Prince did win three or four American Music Awards in 1985.

He also won two or three Grammy Awards for the year 1984, but back then the award shows were televised live in 1985. Idk how they handle the Oscar, American Music, and Grammy Award shows in recent years. Don't get much of a chance to watch anymore.

That was nice of Prince.

Elle85n09 said:

He also won two or three Grammy Awards for the year 1984, but back then the award shows were televised live in 1985. Idk how they handle the Oscar, American Music, and Grammy Award shows in recent years. Don't get much of a chance to watch anymore.

he didn't win the top awards like song of the year, record of the year

At that time. He was fortunate enough to win what he won. They only let a few in. Mj was let in after the shun of his OTW album with Thriller. They wouldn't give it to another one...

jackson35 said:

Elle85n09 said:

He also won two or three Grammy Awards for the year 1984, but back then the award shows were televised live in 1985. Idk how they handle the Oscar, American Music, and Grammy Award shows in recent years. Don't get much of a chance to watch anymore.

he didn't win the top awards like song of the year, record of the year

ok this is getting childish. what is your point??? if dick clark got "even" as you say, 30 years ago, what does that prove about what Prince is feeling now? what facts do you have the Dick Clark and Prince has never had any friendly communication over the years. Where are your facts of the now?

wonder505 said:

jackson35 said:

he didn't win the top awards like song of the year, record of the year

ok this is getting childish. what is your point??? if dick clark got "even" as you say, 30 years ago, what does that prove about what Prince is feeling now? what facts do you have the Dick Clark and Prince has never had any friendly communication over the years. Where are your facts of the now?

why would prince talk to dick clark after he snubbed purple rain for album of the year for lionel ritchie can't slow down album?

jackson35 said:

wonder505 said:

ok this is getting childish. what is your point??? if dick clark got "even" as you say, 30 years ago, what does that prove about what Prince is feeling now? what facts do you have the Dick Clark and Prince has never had any friendly communication over the years. Where are your facts of the now?

why would prince talk to dick clark after he snubbed purple rain for album of the year for lionel ritchie can't slow down album?

Soooo....

My question is why are YOU hanging onto this?

Let. It. Go.

(Unless you suffered some kind of irreparable damage from "being in the know" 30 years ago...)

**If you're this serious about a perceived "thing" between DC & P, then you must be a joy to behold when someone in your real life "does you wrong".

Sees someone from grammar school in the mall: "You took my toy and gave me 'cooties' back in 3rd grade! I will NEVER EVER forgive you!!"

Sad, Dude.

nobody is hanging on to anything. the topic is prince write tribute to dick Clark. as a former employee of fargnoli& cavallo, i witness him being disrespectful to him so i'm wondering how sincere is he? he has a tendency to show a certain level of respect when there are dead and not when they are alive. this is not a serious issue for me, it just an observation.

jackson35 said:

nobody is hanging on to anything. the topic is prince write tribute to dick Clark. as a former employee of fargnoli& cavallo, i witness him being disrespectful to him so i'm wondering how sincere is he? he has a tendency to show a certain level of respect when there are dead and not when they are alive. this is not a serious issue for me, it just an observation.

[Snip - luv4u]

jackson35 said:

jackson35 said:

wonder505 said:

ok this is getting childish. what is your point??? if dick clark got "even" as you say, 30 years ago, what does that prove about what Prince is feeling now? what facts do you have the Dick Clark and Prince has never had any friendly communication over the years. Where are your facts of the now?

why would prince talk to dick clark after he snubbed purple rain for album of the year for lionel ritchie can't slow down album?

why would he not? and how do you know they never exchanged communication?

you have a right to believe in what you believe, its just that you're not in the "know" or Prince circle now, your basing your "observation" on an incident that happened 30 years ago and that to me does not warrant questioning somone's sincerity now, especially when you have no facts on what went on after that incident up until Dick Clark died.

chocolate1 said:

jackson35 said:

why would prince talk to dick clark after he snubbed purple rain for album of the year for lionel ritchie can't slow down album?

