45 RPMs 45: Prince ~ Batdance

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photos by Styrous®

Batdance is a song by American musician Prince, from the 1989 Batman soundtrack (link below). Helped by the film's popularity, the song, released 31 years ago on June 9, 1989, reached number one in the US, becoming Prince's fourth American number-one single. It utilized the basic motif by Neal Hefti used in the original 1960's Batman series (links below). 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.          

Prince ~ Batdance
7" 45 RPM record sleeve front
design by Tom Recchion
photo by Styrous®

Batdance was a last-minute replacement for a brooding track titled Dance with the Devil, which Prince felt was too dark. On the soundtrack album Batdance is almost two songs in one—a chaotic, mechanical dance beat that changes gears into a slinky, funky groove before changing back for the song's conclusion. On the single version the guitar solo before the middle section is eliminated, then goes straight to the mechanical Joker laughter from the end of the movie and an earlier movie soundbyte of Michael Keaton saying "Stop").

Music critic Chris Molanphy says Batdance is more of a mashup or remix than an actual song. It jumps from tempo to tempo, theme to theme -- and includes a lot of maniacal Joker laughter. And, strangely enough, it went higher on the charts than some of Prince's other best known songs -- like “Purple Rain" or "1999."          

      

 

Prince ~ Batdance
7" 45 RPM record sleeve front detail
design by Tom Recchion

detail photo by Styrous®

The song's music video (link below), directed by Albert Magnoli and choreographed by Barry Lather, featured dancers costumed as multiple Batmen, Jokers and Vicki Vales. Prince appears as a costumed character in face paint known as "Gemini", with one side of his face representing the Joker (evil) and the other, Batman (good). The Batman and Jokers alternate dance sections, while Prince (as both himself and Gemini) sings. The video ends with Gemini hitting a detonator, exploding an electric chair (referenced in the song), and Prince (actually Keaton's voice) saying "Stop" as the video abruptly ends. The video also features one Vicki Vale wearing a black dress with the words "All this and brains too", a reference to The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, in which a female news presenter wears a top with the same slogan. The 7-inch edit of the song is basically the album version without the guitar solo and the up-tempo part near the end.        

There is a remix of Batdance that features a guest rap verse by Big Daddy Kane; originally Warner Bros. wouldn't allow its release (links below).      

     

Prince ~ Batdance

7" 45 RPM record sleeve back
design by Tom Recchion
photo by Styrous®

The B-side to Batdance is 200 Balloons, which was recorded for the film and serves as the musical blueprint for the main portion of "Batdance". The song was rejected for the film by Tim Burton and replaced with "Trust". The lyrics of "200 Balloons" reference the scene which it was created for to a greater degree than the replacement track, which is only connected to the scene by the Joker asking "Who do you trust?" after the song ends.         

      

Prince ~ 200 Balloons
7" 45 RPM record sleeve back detail
design by Tom Recchion
detail photo by Styrous®

Prince did little more than replace the lyrics of 200 Balloons in its transition into Batdance. Only musical portions survived the transition, but full lyrics showed up in The Batmix (turn your head to the east, I be coming from the west). 200 Balloons also contains samples of House in Order and Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic; the latter was another song submitted for inclusion in the movie, but rejected (it was replaced by Partyman).            

Prince ~ 200 Balloons
7" 45 RPM record sleeve back detail
design by Tom Recchion
detail photo by Styrous®

In November 2013, an unreleased mix leaked online that featured a rap by Big Daddy Kane. The remix was done by John Luongo, who confirmed its existence. According to Luongo, the reason for the remix being unreleased was that Warner Bros. Records didn't like it because it was "too different" and refused its release. However, Prince liked the finished result.         

