Now Playing: ‘Batman’ by Prince…
Shaun might not like this album but I do! There will be no hurling of the record at zombies in this household I can tell you (Shaun Of The Dead reference there if you hadn’t already guessed)! First album of the Christmas haul is this belter from 1989.
Legend has it that the album came about after Tim Burton used ‘Baby I’m A Star’ as a temporary track in one of the Joker scenes and Jack Nicholson suggested that the director approach Prince to create some original content. The Purple One was all over this and ended up creating 9 songs inspired by the characters in the film
He was on board so hard that he flew to London to meet Burton, watched just 20 minutes of raw footage, flew back to Minneapolis and then created the whole album from start to finish in just 6 weeks!
This quick turnaround made some critics suggest it sounds underproduced, personally, I think it sounds very much of its time which is just fine.
Enough of the history lesson, what about the music? The album spawned 5 singles that you have all probably heard; mental mash-up ‘Batdance’, funky ‘Partyman’, ballad ‘The Arms Of Orion’, sultry ‘Scandalous!’ and brooding ‘The Future’. For me, only ‘Scandalous’ doesn’t hit the mark but the record also includes ‘Vicky Waiting’ and ‘Trust’ which make up for it.
The other two songs on the record are ‘Lemon Crush’ which is probably the weakest song on the album (but still isn’t that bad!) and ‘Electric Chair’ which is supposed to be a glimpse into the Joker's warped mind.
The other song credited to The Clown Prince Of Crime is ’Trust’ with ‘The Future’ and ‘Scandalous’ being credited to Batman. ‘Vicki Waiting’ is sung from the perspective of Bruce Wayne and ‘Lemon Crush’ comes from Vicki Vale, both characters share the duet ’The Arms of Orion’.
The album sold over 11 million copies worldwide and topped the charts in both the UK and the US yet it still gets flack from some, then again, when it has siblings like ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Sign Of The Times’ it should be expected I guess, personally, I love it.
Fancy a copy? It is available now as a repress for about £25, or for about £10 on eBay for a 1989 original.
Tracks To Try: ‘The Future’, ‘The Arms Of Orion’, ‘Partyman’, ‘Vicki Waiting’, ’Trust’, ‘Batdance’.
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