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Batman is the eleventh studio album by American recording artist Prince and the soundtrack album to the 1989 film Batman. It was released on June 20, 1989 by Warner Bros. Records. As a Warner Bros. stablemate, Prince’s involvement in the soundtrack was designed to leverage the media company’s contract bound talent as well as fulfill the artist’s need for a commercial revival. The result was yet another multi platinum successful cross media enterprise by Warner Bros., in the vein of Purple Rain.
The album stayed at number one on the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks, being his first number one album since Around the World in a Day, while its lead single, “Batdance”, became his first number one song since “Kiss“. It is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The album was recorded in six weeks, from mid February to late March 1989, and Prince used three tracks recorded earlier: “Electric Chair”, “Scandalous!“, and “Vicki Waiting” (originally known as “Anna Waiting”, named for his then girlfriend Anna Fantastic). Originally, the songs “1999” and “Baby I’m a Star” from earlier albums were slated to be used in the film, but Prince instead recorded an entire album’s worth of material with Batman samples and lyrics. In a 2001 Rolling Stone interview, Prince revealed that the project was initially supposed to be a collaboration between himself and Michael Jackson: “Did you know that the album was supposed to be a duet between Michael Jackson and me? He as Batman, me as the Joker?” Prince would have sung funk songs for the villains, while Michael Jackson would have sung ballads for the heroes. This never came to fruition as Jackson was busy with his Bad World Tour and already signed with Epic Records (the label he had been with since 1975), while the film was a Warner Bros. production. The album was performed entirely by Prince, with a few exceptions: Sheena Easton duets with Prince on “The Arms of Orion“, “Trust” features a sampled horn part by Eric Leeds and Atlanta Bliss, and “The Future” features strings by Clare Fischer sampled from the then unreleased 1986 track “Crystal Ball” and samples of the Sounds of Blackness choir. “Batdance” includes a sample of Prince’s technician Matthew Larson, and “Partyman” features the vocal performance of then girlfriend Anna Garcia (credited as Anna Fantastic).[1] All dialogue sampled on Prince’s Batman album is taken directly from a workprint of Batman and therefore lacks ADR and foley. This is especially noticeable in the beginning of the first track, “The Future”, with dialogue of Michael Keaton speaking as Batman.
In the album’s liner notes, the lyrics of each song are associated with one of the characters in the film: “The Future” and “Scandalous” are credited to Batman; while “Electric Chair” and “Trust” are credited to the Joker. “Vicki Waiting” is sung from the perspective of Bruce Wayne, while “Lemon Crush” comes from Vicki Vale; the two characters share the duet, “The Arms of Orion”. “Partyman” was inspired by Prince’s first meeting with Jack Nicholson (out-of-character) on-set.
Track listing
- The Future – 4:07
- Electric Chair – 4:07
- The Arms of Orion (with Sheena Easton) (Sheena Easton, Prince) – 5:02
- Partyman – 3:11
- Vicki Waiting – 4:51
- Trust – 4:23
- Lemon Crush – 4:15
- Scandalous (John L. Nelson, Prince) – 6:14
- Batdance – 6:13
All songs written by Prince, except where noted.
Personnel
- Prince – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion
- Eric Leeds – saxophone
- Atlanta Bliss – trumpet
- Sounds of Blackness – choir
- Sheena Easton – co-lead vocals
- Clare Fischer – orchestration
Companies, etc.
- Record Company – Warner Communications
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – WEA International Inc.
- Copyright © – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
- Copyright © – DC Comics Inc.
- Copyright © – Controversy Music
- Copyright © – WB Music Corp.
- Copyright © – Skye Heart Music
- Published By – Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
- Recorded At – Paisley Park Studios
- Mixed At – Paisley Park Studios
- Mixed At – The Grey Room
- Mastered At – Masterdisk
- Lacquer Cut At – Masterdisk
- Pressed By – Record Service Alsdorf
- Made By – WEA Musik GmbH
- Manufactured By – TELDEC Record Service GmbH
Credits
- Design – Tom Recchion
- Executive-Producer [Album] – Jon Peters, Peter Guber
- Guest [Special Guest Presence] – Anna Fantastic, Femi Jiya, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Matthew Larson, Michael Keaton, Sheena Easton
- Illustration [Logo Illustration] – Anton Furst
- Instruments [All Other], Voice [Voices], Arranged By [All Other Instruments And Voices] – Prince
- Lacquer Cut By – HW
- Mixed By [Mixed At The Grey Room] – Chris Lord-Alge
- Performer [All Choir Parts Performed By], Choir – Sounds Of Blackness
- Performer [All Horn Parts Performed By], Horns – Atlanta Bliss, Eric Leeds
- Performer [All Orchestra Parts Performed By], Orchestra – The Clare Fischer Orchestra
- Performer [Samples Re-Arranged & Performed], Sampler [Samples Re-Arranged & Performed] – Prince
- Photography By [Prince] – Jeff Katz
- Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Performer – Prince
- Production Manager [Executive In Charge Of Album Production] – Gary LeMel
- Recorded By [Assisted By], Mixed By [Assisted By] – Chuck Zwicky, David Friedlander, Eddie Miller, Heidi Hanschu
- Recorded By, Mixed By – Femi Jiya, Prince
- Supervised By [Music Supervisor] – Michael Dilbeck
Notes
Released: June 20, 1989
Recorded: June 1988 – March 1989 Studio Paisley Park Studios
Genre: Rock, Pop, Funk, Soul, Synth-pop, Dance
Length: 42:52
Label – Warner Bros. Records