SchlomoThaHomo said:

Possessed: the Rise & Fall of Prince p 157 Chapter 11 Fantastic

continued

The remainder of the album is at best passable. The Arms of Orion is schmaltzy, and Partyman, Lemon Crush & Trust are by the numbers songs with perfunctory (and highly similar) drum-machine patterns as well as anemic melodies. The album as a whole, while hardly devoid of indications of Prince's talent, pales next to his 1980's classics. The artistic depth of Parade, Sign O' the Times, and even Lovesexy left many of Prince's fans and critical supporters unprepared for a work with so little inspiration or craft.

Whaaaaat?! Scandalous is far more than "passable!" I think it's up there as one of his best slow jams ever!

I agree, I think the person is talking in context to the movie

I actually never watched the Batman movie with the intent of listening to see if the songs

work well with the scene.

Dance with the Devil definately should have been there

coreysamson said:

Love the pics!

I love the whole Batman album! Batdance is such a unique song. So funky, so rockin'. Also sounds like with that intro it helped to pioneer house and club music. It seems like nothing else Prince had done before that point.

I have to assume that you are too young to have been around at the time, but Batdance in no way "helped to pioneer house and club music"! House and techno were already well-established at the time and Batdance's slight techno feel is Prince jumping on that bandwagon at the time.

The arpeggiation that occurs at the intro and permeates the entire song is evocative of M/A/R/R/S's Number 1 hit "Pump Up The Volume", which was released in 1987 - 2 years prior to Batdance.

"Sex" - which to me, is one of his most underrated b-sides - have always brought to mind Stevie Wonder's dark "Talking Book" era. Not just because of the Camille character, but the way he sings.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Electric Chair came on in the car today. Holy fuck, what a jam! I had to rewind it like 5 times. The build up and eventual scream at the end is just a classic moment.

Good morning...did you say rewind? Tape deck?

brooklyn said:

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Electric Chair came on in the car today. Holy fuck, what a jam! I had to rewind it like 5 times. The build up and eventual scream at the end is just a classic moment.

Good morning...did you say rewind? Tape deck?

Ha...no. iPod.

OldFriends4Sale said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Was this video apart of a longer documentary or something? I've only ever heard/seen the clip of him slapping the bass to Partyman (pictured)

Jagar said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Was this video apart of a longer documentary or something? I've only ever heard/seen the clip of him slapping the bass to Partyman (pictured)

"A Musical Portrait" from 89.

Great mini-documentary, I would love the completed version to be released one day.

OUTTAKE: Dance With the Devil

Dance With The Devil
Intended for Batman, this dark eerie track utilizes a drum machine, piano, synth, and the voice of The Joker. The song is based on the scene where The Joker holds Vicki Vale hostage in Gotham's bell tower. Prince warns to be cautious of the devil's tricks. Some lyrics can be seen in the liner notes of the soundtrack.

Cunning liar, eternal fire
Demon clever, promise 4ever
The curious try and always die

Live in fear, the devil is near
Can U feel his breath? Pray 4 death
The curious try and always die

"U men point those search lights up on the tower right now - move, move!"

Have no Savior, have no faith
Never look 4 Heaven's gate
Devil's children, no love inside
There is a soul, but it has died

Devil's children, no love inside
There is a soul, but it has died
And it cries, and it cries.

CHORUS:
Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight
Put your arms around him and hold him tight
Give up 2 the feeling and don't try 2 fight
He wants your soul and he wants it 2night
Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight
Put your arms around him and hold him tight
Close your eyes 2 love and die

Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight {sampled till end}

"U know, without U I just wouldn't wanna go on"

CHORUS {x2}

Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight
Put your arms around him and hold him tight


"It's as though we were made 4 each other
Beauty and the Beast
Of course if anyone else calls U 'Beast'
I'll rip their lungs out"

Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight
Put your arms around him and hold him tight

Just like any album, there are tracks that I prefer over others...but to this day I cannot understand the negativity still surrounding this heavily (in my opinion) under-rated album. Lemon Crush, Partyman, Vicki Waiting are all wonderful funk tracks. Electric Chair and Batdance each contain some of all time favourite guitar work. Would love to hear a live rendition of the Batdance guitar solo worked in to a show one day.

