by Billy Ingram

From TVparty reader Ray Mora comes an amazing find - an ultra-rare episode of Soul Alive starring WWRL radio DJ "Golden Voice" Gerry Bledsoe. Soul Alive aired during 1978 in New York City for an hour on WPIX channel 11 Saturday mornings at 11:00am.

A staple of TV markets around the country in the 1960s, local dance shows were rare by the late-seventies; they fell out of favor at the end of the 1960s and we aren't likely to see a revival. (Then again, you never know. Similar in nature, nationally broadcast Dance Party USA was a hit in the 1980s.)

With the Disco craze in full swing and nationally syndicated Soul Train still hot on Saturdays, WPIX saw an opportunity to bring that stone cold format back to TV screens.

The main feature on Soul Alive was the heated competition between dancers representing some of the City's top discotheques or local high schools. The winning couple's names were delivered via the 'Mechanical Hand' - they could collect a bounty of prizes including a trip, new sound system or might end up with a package that included Bic disposable shavers. Well, they were new then!

Big name guest stars frequented the program, after all, this was the number one TV market in the world and a lot of record albums were sold in the city of New York. On this episode, Cissy Houston lip-synced her latest single while the Rolling Stones appeared in a video.

One regular (and unintentionally hilarious) segment of the show saw dancers revealing their working life in pictures that were mixed into their solo spots. Similarly, when schools competed, a profile of the student body was aired.

Elliot V writes, "I remember my school (John F. Kennedy H.S. in the Bronx) holding internal dance tryouts for our upcoming appearance." Unfortunately, the show was cancelled before Elliot's school made it on the air.

There was no place in the world where you would find better dancers than in the Big Apple in the 1970s, hence there was no shortage of experienced hoofers with the smooth moves eager to strut their stuff for TV exposure. They even boogied down on roller skates which were also hot again in 1978. The on set DJ worked the hyperkinetic crowd by playing extended remix versions of the hits rather than the singles you'd typically hear on American Bandstand and Soul Train.

Silver-tongued host Gerry Bledsoe was a legendary voice in New York. With a cool on-air demeanor, he was known to break out into effervescent raps about peace, love and soul between the high-energy tunes and he ended every program with, "Keep your minds together, you're hearts full of love, and keep that thing that we call soul alive."

Little has been written about Gerald Bledsoe but he was a big influence on a number of present day broadcasters. He died of a heart attack at age 51 on September 27, 1994.

Dancers are shown on the disco floor and at their glamorous jobs - Quicktime

More examples of "Golden Voice" Gerry Bledsoe's soulful raps and the close of the show - Quicktime

I too remember Soul Alive. It showed off the latest dance trends and positive facts about what was happening in the NYC High Schools like Kennedy, Boys and Girls, Richmond, Seward Park, Franklin, etc. A dance called The Hustle was very popular during this time. High school students use to show off the latest trends, to include Calvin Klein, Jordache and Sassoon Jeans. What’s also important to remember is that hair styles were neat and the pants didn’t hang off the butt. The show aired for about 1 hour with commercial breaks. The introduction was always the same- “SOUL ALIVE” - then intro music like Salsoul Orchestra (Salsoul Rainbow) - then the voice, "’m Gerry Bledsoe today’s school is from...", then a close up of dancers like they do on Soul Train.

The dance atmosphere was less attractive than Soul Train or American Bandstand. There weren’t a lot of graphic displays. It didn’t matter because when the music was playing each High School danced to the funky beats like Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, Rock Creek Park (Blackbyrds), Fatback band (Bus Stop) and other significant chart busters.

This show was also during the era of the newly born RAP era. Any person who went to High School in New York loved to watch the show. The show was pretty much Black and Puerto Ricans from the 5 Boroughs. It has been a great memory for me.

- Frederick A. Clark

Classic TV!

- Claire Beaudrot (now married as "Aloisio")

I was such a fan of that show from day one when they focused on High Schools and wrote letters to get Tottenville on Staten Island on but the high school never made it but I did! This is all really important to me as the girl I danced with on the show back in the day is now sick with M.S. (Multiple Sclerosis) and it would bring her so much joy to see herself young, hopeful and strong. We went to the Museum of TV in New York, they didn't even know what we were talking about or who Gerry Bledsoe was. Gerry was awesome I used to listen to him on 1600 WWRL because they played disco tunes before WKTU came on the air. What a sin he died so young, he was one cool guy.
 
Thanx, Harry Frank Towers

- Sorry Harry - this is the only known surviving episode pof Soul Alive.

Anyone have any information to add about Soul Alive or Gerry Bledsoe?

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