Prince's Batdance

[Edd Grayson]

It literally brought a smile to my face today


Here it is:

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

To me the Prince soundtrack is unfairly recieved. I thought the music did an excellent job of channeling the Joker. Any Prince song from any of his era's has a flavour of the Joker to it. Same thing with Siouxsie and the Banshees. Catwoman is musically in all their genetic makeup and it's fun to listen to it all even outside the films. The Flugelheim Museum scene would not be as memorable without "Partyman".

I'm disappointed "Bat Dance" became a hit however given that it's such a bloody big mess. A fun one mind you. At the time it was no doubt cool to spot each of the sound bites but musically (if that's even the word) it's pretty darn gut wrenching. I quite like the guitar solo towards it's opening though.

"Scandalous" should have been the real hit. It's a superb number that perfectly ends the first film with those stunning yellow/gold credits. Just has that calming feel after all the manic action, kind of like the end cue from "Alien" that rounds the film off in the end titles. The music it has is spine tingling and Batman-esque indeed. In fact it reminds me slightly of the Elfman theme. It has a slight hint of it.

At the same time the Prince soundtrack seems to have been vindicated. Whether you love it or loathe it it's still pretty memorable. Which is more than can be said of some of the dreadful soundtracks of recent years. The last great sounding tracks for super hero movies have largely been Chad Kroger's "Hero" for "Spider-Man" or perhaps Velvet Revolver's efforts for "Hulk" and "Fantastic Four" (one great case of a song that outclasses it's own movie!). I think the worst offender is X-Men First Class and the utterly shocking song by Take That. Take That in a bleedin Marvel movie! Things don't come any more ridiculous than that. To critize Prince and Batman now becomes something of a delusion after that one.

[johnnygobbs]

Great post Cobblepot4Mayor. People are fond of criticising the Prince soundtrack for 'Batman' but apart from this and 'Dick Tracy' what other comic-book movies have had such memorable song-based soundtracks?

Like you say, some of the recent pop songs used in comic-book movies have been horrendous (frickin' Chad Kroeger? WTF?  And I'd blocked Take That's 'contribution' to 'X-Men: First Class' out of my head until you brought it up  ).

You're also right about 'Bat-Dance', which wasn't used in the film.  It is a bit of a mess and unfairly overshadowed the genuinely excellent Prince songs that did feature in the film, including the upbeat, jaunty 'Partyman' and the even better, 'Trust', and the sexy,  melancholic 'Scandalous', which is a wonderfully spine-tingling way to end the movie.

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

Great post Cobblepot4Mayor. People are fond of criticising the Prince soundtrack for 'Batman' but apart from this and 'Dick Tracy' what other comic-book movies have had such memorable song-based soundtracks?

Like you say, some of the recent pop songs used in comic-book movies have been horrendous (frickin' Chad Kroeger? WTF?  And I'd blocked Take That's 'contribution' to 'X-Men: First Class' out of my head until you brought it up  ).

You're also right about 'Bat-Dance', which wasn't used in the film.  It is a bit of a mess and unfairly overshadowed the genuinely excellent Prince songs that did feature in the film, including the upbeat, jaunty 'Partyman' and the even better, 'Trust', and the sexy,  melancholic 'Scandalous', which is a wonderfully spine-tingling way to end the movie.

Ah yes the Dick Tracy soundtrack! Madonna certainly stole some of Prince's ideas on that one eh? It's almost the same sort of concept album. But Dick Tracy always was criticized heavily for it's all too similar stylings to Batman. It's promotion especially. I'm a fan of the movie myself though despite this. Strangely her iconic hit "Vogue" was on the soundtrack. No idea if she wrote this for the film or if it's merely filler content that fits the albums theme. If it was written for the film that is surely the greatest comic book film theme ever given it's worldwide success and memorability.

I don't think Prince has ever performed any of his Batman songs live. I believe the copyright got in the way or something. No footage appears to exist. I did read somewhere he sang them just once and added to the Joker symbolism by wearing a snazzy purple suit. On Madonna's "Blonde Ambition" tour a pack of "Dick Tracy dancers" accompany her on stage in garish yellow coats. No doubt borrowed from the idea of the "Batdance" music video? Nice to see them make the effort.

Prince has that amazing ability to alter his voice from deep to insanely high pitched. It's this high pitched tone that seemed to define the musical sound of the Joker. Hearing this diction on any of his songs before or after the movie greatly reminds me of a certain Mr Napier and his clownish minions. "Lovesexy", the album just prior to Batman, features a song called "Anna Stesia", the last two minutes of which feature a high pitched chorus that almost seemed to be a prototype to his upcoming Batman project. You can hear this style again on other non-Batman songs from around the same time such as "Erotic City" and a later hit called "Cream". I find it interesting how they seem to tie together.

I promise I won't mention Take That again so long as nobody again mentions to myself Hans Zimmer's atrocious new "Superman" theme. Deal? Fantastic! lol

"Why don't you teach your heart to feel, and give your love love, Give your love love and give it all away". Aww what sweet sounding lyrics. You can almost hear Wolverine groaning "this aint my style bub!"

[Silver Nemesis]

I promise I won't mention Take That again so long as nobody again mentions to myself Hans Zimmer's atrocious new "Superman" theme. Deal? Fantastic! lol

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyXS0SEi8WM

[GBglide]

You can hear this style again on other non-Batman songs from around the same time such as "Erotic City" and a later hit called "Cream".

I always though "Cream" would have fit the comic book Catwoman but not Burton's.

Batdance isn't the best song because it's a remix of elements of the other songs on the soundtrack. Wasn't it made at the last minute to fill space?

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

I promise I won't mention Take That again so long as nobody again mentions to myself Hans Zimmer's atrocious new "Superman" theme. Deal? Fantastic! lol

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyXS0SEi8WM

Haha excellent Superman video dude! Is that music really from "Man of Steel"? I can barely remember it. I've only seen the film once so far. It just sounds like his Batman scores. Utterly terrible. How can I guy involved in scores like "The Lion King" make such bland hero themes. He's even about to do Spider-Man. *weeps uncontrolably*

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

You can hear this style again on other non-Batman songs from around the same time such as "Erotic City" and a later hit called "Cream".

I always though "Cream" would have fit the comic book Catwoman but not Burton's.

Batdance isn't the best song because it's a remix of elements of the other songs on the soundtrack. Wasn't it made at the last minute to fill space?

I'm not sure. I do kind of like how it concludes the album by referencing the previous songs. I've always liked "Electric Chair". Think the filmmakers missed an opportunity with that one. It's only barely made out at the Wayne Manor party.   "Viki Waiting" is another excellent one but I guess it would have been strange having a song about Viki Vale in the same scene as her. I think the track's music does cameo also in the party scene. I love that Prince managed to refer to "Gotham City" in the lyrics of that one.