On August 5, 1989, "Batdance" from the BATMAN album topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other than "On Our Own", "Cold Hearted" and "If You Dont Know Me", I don't remember hearing these songs on the radio. How does 'Batdance" hold up 26 years later? Also, how have the other songs in the top ten held up? Horribly dated or lasted the test of time.

TW LW TITLE Artist – Weeks on Chart (Peak Position)

1 2 BATDANCE –•– Prince – 8 (1)
2 5 ON OUR OWN –•– Bobby Brown – 9 (2)
3 4 SO ALIVE –•– Love And Rockets – 12 (3)
4 10 RIGHT HERE WAITING –•– Richard Marx – 5 (4)
5 1 TOY SOLDIERS –•– Martika – 12 (1)
6 8 ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY –•– Great White – 13 (6)
7 7 LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME –•– Bon Jovi – 10 (7)
8 9 I LIKE IT –•– Dino – 13 (8)
9 13 COLD HEARTED –•– Paula Abdul – 7 (9)
10 6 IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME BY NOW –•– Simply Red – 14 (1)

11 3 EXPRESS YOURSELF –•– Madonna – 10 (2)
12 11 CRAZY ABOUT HER –•– Rod Stewart – 13 (11)
13 18 SECRET RENDEZVOUS –•– Karyn White – 11 (13)
14 24 DON’T WANNA LOSE YOU –•– Gloria Estefan – 5 (14)
15 19 I’M THAT TYPE OF GUY –•– L.L. Cool J – 9 (15)
16 14 DRESSED FOR SUCCESS –•– Roxette – 11 (14)
17 26 HANGIN’ TOUGH –•– New Kids On The Block – 4 (17)
18 20 HEY BABY –•– Henry Lee Summer – 12 (18)
19 22 FRIENDS –•– Jody Watley with Eric B. & Rakim – 8 (19)
20 21 NO MORE RHYME –•– Debbie Gibson – 8 (20)

https://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/?s=AUGUST+5%2C+1989

It's pretty damned excellent except Lemon Crush, which is ear abortion time. Batdance is a trifle. Scandalous is pure masterful. Vicki Waiting is one underrated jag. The bat does not suck.

I still think this was a brilliant single. An advert for a major movie, disguised as a catchy pop song. Prince walked that fine line quite well, I thought. Has anyone else ever pulled off something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_mVDMcW7NA I forgot about this song. After the explosion of Teddy Riley's success with Guy, Keith Sweat and Bobby Brown's megaplatinum smash of 'Don't Be Cruel", many white artists made corny attempts to replicate the new jacks swing style and this was horrible.

^^I like Dino's song I had that cassette tape back then,lol

what's really strange is that..."Batdance" was a Number One hit single for Prince,but it's not a song that he could (or would) ever perform in concert.It doesn't even appear on The Hits compilation.It's so connected to that 1989 movie,it doesn't get the opportunity to 'shine' on its own.

SoulAlive said:

what's really strange is that..."Batdance" was a Number One hit single for Prince,but it's not a song that he could (or would) ever perform in concert.It doesn't even appear on The Hits compilation.It's so connected to that 1989 movie,it doesn't get the opportunity to 'shine' on its own.

From WIKIPEDIA:

Ownership of the Batman franchise is notoriously complex. Prince had to agree to sign the publishing rights to the songs used in the movie over to Warner Bros.; therefore, Prince's hit singles from this album were not permitted to appear on any of his hits compilations, only the B-side singles "200 Balloons", "Feel U Up", and "I Love U in Me". Even on the concert T-shirts, which listed all of Prince's album titles to date, the song "Scandalous!" appeared in place of the album Batman. Despite this, Prince has performed a number of the album's tracks in concert over the years. A 2005 special edition DVD of the Batman movie contains Prince's related videos as a bonus feature (although "Partyman" is still edited down from the original longer version.