Prince ~ Batdance
7" 45 RPM record, side 1
photo by Styrous®

Prince ~ 200 Balloons
7" 45 RPM record, side 2
photo by Styrous®

       

Tracklist:

A - Batdance (Edit) - 4:06
B - 200 Balloons - 5:05

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
    Copyright (c) – WEA International Inc.
    Copyright (c) – DC Comics Inc.
    Published By – Controversy Music
    Mastered At – Masterdisk
    Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation

Credits:

    Design – Tom Recchion
    Mastered By – HW*
    Producer [Produced], Arranged By, Composed By, Performer [Performed By] – Prince

Notes:

Sleeve:
"BATDANCE" from the Warner Bros. soundtrack album BATMAN™ a Warner Bros. film.
Available on LP, Cassette and Compact Disc (1/4/2-25936)

TM & © 1964 DC Comics Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Bros. Records Inc. for the U.S. and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the U.S. Made in U.S.A. 9 22824-7

Side A, label:
7-22924-A
Controversy Music ASCAP
From the Motion Picture Soundtrack album BATMAN™ a Warner Bros. film (1-25936)
℗ 1989 Warner Bros. Records Inc. for the U.S.
TM & © 1989 DC Comics Inc.

Side B, label:
7-22924-B
Controversy Music ASCAP
℗ 1989 Warner Bros. Records Inc. for the U.S.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Barcode (Text): 0 7599-22924-7 4
    Barcode: 075992292474
    Rights Society: ASCAP
    Matrix / Runout (Side A, runout, variant 1): MASTERDISK HW [SRC logo] 7-122924 - A - SRI
    Matrix / Runout (Side B, runout, variant 1): SP 7-122924 - B - SRI
    Matrix / Runout (Side A, runout, variant 2): MASTERDISK HW [SRC logo] 7-122924 - A - SRI I - I
    Matrix / Runout (Side B, runout, variant 2): SP 7-122924 - B - SRI I - I
    Matrix / Runout (Side A, runout, variant 3): MASTERDISK HW [SRC logo] 7-22924-A-SR1 1-1
    Matrix / Runout (Side B, runout, variant 3): SP 7-22924-B-SR1 1-1
    Pressing Plant ID (Specialty Records Corporation): [SRC logo]

Prince ‎– Batdance
Label: Warner Bros. Records ‎– 9 22824-7, Warner Bros. Records ‎– 7-22924
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, Specialty Records Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Synth-pop, Funk


  
        

Viewfinder links:              
   
Batman, Adam West & the Whole Gang       
Batman soundtrack       
Neal Hefti        
Tim Burton         
Prince                
      
Net links:              

A Pop Life ~ Get the funk up! Prince and Batman: crown time is over?
Casci Ritchie ~ Dressing the Batdance         
Consequence of Sound ~ Break Yo TV: Prince Batdance      
Fandom ~ Batdance Lyrics        
Houston Chronicle ~ The enduring legacy of Prince's Batdance
KEXP ~ Batdancing In The Dark: Revisiting Batman 30 Years Later 
LA Times ~ Prince & Big Daddy Kane Batdance remix Warner Bros. won’t let you hear     
NPR ~ Whither Prince's Batdance? (Quo Batdancimus?)        
Princevault ~ Batdance   
Simply Eighties ~ Prince - Batdance (1989)        
Songfacts ~ Batdance by Prince
The Twin Geeks ~ Batman ’89 or: How Bad Was Batdance Really?
The Ultimate Prince ~ Batman Roundtable: Our Writers Answer 5 Questions    
WNYC Studios Soundcheck ~ That Was a Hit?!?: Prince, Batdance          
      
YouTube links:              
      
Batdance (Official Music Video)          
Batdance (The Bat Mix) / Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix) (12 mins., 25 sec.)
Batman (original - 1960's)             
Dance with the Devil (Unreleased Batman Soundtrack)     
Partyman (Museum Scene) (12 mins., 25 sec.)              
Prince ft. Big Daddy Kane - Batdance (DSRemix) (7 mins.)            
      
