independent and unofficial
Prince fan community
Welcome! Sign up or enter username and password to remember me
Forum jump
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Was Batdance even played on the radio?
« Previous topic  Next topic »
Page 3 of 3 <123
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
Reply #60 posted 03/09/16 2:18pm

renfield

avatar

feeluupp said:

alandail said:

Batdance went Platinum in the US. Prionce only ever had 2 US platinum singles, When Doves Cry and Batdance.

The song was huge, as was the album, which sold 11 million copies.

all that information is incorrect.

You got that from Wikipedia which is wrong.

Prince had way more than 2 singles to reach Platinum, I won't name them all but KISS is another one that went platinum...

Also the BATMAN album did not sell 11 million copies. The only DIAMOND award Prince received was Purple Rain which sold over 13 million copies in the U.S. Alone.

The BATMAN album sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone and over 4.7 million copies world wide.

You're wrong about the singles. WDC and Batdance are indeed his only platinum certified singles in the US. Go to the RIAA's website or check a Billboard book..."Kiss", "I Wanna Be Your Lover", "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain", "Partyman", "Thieves In The Temple", "Gett Off", "Cream", "7", and "TMBGITW" are all certified gold.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #61 posted 03/09/16 2:48pm

namepeace

Guitarhero said:

namepeace said:

It was played heavily. Warners needed great promotion for Batman , its tentpole movie of 1989, and Prince needed to salvage his commercial viability after Lovesexy tanked in 1988, followed by a massive tour that didn't sell out.

"Batdance" was essentially a (great) commercial for the movie. But it was all over MTV and the radio for weeks. The album, extended singles and b-sides are pretty doggone good too.

USA only.


True enough. Which is why Prince increasingly took his extended tours across the pond in the 80s and 90s.

Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #62 posted 03/10/16 5:06am

MendesCity

avatar

Still can't imagine why it was a hit - as other have said, was barely a song. I remember the video was played constantly.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #63 posted 03/10/16 7:48am

JediMaster

avatar

It was played WAY too much. Once the whole "Batman" movie hype died down, the song vanished from the airwaves, never to be played again. Still, during the summer of '89, that tune got enough airplay for a lifetime

jedi

Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones. (Ecclesiastes 7:9)
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #64 posted 03/10/16 11:32am

namepeace

JediMaster said:

It was played WAY too much. Once the whole "Batman" movie hype died down, the song vanished from the airwaves, never to be played again. Still, during the summer of '89, that tune got enough airplay for a lifetime


That guitar lick, though.

Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #65 posted 03/10/16 2:43pm

KCOOLMUZIQ

The single BatDance has the BEST guitar solo of any single prince has ever released!

eye will ALWAYS think of prince like a "ACT OF GOD"! N another realm. eye mean of all people who might of been aliens or angels.if found out that prince wasn't of this earth, eye would not have been that surprised. R.I.P. prince
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #66 posted 03/11/16 4:03pm

AnnaSantana

JediMaster said:

It was played WAY too much. Once the whole "Batman" movie hype died down, the song vanished from the airwaves, never to be played again. Still, during the summer of '89, that tune got enough airplay for a lifetime



I agree it was pretty forgettable
I don't argue with people about my opinions. Scram. I said what I said.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #67 posted 03/12/16 1:42am

GeurtWalraven

In Holland it reached nr. 4 in the Top 40.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #68 posted 03/18/16 10:30am

AnnaSantana

thedance said:

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.. heart cool cool

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

Hell yeah it is.

I don't argue with people about my opinions. Scram. I said what I said.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #69 posted 03/18/16 10:36am

AnnaSantana

MendesCity said:

Still can't imagine why it was a hit - as other have said, was barely a song. I remember the video was played constantly.

It was a hit because of the movie, which was HUGE that summer. But you make a good point...the song was mostly instrumental, which was kinda risky on Prince's part, but it paid off, which is what makes that song so peculiar. All in all, it's still a hell of a groove though.

I don't argue with people about my opinions. Scram. I said what I said.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #70 posted 03/18/16 10:46am

RodeoSchro

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


If I understand you correctly, you're asking "How could such a unique, non-pop song get any airplay?" And it's a good question.

"Batdance" was indeed unlike anything on the airwaves back then, or even today. It's an amalgamation of sounds and samples, bonded together by some incredible music. The guitar solo is a great solo, and the change to the "Vicky Vale" section is almost like hearing music played sideways.

Had that been released without a popular movie to back it up, I don't know that it would have been played. But the "Batman" movie was a huge success and the fact that Prince was doing the soundtrack was top news for a long time before the movie release. So those things probably made it possible for "Batdance" to get the airplay it did.