Soooo....

My question is why are YOU hanging onto this?

Let. It. Go.

(Unless you suffered some kind of irreparable damage from "being in the know" 30 years ago...)

**If you're this serious about a perceived "thing" between DC & P, then you must be a joy to behold when someone in your real life "does you wrong".

Sees someone from grammar school in the mall: "You took my toy and gave me 'cooties' back in 3rd grade! I will NEVER EVER forgive you!!"

Sad, Dude.

Yup cuz whatever we did in our 20s will forever define us now. We're all damned!!! hahaha

wonder505 said:

jackson35 said:

why would prince talk to dick clark after he snubbed purple rain for album of the year for lionel ritchie can't slow down album?

why would he not? and how do you know they never exchanged communication?

you have a right to believe in what you believe, its just that you're not in the "know" or Prince circle now, your basing your "observation" on an incident that happened 30 years ago and that to me does not warrant questioning somone's sincerity now, especially when you have no facts on what went on after that incident up until Dick Clark died.

did he not clown prince by having him perform his biggest song on the amas in 85 and then have him walk away with racialily define awards like best pop rock award or best r&b song. this was prince's biggest year and he did not get album of the year or song of the year with when doves cry. i say after dissing him at rehersals for this awards show was payback and you can attitude written all over his face that night because none of the awards he was given was top honors. prince would defintely have no reason to speak to dick after that.

jackson35 said:

wonder505 said:

why would he not? and how do you know they never exchanged communication?

you have a right to believe in what you believe, its just that you're not in the "know" or Prince circle now, your basing your "observation" on an incident that happened 30 years ago and that to me does not warrant questioning somone's sincerity now, especially when you have no facts on what went on after that incident up until Dick Clark died.

did he not clown prince by having him perform his biggest song on the amas in 85 and then have him walk away with racialily define awards like best pop rock award or best r&b song. this was prince's biggest year and he did not get album of the year or song of the year with when doves cry. i say after dissing him at rehersals for this awards show was payback and you can attitude written all over his face that night because none of the awards he was given was top honors. prince would defintely have no reason to speak to dick after that.

Oh I get it. You're just ASSUMING that Prince never spoke to Dick ever again because of that incident alone, and you're GUESSING that Prince never respected Dick Clark ever in 30 years until his death, without any facts to prove it. and because you had some one off job 30 years ago in 1980 or whatever, you claim to know exactly what PRince is feeling now in 2012.

[Edited 12/22/12 16:05pm]

wonder505 said:

jackson35 said:

did he not clown prince by having him perform his biggest song on the amas in 85 and then have him walk away with racialily define awards like best pop rock award or best r&b song. this was prince's biggest year and he did not get album of the year or song of the year with when doves cry. i say after dissing him at rehersals for this awards show was payback and you can attitude written all over his face that night because none of the awards he was given was top honors. prince would defintely have no reason to speak to dick after that.

Oh I get it. You're just ASSUMING that Prince never spoke to Dick ever again because of that incident alone, and you're GUESSING that Prince never respected Dick Clark ever in 30 years until his death, without any facts to prove it. and because you had some one off job 30 years ago in 1980 or whatever, you claim to know exactly what PRince is feeling now in 2012.

[Edited 12/22/12 16:05pm]

prince lets management and assistants and or bodyguards communicate with people like dick clark if he wants to do his awards shows. he also gives instructions that has to be follow or he will not participate in any media affair. i known because he told his people to tell dick if he has anything to say to him, relay it to his people and he will get back to him. dick Clark was the first victim of his ego when he started doing TV shows.

jackson35 said:

wonder505 said:

Oh I get it. You're just ASSUMING that Prince never spoke to Dick ever again because of that incident alone, and you're GUESSING that Prince never respected Dick Clark ever in 30 years until his death, without any facts to prove it. and because you had some one off job 30 years ago in 1980 or whatever, you claim to know exactly what PRince is feeling now in 2012.