      
     
           
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, June 9, 2020       
   

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20,000 Vinyl LPs 146: The Odd Couple ~ Neil Simon

The Odd Couple ~ soundtrack - vinyl LP

Art Direction – Christopher Whorf

Neil Simon died yesterday. He was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly adaptations of his plays. Of all of them, my favorite was The Odd Couple (1965), for which he won a Tony Award. In 1968 the play was adapted into a film. The roles of misfits Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison were brilliantly cast with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. What a fantastic team they made. 

The score for the film was written by Neal Hefti who wrote scores for many other films and television shows.      

Neil Simon was born on the fourth of July in 1927, in New York City. He began writing comedy scripts in the 50's for radio and some popular early television shows. Among them were the Sid Caesar Your Show of Shows from 1950 (where he worked alongside other young writers including Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks and Selma Diamond) and The Phil Silvers Show, which ran from 1955 to 1959 (link below).   

He wrote his first play,  Come Blow Your Horn, in 1961. It ran for 678 performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.    

During 1966, Simon had four shows playing at Broadway theatres simultaneously: Sweet Charity, The Star-Spangled Girl, The Odd Couple and Barefoot in the Park.     

For most of his career Simon's work has received mixed reviews, with many critics admiring his comedy skills, much of it a blend of "humor and pathos". Other critics were less complimentary, noting that much of his dramatic structure was weak and sometimes relied too heavily on gags and one-liners. As a result, notes Kopince, "literary scholars had generally ignored Simon's early work, regarding him as a commercially successful playwright rather than a serious dramatist. Clive Barnes, theater critic for The New York Times, wrote that like his British counterpart Noël Coward, Simon was "destined to spend most of his career underestimated", but nonetheless very "popular". He received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer.     

Simon died on August 26, 2018, after being on life-support while hospitalized for renal failure. He also had Alzheimer's disease. He was 91. The cause of death was complications with pneumonia, according to his publicist, Bill Evans. Simon died around 1 a.m. Sunday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.       
         

         

       
Viewfinder links:       
       
Noël Coward         
Neal Hefti         
Jack Lemmon         
         

Net links:         
           
Neil Simon ~            
        Theatre    
        Screenplays   
        Television         

Women's World ~ How Felix and Oscar Made It to the Big Screen 
The Telegraph ~ The Odd Couple review 

Steyn At Sea ~ 

         one of the great instrumental movie themes of all time         

          

YouTube links:         
          
The Odd Couple - movie trailer          
Remembering Playwright Neil Simon         
Johnny Carson ~ Neil Simon interview         
Charlie Rose ~ Neil Simon interview on "Rewrites" (1996)         
         
            

The Odd Couple soundtrack


Credits:       

    Arranged By, Conductor, Composed By – Neal Hefti
    Art Direction – Christopher Whorf
    Engineer – Bob Doherty
    Liner Notes – Howard W. Koch
    Producer – Tom Mack

Neal Hefti ‎– The Odd Couple (Music From The Original Motion Picture Score)Label: Dot Records ‎– DLP 25862, Dot Records ‎– DLP 25,862
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Indianapolis
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Non-Music, Pop, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Dialogue, Easy Listening, Lounge



      

Neil Simon

photo by Irving Penn, Condé Nast

 

            

             

           

Styrous® ~ Monday, August 27, 2018        

         

          

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20,000 Vinyl LPs 93: Batman, Adam West & the Whole Gang

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

William West Anderson, aka Adam West, died yesterday, June 9, 2017. He was best known for his portrayal of the title role in the 1960s ABC series Batman and its theatrical feature film. I remember watching the series and even though the acting was cheesy, the sets were funky and the music was bad 60's (although Batman Blues is a great slow, mellow and sexy song), the laughs and the guest actors kept me coming back.  

 

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP cover
photo of album cover by Styrous®

Burt Ward co-starred as Robin, Batman's Sidekick. When he was 19, Ward auditioned for the role of Robin. He and West were up against Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell for the roles of Batman and Robin, respectively. West & Ward won the roles: as bad as the acting in the finished production was, when you watch the audition, you understand why (link below). Selected for the role of Robin, Ward thought people would find Gervis (his real name with the 'G' soft, as in gentleman) hard to pronounce and adopted his mother's maiden name, Ward. He also changed the spelling of Bert to 'Burt' to add "punch".                      

