Partyman

Album: Batman Soundtrack (1989)
Charted: 14 18
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song features in the scene of the 1989 film Batman where The Joker and his lackeys desecrate the Gotham City Art Museum - The Joker is the "Partyman."

    Prince did the soundtrack for the film, which includes the #1 hit "Batdance."
  • Jack Nicholson portrayed The Joker in the movie. Prince, who'd never met Nicholson before, found the inspiration for this song when he first came across Nicholson on the set of Graffiti Bridge. He recalled in Rolling Stone in 1990: "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."

    Morris Day was the lead singer of The Time who had known Prince since their high school days.
  • "Partyman" plays in a scene from the ESPN miniseries The Last Dance, which chronicles Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls as they win their six championships. The song plays as part of a montage of Jordan's fifth NBA season, when he won his third scoring title and was establishing himself as one of the league's elites. Director Jason Hehir liked the juxtaposition of Jordan and Prince, who were supernovas in their fields.

Comments: 3

  • Mizr from Beverly Hills, CaIn Partyman Video, Prince portrays a called Gemini, half Joker, half-Prince character. He was always a huge fan of Batman as a kid. One of the first songs he learned to play was the original Batman Theme song on Panio.
  • Mykl from Baltimore, MdFor true Prince fans - The b-side of this song is a track called "Feel U Up (Short Stroke)". I searched long and hard for the "Long Stroke" version and finally found it in England.
  • Ma_cherie from Little Rock, ArIn Prince's video of this song, he displays a half-Batman, half-Joker character.
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