April 7, 1973)
Stevie Wonder [[January 13, 1973, September 15, 1979 [[Minnie Riperton tribute), December 18, 1982 [[music video, not actual appearance), September 21, 1991 and June 17, 1995)
Marvin Gaye [[February 16, 1974 and May 7, 1977)***
Jermaine Jackson [[save for the 1972 show with the J5; October 9, 1976, August 27, 1977, May 10, 1980, June 6, 1981 and October 30, 1982)#
Martha and the Vandellas [[November 13, 1971)
The Supremes [[May 12, 1973, August 23, 1975, March 27, 1976 and January 1, 1977)

The Temptations [[November 18, 1972, December 1, 1973, January 10, 1976, May 31, 1980, June 4, 1983, January 5, 1985 and January 27, 1990)^^
David Ruffin [[April 21, 1973, January 25, 1975, December 13, 1975 and October 2, 1976)$
Smokey Robinson [[November 24, 1973, June 14, 1975, April 30, 1977, October 15, 1977, November 17, 1979, December 1, 1979 [[salute to Aretha Franklin episode), April 24, 1982 and January 16, 1988)
Jr. Walker & the All-Stars [[December 4, 1971 and September 22, 1973)
Switch [[August 27, 1977, December 23, 1978 and October 6, 1979)
Tata Vega [[October 9, 1976, September 24, 1977 and September 24, 1979)
Bonnie Pointer [[October 6, 1979)
Billy Preston [[April 7, 1979)
Syreeta Wright [[April 7, 1979)
Rick James [[November 18, 1978, October 20, 1979, October 11, 1980, June 13, 1981 and October 17, 1981)
Teena Marie [[October 20, 1979, October 18, 1980 and April 18, 1981)^
DeBarge [[October 30, 1982 and December 10, 1983)
Bunny DeBarge [[April 18, 1987)
Chico DeBarge [[March 21, 1987, October 17, 1987 and June 13, 1998)
El DeBarge [[March 11, 1989)
Georgio [[April 29, 1989)
Stacy Lattisaw [[April 28, 1990)
Johnny Gill [[May 5, 1990, March 9, 1991,
Today [[March 25, 1989 and June 23, 1990)
The Good Girls [[November 4, 1989, June 23, 1990 and April 3, 1993)
The Boys [[November 3, 1990 and June 13, 1992)
Gerald Alston [[March 9, 1991)
Shanice Wilson [[January 18, 1992 and January 23, 1993)

----
I'm gonna stop here lol

* - Gladys & the Pips of course appear on it on May 4, 1974 singing "On & On" and "Neither One of Us". Their other appearances were on May 17, 1980 [[salute to Gladys Knight & the Pips) and April 9, 1988. Gladys Knight appeared in one more episode afterwards [[October 5, 1991 - tribute to Gladys Knight; three days to the day she and the Pips performed on the show's first episode on October 2, 1971).

** - The Jackson 5 performed as the Jacksons on February 3, 1979 releasing the "Destiny" album on Epic Records.

*** - Marvin appeared one last time on May 11, 1983 [["Tribute to Marvin Gaye") after the release of "Midnight Love".

# - Jermaine showed up again in 1989.

$$ - Ruffin & Kendricks performed together in the late 1980s [[I'm not gonna search the date, okay?)

Teena Marie performed on the show numerous times after leaving Motown into the final episodes.

^^ The Temptations performed on December 30, 1978 during their brief Atlantic Records tenure with Louis Price.

The Four Tops were the only Motown group to show up AFTER leaving Motown. I think they performed during their return to Motown, I forget the year though.

Of course we know of Diana's appearance/performance in 1981.

----
You can correct me later. I'm done! LOL

The Temptations also appeared in February 1978.

David Ruffin also appeared in 1979 after he'd left Motown and performed "Break My Heart".

[blackguy69]

The Temptations also appeared in February 1978.

David Ruffin also appeared in 1979 after he'd left Motown and performed "Break My Heart".

marv you didn’t catch what midnight said he didn’t include their post Motown appearances

[marv2]

marv you didn’t catch what midnight said he didn’t include their post Motown appearances

I don't understand what difference does it make? Motown did not own Soul Train. The artists were the artists regardless of what label they were signed to or ripped off by!!!

