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Thread started 01/22/12 1:28pm

skipp3Rn3ls0n

Anyone else find the American Bandstand performance/interview kind of awkward and hard to watch?

I understand it was his first time on National television and he was nervous, but...

*cringe*

PS. Wasn't he 21? He said he was 19, but I could've sworn he was 21 :\

✿"Ɖon'т ʏσʋ κnσω, sтrαιɢнт нαιr αιn'т ɢσт nσ cʋrℓ"✿
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Reply #1 posted 01/22/12 6:17pm

vainandy

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skipp3Rn3ls0n said:

I understand it was his first time on National television and he was nervous, but...

*cringe*

PS. Wasn't he 21? He said he was 19, but I could've sworn he was 21 :\

My favorite television performance of his ever. Those skin tight satin spandex pants, the slinging of the hair, the part where you wonder if he kissed Dez or just whispered something to him, the prancing across the stage, the fish pose with his hand on his hip while introducing the band, and the huge hoop earring in his right ear. It was his gayest performance ever and the first time I ever laid eyes on him. I loved it!

Andy is a four letter word.
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Reply #2 posted 01/22/12 6:19pm

CrabalockerFis
hwife

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lol

No, I hate the performane too. I hate his look back then, and the performance and interview were nothing special.

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Reply #3 posted 01/22/12 6:24pm

Digifuwill

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Yeah...it's one of those "cringe" moments!

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Reply #4 posted 01/22/12 6:45pm

imago

How any of you could watch that performance and not tell

that Prince occasionally (ok ok, frequently) got it up

the butt, is beyond me.

Had Prince been just a tiny bit more scared than he was

on stage, his heart would burst, and the poor little girl

would have exploded and showered the viewing audience

with glitter, that's just how gay it was.

I loved that performance. Cringeworthy but delicious.

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Reply #5 posted 01/22/12 6:58pm

babyjubilation

imago said:

How any of you could watch that performance and not tell

that Prince occasionally (ok ok, frequently) got it up

the butt, is beyond me.

Had Prince been just a tiny bit more scared than he was

on stage, his heart would burst, and the poor little girl

would have exploded and showered the viewing audience

with glitter, that's just how gay it was.

I loved that performance. Cringeworthy but delicious.

lol OMG!

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Reply #6 posted 01/22/12 7:11pm

CrabalockerFis
hwife

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falloff

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Reply #7 posted 01/22/12 7:22pm

FunkySideEffec
ts

avatar

imago said:

How any of you could watch that performance and not tell


that Prince occasionally (ok ok, frequently) got it up


the butt, is beyond me.



Had Prince been just a tiny bit more scared than he was


on stage, his heart would burst, and the poor little girl


would have exploded and showered the viewing audience


with glitter, that's just how gay it was.




I loved that performance. Cringeworthy but delicious.



Too true - if this were the very first performance to see of Prince one would question his sexuality.

Why did he lie about his age though??
pray Peace in the House of Prince.
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Reply #8 posted 01/22/12 8:45pm

Jamzone333

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Prince was just so nervous. I was trying to be cool, but he had made it and I think he was even in shock that he was talking to Dick Clark on American Bandstand. fro

[Edited 1/22/12 20:46pm]

[Edited 1/22/12 20:47pm]

"A united state of mind will never be divided
The real definition of unity is 1
People can slam their door, disagree and fight it
But how U gonna love the Father but not love the Son?
United States of Division"
gigglebowfroguitar
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Reply #9 posted 01/22/12 8:49pm

Jamzone333

avatar

Jamzone333 said:

Prince was just so nervous. He was trying to be cool, but he had made it and I think he was even in shock that he was talking to Dick Clark on American Bandstand. fro

[Edited 1/22/12 20:47pm]

"A united state of mind will never be divided
The real definition of unity is 1
People can slam their door, disagree and fight it
But how U gonna love the Father but not love the Son?
United States of Division"
gigglebowfroguitar
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Reply #10 posted 01/22/12 9:00pm

vainandy

avatar

imago said:

How any of you could watch that performance and not tell

that Prince occasionally (ok ok, frequently) got it up

the butt, is beyond me.

Had Prince been just a tiny bit more scared than he was

on stage, his heart would burst, and the poor little girl

would have exploded and showered the viewing audience

with glitter, that's just how gay it was.

I loved that performance. Cringeworthy but delicious.

falloff

Andy is a four letter word.
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Reply #11 posted 01/22/12 9:02pm

vainandy

avatar

FunkySideEffects said:

imago said:

How any of you could watch that performance and not tell

that Prince occasionally (ok ok, frequently) got it up

the butt, is beyond me.