To me, the most surprising thing isn't that it was played. It was that a song so unlike anything else was accepted by the public and hit #1 on the charts. The video got heavy airplay on MTV, too.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #71 posted 03/18/16 11:19am

KCOOLMUZIQ

RodeoSchro said:

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


If I understand you correctly, you're asking "How could such a unique, non-pop song get any airplay?" And it's a good question.

"Batdance" was indeed unlike anything on the airwaves back then, or even today. It's an amalgamation of sounds and samples, bonded together by some incredible music. The guitar solo is a great solo, and the change to the "Vicky Vale" section is almost like hearing music played sideways.

Had that been released without a popular movie to back it up, I don't know that it would have been played. But the "Batman" movie was a huge success and the fact that Prince was doing the soundtrack was top news for a long time before the movie release. So those things probably made it possible for "Batdance" to get the airplay it did.

To me, the most surprising thing isn't that it was played. It was that a song so unlike anything else was accepted by the public and hit #1 on the charts. The video got heavy airplay on MTV, too.

Kinda like "When Doves Cry". prince makes a great movie score writer.. His visions are so prolific & unque.

eye will ALWAYS think of prince like a "ACT OF GOD"! N another realm. eye mean of all people who might of been aliens or angels.if found out that prince wasn't of this earth, eye would not have been that surprised. R.I.P. prince
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #72 posted 03/19/16 1:08pm

khemseraph

SPYZFAN1 said:

The short, radio friendly "pop" version was played to death on Top 40 radio.....The college radio staions used to play the regular version (w/ the guitar solo) and the R&B staions played the "stop the presses-funk" remix version only (minus the guitar solo and everything else)...It's funny because R&B radio did the same thing with the "funk w/out electric guitar" versions of Janet's "Black Cat" and EnVouge's "Free Your Mind".

Im not sure where you are from,but in the DMV all stations pop rock and rnb played the full versions of the track al the time

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #73 posted 03/19/16 1:15pm

khemseraph

know your industry history.today wdc would have been double platinum.the standards were as follows.1million in sales you went gold.2 plus million u went platinum .this is for singles only and it changed in early 89 to the current status. most artists have since updated there certs,,but not prince.iwbyl,lets go crazy,purple rain and kiss all sold 1milion plus. and other songs like 1999,lrc,delerious,iwd4u,raspberry beret,pop life,sign o the times,u got the look,alphabet st would have went gold.oh the soundtrack sold much more than 4.7mill.it didnt do 11 but much more than 4.7mil

renfield said:

feeluupp said:

all that information is incorrect.

You got that from Wikipedia which is wrong.

Prince had way more than 2 singles to reach Platinum, I won't name them all but KISS is another one that went platinum...

Also the BATMAN album did not sell 11 million copies. The only DIAMOND award Prince received was Purple Rain which sold over 13 million copies in the U.S. Alone.

The BATMAN album sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone and over 4.7 million copies world wide.

You're wrong about the singles. WDC and Batdance are indeed his only platinum certified singles in the US. Go to the RIAA's website or check a Billboard book..."Kiss", "I Wanna Be Your Lover", "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain", "Partyman", "Thieves In The Temple", "Gett Off", "Cream", "7", and "TMBGITW" are all certified gold.

[Edited 3/19/16 13:20pm]

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #74 posted 03/26/16 9:35am

cryndove

avatar

http://www.las-solanas.com/arsa/charts_item.php?hsid=26116

Check out the link above. Samples of radio playlists at the time Batdance was receving airplay.

[Edited 3/26/16 9:42am]

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #75 posted 03/26/16 3:57pm

HuMpThAnG

SoulAlive said:

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

nod

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #76 posted 03/26/16 7:46pm

m33kn3ss

yes, i remember seeing the video on MTV too

Superfunkycalifragisexy!
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #77 posted 03/26/16 8:03pm

CharismaDove

Boy was I wrong about the success of this song lol

It's surprisng Partyman and The Arms of Orion (hate it or love it, it's goopy mainstream balladry) missed the top 10

Maybe eye do, just not like eye did before pimp2
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #78 posted 03/27/16 12:07am

alphastreet

It was an extremely popular song/era from what I recall. I remember the video airing and being all the rage.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #79 posted 03/27/16 12:36am

Bohemian67

avatar

I don't remember but didn't listen to radio much.

It did play a lot in my first car, on cassette cool 'Get the funk up' Good song for driving.

"Free URself, B the best that U can B, 3rd Apartment from the Sun, nothing left to fear" Prince Rogers Nelson - Forever in my Life -
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Page 3 of 3 <123
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
« Previous topic  Next topic »
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Was Batdance even played on the radio?