The American Video Awards (1983–1987) was an annual
music video award show taped for distribution to television. TheFirst Annual American Video Awards was hosted by radio personality
Casey Kasem,[1] and Kasem continued in his role as emcee of the show in succeeding years.[2] The first (1983), second (1984) and third (April 1985) shows were
syndicated to television channels across the country. The Fourth Annual American Video Awards (November 1985), however, was taped for
broadcast on
ABC[3] to be aired during
prime time, the first time that a video awards show was shown on prime time
network television.[4] The fifth (1987) show again aired in syndication.[2] It was the last American Video Awards show. Two award ceremonies were held during 1985: the third annual ceremony was held in April 1985 and, because of contractual obligations to ABC, the fourth annual ceremony was held less than a year later, in November 1985.[3]
Background
The winners of The First Annual American Video Awards (1983) were selected by a small panel of about a dozen people: Casey Kasem, writers from Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter magazines, a film editor, and a television director. In late 1983 Kasem and two producers from his television show, America's Top 10, formed the American Video Association and by the time of The Second Annual American Video Awards (1984) it had an estimated membership of 500. Award winners in 1984 were nominated and voted on by the association membership.[5][6]
Awards for music videos proliferated in the 1980s, and by 1984, video awards were being given by Billboard magazine, the
American Film Institute, the
Grammys,[5] and for the first time in 1984,
MTV, when the music video cable television channel aired its inaugural MTV Video Music Awards.[7] In April 1984, Tom Popson, writer for the Chicago Tribune, said, “. . . as yet no single award has emerged in the still-new medium as indisputably the most prestigious and widely recognized.”[5] To Popson, Kasem expressed his hopes that the American Video Awards, which he dubbed the "Avas," would become that award for music videos, analogous to the
Oscars for film, the
Emmys for television and the Grammys for music; that the newly formed American Video Association would eventually become an "academy" of music video; and that the award show would be broadcast live on network television. Toward those ends, to give the American Video Awards and the newly formed American Video Association credibility, an advisory board was formed which included presidents of
Capitol,
Columbia,
MCA,
Polygram and
RCA record companies, and chairmen of the boards of
Warner Bros.,
A&M and
Scotti Bros. record companies.[5][6]
Kasem seemed to make progress on two of his three goals from the 1984 Chicago Tribune article. By the time of The Third Annual American Video Awards, in April 1985, the American Video Association had become the National Academy of Video Arts and Sciences (NAVAS), which was listed as the sponsor of the show,[8][9] with Jennifer Libbee serving as executive director,[8][9] and Alan Winnikoff serving as spokesperson.[10] Some news articles at the time claimed that the academy was founded in 1980.[10][11] Although it didn't air live, a taped version of The Fourth Annual American Video Awards did make it to network television in November 1985.[3] It was edited down to a one-hour broadcast on ABC.[3][4] But public recognition of the American Video Awards as the most prestigious in the field remained elusive, despite Kasem's hopes and efforts. In September 1985, after the
second MTV Video Music Awards aired, Steven Dupler, writing for Billboard magazine, said, "MTV has definitely established its awards as the ceremony for the industry, the American Video Awards and others notwithstanding."[12]
Cash Box magazine reported that NAVAS membership was reorganized in the spring of 1985: "The new plan . . . allows for two distinct categories of membership: active (voting) and associate (non-voting). The active membership was further divided into craft and administrative divisions. Technical awards are voted only by active draft members."[13] In November 1985, at the time of The Fourth Annual American Video Awards network television broadcast, the national director of NAVAS, Mick Kennedy, said voting members were required to have worked on at least two videos, or be an executive in a video-related field. He said the academy membership was "tightened" in order to assure skeptics that the video awards were based on merit rather than industry politics, and he tried to make the case that NAVAS had the same credibility in the video field as the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), which sponsored the Grammys, had in the music field. Kennedy admitted that, at first, the American Video Awards was, "'. . . just an excuse for a television show.'" But, the award sponsors changed their attitude when, "'. . . we realized we were the only group that allowed all the different elements of the video industry to get together.'" He argued there was a professional difference between the American Video Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards: "'The MTV awards are designed to promote MTV. The American Video Awards are designed to promote the music-video industry. We're an industry award, MTV isn't.'"[14]
The Fifth Annual American Video Awards was held in February 1987. Its distribution to television outlets reverted to syndication, and the show received some criticism in the press. It was dubbed the "Not-so-live video awards" in the
Greenwood, South CarolinaIndex-Journal.[2] The
Philadelphia Daily News called it "hokey."[15]Cash Box magazine said the presenters were a "curious assortment of celebrities," because so many of them had little to do with the music industry.[16] Later that year, in December 1987, nationally syndicated newspaper columnist
Ethlie Ann Vare sounded the death knell for the American Video Awards, writing that they were, "probably on the way out".[17] Indeed, The Fifth Annual American Video Awards was the last.
