While taking a break from packing last minute things today, I sat down and sorted iTunes by "Prince Maxi Single", hit shuffle, and then play. Oddly, it shuffed 3 Batman era tracks in succession. I decided there was enough remixes to make a playlist of the album, in a remixed form. Here's what I came up with. (I put the B-sides, in order of release, at the end of the playlist).

The Future (Remix)
Electric Chair (Remix
The Arms of Orion (Album)
Partyman (Video Mix)
Vicki Waiting (Live - from NPGMC)
Trust (Album)
Lemon Crush (Album)
Scandalous - The Rapture
Batdance (The Batmix)
200 Balloons
Feel U Up (Long Stroke)
I Love U In Me
Sex
Batdance (The Vicki Vale Mix)

I wanted to put "Rave Un2", and the longer, original version of "Batdance" in there, but I figured I'd just stick with actual releases during that period, opposed to all the outtakes, and such. Since "Rave Un2" was released 10 years later, I could have included it, but there was something mysterious about leaving it out. The "Rave" chant in songs was a mystery back then, and people longed for this track that we'd all heard about, but not heard to that point. It kind of ruins this track list by including it, so I left it off.

Batman is an album that took me a while to REALLY get into. I loved only certain songs like "Partyman", "Trust", "The Future", "The Arms of Orion", and "Batdance", and I dismissed the others as half-assed. Over the next few years, I gradually appreciated it more and more. I've listened to this Remixed and Extended playlist once already, and there's a whole different life to it, 21 years later.

If anyone knows of a live or remix version of the album tracks, let me know. But to my knowledge there aren't any.
[Edited 2/28/10 20:46pm]

Dance with the devil should be on there

dance4me3121 said:

As I stated, "but I figured I'd just stick with actual releases during that period, opposed to all the outtakes, and such." Just made sense for an extended version set, opposed to an expanded album with outtakes. I literally reconfigured the album with the remixes of the day.

I made a similar play list once with the songs from COME. I used a different version of "Come" (the more band-oriented version). Acoustic mix of "Space". "So Dark". A remix of "Letitgo", the longer video version of "Race", etc, filling in the blanks w/ the album versions as needed.

Ah sorry i missed that. Nice track list though,many say Prince reached his peak at Lovesexy,I really disagree,some would even say Batman. Batman was the album that made me a fan. Its a awesome cd except for "Arms of Orion".

This thread just got me thinking to myself,when was the last time Prince made any kind of remixes for his songs on albums?

dance4me3121 said:

He's not done real B-sides and remixes since 1996/7 with Emancipation. There were remixes for "Come On" from NewPowerSoul, and a few club mixes for "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold". Of course there was a remix type album for Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, but again - no real B-sides since 1996 with "Rock N Roll is Alive", not that I can remember. In some ways, the digital age killed b-sides.

Of all the tracklistings like this I have seen. I actually really like this one.

dance4me3121 said:

Prince HIT a peak w/ Lovesexy, but it wasn't his ultimate peak, or his last. There is an ebb and flow to Prince's music. He started slow, peaked around 1999/Purple Rain and all that Revolution material, kind of slacked w/ Parade (to the public),t he picked it up again through Batman. Slacked again w/ Graffiti Bridge and D&P, but then hit a new stride in 1993 with the years. The holy trinity of material in the 90's is Come, Exodus, Gold. In some ways, I wish Prince had stopped after Chaos and Disorder. "Had U" was the perfect way to cap off a career that started with "For You". I haven't personally seen a real peak in the the first decade of the 00's. Many would argue that Musicology was a peak, but I harshly disagree. It's muddled and trite. 3121 was a stronger album for me, but it was never a peak like it was in the 90's. More like a bump in the road. In some ways, Musicology, 3121, and Planet Earth are a trilogy (same way PR, ATWIAD, Parade are a trilogy), but I can only listen to 2/3 of that 2000 trilogy.

Batman is Prince not being Prince for the sake of being Prince. It's Prince doing a job, for a purpose, with a goal in mind. Make music for a movie, and not his own. Batman let us see him hon his music making skills that we saw when he was oozing material during the Purple Rain days.

And don't diss "The Arms of Orion". I love that song. I love to play it on the piano.

ernestsewell said:

I agree that the digital age killed the b-side.

P hasn't really released a "b-side" since the Musicology days (per-se). Every single from "Musicology" was accompanied by a digital b-side on the NPGMC.

