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Batdance is the ninth and final track on Prince’s eleventh album Batman (the motion picture soundtrack to the Tim Burton movie Batman), and, two weeks prior to the album’s release, Batdance was released as the album’s first single, becoming Prince’s fourth number one hit.
Basic tracking took place in mid-late March 1989 at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota, as the last song recorded for the album, replacing Dance With The Devil. The song contains samples from The Future, Electric Chair, 200 Balloons and We Got The Power (the latter was briefly considered for the album but left unreleased). Prince would later make regular use of mentioning or sampling tracks from an album within one of the album’s final tracks. Of Note, remixes of Batdance also contain samples from Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic (planned for the Batman album and replaced by Partyman, the song was only released in 1999).
The vocals on the album are credited to a character from the movie, as if Prince is singing on their behalf. The lines on Batdance are attributed to different characters from the movie and to Gemini, a character half-Batman, half-Joker created by Prince. The lines attributed to Gemini are actually shared by Prince and Matthew Larson. Larson discussed the recording of his parts in an article published in 2022 :
" He said, "You’re going to do something. I want you to scream it as loud as you can. " He threw me a yellow little pad of paper. And it wasn’t until we got into the cue that I got to see what it was. And that was for Batdance. "Get the fuck up!" was the original. And then the other one was, "Oh, damn it, don’t stop the music. Oh, son of a bitch. " Those were both done. I didn’t know what I was saying until he called on me to do it. But because it’s a Warner Bros. family film, I had to then go back in a week later, on a Sunday for about an hour and a half, trying to [change] "Get the fuck up!" to "Get the funk up!" ".
There are two lines attributed to Prince – “Hey Ducky, let me stick the 7-inch in the computer” and “Stop” at the very end of the song, but the latter is actually a sample from the film in which Batman says this to bring the batmobile to a halt.
Perhaps because the track contains several samples from the movie Batman (which are covered by their own copyright permissions), and since the track can be seen as a promotional tie-in more than a song in any traditional sense, it had not been included on any of Prince’s compilation albums, despite its commercial success. After Prince’s passing it was however included on 4Ever.
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Recording Information
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Recording Sessions
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| Date
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Studio
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Additional info
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| Mid-late March 1989
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Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Tracking
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| Spring 1989
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Guerilla Studios, London, England (assumed)
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Remix by William Orbit and Mark Moore
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| Spring 1989
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Studio information needed
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Remix and additional production by John Luongo
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Recording Personnel
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Versions
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Released Versions
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| Title
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Length
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Released
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Version
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Additional info
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| Batdance
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6:13
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Batman
Batdance single
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Studio
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a.k.a. Batdance (LP Version)
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| Batdance (Edit)
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3:28
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Nothing Compares 2 Him promotional album
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Edit
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| Batdance (Edit)
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4:06
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Batdance single
4Ever
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Edit
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| Batdance (The Batmix)
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7:15
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Batdance single
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Remix
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| Batdance (The Batmix Edit)
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4:09
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Batdance single
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Remix Edit
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a.k.a. Batdance (The Batmix Radio Edit)
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| Batdance (The Batmix Edit)
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4:14
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The Crown Jewels promotional album
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Remix Edit
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a.k.a. Batdance (The Batmix Radio Edit)
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| Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix)
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5:55
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Batdance single
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Remix
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| Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix Edit)
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4:13
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Batdance single
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Remix Edit
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a.k.a. Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix Radio Edit)
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Video Versions
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| Title
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Length
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Released
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Version
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Additional info
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| Batdance
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6:48
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Batman 2-DVD Special Edition
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Long version
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See Batdance video for details
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| Batdance
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4:49
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Promo only
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Short version
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| Batdance (The Batmix Edit)
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4:10
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Promo only
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Edited version
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| Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix Edit)
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4:12
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Promo only
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Edited version
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Broadcasts/streaming (only)
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Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in...
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| Title
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Length
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Released
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Version
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Additional info
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| Partyman (The Purple Party Mix)
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6:02
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Partyman single
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Remix
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Remix by Femi Jiya and Prince; Includes sampled clips of Sexy Dancer, I Wanna Be Your Lover, Head, Partyup, Let’s Work, 1999, Raspberry Beret, Erotic City, Kiss, U Got The Look, Housequake, Alphabet St., The Future and a chant from Batdance
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| Partyman (The Purple Party Mix)
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5:58
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The Scandalous Sex Suite EP
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Remix edit
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As above, missing The Joker’s opening dialogue
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| Thieves In The House Mix
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6:50
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Thieves In The Temple single
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Remix
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Contains Joker laughing (sampled from Batman); see Thieves In The Temple for more details
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| Temple House Dub
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5:06
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Thieves In The Temple single
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Remix
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Contains Joker laughing (sampled from Batman); see Thieves In The Temple for more details
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| Purple Medley
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11:03
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Purple Medley single
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Studio medley
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See Purple Medley for more details
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| Purple Medley (Edit)
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3:14
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Purple Medley single
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Edit
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See Purple Medley for more details
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| All The Critics Love U In London
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7:05
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Indigo Nights
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Live
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Played in background as audience talk about Prince; See All The Critics Love U In London for details
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Unreleased Versions
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| Title
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Version
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Additional Info
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| Batdance
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Studio
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Original full-length recording with additional segments
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| Batdance (John Luongo Remix)
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Remix
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Remix featuring additional rap by Big Daddy Kane
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