SoulAlive said:

bashraka said:

I heard a 'latin' jazz/orchastra band perform Batdance it was pretty awesome

"batdance" was really popular. prince had been consistently a huge star since about 1981/2, but after lovesexy it felt like people were starting to ease away from him. sott was huge and had 3 hits so it seemed like a comeback. if he had taken a break after sott sort of how other stars huge in the mid-80s like lionel richie/bruce springsteen/etc had, then his follow up to sott would have been huge. but we got lovesexy. which is a terrific album so im glad he didnt go the other route. but after 'batdance' and the batman album came out.. game over.. FINALLY people started appreciating prince again and i was happy because he was my day 1 fave artist. technically only batdance went top ten but alot of people got hip to prince again and liked the soundtrack and people were digging on his look because it wasnt as femm as lovesexy and the batdance vid with the green makeup was fuckin cool. good memories.

of course, graffiti bridge made him lose all those bandwagon fans.. which he re-gained the next year with diamonds n pearls. neverending cycle for prince lol

The countdown you posted is actually the "Big 80s" countdown for this week on 80s on 8 on Sirius XM. Listening to the replay, I was taken back to 1989, but "Batdance" never did much for me. It was good for the movie and is a lot of people's favorite, but I don't care for it.

When I heard it this evening on XM in th countdown, it immediately hit me that this was like his venture into edm type music.

Musically speaking, Batdance is a terrible song. Infact it's not even a song, it's just a sloppy, lazy medley of the album with a couple of soundbites from the movie.

Utter crap. Only topped the charts through hype and association.

MattyJam said:

KingSausage said:

SoulAlive said:

what's really strange is that..."Batdance" was a Number One hit single for Prince,but it's not a song that he could (or would) ever perform in concert.It doesn't even appear on The Hits compilation.It's so connected to that 1989 movie,it doesn't get the opportunity to 'shine' on its own.

I have live recordings of it! It kind of sucks.

I always thought it held up really well. I suppose it's considered a novelty song, but it did the job and as novelty songs go it's a weird rollercoaster ride through different sections, he samples himself from other songs, it's manic, great guitar stuff, slinky sexy parts and perfect for the comic book characters.

It's also I am guessing Prince's response (or magpie pinching) of things like Theme from S'Express, and MARRS Pump Up The Volume and placed in that context it fits very well.

OldFriends4Sale said:

I heard a 'latin' jazz/orchastra band perform Batdance it was pretty awesome

I heard that too, and it WAS cool!

In my opinion "Batdance" was a work of genius then, and still is. I absolutely love the solo played just before the Vicky Vale part, especially the last 3 - 4 notes.

RodeoSchro said:

KingSausage said:

I remember I was so excited to listen to "Batdance", assuming it was gonna be some synthpop song with straightforward verses, bridge, and a chorus, and was shocked to see that instead it was some 6-minute epic, mixing 20 different elements into one. Great song.

Hard to believe Purple Rain, U Got The Look, Raspberry Beret, and Diamonds & Pearls barely missed the No. 1 spot but Batdance secured it easy

And that video is arguably the best done video of Prince's career, akin to "When Doves Cry"

NouveauDance said:

SoulAlive said:

what's really strange is that..."Batdance" was a Number One hit single for Prince,but it's not a song that he could (or would) ever perform in concert.It doesn't even appear on The Hits compilation.It's so connected to that 1989 movie,it doesn't get the opportunity to 'shine' on its own.

How could this be performed live? It's entirely made of studio wizardry and sampling.
I doubt it could shine on its own, and it would be pointless.
It's not "connected", it's tightly tied to it.

I don't listen to the songs separately, but as an album, I think it works pretty well.
It's cinematic, it's a soundtrack to a movie that never was.
Good thing he recorded it while they were still shooting, and not afterwards.

As an album, "Arms Of Orion" and "Lemon Crush" blend pretty well into it.
I don't understand people who think that every single song Prince puts out should be a masterpiece.
I like albums with peaks and valleys.
I couldn't stand an epiphany after another.

KingSausage said:

RodeoSchro said:

In my opinion "Batdance" was a work of genius then, and still is. I absolutely love the solo played just before the Vicky Vale part, especially the last 3 - 4 notes.

It's one of his best solos.

1988 is maybe the best year when it comes to total originality and virtuosity combined.

"Small Club" ("Just My Imagination" "Still Would Stand All Time", "Rave"),
"The Cross", "Purple Rain" from Dortmund (and other brilliant live performances),
Scandalous "The Rapture"...

Something really happened with the Blue Angel.

It didn't hold up when it was first released. Why would it hold up now?


When I first heard it, I was baffled by the fact that it sounded like those strange DJ mixes that were so popular in the late 80s and early 90s, before Clear channel completely took over and forced Djs to play safe, bland music.

Batdance doesn't even sound like a song. It's a mess. Only now, many years later, do I enjoy elements of it--I love the insanity of it. I just don't the various elements more than I like the song as a whole.