Had Prince been just a tiny bit more scared than he was

on stage, his heart would burst, and the poor little girl

would have exploded and showered the viewing audience

with glitter, that's just how gay it was.

I loved that performance. Cringeworthy but delicious.

Too true - if this were the very first performance to see of Prince one would question his sexuality. Why did he lie about his age though??

It's the first time I ever saw Prince and it stuck with me forever. First impressions are a motherfucker and I don't care what nobody or even Prince says himself, that bitch is gayer than a Donna Summer record. lol

Andy is a four letter word.
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Reply #12 posted 01/23/12 8:48am

alphachannel

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Hard to watch but nothing tops the Beverly Theatre fiasco from August of '83...

I've heard conflicting stories about the Bandstand appearance. Pepe Willie says that Prince was totally nervous and unprepared for the spotlight. Dez however says it was all planned, adding that he thought it was a bad idea that made everyone look dumb...

Either way it's apparent he received some sort of "coaching" over the next few years, if nothing else you can tell this was before starting his dance lessons -- just look at the Solid Gold performace two years later

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Reply #13 posted 01/23/12 8:56am

TheDigitalGard
ener

It was all mimed/lip synced, the band never played a note and Prince never sang a note. Not what i'd call a performance.

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Reply #14 posted 01/23/12 8:56am

Dave1992

vainandy said:

skipp3Rn3ls0n said:

I understand it was his first time on National television and he was nervous, but...

*cringe*

PS. Wasn't he 21? He said he was 19, but I could've sworn he was 21 :\

My favorite television performance of his ever. Those skin tight satin spandex pants, the slinging of the hair, the part where you wonder if he kissed Dez or just whispered something to him, the prancing across the stage, the fish pose with his hand on his hip while introducing the band, and the huge hoop earring in his right ear. It was his gayest performance ever and the first time I ever laid eyes on him. I loved it!

I'm quite sure he actually whispered to Dez to "play" the guitar solo, as his guitar strap broke seconds before. Hence the nodding of Dez.

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Reply #15 posted 01/23/12 9:10am

thedance

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I love this performance. smile

But I am not that big a critic like some of you are.

Imo it was pretty cool, holding those fingers up as an answer. (we are talking about that 1979 or was it 1980 - performance?)...

Prince 4Ever. heart
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Reply #16 posted 01/23/12 9:23am

2020

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What are you kidding me? This was an amazing performance and shows Prince at his very beginning.

Yes, he lip synched as did all performers/bands that were on AB back in the day.

And come on we all know that his not talking was part of the whole shroud of mystery he was creating for himself as an artist. This type of behaviour has been well documented. However, I truly do think he just didnt like talking back then so they used it their advantage.

I love it! As Dick Clark once said "the most difficult interview I ever did was with a young musician from Minneapolis, MN called Prince"

The greatest live performer of our times was is and always will be Prince.

Remember there is only one destination and that place is U
All of it. Everything. Is U.
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Reply #17 posted 01/23/12 12:48pm

FunkySideEffec
ts

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This interview/performance was pretty rare, there's no way you'd ever see Prince act like this again.

But I got to say as far as cringeworthy interviews go... have you seen the Charlotte Roche interview? ...not that it was really P's fault.

pray Peace in the House of Prince.
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Reply #18 posted 01/23/12 1:39pm

JediMaster

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I believe it was deliberate. The "gay" antics, the weird, reserved responses. Prince was completely going for the whole "mysterious" thing (was he black or white, straight or gay?). It ultimately made him just look like an idiot, but he (fortunately) got better at creating the mysterious persona with his next record.

jedi

Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones. (Ecclesiastes 7:9)
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Reply #19 posted 01/23/12 2:38pm

DerekH

TheDigitalGardener said:

It was all mimed/lip synced, the band never played a note and Prince never sang a note. Not what i'd call a performance.

The interview part of "Bandstand" was a little awkward since Prince barely spoke, but I liked the performance, especially "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad".

Nobody ever really performed "live" on Bandstand as long as I can remember. They all played along to and/or lip-synced to pre-recorded tracks, even when band would have their gear onstage, none of it was turned on. It was the same way when Prince was on "Solid Gold", I don't think there were many "live" performances on that show. Some people played live on Soul Train in the 70s, but most people lip synched there, too.

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Reply #20 posted 01/23/12 3:08pm

SPYZFAN1

I remember that Monday morning in school.. P's debut on Bandstand was the only thing we talked about all day. Everything vainandy said was right...

"IS HE GAY"?.."DID HE KISS THE GUITAR PLAYER?"..."WHY DOES HE HAVE A EARRING IN HIS RIGHT EAR?".."I DIDN'T KNOW HE COULD PLAY GUITAR??!!.

