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Batman Prince album
Warner Bros. Records
albumHaving witnessed Prince perform two shows in London for his Lovesexy Tour, film director Tim Burton hoped to include 1999 and Baby I’m A Star in his new movie Batman for sequences featuring The Joker. Burton approached Prince, conveniently signed to Warner – the studio producing the movie, to ask him to rerecord these songs or provide entirely new replacements in the soundtrack for his 1989 film. Composer Danny Elfman was to produce the remainder with theatrical score.
He had a vision for what the music should sound like … he had captured the mood of the film perfectly.
Initially reluctant to participate in the project, when invited to the movie set at Pinewood Studios, London on 20 January 1989, Prince instead presented Burton with two recently written tracks Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic and 200 Balloons, but in this meeting was so enthused by the project he offered to record an entire album instead. Neither appear in the final configuration (replaced in their respective scenes with Partyman and Trust). The movie is therefore unique in having two soundtrack albums.
Much of the soundtrack was written during the Japan leg of Lovesexy Tour, which opened on 1 February 1989. Prince drawing inspiration from the dailies FedEx’d from Pinewood as the movie was being shot back in London – even working snippets of dialogue into the soundtrack. Prince could not wait to wrap up the tour to return to Paisley Park Studios mid-February to lay down the album, which he completed by the end of March. Batman is an entirely solo project, and produced five supporting singles. The final song recorded for the album, Batdance was also its lead single but almost not chosen as Prince believed the track was both too long and chaotic to be successful. Batdance was released on 9 June ahead of the movie’s 19 June premier. Issued with it was a Mark Moore (S-Express) remix titled The Batmix, and 200 Balloons. It was a sensation and delivered Prince his fourth chart-topping US single, on 5 August 1989, and remained in the Hot 100 for 18 weeks. Batdance, which does not feature in the movie, jumped straight to RIAA’s Platinum certification on 11 August and sold 2 million units globally. In the US Batdance notched up Prince’s first single to claim the top spot in the Hot 100 since Kiss in 1986. The second single Partyman maintained this success, a top 20 entry and selling 500,000 units to achieve its Gold certification on 8 November 1989. Its B-side Feel U Up issued a 1999 album session outtake Prince reworked in 1986 in the intention to release on his post Revolution solo LP Camille in 1987, it was released in both edited and original ‘Short Stroke’ full length ‘Long Stroke’ versions for the 7″ and 12″ Partyman single in promotion of Batman.
Batman was released on the day of the movie’s premier and delivered Prince his biggest chart success since Purple Rain, reaching the top spot in both the US and UK it was also a top 5 hit across Europe and Australasia. Its 2 million US sales certified Batman double Platinum on 29 August 1989. At the time of release, Batman was the fastest selling album in the history of the US charts, retailing one million units in its first week. It landed at the top of the Billboard 200 on 22 August 1989 and held firm for six weeks, remaining in the chart a total of 36 weeks. Worldwide sales of the LP amounted to 4.4 million units. It was a vast improvement on Prince’s last LP Lovesexy, which fell short of the US top 10 and achieved mere Gold status barely eight months previous. Batman garnered Prince five Grammy nominations for Best Male Vocal Performance (Album), Best Motion Picture Soundtrack, Best Male Vocal Performance (Single – for Batdance), Best Motion Picture Song (Partyman) and studio production. The AMAs nominated Prince for R&B Artist, and handed him its Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to music. At the UK BRIT Awards on 18 February 1990 Batman was named Best Soundtrack. This was a time superhero movies were not the norm in Hollywood, the hype surrounding the film can best be described as a phenomenon. Batman was the year’s most anticipated movie and boasted a heavyweight cast starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger. The premiere at LA’s Mann Bruin Theater was a star-studded and lavish affair, with the release of Prince’s soundtrack following the next day. News that Prince was providing the entire soundtrack for the movie made it also the year’s most anticipated album. The movie became the year’s biggest release, grossing $411 million, and the soundtrack one of the top selling albums.
