For all of you who were there back in 1989, was Batdance even played on the radio?? Listening to the song now, I just can't imagine radio stations spinning this song and people actually listening to it all. I get that Batman was the hot topic of 1989, but unless you really loved either Batman or Prince (or both), how in the world did Batdance get any radio airplay? ... if it did at at all

I guess what I mean is, compared to other hitmakers in 1989 like Madonna, Bobby Brown, and Paula Abdul etc, "Batdance" isn't even a song. It's basically an extended mostly instrumental jam.

yes. in the uk it was a reasonable hit.

Wasn't it a #1 hit?

Correction: According to Wikipedia, yes it was for one week.

[Edited 3/6/16 12:38pm]

It was the number one song in the country, and they played it about every two hours during June and July of '89. But then once August got here it's like the radio statons threw all their copies away and never played it again.

It hit #1 on Billboard. "Batman" the movie was the biggest pop culture thing EVER in 1989. Prince could have put out an 8-minute slide whistle solo with the "Batman" logo on it, and it would have hit #1.

.

I heard the song on the radio quite a bit. In fact, I have distinct memory of turning it up right at the break into the awesome "Stop the press!" bit with my then-girlfriend-now-ex-wife in the car.

[Edited 3/6/16 12:41pm]

Arms of Orion tanked.

You can check the radio play charts.

.

Yes.

.

It was played to death!!!!!!

.

2freaky4church1 said:

Arms of Orion tanked.

Still top 40 in the USA and top 30 in the UK, better than a kick in the tits.

Yes and it was played alot

TheDigitalGardener said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Arms of Orion tanked.

Still top 40 in the USA and top 30 in the UK, better than a kick in the tits.

I was always surprised how such a gooey mainstream ballad never made it past number 36 in the US..

darkroman said:

You can check the radio play charts.

.

Yes.

.

It was played to death!!!!!!

.

I actually did a search for those out of curiosity, but couldn't find anything entirely useful But folks here are saying it was a pretty big hit so it's cool. I checked Billboard and it said the song was top 10 for six weeks -- one of the more successful songs of '89.

Here in Aust it was on the radio all the time.

It topped the charts in certain states, and made it to No.2 nationwide I believe.

They played it so much here in the U.S. that I could not listen to it after a while. The video was cool though.

3rdeyedude said:

They played it so much here in the U.S. that I could not listen to it after a while. The video was cool though.

this

Yes, it got air play

"Batdance" and "Partyman" got tons of airplay in Southern New England. I didn't hear anything else from that album on the radio.

It was a massive radio hit.Our local R&B station even played the 12" remix all the time.

Can't imagine why, cause it sucks.

What an amazing song (music is wonderful and I love the Jack Nicholson dialogue, and of course the fierce guitar solo..).

Batdance is 1 of Prince's best musicvideos too..

[Edited 3/6/16 18:23pm]

"Batdance" in Canada was a massive hit. I think it held the number one position for music videos for 10 weeks straight on MuchMusic (Canada's version of MTV at the time). It was also wildly popular on the radio and in nightclubs. Everywhere would play the full version. I know many people who didn't know who Prince was until "Batdance". It was the song that introduced them to Prince. I always find that shocking because 1999 and PR were such massively popular albums in Canada, but it was little kids who loved Batman who got hooked when they listened to the Batman Album.

I was 5 and I remember it playing. My dad was a DJ and he turned it UP every time!

Oh yes! From a personal point of view this was the most important song that ever did play on the radio for me as it was the very first Prince song I ever heard and what got me hooked.

I was listening on headphones to the chart show in the UK and this song fired up with the striking 'Get the Funk Up!' beginning, the blazing guitar work and three-section structure. I had never heard anything quite like it and at 14 I went out the next day hired VHS copies of Sign of the Times/UTCM/ and LoveSexy Live. This was the neginning for me.

According to this the song also reached NO 2 in the UK, pretty high considering Prince has only had one UK No1 for The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. Although ironically 2 other people have had UK No1's with songs that Prince has written http://www.officialcharts...19/prince/

Rather interestingly whilst Prince has had 5 No1 Uk Albums they include Come and the Symbol Album but do not include Purple Rain, 1999, Sign or Parade.

[Edited 3/6/16 22:11pm]

3rdeyedude said:

They played it so much here in the U.S. that I could not listen to it after a while. The video was cool though.

I remember the video being in pretty heavy rotation on MTV (way back when Music Television used to be in the business of playing music videos--during the day!).

.

Yeah "Batdance" got considerable airplay on the radio in the US. Quite popular as I recall. It had its commercial appeal but there was Prince wailing away on that guitar, then suddenly shifts gear into that funky lil' dance segment, the vocal melody completley changes, like he collided the two songs together hard, but made it work in a deliciously funky kind of way. What Prince was doing in the 80s sounded so different from what other mainstream artists were doing, he set himself so far apart and ahead of his peers that it created a demand for his sound. And he obliged, doing so with panache. Making "Batdance" sexy and giving it attitude. America ate it up.

Indeed it was, here in Australia. The weekend of the P&M Sydney shows a few weeks back one of the radio stations were doing a Prince segment and played Batdance as part of the series. I can also recall the video clip receiving heavy broadcast on programs such as Rage and Channel 10's "Video Hits".

- Still think that short, ripping guitar solo is the business!

CharismaDove said:

For all of you who were there back in 1989, was Batdance even played on the radio?? Listening to the song now, I just can't imagine radio stations spinning this song and people actually listening to it all. I get that Batman was the hot topic of 1989, but unless you really loved either Batman or Prince (or both), how in the world did Batdance get any radio airplay? ... if it did at at all

lol

was it played on the radio... it was #1 on the pop charts

CharismaDove said:

I guess what I mean is, compared to other hitmakers in 1989 like Madonna, Bobby Brown, and Paula Abdul etc, "Batdance" isn't even a song. It's basically an extended mostly instrumental jam.

again yes... heavy rotation and against Madonna and Bobby Brown who had the Ghostbuster song out at the same time

It was a enormous hit