123 episodes aired on the ABC network from January 12, 1966, to March 14, 1968. In theory, it was a crime series, however, it was campy and tongue-in-cheek. The situations were exaggerated and generally played for laughs. This increased as the seasons wore on, with the addition of ever greater absurdity. The characters, however, always took the absurd situations extremely seriously – which added to the comedy. West once said that he played Batman “for laughs, but in order to do [that], one had to never think it was funny. You just had to pull on that cowl and believe that no one would recognise you.”    

Great actors of the time appeared in the series, The Joker was played by Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith was The Penguin, Frank Gorshin was confusing as The Riddler, George Sanders was chilling as Mr. Freeze. Catwoman was played by Julie Newmar AND Eartha Kitt. Others in that rarefied star field were David Wayne as Mad Hatter, Vincent Price as Egghead, Carolyn Jones as Marsha the Queen of Diamonds, Cliff Robertson as Shame, Anne Baxter as Olga the Queen of the Cossacks and none other than Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac.   

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

In 1966, Batman: The Exclusive Original Soundtrack Album was released on LP, featuring music by Nelson Riddle and snippets of dialogue from Adam West, Burt Ward, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Anne Baxter (as Zelda the Great) and George Sanders (the first Mr. Freeze). The Batman Theme was included, along with titles like Batusi A Go! Go!, Batman Thaws Mr. Freeze and Batman Blues - my favorite song on the album (link below).     

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

The Batman character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, In 1997, TV Guide ranked the episodes "The Purr-fect Crime" and "Better Luck Next Time" #86 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. In 2009, "Better Luck Next Time" was ranked #72.    

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP back cover
photo by Styrous®

Batman Theme, the title song of the 1966 Batman TV series, was composed by Neal Hefti. This song is built around a guitar hook reminiscent of spy film scores and surf music. It has a twelve bar blues progression, using only three chords until the coda.    

The eleven cries of "Batman!" are sung by a chorus of four tenors and four sopranos (performed by The Ron Hicklin Singers). A myth purports that the chorus is actually a group of horns. Adam West's book Back to the Batcave also fuels this rumor by claiming the chorus is instrumental, not vocal. However, Hefti stated that the chorus was made up of eight singers, one of whom jokingly wrote on his part, "word and music by Neal Hefti".       

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

Adam West (born William West Anderson on September 19, 1928, in Walla Walla, Washington) was an American actor whose most famous role was as Batman in the 1960s ABC series Batman and its theatrical feature film. His career spanned seven decades.

He began acting in films in 1959, playing opposite Chuck Connors in Geronimo (1962) and The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965). He also appeared in the science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964), and performed voice work on The Fairly OddParents, The Simpsons, and Family Guy, playing fictional versions of himself in all three.    

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

West participated on the speech and debate team at  Whitman College in Walla Walla. He was drafted into the United States Army where he served as an announcer on American Forces Network television. After his discharge, he moved to Hawaii to pursue television. While in Hawaii, he was picked for a role as the sidekick on a children's show called El Kini Popo Show, which featured a chimp. He later took over as star of the show; I found this very amusing. In 1959, he moved to Hollywood, where he took the stage name Adam West. In his autobiography Return to the Batcave, he explains he chose "Adam" simply because he liked the way it looked and sounded with "West", his middle name.      

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

West made two guest appearances on Perry Mason in 1961 and 1962. His first role was in "The Case of the Barefaced Witness". His other role was as folk singer Pete Norland in "The Case of the Bogus Books". He starred in an episode of the ABC Outer Limits series titled The Invisible Enemy. He made a brief appearance in the film Soldier in the Rain with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen. He starred as Major Dan McCready, the ill-fated mission commander of Mars Gravity Probe 1 in the 1964 film Robinson Crusoe on Mars. In 1965, he was cast in the comedy Western The Outlaws Is Coming, the last feature film starring The Three Stooges. He played Christopher Rolf in the episode Stopover of ABC's The Rifleman, which aired on April 25, 1961.    