Despite its success, licensing constraint under the Warner-owned DC Comics trademark dictate no songs from the soundtrack may be included in other compilation releases. Being solely a Warner Pictures production, Prince’s label Paisley Park Records does not receive studio credit for producing the OST, which entailed Prince to relinquish his publishing rights to the music in order to participate in the project.
There’s never been a soundtrack like it
Prince was fully absorbed into the creation of Batman and even credited the lyrics of every track to a character in the movie. Prince himself assumed a Bruce Wayne/Joker hybrid alter ego named Gemini (Prince’s birth sign, the Twins) who sang on behalf of these characters. Marketing was in full strength also, which in addition to the regular release the CD version of Batman was also offered in two limited editions. The first was in the same packaging as the regular issue but with a yellow and black printed CD bearing Anton Furst’s updated Batman logo. The other, featuring black artwork on the disc, was packaged inside a tin container named The Bat Can, complete with round picture booklet. It would plant in Prince the later inspiration for the packaging of Crystal Ball in 1998.
Not all tracks configured in Batman was created specially for the soundtrack. The oldest are Scandalous! recorded at Paisley Park on 17 October 1988 between shows for the Lovesexy Tour, and Electric Chair, produced in July 1988. Both were originally intended for Prince’s abandoned project Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic, as was Anna Waiting, recorded in December 1988 for that project; created for the eighteenth birthday of Prince’s then girlfriend British model Anna Garcia “Anna Fantastic” who inspired that album. The track was renamed Vicki Waiting for the movie after the character Vicki Vale, played by Basinger. Garcia also inspired the track Lemon Crush (her favourite drink), one of the album’s three tracks not to feature in the finished movie.
Following their successful collaboration with U Got The Look in 1987, on receiving lyrics for a song from Sheena Easton named The Arms Of Orion, Prince laid down music to and the pair duet on the ballad. The song, inspired by the view of the night sky from Easton’s bedroom window, was recorded in January 1989 and was the album’s third single, although does not feature in the movie. Backed with another ballad from the Batman sessions, outtake I Love U In Me, it charted 36 in the US and 27 in the UK. The fourth single Scandalous! followed a few weeks later. This US only 7″ release issued in November failed to make the Hot 100 but landed at number 5 in the R&B chart. Scandalous! was also developed out into a 12″ version and what became Prince’s first Extended Player, titled The Scandalous Sex Suite. The fifth and final single issued in support of Batman received a Europe only release, The Future. Significantly, this delivered Prince’s first single to be comprised solely of mixes not issued in the main album – both its A- and B-side tracks are the work of British producers William Orbit and Mark Moore remixing The Future and Electric Chair, done at Guerilla Studios in London. Having invited Minneapolis gospel group Sounds Of Blackness to open the 15 September concert for the US leg of Lovesexy Tour in 1988, they are sampled as the backing choir in The Future. Batman is engineered by Femi Jiya, who can be heard as the backing vocals of Partyman, he created several remixes the track with Prince for the accompanying Partyman: Remixes single.
Batman is considered to have revived Prince’s career in the US following the muted success of the previous LP Lovesexy, his first album to perform better in European markets than at home. Despite its success, licensing restrictions cause the omission of this soundtrack in later greatest hits packages and due to this Batman is a largely overlooked piece of Prince’s discography. In recognition of Prince after his death in April 2016, when in October 2024 the novel sequel to Tim Burton’s Batman, Batman Resurrection, was dedicated “2 the memory of Prince” in acknowledgement of his role in breathing new life into what has become one of cinema’s most successful franchises.