[Edited 12/22/12 16:05pm]

prince lets management and assistants and or bodyguards communicate with people like dick clark if he wants to do his awards shows. he also gives instructions that has to be follow or he will not participate in any media affair. i known because he told his people to tell dick if he has anything to say to him, relay it to his people and he will get back to him. dick Clark was the first victim of his ego when he started doing TV shows.

Every artist. Especially the ones as big as Prince. Let's their manager or assistant or publicist handle any appearances they make. That is what they are for. What artist is going to personally call Dick Clark? "Oh I'm attending the next AMA's have my seat ready"..Please! Stop trying to make Prince out to be a jerk. That is normal behavior for any rock star,pop star,movie star..etc...Has nothing to do with ego. Prince had other things to do. Like a mega million dollar world tour!! Another platinum selling album to make!!... Are U here to trash Prince? Just because of a dedication letter to Mr. Clark! OMG

jackson35 said:

wonder505 said:

Oh I get it. You're just ASSUMING that Prince never spoke to Dick ever again because of that incident alone, and you're GUESSING that Prince never respected Dick Clark ever in 30 years until his death, without any facts to prove it. and because you had some one off job 30 years ago in 1980 or whatever, you claim to know exactly what PRince is feeling now in 2012.

[Edited 12/22/12 16:05pm]

prince lets management and assistants and or bodyguards communicate with people like dick clark if he wants to do his awards shows. he also gives instructions that has to be follow or he will not participate in any media affair. i known because he told his people to tell dick if he has anything to say to him, relay it to his people and he will get back to him. dick Clark was the first victim of his ego when he started doing TV shows.

Maybe its me but I thought that's how most artists roll. Yeah Prince has an ego I guess, but so does many other artist, and I thought they have a management team in place for this reason.

We will have to agree to disagree. I can't assume what Prince was feeling when he wrote that letter because I don't know him a person, I'm not around him long enough or have enough facts to formulate that opinion.

jackson35 said:

wonder505 said:

ok this is getting childish. what is your point??? if dick clark got "even" as you say, 30 years ago, what does that prove about what Prince is feeling now? what facts do you have the Dick Clark and Prince has never had any friendly communication over the years. Where are your facts of the now?

why would prince talk to dick clark after he snubbed purple rain for album of the year for lionel ritchie can't slow down album?

The awards are chosen by voters and were not chosen by Dick Clark.

wonder505 said:

jackson35 said:

did he not clown prince by having him perform his biggest song on the amas in 85 and then have him walk away with racialily define awards like best pop rock award or best r&b song. this was prince's biggest year and he did not get album of the year or song of the year with when doves cry. i say after dissing him at rehersals for this awards show was payback and you can attitude written all over his face that night because none of the awards he was given was top honors. prince would defintely have no reason to speak to dick after that.

Oh I get it. You're just ASSUMING that Prince never spoke to Dick ever again because of that incident alone, and you're GUESSING that Prince never respected Dick Clark ever in 30 years until his death, without any facts to prove it. and because you had some one off job 30 years ago in 1980 or whatever, you claim to know exactly what PRince is feeling now in 2012.

[Edited 12/22/12 16:05pm]

This.

Considering Prince was on the AMAs at least three more times after 1985 tells me any supposed bef was squashed. Plus Prince got a lifetime achievement award which I assume had to do with Mr. Clark.

i swear people will look for negatives in just about everything

HonestMan13 said:

Stymie said:

wonder505 said:

Oh I get it. You're just ASSUMING that Prince never spoke to Dick ever again because of that incident alone, and you're GUESSING that Prince never respected Dick Clark ever in 30 years until his death, without any facts to prove it. and because you had some one off job 30 years ago in 1980 or whatever, you claim to know exactly what PRince is feeling now in 2012.

[Edited 12/22/12 16:05pm]

This.