And it worked..because everyone at school (black and white/male and female) spoke about him and LIKED him.

Truly one of my favorite P TV moments.

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Reply #21 posted 01/23/12 5:45pm

nursev

Thirty years later and I still can't watch this shit lol I know Dick Clark was like WTF!
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Reply #22 posted 01/23/12 7:43pm

vainandy

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SPYZFAN1 said:

I remember that Monday morning in school.. P's debut on Bandstand was the only thing we talked about all day. Everything vainandy said was right...

"IS HE GAY"?.."DID HE KISS THE GUITAR PLAYER?"..."WHY DOES HE HAVE A EARRING IN HIS RIGHT EAR?".."I DIDN'T KNOW HE COULD PLAY GUITAR??!!.

And it worked..because everyone at school (black and white/male and female) spoke about him and LIKED him.

Truly one of my favorite P TV moments.

It was the first time I ever saw him and those first impressions with all that bold "in your face" gayness with the "fuck you if you don't like it" attitude definitely helped my little gay 7th grade ass to cope with things. Before, when I had thought gay, I thought of a nerdy ballet lesson taking, classical music listening sissy, but here this queen was with this funky ass disco/funk as his first song and kick ass hard rock as his second song on the show and it just shattered those weak stereotypes. And if that wasn't enough, there was not only that earring in the right ear, but a big ass hoop so you couldn't miss it. It was like sending a message...."here it is and fuck you if you don't like it". That performance stuck with me forever.

Andy is a four letter word.
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Reply #23 posted 01/23/12 8:03pm

FunkiestOne

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He was just acting like a freak to be different and get attention. It has worked for Lady GaGa. Anyway good that he refined his public persona as he went along.

But yes of course it was a largely calculated 'act'.

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Reply #24 posted 01/23/12 10:17pm

ladygirl99

I seen this too when VH1 came on at the time they did those marathons and I thought it was strange but cool how Prince did that mysterious persona. The time did the same thing when they debut on Soul Train around 1982 or something and act that mysterious act when Don interview Morris Day. I said, Prince surely train them well. lol

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Reply #25 posted 01/23/12 10:48pm

Timmy84

Nah I dug it especially for Prince's wardrobe and behavior. lol

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Reply #26 posted 01/24/12 1:37am

Dren5

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FunkiestOne said:

He was just acting like a freak to be different and get attention. It has worked for Lady GaGa. Anyway good that he refined his public persona as he went along.

But yes of course it was a largely calculated 'act'.

It's interesting to read when people say that because I never got that impression; I always thought it was genuine nerves and extreme shyness.

When I was a teenager I was like that and literally wouldn't talk to people unless I had absolutely no choice; I'd just nod or shake my head. So honestly it seemed pretty legit to me. Put an already shy person in a situation like that and yeah they might go mute on you and start holding up fingers instead lol.

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Reply #27 posted 01/28/12 4:05am

leftcoast

skipp3Rn3ls0n said:

I understand it was his first time on National television and he was nervous, but...

*cringe*

PS. Wasn't he 21? He said he was 19, but I could've sworn he was 21 :\

Dick Clark was a bit of a dick. That comment about P's music not sounding like something from Minneapolis was so condescending! I don't know whether that effected the interview or not, maybe it did.

BTW - you're correct - he was 21. I read somewhere that his early handlers had told him to shave a few years off his age to make him more appealing to the teen age market.

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Reply #28 posted 01/28/12 5:09pm

HonestMan13

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No.

When eye go 2 a Prince concert or related event it's all heart up in the house but when eye log onto this site and the miasma of bitchiness is completely overwhelming!
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Reply #29 posted 01/29/12 11:28am

eyewishuheaven

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Dave1992 said:

vainandy said:

My favorite television performance of his ever. Those skin tight satin spandex pants, the slinging of the hair, the part where you wonder if he kissed Dez or just whispered something to him, the prancing across the stage, the fish pose with his hand on his hip while introducing the band, and the huge hoop earring in his right ear. It was his gayest performance ever and the first time I ever laid eyes on him. I loved it!

I'm quite sure he actually whispered to Dez to "play" the guitar solo, as his guitar strap broke seconds before. Hence the nodding of Dez.

This. I actually find this performance hard to watch because of that unfortunate occurrence. As a guitar player myself, seeing that guitar drop is like watching a friend accidentally drive off a cliff. omg

PRINCE: the only man who could wear high heels and makeup and STILL steal your woman!
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Forums > Prince: Music and More > Anyone else find the American Bandstand performance/interview kind of awkward and hard to watch?