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.
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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Basic 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 promo
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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 2004 DVD
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Long version
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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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Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix Edit)
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4:12
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Promo only
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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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