Considering Prince was on the AMAs at least three more times after 1985 tells me any supposed bef was squashed. Plus Prince got a lifetime achievement award which I assume had to do with Mr. Clark.

then tell me this.. why wasn't kiss nominated for song or record of the year? why wasn't sign of the times get the same nominations at amas? it's funny that mr clark gave him a lifetime achivement award after 10 year in the biz as an artist as opposse to stevie wonder or diana ross who has been a singer since the late 50's

jackson35 said:

Stymie said:

This.

Considering Prince was on the AMAs at least three more times after 1985 tells me any supposed bef was squashed. Plus Prince got a lifetime achievement award which I assume had to do with Mr. Clark.

then tell me this.. why wasn't kiss nominated for song or record of the year? why wasn't sign of the times get the same nominations at amas? it's funny that mr clark gave him a lifetime achivement award after 10 year in the biz as an artist as opposse to stevie wonder or diana ross who has been a singer since the late 50's

Then tell me this... Why does it matter to you so much?
You say it doesn't, but you're determined to prove a point that no one agrees with you about, and frankly, makes you sound bitter.
He must have really hurt your feelings when you were doing whatever you did back then...

Were you the person sent in to speak between them, and he punked you?

jackson35 said:

rdhull said:

You are like the drunk person at a funeral who upsets the procession speaking about a speaker giving their condolences.

What kind if professional speaks ill of well known eccentric mercucial artists, musicians, actors etc. It seems like you were ill prepared for your employ.

You should call your parents and ask the why they failed to provide you with any home training.

I don't need to do anything but tell the truth. in reference to dick clark, prince did not show this man the respect that he deserve when he was alive. even his bands members though that shit was wrong. i'm glad dick gave prince a tatse of his own medicine when when doves cry was not nominated for any of the top catorgorys in 85. he had an adittude about it the whole night.

Ok, I'm not one of those fans, who drink the purple koolaid, but, I think you're full of your own sh*t. I say this, because I remember you were badmouthing Prince on a thread a while back, then you jumped back on the same thread, and said you had to go, because you were called to work an event Prince was performing at that night, and you seemed to have been gloating in the excitement of it. So not sure if you're looking at your own reflection--badmouthing an artist, you somehow seem to have some not-so-nice view of, yet you don't hesitate to turn down a job offered, at an event he performs at and then make sure you mention it here. If you have such ill feelings towards someone in particular, then why would you never hesitate to be in the same space with them? So your comments are reflective of the pot calling the kettle out of its name.

It's like you have this love/bitterness-not sure-which-view-to-have-of-Prince, when you speak of him on this site, so I don't know how anyone, could take what you say seriously.

What you expressed about him not speaking much during interviews, may have been true years ago, but it isn't unusual that people change as they grow older. Like some others have said, back in his early days, it was not unusual that he didn't speak much publically or during interviews, and who knows if that wasn't part of his stage persona as an artist, to keep the mystery of his image flowing among his fans? All fans can do is speculate.

Secondly, you don't know if years later, Prince and Dick Clark conversed privately, and all was forgiven. Based on the comments he made about Dick Clark in that recent article, the point is, he acknowledged his appreciation for Dick Clark, so I don't get why you would have a problem with that.

[Edited 12/23/12 20:11pm]

jackson35 said:

Stymie said:

This.

Considering Prince was on the AMAs at least three more times after 1985 tells me any supposed bef was squashed. Plus Prince got a lifetime achievement award which I assume had to do with Mr. Clark.

then tell me this.. why wasn't kiss nominated for song or record of the year? why wasn't sign of the times get the same nominations at amas? it's funny that mr clark gave him a lifetime achivement award after 10 year in the biz as an artist as opposse to stevie wonder or diana ross who has been a singer since the late 50's

Because the voters, the record buying public, didn't choose it as song of the year?

Militant said:

Not sure why but Mr. Clark seemed to genuinely like me

This sentence makes me sad. Prince doesn't expect people to like him?

I Like him 2 xxx

jackson35 said:

Stymie said:

This.