[blackguy69]

Midnight you did miss a few more episodes:
The Miracles appeared June 23, 1973, September 28, 1974 and November 28, 1975.
Smokey Robinson was a special guest on June 23, 1973
The Undisputed Truth appeared on December 6, 1975
Yvonne Fair appeared September 28, 1974
Willie Hutch appeared July 7, 1973 and August 23, 1975

[blackguy69]

I don't understand what difference does it make? Motown did not own Soul Train. The artists were the artists regardless of what label they were signed to or ripped off by!!!

The list would be longer. He tried to confine it to signed Motown artists at the time of their appearance. He could have easily listed The Spinners, Mary Wells, The Isley Brothers, Kim Weston. The Emotions....you get the point.

[blackguy69]

Forgot Edwin Starr and Sisters Love and Thelma Houston

[Boogiedown]

wow. impressive . maybe for the question with the shorter answer it should have been ,"which Motown artists did NOT perform on SOUL TRAIN?"

Are we down to just Miss Ross??

[blackguy69]

wow. impressive . maybe for the question with the shorter answer it should have been ,"which Motown artists did NOT perform on SOUL TRAIN?"

Are we down to just Miss Ross??

technically The only ones that didn’t were either disbanded or left prior to ST being on the air

[marv2]

The list would be longer. He tried to confine it to signed Motown artists at the time of their appearance. He could have easily listed The Spinners, Mary Wells, The Isley Brothers, Kim Weston. The Emotions....you get the point.

No because it does not make sense. David Ruffin sounded and looked like David Ruffin whether he was singing a song he recorded while signed to Motown or signed to Warner Brothers. I can promise you that fans of Gladys Knight and the Pips remained fans of the group once they moved on to Buddha Records. Same thing with many of the artists that left Motown.

[marv2]

wow. impressive . maybe for the question with the shorter answer it should have been ,"which Motown artists did NOT perform on SOUL TRAIN?"

Are we down to just Miss Ross??

It looks like it was Diana Ross that avoided Soul Train as much as possible.

[blackguy69]

No because it does not make sense. David Ruffin sounded and looked like David Ruffin whether he was singing a song he recorded while signed to Motown or signed to Warner Brothers. I can promise you that fans of Gladys Knight and the Pips remained fans of the group once they moved on to Buddha Records. Same thing with many of the artists that left Motown.

Marv you’re making a big deal out of nothing. It isn’t that serious. Midnight only focused on Motown artists at the time of their appearance. He even listed some of their post Motown appearances . It ain’t a federal case.

[midnightman]

LOL I didn't even know Marvin was making a big deal about my post. All I was doing was putting a list of Motown artists who was on the show. Good Lord. Soul Train was an institution but because I'm not criticizing why a certain Motown legend didn't go on the show until later years, it's investigated like a Lipstick Alley thread???

Oh well. I enjoy all the Motown legends who were on the show anyways... that's what matters.

[marv2]

Marv you’re making a big deal out of nothing. It isn’t that serious. Midnight only focused on Motown artists at the time of their appearance. He even listed some of their post Motown appearances . It ain’t a federal case.

No I'm not......you are! Have you forgotten that you were the one that felt the need to explain to me that what they were looking for were just the appearances of the artists while they were signed to Motown. It's just a bit weird to me especially knowing that many of the artists continued to appear on Soul Train after leaving Motown.

[marv2]

Marv you’re making a big deal out of nothing. It isn’t that serious. Midnight only focused on Motown artists at the time of their appearance. He even listed some of their post Motown appearances . It ain’t a federal case.

Also, haven't you heard, "Once a Motowner, always a Motowner"? Imagine what "Motown 25" would have been like if they excluded all the artists that were no longer with the label by March of 1983. Crickets...........

[marv2]

LOL I didn't even know Marvin was making a big deal about my post. All I was doing was putting a list of Motown artists who was on the show. Good Lord. Soul Train was an institution but because I'm not criticizing why a certain Motown legend didn't go on the show until later years, it's investigated like a Lipstick Alley thread???

Oh well. I enjoy all the Motown legends who were on the show anyways... that's what matters.