The Scandalous Sex Suite EP
The most fan noteworthy of the album’s five singles is the EP The Scandalous Sex Suite. Issued worldwide on 1 December 1989, it is comprised of reworked versions of Scandalous! which Prince had recorded only on 1 October, one year exactly after the recording the original single. The track was developed out to form an EP of three parts, titled The Crime, The Passion and The Rapture. After separating from Anna Fantastic, Prince and Kim Basinger were briefly an item. Basinger’s moans of passion are sampled throughout Scandalous! The three tracks were accompanied in the EP by When 2 R In Love a ballad Prince originally envisioned for The Black Album in 1987 but subsequently released on Lovesexy – and a newly produced track titled Sex: full name Sex (The 80’s Are Over And The Time Has Come 4 Monogamy And Trust). The package formed Prince’s inaugural EP The Scandalous Sex Suite, which is since regarded among his best singles. In 1992, Sex would be overdubbed, retaining Prince’s instrumentation, by Dutch duo Loïs Lane, Prince opening act for 1990’s Nude Tour. Their version was released in Netherlands on their third album, titled Precious.
Cover story
The cover of the Batman soundtrack is dominated by the iconic Batman logo. Originating from DC Comics first publication of Batman in 1939, the character’s costume insignia was radically updated for Tim Burton’s 1989 movie. The illustration is the work of Anton Furst, Burton’s long-term production designer, who also designed the Gotham sets for the movie as well as the Batmobile. While the design of the album is governed by the movie, shots of Prince featured on the sleeve are by Jeff Katz, Prince’s trusted photographer since Parade in 1986. Katz also shot the still for the music videos Batdance, Partyman and Scandalous. The album’s inner and rear artwork is the design of Tom Recchion, who Prince retained for his next album Graffiti Bridge.
Performers
- Vocals / all Instr
- Prince
- Saxophone
- Eric Leeds Trust and Feel U Up
- Trumpet
- Matthew Blistan "Atlanta Bliss" Trust and Feel U Up
- Choir
- Sounds Of Blackness The Future
- Orchestration
- Clare Fischer The Future
- Programming
- Chuck Zwicky Batdance
Data
- Producer
- Prince
- Label
- Warner Bros. Records
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records
- Cover/Design
- Anton Furst (Batman logo) and Tom Recchion
- Released
- 37 years ago on 19 June 1989
- Reissued
- 8 September 2023
- Running Time
- 42:34
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- US R&B Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- 1
- Prince Album
- #11
- Orig. Formats
-
Tracklist
- The Future (4:08) 2
- Electric Chair (4:13) 1
- The Arms Of Orion [duet with Sheena Easton] (5:03) 3 & 4
- Partyman [feat. Femi Jiya and Anna Fantastic] (3:11) 1
- Vicki Waiting (4:47) 3
- Trust (4:24) 1
- Lemon Crush (4:15) 4
- Scandalous! [feat. Kim Basinger] (6:15) 2
- Batdance (6:13) all
Released as a single
1 Lyrics attributed to the character The Joker
2 Lyrics attributed to the character Batman
3 Lyrics attributed to the character Bruce Wayne
4 Lyrics attributed to the character Vicki Vale
Singles from Batman
Batdance
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 9 June 1989
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- 2
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- Batdance [Edit] (4:06)
- 200 Balloons (5:05)
Batdance
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 12 June 1989
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 2
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- Batdance (6:13)
- 200 Balloons (5:05)
Also available as a 12" picture disc, and 3" CD.
Batdance
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 21 July 1989
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- 2
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- Batdance [The Batmix] [remix by Mark Moore and William Orbit] (7:15)
- Batdance [Vicky Vale Mix] [remix by Mark Moore and William Orbit] (5:55)
- 200 Balloons (5:05)
Also available in 3" CD oval case limited edition, and standard 5" format.
Partyman
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 18 August 1989
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- 18
- UK Chart Peak
- 14
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- Partyman (3:11)
- Feel U Up [Short Stroke] [Prince as Camille] (3:42)
Partyman
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 18 August 1989
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- 18
- UK Chart Peak
- 14
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- Partyman [The Video Mix] [remix by Femi Jiya and Prince] (6:20)
- Feel U Up [Long Stroke] [Prince as Camille] (6:28)
Also available as 12" picture disc, and 3" CD fold-out octagon case collector's edition.
