Curious City

Soul Train: How Chicago birthed the “hippest trip in America”

08.17.2023 - By WBEZ ChicagoPlay

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For more than 3 decades, Soul Train brought the coolest music and dancers to TV sets across the country. It also featured the coolest host, Don Cornelius, who started the program in Chicago in a studio the size of a small living room at WCIU Channel 26. On the 53rd anniversary of Soul Train going national, we take you back to its earliest days, and see how it still looms large over local culture.

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