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP, side 1
photo by Styrous®

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP label, side 1
photo by Styrous®

The original Batmobile from the 1960s TV series was a concept car promoted by Ford's Lincoln brand. It was designed by Ford stylists Bill Schmidt and John Najjar and hand-built by Ghia in Turin, Italy at a cost of $250,000 (equivalent to $2,200,000 in 2017). It auctioned on January 19, 2013, at the Barrett-Jackson auction house in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $4.2 million, the second highest auction price for an auto by the house.        

On June 9, 2017, Adam West died in Los Angeles, California, after a battle with leukemia. He was 88 years old.   

Adam West

photographer unknown

At 9pm on Thursday, June 16th, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck joined special 'bat-guests' on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to light the Bat-Signal in tribute to West's portrayal of millionaire and secret crime fighter Bruce Wayne.   

Los Angeles City Hall with the Bat-Signal

photo by Chris Pizzello

Batman TV soundtrack

vinyl LP, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Batman TV soundtrack
vinyl LP label, side 2
photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Batman Theme, written by Neal Hefti.
   
A2 - Batman Riddles The Riddler! - Or - (Hi Diddle Riddle), Voice Actor [The Riddler] – Frank Gorshin    
   
A3 - Batus! -A-Go! Go! - Or - (I Shouldn't Wish To Attract Attention)   

A4 - Two Perfectly Ordinary People - Or - (!!!)   

A5 - Holy-Hole-In-The-Doughnut - Or - (Robin, You've Done It Again!)
   
A6 - Batman Pows The Penguin - Or - (Aha, My Fine-Feathered Finks!), Voice Actor [The Penguin] – Burgess Meredith

Side 2:
   
B1 - To The Batmobile!

B2 - Batman Blues

B3 - Holy Flypaper

B4 - Batman Thaws Mr. Freeze - Or - (That's The Way The Ice-Cube Crumbles!), Voice Actor [Mr. Freeze] – George Sanders

B5 - Gotham City

B6 - Zelda Tempts Batman - Or - (Must He Go It Alone????), Voice Actor [Eivol Ekdol] – Jack Kruschen, Voice Actor [Zelda] – Anne Baxter

   
Credits:

    Conductor, Written-By, Composed By – Nelson Riddle
    Narrator [Uncredited], Liner Notes, Executive Producer – William Dozier
    Producer – Bernie Wayne
    Voice Actor [Batman] – Adam West (5) (tracks: A2 to B1,B4, B6)
    Voice Actor [Robin] – Burt Ward (tracks: A2, A4 to B1, B3)

Nelson Riddle ‎– Batman (Exclusive Original Television Soundtrack Album)
Label: 20th Century Fox Records ‎– TFS 4180
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1966
Genre: Jazz, Rock, Non-Music, Stage & Screen
Style: Surf, Soundtrack, Dialogue, Rock & Roll, Easy Listening, Lounge

           

            

        

Net links:     
           
Lyle Waggoner & Peter Deyell Batman audition
Adam West website     
USA Today interview:   
    Why Adam West will always be the true Batman Forever 
USA Today ~ LA Bat-Signal tribute to Adam West  
Variety obit            

Hollywood Reporter obit        
LA Times obit           

NPR obit           

BBC obit           

NBC obit             

The Guardian obit                         

Batman on YouTube:                
         

        Batman Theme         

        Batman Riddles The Riddler!       
        Batus! A-Go! Go!      
        Holy-Hole-In-The-Doughnut or (Robin, You've Done It Again!)
       The Batusi
        To The Batmobile!
        Batman Blues
        Holy Flypaper
        Gotham City      


       
      
Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked Batman as the 82nd greatest American television show of all time.             

       

"To the Batmobile!" 

                      ~ Batman

    

            

Styrous® ~ Saturday, June 10, 2017 

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