Great thread. One of these days I'm going to have to go back and rediscover this record. I wasn't crazy about it when it came out.

But I was real happy to see P get his popularity back from the videos and the success of the movie. He received a lot of good and positive press for doing the soundtrack.

Love it.........& as an added bonus......My 7 yr old loves Batdance as well so to keep him occupied I put the video clip on & leave him to dance away.

Batdance

Scandalous

Partyman

Electric Chair

[Edited 6/15/12 8:01am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

Is this from the same era?

remko said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Is this from the same era?

Wow and chicks dig this.....

I think this is a bridge between Lovesexy and Batman, I want to say late 88/early 89?

EyeJester7 said:

The future is one of the most underrated songs By Prince! This is a political ode’ where he speaks of ‘The Future’ in which displays images, of the past, according to Hollywood. How Systematic institutions overthrow the underclass. It’s a dark song with meaning and we see the personal connections seen in his life at the time.

“Yellow Smiley offers me X
Like he’s drinking 7-Up
I would rather drink 6 razor blades
Razor blades from a paper cup
He can’t understand, I say 2 tough
It’s just that I’ve seen the future and, boy, it’s rough”

Ecstasy is obviously ‘X’. He hasn’t been this personal in a song in a while. ‘Yellow Smiley’ could be a person who smiles and who is very positive and friendly. Basically a nice person takes this drug, while he offers it to Prince…

But Prince rather drinks 6 razor blades from a paper cup. The guy who offers it, doesn’t understand. (Apparently because it makes him feel good..he doesn’t see why Prince can feel good either) Prince basically says: Too bad. IT WILL BE ROUGH, if the future is only drugs.

"Yellow Smiley offers me X" is imho a direct reference to the Acid Movement, which was huge at that time (88/89) in Europe. The "yellow smiley" was some kind of distinctive mark or "trademark" of that movement. A lot of people consumed Ecstasy at those Acid-parties. And it was the time when Ecstasy was quite new on the scene and was becoming very popular.... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_house)

"Razor blades from a paper cup" is a standard trick by many stage magicians. You can even buy it in magic shops under this name .... Most magicians "swallow" exactly six razor blades when performing this magic trick.... And for some reasons i cant explain here they always use a paper cup when performing this trick

[Edited 6/22/12 2:54am]

Mindflux said:

The arpeggiation that occurs at the intro and permeates the entire song is evocative of M/A/R/R/S's Number 1 hit "Pump Up The Volume", which was released in 1987 - 2 years prior to Batdance.

Co-sign

remko said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Is this from the same era?

Yep there are a few others like this from Batman era

Sorta a postLovesexy(he wore a 'vest' like that during Lovesexy) the pants are Batman and preGB

He had his face cleanly shaved during the Lovesexy-Batman era too

OldFriends4Sale said:

remko said:

Is this from the same era?

Yep there are a few others like this from Batman era

Sorta a postLovesexy(he wore a 'vest' like that during Lovesexy) the pants are Batman and preGB

He had his face cleanly shaved during the Lovesexy-Batman era too

For some reason this gay-ish picture doesn't fit in with my memories from that era....I did recognise the vest.

remko said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yep there are a few others like this from Batman era

Sorta a postLovesexy(he wore a 'vest' like that during Lovesexy) the pants are Batman and preGB

He had his face cleanly shaved during the Lovesexy-Batman era too

For some reason this gay-ish picture doesn't fit in with my memories from that era....I did recognise the vest.

it's also a bit of a look used for GB, that vest type he wore a lot during the Lovesexy tour

The purple outfit looks is a transitional Batman-Graffiti Bridge look

<- here is a darker similar outfit with the Symbol necklace and the batman cuffs

Batman era

I've seen the future and it will be
I've seen the future and it works
If there's life after, we will see
So I can't go like a jerk

Systematic overthrow of the underclass
Hollywood conjures images of the past
New world needs spirituality that will last
I've seen the future and it will be

CHORUS

Yellow Smiley offers me X
Like he's drinkin' 7-Up
I would rather drink 6 razor blades
Razor blades from a paper cup
He can't understand, I say 2 tough
It's just that I've seen the future and, boy, it's rough

I... I've seen the future and it will be
I've seen the future and it works
If there's life after, we will see
So U can't go like a jerk - no, no

I've seen the future and it will be
Wait a minute

Pretty pony standin' on the avenue
Flashin' loaded pistol, 2 dumb 2 be true
Somebody told him playin' cops and robbers was cool
Would our rap have been different if we only knew?

I've seen the future and it will be
I've seen the future and it works
And if there's life after, we will see
Don't go out like a jerk

Systematic overthrow of the underclass
Hollywood conjures images of the past
New world needs spirituality that will last
I've seen the future and it will be, alright
I've seen the future and it will be {x2}

Oh!

I've seen the future and it will be

"Think about the future!"

© 1989 Controversy Music - ASCAP

While specific recording dates are not known, initial tracking took place in mid-late February, 1989 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (during the same set of sessions that produced Lemon Crush and a revamped version of Anna Waiting, now known as Vicki Waiting). The track samples strings by Clare Fischer from Crystal Ball, and includes samples of vocals by Minneapolis gospel group Sounds of Blackness, which may have been recorded specifically for this track.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

The remainder of the album is at best passable. The Arms of Orion is schmaltzy, and Partyman, Lemon Crush & Trust are by the numbers songs with perfunctory (and highly similar) drum-machine patterns as well as anemic melodies. The album as a whole, while hardly devoid of indications of Prince's talent, pales next to his 1980's classics. The artistic depth of Parade, Sign O' the Times, and even Lovesexy left many of Prince's fans and critical supporters unprepared for a work with so little inspiration or craft.

Whaaaaat?! Scandalous is far more than "passable!" I think it's up there as one of his best slow jams ever!

No joke. Scandalous is generally conidered one o his best and perhaps THE best of his suduction ballads. I think Partyman is pretty awesome, too. The guitar is cool on it as well as the bass guitar part being primarily his voice. Arms of Orion can hug a big fat nut, though.

I'd like to state my opinion that, for the record, Dance with the Devil sounds unfinished at best. I can plainly see why it has remained unreleased. Too long and boring, probably because he didn't finish recording it. An earlier fade-out would probably make it passable. He probably intended to put more on it or perhaps he did and it just isn;t present in the circulating mix. Either way, it is pretty boring as-is.

thedance said:

the guitar is amazing..

^ Credits: "Batdance" pic is made by Kazuo.

U hit it on the nose thedance! Now I need to watch Batman

Loved Batdance when it came out, drove my mum insane playing it all the time!!

Has anyone been able to spot Prince in the Partyman scene in the Batman movie???

Love the photos from this era, he looks so pretty and even innocent looking...

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Published: Monday, June 19, 1989 Section: FTR Page: 3B

Pop: Prince delivers his own "pow!" for comics' soundtrack

BATMAN: MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK -- Prince (Warner Bros.): You can hear the Boy Wonder say it: "Holy hit singles, Batman! Prince has done it again!" And Robin -- who, we should note, doesn't appear in "Batman," the film -- would be as right as the Riddler. The dash of outside inspiration that led Prince to compose the nine songs on this soundtrack -- six of which appear in the film -- has resulted in the Minneapolis superstar's most most mainstream accessible record in years, a groove-laden outing that's of a piece with his earlier albums like "1999" and "Purple Rain." But it doesn't sacrifice the stylized quirks of more recent efforts like "Sign o' the Times" and "Lovesexy;" snippets of dialogue from the film dart in and out of the songs, and there are plenty of unexpected, but appropriate, musical change-ups. There's a dark, sexual tension in many of the songs, particularly "The Future" -- a gritty aural portrait of Gotham City -- "Vicki Waiting" and "Electric Chair." But there are also dance floor rave-ups like "Partyman," "Trust" and the funk pastiche and first single "Batdance," which isn't part of the film. The shortcomings are the slower numbers: "The Arms of Orion," a duet with Sheena Easton, is inconsequential, while the lush falsetto "Scandalous" could use some visuals for context. Those aside, "Batman" is the Prince record many have been waiting for, and it may just establish his good name on Top 40 radio. No Jokering.

-- GARY GRAFF