Award shows
The First Annual American Video Awards (1983)
Narrative
At The First Annual American Video Awards ceremony (1983), awards were given for six categories[18][1] and an artist was selected for induction into the "Hall of Fame." For a video to be nominated, the song had to be in the top ten of the
Billboard charts in 1982.[19] Nominees and winners were selected by a small panel of people: Casey Kasem, music reporters, a film editor, and a television director.[5] The show and the nominees were announced in a full-page advertisement in the March 26, 1983 issue of Billboard magazine.[1] The show was produced by Jennifer Libbee in association with Scotti Bros./Syd Vinnedge Television Production and Casey Kasem Productions.[18]Mick Fleetwood was the only winning performer present to accept his award.[20] Despite the show being clearly titled as The First Annual American Video Awards in the Billboard announcement, at the later times of the show's appearances on television in syndication, several newspapers gave it other names, among them, "America's Top 10 Video Awards,"[21] and the "Super Bullet Video Awards,"[22] suggesting some trouble with the show's identity at the outset.
Winners in eleven categories plus the special recognition award, Hall of Fame, were reported for The Second Annual American Video Awards.[5] The Best Performance category was now expanded to Best Performance, Male; Best Performance, Female; and Best Performance, Group. The Best Video of the Year category was eliminated, and the category, Best Pop Video, was added. Other categories added were on the technical side of video production: Best Editing, Best Lighting Design, Best Choreography, and Best Art Direction. The 1983 category, Special Merit Video was eliminated.
Videos produced and distributed to television outlets between December 1, 1982 and December 1, 1983, were eligible for nomination.[5] Nominees and winners were selected by the 500 members of the new American Video Association.[5][6] The Hall of Fame awardee was selected by the "distinguished" advisory board of the American Video Association,[28] which included presidents of
Capitol,
Columbia,
MCA,
Polygram and
RCA record companies, and chairmen of the boards of
Warner Bros.,
A&M and
Scotti Bros. record companies.[5][6] Nominees were announced on March 5, 1984, at an event held at the Kathy Gallagher restaurant in Los Angeles, California.[29]
The ceremony was taped, edited to a two-hour program, and aired in syndication by television outlets at later dates.[5][30]Michael Jackson, whose videos dominated the awards with 24 nominations,[31] and won in four categories, did not attend the ceremony.[6] Writer Tom Popson surmised that television viewers would be less inclined to watch the program because the outcome was known ahead of the telecast.[6]
Best Art Direction: Kevin Godley, Lol Creme, "Rockit" (Herbie Hancock).[38]
The Third Annual American Video Awards (April 1985)
Narrative
Winners in fifteen categories plus two special recognition awards, Hall of Fame and Humanitarian Award, were reported for The Third Annual American Video Awards. The categories now included the new categories of Best Long Form Video, Best Home Video, Best New Video Artist, Best Costume Design, and Best Set Design. The category, Best Art Direction, was dropped. Candidates for award nominations included all videos produced and distributed to cable or network television stations between December 2, 1983 and December 1, 1984, and nominees were selected after two ballots taken of the 500 members of the new National Academy of Video Arts and Sciences (NAVAS).[10][11] Nominations were announced at the
Ma Maison restaurant in
West Hollywood, California, on March 4, 1985.[10][39]
The ceremony was taped, edited to a two-hour program, and aired in syndication by television outlets at later dates.[11][40]Jet magazine noted that there were only two "Black" winners,
Michael Jackson and
Prince,[41] and apparently neither of them attended the ceremony. Jet reported that Jackson's sister,
Rebbie Jackson, accepted awards on his behalf,[41] and Carolyn McGuire of the Chicago Tribune reported that Prince did not "show up."[42]Rod Stewart, however, was on hand to receive his Hall of Fame Award, which was presented to him by
James Brown.[41] Two
Cyndi Lauper videos, "
Time After Time" and "
She Bop", won in six different categories, and Lauper did attend the ceremony and received her awards on stage.[9]
The Fourth Annual American Video Awards (November 1985)
Narrative
The Fourth Annual American Video Awards (November 1985) was not only the first and only American Video Awards show to be broadcast on network television, it was also the first music video awards show ever to be shown on prime time network television.[4] Although the past three ceremonies had all been held in the spring (The Third Annual American Video Awards was held just seven months prior, in April that same year), the network, ABC, wanted to air the fourth show in November.[14] This shortened the eligibility period for nominated videos, which was from December 2, 1984 to September 30, 1985.[14] ABC also chose the program's host,
Tony Danza, who starred in one of its most successful sitcoms at the time, "
Who's the Boss?"[14] This was the only American Video Awards ceremony that was not hosted or co-hosted by
Casey Kasem.
