Classic or Dud: Prince's Batman "Soundtrack" Album

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I don't think I could possibly listen to this now outside of the realm of weird nostalgia/novelty. It's mostly preposterous.
Though the 2nd half of the lyrics to "Batdance" are the work of some kind of lunatic genius:

"Hey Ducky, let me stick the 7-inch
In the computer
HA, HA, HA
Hey, we got the power
Oh, we got the soul
Hey, we got to sho'nuff get off
2 make the devil go, go

"This town needs an enema!"

"I'm gonna kill U"
POWER
"I'm not gonna kill U"
SOUL
"I'm gonna kill U"
POWER
"I'm not gonna kill U"
SOUL
Let's do it
"I'm BATMAN"
BATMAN
Don't stop dancin'
"I'm BATMAN"
BATMAN
Don't stop dancin'
Do it, do it, do it, do it
BATMAN, BATMAN, BATMAN
Don't stop, don't stop
Let's do it
Don't stop dancin'
Let's do it, BATMAN
Let's do it, BATMAN
Don't stop dancin'
Don't stop dancin'
No, damn it! Turn the music back up!
You son of a bitch!

"Have you ever heard of the healing power of laughter?"

Who's gonna stop 200 balloons?
Nobody!
Batman
Stop!"

― Taxi Dancing in the Soft Prison (Ben Boyer), Friday, 15 October 2004 21:59 (nineteen years ago) link

fucking absurdly great, you mean.

same difference

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Holy fuck. "Scandalous" sounds a hell of a lot like "The Beautiful Ones". No wonder this album rules so much. He ripped off all his best songs! (er...except for the one where that he ripped off later...or something like that)

― frankE (frankE), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Thanks for reviving this thread & reminding me to play this album again! I rarely get it out because I displayed my loyalty at the time by shelling out extra $ for the silly "Batcan" edition, in a round 5-inch tin that sits tucked away collecting dust, because it doesn't file with the other CDs.

Anyway, classic, if only for "Lemon Crush" -- a sublime example of the tossed-off insta-funk that your boy could seemingly do in his sleep back then. Lotsa other good ones, too.

― briania (briania), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:16 (nineteen years ago) link

I got this album for my 10th birthday (2nd CD I ever owned). Sold it to a friend for $2 bucks in 8th grade. I really regret it now.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:18 (nineteen years ago) link

this movie was so awesome

it was the best movie

― Sonny, Ah!!1 (Sonny A.), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:26 (nineteen years ago) link

I certainly agreed with you at the time, but I've come to realize that the best movies don't have Robert Wuhl in them.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:27 (nineteen years ago) link

This was one of the first records I truly, truly loved. My family went on holiday to Cyprus and I would sit inside the hotel room and stare out at the ocean and play it to death on my shitty Toshiba walkman. I would grudgingly interrupt listenings to go and play with the other kids at some lame hotel-organized play club thing, wondering which of those pale and geeky 13 year-old girls would be my own Vicki Vale...

― adam. (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:31 (nineteen years ago) link

fucking fascist xpost

― Sonny, Ah!!1 (Sonny A.), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:31 (nineteen years ago) link

adam you are a sweetheart and i loveyou

― Sonny, Ah!!1 (Sonny A.), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:32 (nineteen years ago) link

how awesome is "The Future" ?

― Sonny, Ah!!1 (Sonny A.), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:32 (nineteen years ago) link

thanks!
xpost

― adam. (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:33 (nineteen years ago) link

http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/tv_pix/emmys/emmy_awards_2002_photos/_group_photos/robert_wuhl19.jpg

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:46 (nineteen years ago) link

most repulsive ventriloquy act ever

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 15 October 2004 22:46 (nineteen years ago) link

That photo was taken right during the prostasqueeze.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 15 October 2004 23:41 (nineteen years ago) link

easy for you to say, you don't have Robert Wuhl's HAND up your tuchus!

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 15 October 2004 23:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Seriously, this is a dud. A major one too. "Partyman" may partly work, and possibly "Scandalous". But then, that's it.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 16 October 2004 00:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Seriously, this is a dud. A major one too. "Partyman" may partly work, and possibly "Scandalous". But then, that's it.