Considering Prince was on the AMAs at least three more times after 1985 tells me any supposed bef was squashed. Plus Prince got a lifetime achievement award which I assume had to do with Mr. Clark.

then tell me this.. why wasn't kiss nominated for song or record of the year? why wasn't sign of the times get the same nominations at amas? it's funny that mr clark gave him a lifetime achivement award after 10 year in the biz as an artist as opposse to stevie wonder or diana ross who has been a singer since the late 50's

All right, jackson35--"Kiss" was nominated for Favorite R&B song of the year on the AMAs. And in 1986, Prince was nominated for several awards. However, Dick Clark would have little to do with those sort of awards, since nominations and wins were based on things he'd have little real influence on (see below). The career awards would have more to do with Clark and Prince's relationship, perhaps, and might provide a way to recognize Prince's influence that the normal AMAs wouldn't. The normal AMAs reward the BIGGEST commercial successes with nominations--and without a nomination, you can't win. Also, career awards serve as promotional tools for either the show or the artist or both. In 1990 when Prince got the "Award of Achievement" it could be tied to the success of the Batman project in 1989--which served as evidence he wasn't commercially dying. The 1995 "Award of Merit" was clearly Clark and the AMA's throwing some support Prince's way in the midst of the War with Warners, as he came on and did songs from the still-unreleased Gold Experience. I'm guessing that act by Clark is part of why Prince wrote the tribute in Entertainment Weekly.

Checking the relevant Wikipedia entries confirms my memory of things, so let's see if this clears some things--

Nominations for the AMA's (from the general AMA entry): "The American Music Awards have nominations based on sales, airplay, activity on social networks, and video viewing and can nominate only the works released between 1 December of the previous year and 1 September of the current year. Before 2010 had nominations based only on sales and airplay and nominated every work, even if old."

Key point here? In the relevant years (before 2010, when Dick Clark was a possible influence), SALES AND AIRPLAY were responsible for nominations--and there were only three nominations in each category. The only year when Prince's sales and airplay were very signifcant, let's be honest, was for the 1985 awards. 1984 was his dominant year. If he was going to win big, that was his shot. He got a few later nominations (left over sales from 1984 in 1985, "Kiss"), but artistic merit without MAJOR sales and airplay simply doesn't figure in the AMA formula. That's why no Sign o the Times nominations.

The actual awards in 1985:

In 1985, the AMA's gave awards in three genres of music: Pop/Rock, Soul/R&B, and Country. Prince has never done anything that can really be called country (I've been reading all the posts that seem to think otherwise, but, seriously, no.) So, if he was going to win, we've got the the Pop/Rock and Soul/R&B categories to consider. In each one of those genres, Prince could have possibly been up for 5 of the 9 awards given (he couldn't win for favorite female artist, favorite duo/band/group artist, favorite female video artist, or favorite duo,band,group video artist--or, if he and the Revolution could have won the group awards, then he wouldn't have been up for the male artist awards).

So, looking at the 10 awards (five each in pop/rock and soul/r&b) that Prince could have won in 1985--

He was NOMINATED for ALL FIVE possible pop/rock awards: male artist (also Lionel Richie and Bruce Springsteen), album (also Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson--for Thriller, which was still selling like crazy), single (also Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" and Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It"), video (with Richie's "Hello" and Ray Parker, Jr.'s "Ghostbusters"), and video artist (also Springsteen and Richie).

and of those five possible awards, Prince WON Favorite Pop/Rock album.

He lost four in pop/rock, but you don't need a conspiracy or a grudge on Dick Clark's part to explain why. He lost to the biggest single of Springsteen's entire career, when Springsteen was at his commercial peak--as a white boy in the Midwest, I was one of only a handful of my peers who actually owned Purple Rain. Everybody had Born in the USA. If Springsteen hadn't won something in his only available category (Pop/Rock)--and Pop/Rock Single was his only win--that would have been really strange. When people were voting for "Favorite Pop/Rock" anything, Prince had to overcome genre assumptions. Yes, they were being changed, as Lionel Richie's wins show--but the process was still going on--and Prince, besides being black, was up against his own weirdness. In a public poll like the AMA's, being safe or comfortable is really important. People liked Prince--unless they didn't, in which case they had strong negative reactions. Lionel Richie and Bruce Springsteen didn't tend to create that kind of polarization.

