I was looking at the history of Dick Clark's American Music Awards a couple of days before on VH-1. The show had a segment on the LIL MAN's appearances on the AMAs. I notice however, that they choose to focus on his eccentric behavior{not wanting anybody on his row to look at him while being seated at the 85'AMAs and his causing a lot of confusion on what to call him on the 95 AMAs after his name change) instead of the music.

So I decided to whip out my tape of his "Purple Rain" performance on the 1985 AMAs. Now I've seen LIL MAN in concert several times over the years. And yes, I get tired of Purple Rain, but this performance was classic. He put every note where it was supposed to be and the guitar solo was great. His vocals were especially great. He sung the song with a lot of conviction and passion. Liked how he kicked the microphone stand over as he went into the second phrase of his guitar solo. One of the AMAs best musical moments. Something they should have highlighted, instead of his persona. LIL MAN truly asserted his status as Your Royal Badness with this performance.

Fun! I just downloaded this great performance today, classic really.
Sadly after this he often reduced the song to 1 verse and a guitar solo (like the famous '90 Tokyo version that's circulating). Only recently does he perform it again in its entirety! The European ONA versions were great!

Ah yes, I remember it well.

He was was at the top of the charts, his name was everywhere, and he obviously knew it.

Even the way they set up the stage was wonderful. The outfit just perfect, and yes, he was in pure form!

I've been doing a lot of flashbacks these days, and they only prove to me that my enjoyment of Prince is timeless.

Funny you should say that. I've been doing a lot of flashbacks too and found that my enjoyment of seeing your face was also timeless until you decided to replace your avatar with a mugshot of Prince, LaVisHh...

.

giotto said:

Hey now, that was sneaky.

Oh, alright. I will put it back, but it's coming back down if anyone gets freaky on me again!

Brother915 said:

I have to look but isn't it Cyndi Lauper who goes in a frenzy in the audience when he does this? I know there is some lady who does it but Lauper claimed it was her.

twinge of mock jealousy towards ya'll old-skoolers...i wuz only 4 years old back in '85, so i have no clue about any of this...keepin an eye on the thread

LaVisHh said:

Yes. This peformance is so superior. It's really sad when you look at most performances on these awards shows nowadays ...so pale in comparsion to something like this. They come out and perform. And everything is so by the book and stale{lip sync then after the performance, have the nerve to stand there in a pose as if they're expecting a standing ovation}. Sometimes I wish someone like Prince would perform on the AMA or grammies just to give these newer cookie-cutter performers/artists some basic fundamentals of live performance.

Brother915 said:

I couldn't have said it better myself. So true.

Excellent performance indeed. Always loved that he got that standing ovation from the crowd and then mere hours later, the It person of the moment didn't show up at USA For Africa which was THE industry event of the year. Classic Prince!!!

And yeah, RD that was Cyndi Lauper getting all spastic after the mike kick. If you all check the tape, you can also see Madonna taking in the performance. Let's just say she doesn't look quite as enthused!!!

Matt

This was PRince's greatest moment on TV. It is closely followed by his performance at the Grammies of the same year. He simply tore the house down with Baby Im a star. TheChris Rock Show would have to be in there are well for great TV performances. Face Down was never so funky and Prince is actually cursing on natl TV

chaos96 said:

Yeah...that's just like your Royal Badness to pull something like that .

I have to pull the tape back out and watch it again for Lauper's reaction. I missed that.

BLACKMF said:

Agreed. That "Baby, I'm A Star performance is INCREDIBLE (mike stand slap in the face included!!) And that little cocky run into the audience at the end is priceless!! Chick's big ol' hamhocks knocking people out of the way as he runs up the aisle. Prince at his absolute (commercial) peak,

Matt

Brother915 said:

Aaaamen.

People asking me about where to get it: look on Kazaa. It should be there.
I finished my download of it today (but started downloading 2 weeks ago already!...)
So it can take quite long- forgot to mention this in my first post

So true so true...this was Prince at his finest. When Prince is at the top of his game he is untouchable!

Brother915 said:

Yeah, that sounds like VH-1. That's all they focus on whenever they show Prince( with the exception of a few programs) . I'm not too fond of that station...

LaVisHh said:

Ditto...

rdhull said:

You're right, it was Cyndi. I haven't seen this performance in its entirety since it originally aired, and I distinctly remember Cyndi jumping out of her seat when Prince knocked the mike stand down. This is such a great moment. The crowd is completely overpowered, as if reckoning the arrival of a new guitar hero. I'd vote it the most significant live tv performance Prince ever did, his "moonwalk".

LaVisHh said:

I second this!

I was in high school back then and I remember the anticipation and excitement I felt all day long whenever Prince (or Sheila!) would be slated to appear on an awards program. Getting through the day, watching the clock, waiting for the program to start was torture.

And when Prince would finally come out to perform, it was just magic. So much excitement and energy.

Awards shows these days are nowhere near that level anymore, unfortunately. Brother915 is right - Prince needs to give today's 'artists' some lessons in live performance!!