The Hippest Trip in America

For those of you not hitting the town tonight and looking for something to watch on TV, look no further than VH1. At 9:30 PM, they'll be premiering Soul Train: The Hippest Trip In America, the newest episode in their Rock Docs series. Soul Train was the soul/funk/R&B/blues answer to shows like American Bandstand, and for 1,100 episodes would showcase not only the hottest acts, but the hippest dance moves that would be sure to hit the clubs after being seen on the show. In fact, the show holds the record for the longest first-run series in syndication history, as it ran for 35 years. Yeah, 35 years. Insane, right? If you take a look at the line-ups that the show featured, you'll be blown away (find them here if you're curious).

Fast forward to February 6th, 2010, and you'll be able to watch a documentary shining a light onto the history of the monumental series. It's scored by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots, so you know that even if you're just listening to the music it's gonna be off the hook. Along with original footage will be commentary by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Sly Stone, Clive Davis, Smokey Robinson, Snoop Dogg, and others. Put it all together, and it"s gonna be 90 minutes of television that you won't want to miss.

To get your earbuds yearning, here are a few of the songs that were featured on the very first episode back in October of 1971.

Gladys Knight & The Pips - I Don't Want To Do Wrong : Hitsville U.S.A., The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 [Disc 4]

Eddie Kendricks - It's So Hard for Me to Say Good-Bye : Keep on Truckin': The Motown Solo Albums, Vol. 1

The Honey Cone - Want Ads (Long Version) : Soulful Sugar: The Complete Hot Wax Recordings

Visit the official Soul Train website.