Why Prince Didn't Do Interviews

In 1980 19 year old Prince and his band appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. As Dick did with all of his guests, the host engaged the rocker in conversation between songs. Or at least he tried.

In this video of that TV appearance, Prince appears awkward, shy and embarrassed to be talking about himself and his musical gifts (he could play all instruments). He was hesitant to answer questions and kept answers short - when he did answer at all. This experienced soured Prince on the whole idea of giving interviews. But once the chatter stops Dick Clark let’s the rocker do what he did best, his shyness evaporates and the superstar emerges. You’ll see that as well with the performance of ‘Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad’. Enjoy!

You can listen to music from Prince and other artists from the 70s and 80s on Dusty Discs Radio.