Ridiculousness.

― frankE (frankE), Saturday, 16 October 2004 00:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Classic moment in Shaun of the Dead where the two roomies realize they can slow zombies by throwing vinyl into their brains -- they go through Purple Rain, Sign o' the Times and another couple of Prince records before they say, "BATMAN SOUNDTRACK?!?" and chuck the thing at his head. Brilliant stuff.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 16 October 2004 03:04 (nineteen years ago) link

I ALSO own the "batcan"!

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 16 October 2004 03:11 (nineteen years ago) link

"The Future"'s sound rules, and so does Batdance itself. But most of the lyrics sound pretty tossed off.

― Ruling Strum (Ruling Strum), Saturday, 16 October 2004 07:29 (nineteen years ago) link

crapmuffins on all you diss-shit-lickers
the best complete prince work evah, standing out for two of the great lines of all time:
(no sex religion my furry bat cave) "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes. GUILTY!"

"This town needs an enema"

When was the last top 5 hit with the word enema in it?
Such a rush

― Queen Got the sho'nuff get up, Saturday, 16 October 2004 09:48 (nineteen years ago) link

That Helltime post is the best Excelsior-worthy post I've seen in a month.

The amount of self-steals on Batman are large (the ending of 'Forever In My Life'='Vicki Waiting', the best song, mind), but that's almost an advantage. Recently, I could finally listen to the entire thing and I still believe it's classic. Awesomely, ridiculously classic.

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Saturday, 16 October 2004 12:13 (nineteen years ago) link

i used to have this album on cassette! i'd clean my room to it. the first batman film was my favorite when i was between six and seven years old.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 16 October 2004 13:06 (nineteen years ago) link

i don't remember it too well, though.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 16 October 2004 13:07 (nineteen years ago) link

i don't remember it too well either, but when this came out, a friend and i spent a lot of time driving around listening to it at full volume. we loved "200 balloons" too. i liked the whole "mad scientist let loose in a recording studio" vibe of this. i guess that sounds contrived and cliché, but prince is one of the few artists who could pull it off. i remember really liking the rhythm programming and editing...

― tricky (disco stu), Saturday, 16 October 2004 14:27 (nineteen years ago) link

This film will not live up to your childhood memories. Trust me.

You wanna get nuts?!?!?! COME ON!!! LET'S GET NUTS!!!!

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 16 October 2004 14:34 (nineteen years ago) link

Hahaha. I always thought that moment was particularly bad.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 16 October 2004 14:41 (nineteen years ago) link

I still watch this and my childhood is little more than a faded memory.

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Saturday, 16 October 2004 15:29 (nineteen years ago) link

STOP THE PRESS!!!

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 16 October 2004 15:32 (nineteen years ago) link

You wanna get nuts?!?!?! COME ON!!! LET'S GET NUTS!!!! .

The sticker-book series for the movie actually gave this line its own card.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 16 October 2004 16:32 (nineteen years ago) link

Two words:
ELECTRIC. CHAIR.
Redeems anything crap on this record.

Defend: "Love Song," the duet with Madonna.

― Catty (Catty), Saturday, 16 October 2004 16:38 (nineteen years ago) link

You wanna get nuts?!?!?! COME ON!!! LET'S GET NUTS!!!! .
The sticker-book series for the movie actually gave this line its own card.

-- manthony m1cc1o (anthonyisrigh...), October 16th, 2004.

i think at one point i had all those topps batman trading cards. after a while they had a card for EVERYTHING in that movie.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 16 October 2004 16:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Defend: "Love Song," the duet with Madonna

The one on Like a Prayer? That's easy. The gratuitous French from Maddy (and esp. Prince's "What?" in reply towards the end). The fact that the chorus line is in fact "This is not a love song" (if only PiL had thought of that), etc.

― zebedee (zebedee), Saturday, 16 October 2004 16:56 (nineteen years ago) link

and esp. Prince's "What?" in reply towards the end

Ok now I have to hear this (been meaning to buy Like A Prayer anyway).