Magnificent
United States of Division
Silver Tongue

dance4me3121 said:

Ohh geez that song sounds so eerie, gives me the heebie jeebies

Great idea, Ernest.
I've done a similar things with CD burn playlists over the years. I called it "Dark Knight of the Soul". Never been such a fan of Dance with the Devil, so I usually left it off, but I liked to include some eerie tracks like There's Others Here With Us just for atmosphere. But then again I didn't have your no outtakes rule.
Hopefully one will surface somewhere, like that amazing "Show Will Proceed" comp...whoever made that was a genius...

Hatman said:

I made "The Show Will Proceed". That's my boot, on iTude Records. I also did Purple Rain: Severe Storms - The Extended Forecast, which did the same thing as the TSWP did. http://prince.org/msg/7/326562

I like the remixes of most of the tracks, but much prefer the Batdance track on the album to any of its mixes.

An overall so-so album, where the pieces are greater than the overall sum.

ernestsewell said:

Yes I know, I was trying to be subtle...

Ernest,i can diss whatever song I want and "Arms of Orion" is one of the very few out Prince's catalog that I dont like. We are each entitled to our own opinions...Props to u for created Severe Storm though.

I did something similar, but added crystal clear unreleased tracks as well as other stuff released in 89. Which included:

love song
good love (long vers)
dance with the devil
Me touch myself (not sure if exacly right era, but it really fits well)

Erik

dance4me3121 said:

Easy tiger, calm down. No need to get a twist about it.

dance4me3121 said:

I really dont mind the song up until the instrumental section near the end. The single edit of the song fades out exactly where the song should for me.

Erik

The FoeFur Batman boot is fun.

squirrelgrease said:

Is Get on Up from that era? Well I didn't know that. It's such a difficult song to place into an era.

Erik

erik319 said:

As far as I know, it doesn't date any earlier than 1992, but it's not out of place on this collection sound-wise. So yeah, the inclusion of Get On Up can be considered odd.

On the Revelations2.1 dvd, "Get on Up" is listed under 1986

dance4me3121 said:

Really? It doesn't sound like it's from then either! how strange... Anyone got any info on the track?

dance4me3121 said:

The 1986 recording had Wendy and Lisa on it and is (I'm guessing) a full cover of the Esquires track. The Get On Up featured on this FoeFur release is basically the Esquires song without the verses, much like the backing track for Carmen Electra's rapped song of the same name.

http://www.spike.com/vide...ra/2790543

squirrelgrease said:

Honestly, it looks uneventful. The basic track list is only changed up by adding other tracks in, and the video mix of "Partyman". My goal was to put the same songs in the same order, but just use a different version/mix, so the listener had the same tracklist that they're familiar with, but the styling was different. I think mine works rather well.

WHen I did the same thing for Come, I called it Come Again:
Come - (Version #2 - the "band" version I think?)
Space - Acoustic
Pheromone - Album
Loose! - The Beautiful Experience Version
Papa - The Beautiful Experience Version (just because one flowed into the other quite well)
Race (Ulysses Ultimate Experience Version)
So Dark - from Crystal Ball
Solo - Album
Letitgo - On The Cool-Out Tip Radio Edit
Orgasm - Album

I want to mix that version of Letitgo w/ "Orgasm" so it flows. Also, the #2 version of "Come" seems to just cut off after 9:54 minutes. Yet I noticed it has the same beat as "Space". It might call for a mix of the two, to be one big suite of both songs.

ernestsewell said:

Love the title Ernest. What other options were there?

Second Coming (not to be confused with unreleased early 80's project)
Multiple Screaming Orgasm (3 disc set of alt versions, outtakes and remixes)

erik319 said:

Come Again was the first and only title I came up with. It popped in my head, and I've always used it.

I also have a playlist of all the different versions of "Like A Virgin" that Madonna has done in concert over the years. She's always changed up the style of that song in concert, and the Confessions Tour was the first time it was anywhere near the original, in years. I called that playlist "Like A Version". HA!

ernestsewell said:

That's ace. She should use that herself.

I saw the Girlie Show tour way back in 1993 or whenever it was. She did it Marlene Dietrich stylee.

Erik

erik319 said:

I feel in instant love w/ that Girlie Show VHS and now DVD. Still love it. It's probably my favorite.