First off - I love the Batman album

I think Batdance is one of his most under-rated pieces of genius - why doesn't anyone ever talk about that guitar solo? Good Grief

Anyway... Sirius had their This Week Back In 1989 episode and Arms of Orion was on there...

I was excited because I have never heard that on the radio - they didn't play it in NY when I was growing up

But oh dear... it did not sound good in that top 40... it was slow and long and clunky

It didn't do that well - I think it reached #37 or #38

As good as the album was... I am not sure what the singles should have been..

Batdance was a given

Partyman - I guess

Then What?

Electric Chair?

The Future? (yes I know it was released internationally)

I remember reviewers repeatedy listing Trust as a potential single.. but eeks, I don't know about that one

What should they have done?

[Edited 12/31/22 16:27pm]

Batdance

Partyman

Scandalous

The Arms Of Orion

The Future/Electric Chair

.

those were the singles

those were the good ones!

what else do you want?

.

There were unreleased remixes of "Trust" and "Vicki Waiting"

MrSharon said:

I think "Vicki Waiting" would've been a great single if it was a little shorter

Not a terrible choice, actually. I think to use the set for Vicki's apartment, or even the Wayne mansion, with Prince lurking in the shadows, coyly peeking around corners, and singing while we see Bruce & Vicki (and Alfred) in the room talking or whatever would've been pretty fun.

It's interesting because "Batdance,", "Scandalous," and "Partyman" were singles and had videos, "The Arms of Orion" had a single, and he perfromed "The Future" and "Electric Chair" live. He put so much of the album out there. Still feels like there was more to be had. But super cool that "Batdance" went to #1.

Trust could have been a successful single release. The album was enjoying tremendous exposure, and coupled with the comparatively accessible listening experience this track provides, it would have made for a radio friendly song. Granted, not as memorable as his most famous singles, but in the context of the Batman album, Trust would have been a reasonable release, which would have also leant itself to some remixes as was common for this period.

muleFunk said:

Electric Chair should've been the single after Partyman especially after the SNL appearance.

YUP!!!

ShellyMcG said:

The more I listen to the album, the more I like Electric Chair. I'm not sure what constitutes a "good" single, but that is an excellent song. I guess, other than Partyman, the most obvious choice for a single in my opinion would have been Trust. For two reasons. First of all, it's a good song. Secondly, and maybe most importantly, it features pretty prominently in a very memorable scene from the movie. I wasn't alive in 1989 but nowadays when a song features that prominently in a movie you know it is a single. Other than those, I think the singles they chose were pretty much perfect. Although it probably says a lot about my ability to gauge the pop market of the 80s, I would never have chosen Batdance as a single. Given that it was a big hit, I would have been wrong.

If you enjoy the studio version of Electric Chair, I recommend checking out the 1989 SNL version of it. I think the live version is even better, and it's up there as one of Prince's greatest performances...And as muleFunk noted, it probably made sense to release Electric Chair as a single after that.

Had I been the one calling the shots at the time, I would have chosen Partyman, Trust and Electric Chair.

Obviously I'd have missed out on a big hit with Batdance, which I've always been a bit mistified with. I've never really understood why it was selected for the album, yet alone why it sold so well as a single. Sure, the guitar solo is incredible, but the overall composition is a real mess. Kind of a manic collage of whatever Prince was working on at the time. Bits of 200 Balloons, Rave and We Got the Power (all far better tracks in their own right IMO) all smashed together with sudden break neck tempo changes. Props to Prince for making it and WB for putting their faith in it. The fact that it went to number one speaks for itself. I’ve just never understood why myself.

muleFunk said:

Orion was released trying to get some Oscar considerations. Backfired on the album.

Is that true? I had no idea that was the motivation behind releasing it as a single. It's a shame as I usually enjoy Prince and Sheena's collaborations. Orion was a bit of a misstep.

[Edited 1/1/23 16:21pm]

muleFunk said:

Orion was released trying to get some Oscar considerations. Backfired on the album.

Yeah, and it wasn't even really in the film, per se. Was it? It wasn't sung, but maybe the melody was somewhere? They should've pushed "Scandalous" as the Oscar consideration, since it was played in the score, and fully in the credits.

TrivialPursuit said:

VaultCurator said:

nayroo2002 said:

Batdance

Partyman

Scandalous

The Arms Of Orion

The Future/Electric Chair

.

those were the singles

those were the good ones!

what else do you want?

.

There were unreleased remixes of "Trust" and "Vicki Waiting"

I think my point - which I didn't make very clear - was:

The album was looking like it could be a monster

Batdance was a giant hit

Partyman did decent enough top 20, the video was played a TON

Scandalous did great too, top 5 soul chart, that one was on Video Soul all the time

But once Partyman and Scandalous were done - it all just stopped

Ultimately, I think it sold 2 million but given the hype and the huge head start - shouldn't this have done even more?

And yes, I know sales don't matter but I was a huge Billboard chart geek growing up - it's just engrained in my brain to think about this stuff

THANKS

muleFunk said:

MIRvmn1 said:

muleFunk said:

Electric Chair should've been the single after Partyman especially after the SNL appearance.

I agree. I think Electric Chair would have done well as a single.

Yeah, if folks liked "Let's Go Crazy," or "U Got The Look," they would've liked "Electric Chair."

I think the William Orbit remix of the "The Future" should have been the second single.

I think Trust (possibly in a remix form) and then The Future would have been perfect singles 2 and 3 - it would have been great "industrial funk" and picked up on Batman soundwise... And: I never really liked Partyman that much (and I guess same goes for the general public)