Awards were sponsored by the National Academy of Video Arts and Sciences (NAVAS), and nominees and winners were selected by the Academy.[4][14] Nominations were announced on October 29, 1985, at
Ma Maison restaurant in
West Hollywood, California, at an event described as a "mock award ceremony," emceed by Casey Kasem.
"Weird Al" Yankovic was the only nominee to participate.[48][49]
Winners in seventeen award categories were reported. The name of the award, Best Soul Video, was changed to Best Urban Contemporary Video for this nationally televised award show.[14] The category, Best Long Form Video was dropped. Three new categories were added: Best Live Concert Video, Best Cinematography, and Best Special Effects. Best New Video artist seems to have been renamed simply as Best New Artist.[50]Cash Box magazine had reported that the Hall of Fame awardee would be announced at the ceremony,[13] but no subsequent reports naming the awardee have been found thus far.
Casey Kasem along with Toni Scotti and Syd Vinnedge of Scotti Bros./Syd Vinnedge Productions, served as executive producers of the show,[13] which was taped in advance and edited down to one hour for broadcast. Accordingly, only eight "artistic" award categories made it on the air, listed by Daniel Brogan of the Chicago Tribune as: "Best Pop Video, Best Urban Contemporary Video, Best Country Video, Best New Group, Best Male Performance, Best Female Performance, Best Duo or Group Performance and Best Home Video."[4] Two videos by
Bruce Springsteen won in three categories, but he did not attend the ceremony. His bandmate, saxophonist
Clarence Clemens, accepted the awards in Springsteen's place.[51]
Best Costume Design: Marlene Stewart, "Material Girl" (Madonna).[55][51]
Best Set Design: Zbigniew Rybczynski, "She Went Pop" (I Am Siam).[55][51]
Best Live Concert Video: "Money for Nothing," Dire Straits.[51]
Best Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus, "
I'm On Fire" (Bruce Springsteen).[55][51]
Best Special Effects: Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger, "
Take On Me," (
A-Ha).[55][51]
The Fifth Annual American Video Awards (1987)
Narrative
The Fifth Annual American Video Awards (1987), produced by Scotti/Vinnedge Television in association with Casey Kasem Productions,[16] was the last one. A power failure contributed to the live ceremony's four-hour length. The show was taped to be aired at a later time in syndication, and was edited down to a two-hour program.[2][56]The Philadelphia Daily News called the ceremony "hokey."[15]Cash Box magazine criticized the show for including award presenters who had little to do with the music industry, calling them a "curious assortment of celebrities."[16] The
Greenwood, South CarolinaIndex-Journal dubbed it the "Not-so-live video awards".[2]
The awards were sponsored by the National Academy of Video Arts and Sciences (NAVAS), and the nominees and winners were selected by the Academy.[56] Winners in sixteen categories plus a Hall of Fame awardee were reported. Best Lighting Design and Best Set Design were replaced by Best Art Director, and the category, Best Live Concert Video, was replaced by Best Stage Performance.
