I was wondering if anyone knew what the reception to the Batman soundtrack was back in the day. To me, it seems like a lot of parents would find the soundtrack surprising for a film that a lot of their kids went to see (I admit, I never saw the movie, I know it's not a cartoon . . .) I know he had a #1 hit from it, but did people in general find it a success or failure? Was it part of his deal with Warner Bros to do this soundtrack, or did he genuinely seem to enjoy doing it?

Thanks.

crackiswhack said:

Youth, lol. I'm feeling so old. I'm 22 and I remember seeing Batman. I have a pretty good memory so I can tell you what it was like from my 6 yr old point of view.

(The following statement is from the point of view of 6 yr old kdj997)

Tim Burton (creepy guy) is weird, his batman is a bad a$$. He aint like the gay batman on that old show. Michael Keaton is strange, the whole movie is weird. Prince fits in to that because he's strange too. He's so strange that he was Batman and the Joker, thats strange.

-----

That was mine honest analysist of the events of Batman. Which was THE movie of 1989. Man, that was such a cool time. i don't see why parents would have had a problem with Prince or why anyone think his soundtrack wasnt appropriate for a child to listen to.

crackiswhack said:

I remember Batman was huge. Batman was compare only to Purple Rain in term of commercial success. They where talking about it on the main TV shows showing people with some batman like haircut. Then Prince -who was a huge star at this time- was doing the music and clearly benefit from the hype/promotion. Batdance was displayed so often on TV that many off my friends where telling me how much they were pissed off with "my dwarf" that they were force to ear all the time, everywhere .

So it was was a huge success commercialy speaking and a like the album a lot. I think it has a special mood. But I doubt it attracted many new fans to P.

crackiswhack said:

89 is not back in the day, it can't be.......

The album went to #1, it was big hit. I ran to record store and bought, it was a fixture on my walkman for about a year. Batman was also a better movie than purple rain, so the tie in was a perfect match.

Batman the movie was so hyped up that people were even tearing down and stealing the posters before the movie came out! Anything to do with the movie was an instant collectible before it even came out!

Adding to the hype, Prince released Batdance before the movie - this is why it was a huge hit, being one of the first things to come out associated with the movie. They wouldn't let him use any footage from the movie, hence the video with Batmen and Jokers inspired by the old series instead.

It's not really a soundtrack - Prince's music barely features in the film - Danny Elfman's orchestral music of the film was the REAL soundtrack since it is featured throughout.

Whether people who bought it were converted to Prince fans, I don't know. It's a solid funky Prince album, but you don't tend to hear Orgers going, oh Batman was the album that really got me into Prince...

I was 7 at the time when Batman came out - the perfect age. I remember my Dad bought the Prince album thinking it was the Danny Elfman score!. It was one of the first CD's we actually owned. Anway, when he put it on he was so angry. He let me listen to it once and then he took it back to the store and got a refund (CD burners weren't household items then, so stores would happily refund your money for a CD you didn't like!).

I wasn't really a Prince fan until 1998-99, but I still remember listening to the Batman album knowing it was going to go back to the store. I can't even remember if I liked it, I just listened to it because it was Batman related! Maybe it had some subliminal effect on me, and that's why I'm such a fan now?!
[Edited 1/30/05 15:46pm]

Everything i have regarding charts and sales on "Batman":

Album "Batman"

US Top-20 chart run

-29 (debut)-
-7-*1-1-1-1-1-1*-3-5-5 (Top 10)
-11-15-18-20

UK Top-20 chart run

*1* (debut)-3-4-7-9-10-10-9-6-8-10-
11-14-20

Charts:

Number 1 = Canada, Switzerland
Number 2 = Sweden = Number 2
NUmber 3 = Germany = Number 3
Number 4 = Australia, Italy, New Zealand
Number 8 = Japan

Sales:

USA = 2 million (2xPlatinum August 1989)
UK = 300,000 (Platinum November 1989)
France = 300,000 (Platinum 2001)
Germany = 250,000 (Gold)
Japan = 175,000 (Gold)
Netherlands = 50,000 (Gold)
Switzerland = 25,000 (Gold)
New Zealand = 10,000 (Gold)

It sold, by 1993, 4.6 million copies worldwide (Warner Bros, Billboard article)

The single "Batdance"

Number 1 = USA (1week), Canada (2 weeks), New Zealand (4 weeks), Switzerland
Number 2 = UK, Australia, Italy
Number 5 = Belgium, Sweden
Number 10 = Germany

USA = 1 million (Platinum August 1989)
UK = 200,000 (Silver July 1989)
[Edited 1/30/05 16:13pm]

I wasn't allowed to see Batman or Batman Returns because they were too "violent" to my mother(as was the cartoon). I vaguely remember a concert of him playing Joker on TV, but nothing more. Strangely enough, I discovered the film in her drawer years later and secretly watched it. Some of the Joker's punks walked in blaring some Prince rap on a giant boom box. I was very unimpressed.

Thanks for responses everyone, that was helpful.
Hey, do you guys know if Batman was a $-making bain of existence for P which lacked creative freedom, as part of the Warner Bros deal, or if he gladly embraced it and had fun with it. In the Batdance video, looks like he's having a lot of fun.

Thanks.

crackiswhack said:

According to the stories, Jack Nicholson was a huge Prince fan and convinced Tim Burton (the director) to ask Prince to do the soundtrack. Prince initially declined. He was later asked to visit the set in London and apparently he was very impressed with the set and the crew, so he agreed to do the soundtrack.

While filming the museum scene, the music they played for the actors was actually "1999". For the parade scene, the music they played was "Baby I'm A Star". That's why "Partyman" and "Trust" sound like "1999" and "Baby I'm A Star" respectively!

Sure the whole Batman thing was great for Prince. It gave him a much needed hit album and single. However, that's not to say the music is watered down by any means. Some of the songs on the Batman soundtrack were very experimental for 1989 (eg "The Future", "Lemon Crush", "Batdance", "Sex" [b-side]).

metalorange said:

Hah, actually, I converted from MJ to Prince when I heard my elder brother playing the Batman album. I hated to admit that The Future followed by Electric Chair was some of the funkiest stuff I had heard in my young life.

I remember the film being 'minors not allowed' in Belgium, which a lot of my friends and nephews were angry about. The film was really very dark and sober! I still find it a very good film!

Both film and album had tremendous success in the States.

It was a much needed commercial success for Prince after Lovesexy which kind of bombed in the States.

However here in the UK it was the first P album which wasn't critically hailed, and as a fan I had to agree that it was the first dissapointment I experienced since day one.

Actually on the day it came out I ran home with it and slapped it on my record player not noticing that I had it on 45 rpm. I played the whole album without realising it was on the wrong speed. This either goes to show how foolish I was or how prepared for anything a Prince fan was in the late eighties!

Quite like the album now though especially the first two songs.

As to its presence in the film, two songs featured prominently; Partyman was one of them and a single but probably the worst ever for me - hate the song, but what a video! Snatches of other songs could be heard too.

Incidentally gossip-wise he met Kim Basinger on the set and she apparently got divorced in order to marry P! Didn't last however and she took the high road leaving behind her groan on Peach.
[Edited 1/31/05 4:52am]