Mine for the longest used to be the 1985 American Music Awards where P and the Revolution performed "Purple Rain" and straight turned it out. Prince jumped off of this platform and strutted across the stage during his Hendrix like guitar solo. In classic rockstar mode, P fell to his knees and raised his arm to the roof in triumph. The star packed crowd jumped to their feet in roaring approval. Lionel Richie, who was hosting the show, was so excited that P was even there, kept shouting "Outrageous!" all night. But I have to go with P's performance on Arsenio where he did a medley of his hits. "Let's Go Crazy, Kiss" etc. To any aspiring performer, this is a must see. It's one of the best performances I have ever seen by anyone. And I have seen many. It is flawless. P came on later during the show to perform a moving "Purple Rain". During his guitar solo, P just started spinning and spinning. It didn't look as if he was ever going to stop. The people in the audience were going beserk, jumping up and down, screaming like mad. You could see the joy on their faces. Prince took all musicians/singers/performers to school big time that night. So what's your fave? American Bandstand from 1980? Soul Train from 1980? The Midnight Special from 1980? Perhaps it's from the Grammys in 85 when P was performing "Baby I'm A Star". Right in the beginning of the song, P's blowsy sleeve got caught on his mic stand and it popped him dead square his mouth. Maybe it's Saturday Night Live from 1981 performing "Party Up" or again on SNL doing "Electric Chair". Remember the show "Solid Gold"? P was on there in 82 doing "1999" and then later in 83 doing "Little Red Corvette". Those are must sees. "Gett Off" on MTV awards? "Sign O The Times" on MTV awards?

SEPTIMO!!!!! especailly his version of Motherless child!!!

american bandstand appearance--january 26, 1980. bestest interview p (hardly) gave. :fourfingers:

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

LOL...yeah that was funny.....4 fingers. That was Prince at his sexiest(IMO). I liked the AMA's when he refused to sing We Are the World.....with the lollipop....I laugh everytime I watch that clip.

There are so many great tv performances by Prince, so it makes it really hard for me to choose just one, but if I have to I choose his appearance on Arsenio Hall years ago. Prince was the only guest, but Arsenio had Patti LaBelle there as his "date". What a kick ass show!

kisscamille said:

patti had me crackin up, she kept callin prince "boyfriend"...too sweet. and the performance was cool, too.

blackguitaristz said:

blackguitaristz said:

I'm sure I am gonna hear it for THIS.... but I LOVED his appearance on "The Muppet Show".. it was just So cute and he looked so cute and it was great seeing him having fun and goofing around.
The outtakes were So cute!!!!!

oh man...

the '85 grammy performance was tops, especially the whole business with the mic stand

the performance of "electric chair" on that SNL special kicks my ass still...sooo TIGHT

SOTT on the MTV music awards, with that crazy ass hair and the jean jacket

....and on the other end of the spectrum, the performance of "reflection" with wendy is one of my favorites just cuz it was so simple and sweet.

Yeah this rocked. He would do a couple of songs and then they'd do a commercial break and then he would do it again. This went on for an entire hour. Cream was the #1 song in America at the time. I wish I had this on tape.

man i love all of those but that 85 grammy's took the cake. i have to laugh everytime when he goes and kicks that mic stand down, you can even hear a little feedback after he does it. Classic!!!!

hey does anyone know what year american music awards show when he had the lollipop and wouldn't sing we are the world? i think i may have it in my personal vault of past award shows taped on vhs tapes....

missfee said:

This doesn't really count, but an all-time fave of mine that I remember watching and also was able to get on tape is The Time from 1981 on the t.v. show "Fridays". Their doing the song "Cool". This is super rare.

blackguitaristz said:

Too bad those were lip-synched otherwise they would have been tops.

Hmmm.....
1. Purple Rain : American Music Awards Jan 28th 1985
2. Peach : MTV European Music Awards Nov 24th 1994

---

Ahh, if there was only a way to see these old TV videos now!????