Happily,
Peter Gabriel, whose videos won in five categories, and who was inducted into the NAVAS Hall of Fame, did attend the ceremony and accepted his awards on stage.[57] It was reported that backstage he was "mobbed by admirers",[2] and he "retreated in order to avoid being crushed" by photographers.[56]
^
abBoth the Associated Press (AP)[19] and the United Press International (UPI)[23] reported Simon Fields as the winning producer of the Rod Stewart music video, "Young Turks." In an authored article dated previous to the 1983 award ceremony, Billboard magazine listed Lexi Godfrey as the nominated producer for "Young Turks."[25]
^The United Press International (UPI) reported Peter Kiminsky as the winner.[9] The Associated Press (AP) reported Michael Negrin as the winner.[45]Billboard magazine had reported Peter Kaminsky as a nominee on a date previous to the April 1985 award ceremony.[40] In a full page "thank you" to people who worked on the Cyndi Lauper videos, Edd Griles, director of the "Time After Time" music video, mentions both "Mike Negrin" with crew members, and "Peter Kaminsky" with cast members.[46]
^
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"Video Beat: Not-so-live video awards". The Index-Journal. Greenwood, South Carolina, USA. p. 4, TV Index. Retrieved August 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^
abcde"Springsteen, video saluted". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Associated Press. November 22, 1985. p. D10. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^
abc"Kragen to receive video group award". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California, USA. March 28, 1985. p. 3, Part VI. Retrieved August 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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abcd"Lauper videos nominated". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont, USA. AP. March 28, 1985. p. 8D. Retrieved August 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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abcd"Video greats get more gold". The Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa, USA. April 4, 1985. p. 2. Retrieved August 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^Dupler, Steven (September 28, 1985).
"Video Music: Henley Wins Big at MTV Awards". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 38. USA: Billboard Publications, Inc. pp. 40, 41. Retrieved August 15, 2017 – via Google Books.
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abcDobrin, Gregory (November 9, 1985).
"NAVAS Announce '85 Nominees"(PDF). Cash Box. Vol. XLIX, no. 22. George Albert. p. 9. Retrieved August 25, 2017 – via americanradiohistory.com.
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ab"Tonight's Highlights: American Video Awards". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.: Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. April 15, 1987. p. 49. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
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abcdefghijklmnopqrsDobrio, Gregory (February 21, 1987).
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^Vare, Ethlie Ann (December 20, 1987).
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abcdDarling, Cary (February 26, 1983).
"Music Monitor". Billboard. Vol. 95, no. 8. USA: Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 25. Retrieved July 31, 2017 – via Google Books.
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abcdefghijk"Stars Receive Video Awards". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California, USA. AP. April 7, 1983. p. C-2. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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abcdef"Video awards". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, California, USA. April 8, 1983. p. 21A. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Rock Explodes". The Cincinnati Enquirer TV Magazine. Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.: Gannett. April 17, 1983. p. 2. Retrieved August 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^Zorn, Eric (April 17, 1983).
"He hit it big with the hits". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A: Detroit Free Press, Inc. Chicago Tribune. p. 7D. Retrieved August 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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ab"Michael Jackson tops video awards". The San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California, USA. April 8, 1984. p. D-6. Retrieved August 16, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^
abcdefg"Specials Highlights". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. April 15, 1984. p. 50. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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abcdef"Video Awards". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A.: Santa Cruz Sentinel Publishers Co. April 18, 1984. p. B-11. Retrieved August 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Jackson's 'Beat It' wins video honors". The Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona, USA. AP. April 7, 1984. p. 13D. Retrieved August 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^"American Video Awards"(PDF). Cash Box. April 13, 1985. p. 34. Retrieved August 26, 2017 – via americanradiohistory.com.
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ab"Cyndi Lauper Sweeps American Video Awards". Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.: Gannett. Associated Press. April 5, 1985. p. D-10. Retrieved August 26, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Boys Just Want To Have Fun (full page ad)". Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 50. USA: Billboard Publications, Inc. December 15, 1984. p. 39. Retrieved September 8, 2017 – via Google Books.
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^"Varied artists vie for video awards". The Daily Reporter. Greenfield, Indiana, U.S.A. UPI. November 2, 1985. p. 2. Retrieved August 25, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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ab"Video Award Nominees Announced". The San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California, U.S.A. Associated Press. October 30, 1985. p. B-9. Retrieved August 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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abcdefghij"Tonight On TV". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. November 22, 1985. p. 22(Part VI). Retrieved August 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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ab"Springsteen, Murphy share video spotlight". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A.: Santa Cruz Sentinel Publishers Co. Associated Press. November 21, 1985. p. C-14. Retrieved August 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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abcBream, Jon (April 26, 1987).
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abcd"Tonight on TV". The Los Angeles Times. April 27, 1987. p. 9(VI). Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^
abcdefghijklmnop"'Sledgehammer' wins". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. February 28, 1987. p. 2A. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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abcdefghSpeers, W. (February 28, 1987).
"Newsmakers: Video Winners". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 2C. Retrieved July 31, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^
abcdefghij"Peter Gabriel top winner". The Daily Spectrum. Saint George, Utah, USA. UPI. March 1, 1987. p. 10. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.