I don't know what lipstick alley is, but how can you put out a song like "Love Hangover" right in the middle of the Disco era and not go on Soul Train to perform it? I'm glad Aretha did not think like that or I would not have gotten to see and hear her perform songs from "Sparkle" which were excellent!

[TheMotownManiac]

BFD .....I don’t care if she was on Soul Train or not. I just wish she had done more TV period. I think these shows are boring and fake with all the lipping. Ross was too far above cheese fests like this or American Bandstand - which ST is a copy of. With the limited viewership of ST, if she’s going to take the time to do TV, get a bigger market share than this, please. All of the Motown acts listed that appeared were, for the most part, plugging failed singles or past their prime. MJ never did it either, did he?

[PeaceNHarmony]

BFD .....I don’t care if she was on Soul Train or not. I just wish she had done more TV period. I think these shows are boring and fake with all the lipping. Ross was too far above cheese fests like this or American Bandstand - which ST is a copy of. With the limited viewership of ST, if she’s going to take the time to do TV, get a bigger market share than this, please. All of the Motown acts listed that appeared were, for the most part, plugging failed singles or past their prime. MJ never did it either, did he?

Interesting; I never knew that MJ did not appear on Soul Train ...

[TomatoTom123]

I think midnight was just keeping it to Motown acts that performed on Soul Train when they were actually at Motown just to keep the list a bit shorter and more relevant, that's all

[blackguy69]

I think midnight was just keeping it to Motown acts that performed on Soul Train when they were actually at Motown just to keep the list a bit shorter and more relevant, that's all

thats what I told marv and you saw his response. And to answer another question if some have actually watched ST they would know that artists that appear on ST have the option of singing live or lip syncing hence a good number of Motown artists did sing live.

[blackguy69]

To answer another question only the first season they had limited viewers. They expanded and met their goals and expanded from there. Plus ST pulled off something that AB couldn’t do. They got David Bowie and Elton John to appear and Elton sang live.

[midnightman]

To answer another question only the first season they had limited viewers. They expanded and met their goals and expanded from there. Plus ST pulled off something that AB couldn’t do. They got David Bowie and Elton John to appear and Elton sang live.

I remember watching the documentary on ST and yeah many didn't think the show would last after the first season, which is why a lot of the acts in the first season were not, like, the top rated ones.

[midnightman]

I think midnight was just keeping it to Motown acts that performed on Soul Train when they were actually at Motown just to keep the list a bit shorter and more relevant, that's all

That's it. That's all I was doing.

[midnightman]

To answer another question only the first season they had limited viewers. They expanded and met their goals and expanded from there. Plus ST pulled off something that AB couldn’t do. They got David Bowie and Elton John to appear and Elton sang live.

And also remember, James Brown took two seasons before he performed on there...

As soon as Marvin returned to promoting his music, Soul Train was one of the first programs he got back on to promote his music. Not American Bandstand, SOUL TRAIN!

[Boogiedown]

Very clever of Motown to continually feed virtually every act from their roster as SOUL TRAIN guests , and very clever of SOUL TRAIN to make use of that resource regularly. A win win relationship. I wonder how physically far from each other the Motown studios and the SOUL TRAIN stages were , and how convenient was it for Motown to send an act over. I'm imagining that whenever Don Cornelius had an unexpected hole to fill, he could call over to Motown , and they'd say "no problem".

And when there was no one currently to push, they'd send over Eddie Kendricks. lol!

[marv2]

Very clever of Motown to continually feed virtually every act from their roster as SOUL TRAIN guests , and very clever of SOUL TRAIN to make use of that resource regularly. A win win relationship. I wonder how physically far from each other the Motown studios and the SOUL TRAIN stages were , and how convenient was it for Motown to send an act over. I'm imagining that whenever Don Cornelius had an unexpected hole to fill, he could call over to Motown , and they'd say "no problem".

And when there was no one currently to push, they'd send Eddie Kendricks over. lol!

That is exactly what Motown did in the early days when it's artists would regularly appear on "Swingin' Time" hosted by Robin Seymour in Windsor, Canada. They would also send their artist over to CKLW radio station on promo visits whenever they had a new release.