Partyman: Remixes
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 18 August 1989
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- 18
- UK Chart Peak
- 14
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- Partyman [The Purple Party Mix] [remix by Femi Jiya and Prince] (6:02)
- Partyman [Partyman Music Mix] [remix by Femi Jiya and Prince] (4:31)
- Partyman [The Video Mix Edit] [remix by Femi Jiya and Prince] (5:40)
- Feel U Up [Short Stroke] [Prince as Camille] (3:44)
The Arms Of Orion
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 16 October 1989
- US Chart Peak
- 32
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- The Arms Of Orion [Edit] [duet with Sheena Easton] (3:52)
- I Love U In Me (4:12)
The Arms Of Orion
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 6 November 1989
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 27
- Cover/Art
- Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- The Arms Of Orion [duet with Sheena Easton] (5:03)
- I Love U In Me (4:12)
- The Arms Of Orion [Edit] [duet with Sheena Easton] (3:52)
Also available as a limited edition 3" CD in 5" card case, and 12" picture disc.
Scandalous!
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 28 November 1989
- US Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- UK Chart Peak
- No release
- Cover/Art
- Jeff Katz and Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- Scandalous! [Edit] [feat. Kim Basinger] (4:12)
- When 2 R In Love (4:02)
The Scandalous Sex Suite EP
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 1 December 1989
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Cover/Art
- Jeff Katz and Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- The Crime [feat. Kim Basinger] (6:24)
- The Passion [feat. Kim Basinger] (6:17)
- The Rapture [feat. Kim Basinger] (6:39)
- Sex (The 80's Are Over And The Time Has Come 4 Monogamy And Trust) (7:02)
- When 2 R In Love (4:02)
The Future
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 18 May 1990
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Cover/Art
- Matthew Rolston and Tom Recchion
- Format
-
- The Future [Remix Edit] [remix by William Orbit] (3:30)
- Electric Chair [Album Version] (4:13)
The Future
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 18 May 1990
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Cover/Art
- Matthew Rolston and Tom Recchion
- Formats
-
- The Future [Remix] [remix by William Orbit] (6:25)
- Electric Chair [Remix] [remix by William Orbit and Mark Moore] (5:36)
Supporting tour
Batman album review
Rolling Stone may once have denounced Batman as Prince’s tactical mistake, but overlook this album at your peril. It can never cease to amaze that Batman OST hails from the 1980s. The Berlin Wall had not yet come down at the time this album dropped. Prince was too heavily invested in creating the soundtrack to care about world events. His obsession with the movie is evidenced in photos of this era – Prince donning a perhaps way too-cropped top proudly bearing the Batman logo for a shoot wearing roller skates of all things sadly cannot be erased from memory. The press even conjured up rumours the underground car park at Paisley Park was created so Prince could have his very own Bat Cave. Having a superstar to deal with left Danny Elfman having none of it and refused to play second fiddle to Prince; so we received two soundtracks for the same movie. Batman LP is yet another solo effort from Prince, who delivers unmatched quality in its genre bending diversity; fusing funk (The Future, Vicki Waiting, Partyman and Electric Chair) with sensuality (Arms of Orion and Scandalous!) and the outrageous Batdance.
Batman is an record of extremes, from the terrific mash-up Batdance, which is virtually the album’s sole showcase of Prince on guitar duty at his biting best, to a seduction developed out to an all-out three-part seductive opus The Scandalous Sex Suite. Batman was a decade ahead of its time. It didn’t become the fastest selling album in its day for nothing. It is Scandalous that due to licensing restrictions this solid edition to Prince’s discography is denied its deserved recognition in Prince’s later greatest hits packages. Batman is rich with single remixes, dig if you will The Future and Electric Chair. How any double Platinum selling album could be dismissed as a tactical mistake is beyond logic. Prince left the 80s in solid form.
Batman is rated 4 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
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