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 16 October 2004 16:57 (nineteen years ago) link

'Love Song' sounds like the ~~excuse~~precursor to the Paul Barman/Princess Superstar coupling.

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Saturday, 16 October 2004 17:57 (nineteen years ago) link

six years pass...

It bears repeating: save for "Partyman", this album is great.

"Arms of Orion" is beautiful.

― john. a resident of chicago., Saturday, 23 October 2010 01:57 (thirteen years ago) link

Um excuse me? "Partyman" is my favorite Prince song. Period.

― mother cabrini maxwell (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, 23 October 2010 02:38 (thirteen years ago) link

got this on tape iirc

classic

― BIG MUFFIN (gbx), Saturday, 23 October 2010 02:42 (thirteen years ago) link

Yeah, "Partyman" fucking rules. Shrill funk collage.

― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Saturday, 23 October 2010 03:20 (thirteen years ago) link

This was the first music I ever bought. I think on cassette, when I was 7 or 8. My best friend was a girl that would come over and we'd play the tape and act out the movie with me as Batman and her as Vicky. "Partyman" was the one we'd play over and over again. "Trust" is pretty good too!

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 23 October 2010 14:51 (thirteen years ago) link

eight months pass...

listening to this album for first time in decades. reminds me how much of a marketing juggernaut this film was. perfect for 11-year-old me. this album is pretty good, against all odds. its worth getting the homemade deluxe edition available on the internets. got all the b-sides, some of which are fantastic.

― by another name (amateurist), Thursday, 21 July 2011 16:35 (twelve years ago) link

yeah i was 6 when this movie came out and it utterly DOMINATED my summer. used to clean my room to this album!

― cave duel (latebloomer), Thursday, 21 July 2011 18:16 (twelve years ago) link

argh i just realized that i said the exact same thing upthread.

― cave duel (latebloomer), Thursday, 21 July 2011 18:17 (twelve years ago) link

in any case miccio is hilarious in this thread!

― cave duel (latebloomer), Thursday, 21 July 2011 18:17 (twelve years ago) link

no doubt. I actually saw this again sometime between 04 and now and enjoyed it a lot. I dig how many moments feel like total non-sequiturs.

― da croupier, Thursday, 21 July 2011 21:54 (twelve years ago) link

The other day my wife asked me whether someone on TV was hot and I said "well she's not, 'stop the press, who's that?' or anything..." and then had to explain both the original line and "batdance". or rather felt compelled to.

― da croupier, Thursday, 21 July 2011 21:56 (twelve years ago) link

Part of the problem with inception was that it didn't have a soundbite-filled medley by prince called "do the inception" at the end.

― da croupier, Thursday, 21 July 2011 21:58 (twelve years ago) link

if I could vote for Prince's "what?" from "Love Song" in the Prince poll, I would. Maybe I will.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 July 2011 22:08 (twelve years ago) link

Prince would've totally made a project out of Marion Cotillard.

― gay in every way but the way gays say is the only way they're gay (Eric H.), Thursday, 21 July 2011 22:09 (twelve years ago) link

Skipping 237 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

id buy a longer version of the batdance vicki vale remix.

There is a longer version of the "Vicki Vale Mix" on the Batdance maxi single: 6 minutes instead of the 4 minutes on the video you linked. Both that and the "Batmix" version of Batdance (they're both remixed by Mark Moore of S-Express and William Orbit), as well as the technoish remix of The Future on its maxi, are awesome! In general, the maxi versions of the Batman singles + The Scandalous Sex Suite EP are all worth checking out, IMO the B-sides and remixes on them are better some of the tracks on the actual album.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 6 January 2021 10:34 (three years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlBQxQkE-wE

200 balloons is a total, deliriously hammered out throwaway but fun.

― candyman, Wednesday, 6 January 2021 10:52 (three years ago) link

Back in the day, I hated "Partyman" a lot. Today it sounds completely awesome. I think I just needed to get past the drums.

― Totino's Fortnite Training Room (DJP), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 14:51 (three years ago) link

Ain't nothing but a muffin

― candyman, Wednesday, 6 January 2021 17:26 (three years ago) link

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