Warner Bros. 25936
Track listing: The Future / Electric Chair / The Arms of Orion / Partyman / Waiting / Trust / Lemon Crush / Scandalous / Batdance
July 22, 1989
6 weeks
Prior to 1989, the careers of both Prince and Batman were on the decline. In the mid-’80s, Prince had scored back-to-back Number One albums with Purple Rain and Around the World in a Day, but his popularity took a dip with his subsequent releases. Parade, his 1986 album, featuring music from the flop film Under the Cherry Moon, peaked at number three. Sign “0” the Times, a 1987 double album, reached number six; and Lovesexy, his 1988 album, stalled at number 11, becoming his first album not to reach the top 10 since 1981 . Batman, meanwhile, had been subject of a hugely successful TV program in the ’60s, but after the series was canceled, the superhero was relegated to reruns and comic book stores, at least until 1989. That’s when director Tim Burton’s theatrical version of Batman would help put the Purple One and the Caped Crusader back on top.
When executives at Warner Bros. films and records began thinking of a pop star to contribute to the soundtrack of the film, most everyone agreed that Prince was the man for the job. “He was the perfect artist for that picture,” says Gary LeMel, president of music for Warner Bros. Inc. “It may have been kind of subliminal. The Joker wore purple, so that kind of leads you to the Purple One. We didn’t think of any other artist. We knew he was the one.”
The prospect of writing music for Batman appealed to Prince, who in January 1989 took the Concorde to London to meet Burton on the set and see some footage from the film-in-progress. “We all wanted Prince real badly, but he wasn’t going to commit until he met with Tim,” says LeMel. Burton showed the visitors a 20-minute reel. “It was very exciting, because it was the first Batman movie and Prince loved what he saw,” LeMel adds. After a discussion over lunch, the deal was sealed.
Enthused by the prospects, Prince canceled a scheduled vacation and headed home to Minneapolis to write and record material at his Paisley Park Studios. “Not only did Prince write songs, he also wrote a score for the movie, even though he knew we were going with a score by Danny Elfman,” LeMel says. Prince composed the songs specifically for the characters in the film, as the liner notes of the album suggest. Batman is listed as lead vocalist on “The Future,” the Joker on “Electric Chair,” and “The Arms of Orion” is credited as a duet by Vicki Vale and Bruce Wayne (it’s actually Sheena Easton and Prince).
The crowning achievement was “Batdance,” which features the dialogue of Jack Nicholson’s Joker, Michael Keaton’s Batman, and Kim Basinger’s Vicki Vale in the mix. “That was a total surprise,” says LeMel. “He knew that it wouldn’t be in the movie, but he wanted it to be the lead single and it ended up leading off the entire campaign for the movie. It was like a thumbnail sketch of the movie. It was almost like a piece of advertising for the movie.”
Although only approximately six minutes of Prince’s 42-minute Batman soundtrack made it into the film, the album and the movie were both smashes in their respected mediums. The film went on to gross more than $251 million in the U.S. alone, while the album made Number One in its third week on the chart, giving Prince his second Number One soundtrack and third career chart-topping album. Two weeks after Batman first hit the peak, “Batdance” joined it at the top, hitting Number One on the Hot 100. Prince and the Caped Crusader were back.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of July 22, 1989
1. Batman, Prince/Soundtrack
2. The Raw & the Cooked, Fine Young Cannibals
3. Don’t Be Cruel, Bobby Brown
4. Hangin’ Tough, New Kids on the Block
5. Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty