Did Prince do the music for the Tim Burton Batman (1989) movie because Prince was a Batman fan and liked the kind of movie Tim Burton was making or did Prince just want some of that Batman money. Where the funky Prince songs apropreat for the spooky gothic Tim Burton Batman film. Before all y'al yell "SELL OUT!" remember that the first song Prince learned to play on the piano when he was like 10 years old was the Batman TV theme song. Tim Burton thought Prince fit in with the freakish wild Joker. Tim Burton thought Siouxsie fit in with the Domanatrix fetishistic Catwoman in Batman Returns. So its not like if Prince did the music to the silly Superman 3 movie with Richard Pryor. So what do you think?

I think some of it had to deal with Tim Burton being a Prince fan and asking if he could contribute an album.

He was also after Kim Bassinger

It's a great album. Sellout? Nah. Prince wasn't on all of those McDonalds cups and T-Shirts.

it could be argued that he "sold out" when he signed with WB way back when.

Not really. When all is said and done it was still a "Prince Album". The Batman stuff was just thrown in the mix of already completed songs that fit the tone of the film. Jack and Tim were fans of Prince. Kim was a hot women of the 80's. Prince claims that the TV show theme songs was the 1st thing he taught himself to play. So he probably was a fan of Batman.

I much prefer a cohesive soundtrack like "Batman" instead of one like "batman Forever" that just throws together artists and songs that have nothing to do with the movie.

Sell out?

I don't think he did.

Great album, but terrible movie!

Nah, not a sell out -- he didn't go looking for it... it came to him, and i believe distracted him from the Lovesexy vibe he had going on at the time (he was finishing the Lovesexy tour in Japan when the Batman project fell in his lap) i will always wonder "what if?"

Prince sell out? Never!

MrSquiggle said:

rudeboynpg said:

great points rudeboynpg...from this one's view it was definately not a sell out But a stay n...there was a whole lot of sentiment on the project...u hit on part of it with the Batman TV theme song(is that a well known story?) & mayB it didn't get out there was someone else trying 2 swipe the project that Prince gettin' it instead make the deal even sweeter...truly a victory Bhind the scenes that speaks n the NRG of the music...Kim on the scene was probably just a Bonus 2 him...Prince is prolific enuf 2 choose whatever reason he wants 2 do a project...these tracks still touch & move this one~that can get B dancing 2day...thats what i say

p.s....Pretty sure he didn't cut his rate on sentiment 4 gettin' Paid

TheBatman said:

I beg to differ...Great Album AND Great movie...the only Batman Movie worth watching. C'mon Jack was wonderful as the Joker...NO ONE else could've pulled that off. All of the movies that came out after that were horrible, includinf Tim's second one, the one with Danny as the Penguin. The ONLY Bad movie that Christopher Walken has done...'cept for maybe "Blast To The Past"

No. Prince sold out when he did "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic" and included guest artists on the album.

Sell out? Nahhh. How did he sell out, tons of artists do soundtrack albums, it was his own film, but PR wouldn't have been as big without the film - was that a sellout?

The music wasn't a sellout several of the songs existed before the album, and the sound of the album had already been crafted during the projects 1988: Madhouse, Lovesexy, Rave, Graffiti Bridge.

Now performing a medley of Purple Rain songs with Beyonce for the Grammies, that was kinda selling out

TheBatman said:

Sell out?

I don't think he did.

Great album, but terrible movie!

Terrible movie?! WTF! I didn't know there was anyone who disliked this film.The Batman film is a classic. One of the best blockbusters of the 80's. And the Joker by Jack dancing to Partyman; film just doesn't get better.

AMEN!

charging his fans alot of cash to go to his recording complex
was kind of a sell-out move in my opinion.
i went to the 1st celebration and on the second day,started feeling like a naughty little sheep,i left on day 3.
they were selling everything from perfume to npg water!
definately made me look at prince in a different way.sellout move!

rudeboynpg said:

You're right! Batman (not 1999 or Dirty Mind) IS the ultimate wellspring of all that is Prince!
[Edited 12/2/04 6:38am]

jackflash said:

wallysafford said:

...but in the end yo ass still went out there, didn't you?