No one claims now that Can't Slow Down is one of the greatest albums of all time, but in 1985 Lionel Richie was, like Prince and Springsteen (and Tina Turner, for that matter) riding the biggest wave of popularity he would experience--he had 5 top ten singles from Can't Slow Down. Prince only had four from Purple Rain. Can't Slow Down was a understandable favorite album of the year winner. Richie won for two video awards (artist and specific video)--he had 5 top ten singles with videos from Can't Slow Down, "Hello" (which won) was a narrative video about a blind woman sculpting her lover's face--people who couldn't stand Richie, the song, or music in general cried at the thing, and his videos were all full productions. Except for "When Doves Cry" and it's creeping bath and crawling across the floor imagery (again--either you like it or you go EWWWWWWW!!!!!), Prince's videos were all performance or film montage (or both). Just plain lazy, really. The songs were strong enough that the videos got played--but the videos didn't deserve a nomination on their own merits.

As a fourteen year old overwhelmed by discovering Prince's back catalog as well as The Time and Vanity 6 and the 1984 releases from the rest of the royal court--yeah, I thought he should have gotten the other four Pop/Rock awards. I was wrong. He was MY favorite (and by many standards his work might have been the best)--but I couldn't have put together a poll of the public that would have given him those awards, even if I'd tried.

On the soul/R&B side: NOMINATED for ALL FIVE again. In addition, one might consider two of the nominations for Favorite Female to be at least partially his doing, since Sheila E.'s album was pretty much his and Chaka Khan's sales and airplay in 1984 came mostly through his song "I Feel For You."

He WON TWO--album (beating Richie and Michael Jackson) and single (beating "Ghostbusters" and "What's Love Got To Do With It"). He lost the video awards to Lionel Richie in a repeat of the Pop/Rock category--as he should have. And he lost Favorite Male Artist, again to Lionel Richie. But Richie had the same sort of broad appeal as always. Ballads that played on softer format stations, dance tracks that, well, sounded normal and had bass lines. And no parts of the album you had to worry about your kid or your mother hearing. Everybody might not love Lionel Richie, but nobody hates him either. That's how you win a popular vote.

But the biggest evidence that Prince's "poor performance" (won 3 awards out of the ten he was eligible for and nominated for all ten) at the 1985 AMA's wasn't because he was pouty on American Bandstand:

The 1985 Grammy Awards.

The Big Cross-Genre Awards
Song--nope, "What's Love Got To Do With It"

Record--nope. "What's Love Got To Do With It"

Album--nope. Can't Slow Down.

Producer--nope. Lionel Richie's crew won it. And Prince might have had a case for this one.

So, wait. What did Prince win at the 1985 Grammies?

Well, he, daddy, and the girls won for COMPOSING the "Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special" (composition, not performance award)

and he and the Revolution won for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" (the AMA's had him a solo artist, remember) for the Purple Rain album.

Oh--wait, his incredible 1984 contributions were also recognized with his win for "Best Rhythm and Blues Song"!!

Well, not really. He won that for a song he released in 1979. Oh well. "I Feel For You" is a good song. Though less so than almost anything on the four albums Prince was responsible for in 1984. Or, for that matter, than "Sugar Walls."

Maybe Dick Clark poisoned that the Grammy well, too.

Or maybe Prince just plain lost. Except when he won.

Eddie

vanstrass said:

Militant said:

This sentence makes me sad. Prince doesn't expect people to like him?

I Like him 2 xxx

Prince wrote this for Dick Clark in 2012 ....we can all trust the fact he is much wiser and older and understands people alot better ... Clark must really have liked him but I guess Prince never asked him why?