I so wish for Prince to have a song that makes it to the top of the charts, but I think it's funny that Batdance made it to the top, because it's nowhere near number one material. There are so many other Prince songs that deserved the number one spot. I get it, the Batman movie was a hit, so Batdance became number one, but it wasn't right.

peter430044 said:

It was tagged with the movie and released at the same time frame. If there hadn't been the movie, I don't think it would have made #1.

I agree..."Trust," and "Arms of Orion," were better songs.

peter430044 said:

Well, the Karma was that the song made it to the top of the charts because that was the Karma and that makes it right.

Please stop hating this song, Batdance is amazing, the Jack Nicholson/ Kim Basinger dialogue, the rhythms, the guitar solo.... the video is 1 on Prince's greatest...

Yes, I just love everything about this fine funk-pop jam...

ps. I only wonder why the song wasn't used in the film - at the opening / end credits. It would have fit very well with the dark mood of this movie.... imo.

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[Edited 4/12/09 18:47pm]

Tame said:

I love Arms Of Orion too. Better not tell anyone else on the org

No way, its a cool little song.
keep bustin,

thedance said:

I like the song, I just don't think it was number one material.

Batdance is WAY under-appreciated on here. I have 6 kids, much to my dismay none of them are prince fans. But they all love batdance. I think it's great too.

I'm not at all surprised it hit #1. I'm more surprised Prince doesn't have more #1 songs.
[Edited 4/12/09 18:53pm]

I can easily see why it hit #1, besides all the publicity of the first Batman Movie, Tim Burton, Jack Nicholson on on..

If i was going to bitch about a Prince song hitting #1, i would nominate "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" or "Cream", now those are two Prince songs i hate!
[Edited 4/12/09 19:00pm]

peter430044 said:

Okay I agree with you, it's strange these songs didn't made it to #1:

Purple Rain,
Raspberry Beret,
U Got The Look

those classics should have been #1 hits, but.. I guess I could mention a lot of others that deserved better too,

overall it's not really fair Prince often has been really poor in selling records. Back in 1985-1988 he deserved better,

Especially Lovesexy not hitting in US was a big shame.

Well, a big part of the #1 position in the US was hype from the movie. But I certainly don't discount the song's own merits, it's an amazing rollercoaster of a track. Who the hell else at the time could do something like this and have it as the theme song to a big budget movie?

The track itself isn't hugely innovative, but really well constructed. Colourbox - M/A/R/R/S - were doing this kind of thing years before 1989, but then so was Prince, he did suite-like tracks, and this kind of sampling on Madhouse.

I don't think it's a novelty song at all, although it's often regarded as such.

I think it's a perfect Prince song in that it hit number one, yet no song before it or since has sounded anything like it (well, no song from a mainstream artist). The guitar solo is killer, the breakdown is perfect... it really is a marvelous song.

Plus, it's the best song on the album - it's like the whole disc leads up to that point. A brilliant climax... and if you went out and bought the cassette single back in the day, you got "200 Balloons" with it and played both sides of that thing until it warped.

Goooood times.

thedance said:

Purple Rain deserved number one, but given that Let's Go Crazy and When Doves Cry were number ones, I don't think it was realistic. Raspberry Beret and U Got The Look were great songs, I wish they had been number ones. Lovesexy is a very good album, Alphabet St. could've been number one and maybe Anna Stesia.

batdance is great! it deserved to be #1!

Since when is the number one song based on merit or quality? Batdance is cool and it is probably the last P single that young people really got into.

until today I never knew that it was number one. goes to show how much I follow those silly charts

I totally feel it deserved to be a #1 hit.

peter430044 said:

Batman, became number 1 on its own merit! It is quite a creative piece of work! Go back and listen to it for all the different elements incorporated, the tempo changes and how they resolves, and the interjection of movie voice overs.It is unique and creative;it's perfectly Prince.

no. in fact, i think it's probably one of the best novelty tunes to ever hit #1.


but that's what it is. a novelty song.

You are plain mad or simply looking for attention.

Probably among the most interesting tracks he's ever done. He was trying to be "current" or "cutting edge" but avoided the sense of desperation that often accompany his attempts to incorporate new sounds.

"Batdance" is a very UNPrince song, really. Yeah, it was heavily influenced and went hand in hand with the movie, but musically, some parts are great. The extended guitar solo in the unreleased version is great. I like the beat change half way through. Keeps ya guessing, at the time.

I think "The Arms of Orion" was released too late in the game, and could have been a huge hit, even more if it was in the movie, and if it took the place of "Scandalous" as a video. Such a great song.

I love "200 Balloons" as much as "Batdance".

It's better than the Macarena song at least.

emesem said:

i dearly love the released version but don't much care for the earlier, longer edits. imo he cut it down to perfection.

jdcxc said:

True, it is based on mass appeal and "Batdance" as a *song* had none of that, just the movie hype. So it is very undeserving since it didn't have any catchy melody...

"The Arms Of Orion" is a track that would be definitely a #1 if it was used as a Disney theme song or something...

hmmmm at that time it was number one material. I mean i dont think your mom is number one material either but somebody did.

What the hell is it with "the charts"? I don't think Prince gives a damn about that crap. His true fans don't either?

Dayclear said:

Really? I guess every Prince fan is a little proud when he is number 1, and a little annoyed when he is not on the charts at all,

His new albums are a completely miss here in Denmark, completely ignorred, and I can tell it's really annoying,

I want him to be successful, both artistically and commercially....


(that was a little off topic, it's about Batdance....)

batdance is an amazing song.liek the 1st time a majr artist made a house song commercial and made it a hit.it had mahor impact on madonnas "im breathless" lp and on trent reznor who even stated that it was the inspiration for the "natural born killers" soundtrack.hip hop acts should take notice of his use of sampling .even without the movie backing it it would have been a number 1 hit.its such a different type of prince song.and probably the most abstract number 1 since his own when doves cry.the arms of orion is fluff.trust was excellent.so was the future,electric chair and lemon crush.now that i think about it the whole soundtrack gets a bad rap for no reason because its a pretty fuckin good lp.