funk

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, I'm With You, officially dropped today (or yesterday, depending on where you are) but has been streaming as an iTunes preview for the past week. This sort of move shows confidence: After all, if you can legally listen to the whole album without buying it, the powers that be must expect a good portion of listeners to love it enough to buy.

So, is it that good? Eh, not so much, if you ask me.

Today’s BitchTapes is a tribute to Soul Train, which saw its syndicated debut on October 2, 1971. As we look back, 38 years later, on this legacy of funk, we see the show did more than open the ears of its fans to the smooth, soul-hits of so many black artists of the time. Soul Train acted as a cultural bridge. For viewers it was THE place to go for clues on the newest fashion and the hottest dance moves. As well as being a hub of style, Soul Train also boasted substance. The Soul Train Scramble was a mini-lesson in African-American history. Once the puzzle had been solved, host Don Cornelius would place the person who had been the answer to the scramble in context, ending the homage with a motto, "…whose name you should know…"