"Partyman" by Prince

Gold Record Alert!

Song#:  4015

Date:  08/26/1989

Debut:  46

Peak:  18

Weeks:  10

Genre:  Funk Rock, R&B, Soundtrack

Pop Bits:  Prince got a much needed commercial shot in the arm when he wrote songs for Tim Burton's Batman film. He would assemble a soundtrack that included "Batdance," a song written as a sort of promo tool that would be released as a first single. It would end up becoming a #1 platinum hit, which in turn sent the Batman album to #1 - Prince's first to reach that spot since '85's Around the World in a Day. For a follow-up, this next track was selected. While it wouldn't do as well as "Batdance," it still was able to crack the Pop Top 20 while reaching #5 R&B and #45 Dance. Just after this single debuted on the Pop chart, the soundtrack album would be certified double-platinum, which was a significant boost after the disappointing gold result of '88's Lovesexy.

ReduxReview:  This was definitely a Prince-style jam, but it did sound like something he might have passed on to Morris Day and The Time, which makes sense (see below). It was a fun jam that fit the film and didn't make for a bad single. However, it certainly wasn't anything that was going to set alongside his best material. With the success of the film and the soundtrack, I thought this tune might have been able to get inside the Top 10. It didn't quite get there, but somehow it managed to go gold. Like "Batdance," this was a product of its time and it didn't have a life following its chart run.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  While not all the songs Prince wrote for the soundtrack album would actually be heard in the film, this was one that was prominently featured. It was used in a scene where The Joker (Jack Nicholson) and his followers run amok at the Gotham City Art Museum. The placement was fitting as Prince had stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that his inspiration for the song was Jack Nicholson himself. Prince encountered the actor for the first time on the set of the film. Of their first meet, Prince said, “He just walked over, sat down and put his foot up on a table, real cool. He had this attitude that reminded me of Morris [Day] — and there was that song.”

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