BobGeorge909 said:

Maybe for people who didn't know Batman from the comic books... maybe to them it was a great movie. Me personally, having grown up reading Batman comics... this movie was embarassing. Was not really like Batman at all.

Jack Nicholson is a great actor, but Joker... uh, uh... not to me.

Sell out...no there were plenty of copies at my local record store.

In all seriousness, it was a neccessary move. Lovesxy for all of its artistic merit knocked him out of Top 40 radio and he needed a proven commodity to get back in the game. Prince had always liked Batman (the Batman theme being the first song he learned on the piano) and I'm sure he was flattered that they wanted to use his music. The music on the album is fluffy in spots but there are some tough songs on the CD that would not really indicate a sell-out. Electric Chair, Vicki Waiting, The Future, Scandalous and others were strong and he could be forgiven for going to a derivative well with Partyman, Trust, etc. No forgiveness for Arms of Orion, though, which I still cannot listen to without going into diabetic shock.

Kudos for realizing the batman logo on an album would guarantee multiplatinum sales. Double kudos for inventing (or popularizing) the whole soundtrack of songs INSPIRED by (not neccesarily included in) a movie. Madonna did the same thing the next year with Dick Tracy and these days it is a common practice.

"Maybe for people who didn't know Batman from the comic books... maybe to them it was a great movie. Me personally, having grown up reading Batman comics... this movie was embarassing. Was not really like Batman at all.

Jack Nicholson is a great actor, but Joker... uh, uh... not to me."

Hey-there are plenty of people that were/are well versed in the Batman comic books that loved the movie. That movie is still the best live screen interpretation of Batman yet. The Animated series of the 90's was the best interpretation ever-they nailed it. Okay, time to turn off the dork switch.

not to be a broken record, but i think the only time prince ever sold out was when he signed a contract with WB prior to the release of "for you". although i really don't see "selling out" as always being a bad thing, it is clear now that his agreement with WB resulted in some serious compromises that might have been avoided had prince originally had the foresight to negotiate for different terms in the contract (or kept shopping for another label) instead of going for that cash. but what do you expect, he was a kid. and it wasn't as if WB didn't do their part to help make him a star...

Hey, 4 what it's worth, Jack Nicholson is a huge Prince fan!

GottaLetitgo said:

You make a valid point. Lovesexy was a huge success in many areas of the world (bigger than Purple Rain in Europe) -- not in the States. Part of that could've been that he was touring most everywhere else but the States -- we were seeing less and less of him. Maybe Batman was his way to do something he felt the States would definitely get into -- there had already been a lot of hype about the movie, so Prince already had a built-in customer-base who were going to buy the album just because it had a Batman logo on it. I remember seeing many young kids scream for it, and their parents buying it for them not even knowing it was a Prince album (not just a soundtrack). "Batdance" went straight to #1 -- why? I'd say mostly because it was released before the movie and contained a lot of quotes from the movie. The whole Batman project did a lot of good for our fading hometown hero. Even helped get him special recognition at the 1990 AMA awards.
[Edited 12/2/04 10:49am]

I dont think he sold out...I think it was a smart move...it reat album...I mean artists before him had done it so why shouldnt he? I love VICKI WAITING!

Anxiety said:

-----
Dude what world are you living on. A 18 year-old kid does not negoitate a recording contract !!! So he did not sell-out by signing. You need to read DMSR. Seems WB made the best offer.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

what the hell is your MAIN problem?
i think your comment to me was un-called for,i was just stating my opinion to the question that was asked.
consider "yo ass" talking to the hand from here on out.
you seem to have a major attitude problem huh?

wallysafford said:

not really. you're still new here, once you get to know me you'll come to find out that my spouting off is to be taken in jest.

now c'mon...laugh it off...