T

Lennon said:

I DEFINTELY AGREE!!! I got this clip! I like how he spinned around in da beginning,guitar solos were 2 damn hot! & my fav part is when he sorda thrusts while playin' anotha EXCELLENT GUITAR SOLO!! *Oh So SeXy*--I constantly rewind that part ova so much!

Yes in minutes:

1:59-2:04 that so-called stomp twirl like dance he does
5:14-5:23(THAT GUITAR SOLO WUZ HOT!!!) & them step dances he does afdawards.
5:46-6:06 anotha kick ass g-solo!!
6:28-6:33(My FAVORITE part ) & anotha g-solo part that 1 wuz so intense 2 damn hot,I'm tellin' ya!!!
7:02-7:10 what da hell wuz he tryna dance?? Only P can make that look koo.

My fav highlights of that performance. Also can't leave out them near 2 da end screams he did(sounded a bit like a high pitched Lil'Jon when sayin' "Yayuhz!")-IMO & done sum RRHOF facial expressions 2, It wuz ALL good.

I like this clip I got of him dressed likah ol'bum/street musician..it's from "Come On" vid. 'Cept it's an interview on BBC & da ending when he talkin' 2 them woman likah ol'man..funny as hell

Anotha clip I got is when him & the NPG performing "Face Down" live. Da whole thing wuz funny as hell!!! His continuesly cussin',how he's dragged in,how he pull that big black guy I mean DAMN!!! he jerked his ass ova like he weighed less than himself!!,best MJ impersonation(high pitch voice & kick),& crazy country-ass dancin'. It wuz 2 damn much I laughed so hard which has beena while since I had.

There's more but those'll be my top picks.
[This message was edited Thu May 13 21:06:51 2004 by KeLo07]

AMA's 85 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony, that version of SOTT is the funkiest hottest version I've ever heard.

How come no-one has mentioned that kick-arse opening of VH1 awards in around 95 or so whith Endorphinemachine. That kicked major booty.

Lennon said:

Exactly! I have downloaded the performance of "Motherless Child" and it is AMAZING, but I do not have the rest of the show. What else does SEPTIMO consist of. A little history please. By the way, a close second would be "Sign 'O the Times-Play in the Sunshine" from MTV awards '87.

the muppets!!

I'm kinda partial to his '95 AMA performance, when he pops out of the body bag and is chewing gum throughout? I could have done without Carmen though.. I also like the Soul Train where he does "Acknowledge Me"

"Daddy Pop" on Arsenio was HOT

EverlastingNow said:

I totally agree with you about the Rock and Roll HOF! He was amazing!

bkw said:

That wuz SICKENING.


But the SOTT/Play I.T. Sunshine renditions at the '87 VMA's were the tops for me.

His performance of "Come On" on The Tonight Show was underrated as well.
[This message was edited Fri May 14 15:31:52 2004 by namepeace]

my all time favs are the 1985 American Music Awards and the GETT OFF performance on the MTV Music Awards.

phlix said:

This show was in September. "Cream" hadn't been released yet. I think "Gett Off/Horny Pony" was still on the radio -- remember them showing clips from the video release of "Gett Off" and "Violet the Organ Grinder"? I *loved* his performance of "Cream" and was upset when I found out the album version was a bit different -- too sugary sweet. A little bit later the single was releaed -- October? The video helped me like the album version more -- but nothing beats the way he performed it on Arsenio that night!

missfee said:

It was from january 30th 1995

diamond99 said:

He did Pretty Man , Bab Knows , Motherless Child , The Jam and Everyday people on the
Septimo show . I love the performance of Pretty Man on this show , such fun to watch , Prince is in a great mood ,shaking his ass , strutting , a joy to behold.

moonshine said:

Koo,it wuz on *my* birthday
I wuz 6 back then...

I only saw hiim interviewed once & that was the other day. That's it.