I find it hard to believe that you’d forgotten about Dirty Dancing. The 1987 blockbuster movie not only spawned giant hits from Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes, Eric Carmen and even Patrick Swayze.
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‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’ Won an Oscar
Selling well over 36,000,000 copies – the former Righteous Brother singer Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ Hot 100 No.1 hit racked up several awards. The song won a Grammy for Best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal as well as the Academy Award for Best Song. The track charted twice in the UK. It reached No.6 in 1987 and returned to No.6 in January 1991 following a national TV screening.
Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes – (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life
Songwriter Franke Previte Had Just Been Ditched by His Record Label
The movie’s producer Jimmy Lenner Franke Previte approached songwriter Franke Previte just after he had been dropped by his label MCA. He was asked to submit a song for the movie, not knowing that he was one of more than 100 artists to have been asked. Previte was the lead singer of the band Franke and the Knockouts. Previte not only wrote ‘The Time of My Life’ but also ‘Hungry Eyes.’ Both songs were also recorded by the group, and were included on the re-issue of The Sweetheart Collection (1999) after the band had folded.
Franke and the Knockouts – (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life
More Dirty Dancing Was Released a Year Later
The original motion picture soundtrack Dirty Dancing was initially released in 1987. A year later, More Dirty Dancing hit the shelves. It wasn’t faved by the critics as Rolling Stone called it “instrumental idiocies.” The set included tracks from The Four Seasons and The Drifters, however lacked of any new material. The John Morris Orchestra performed two short instrumental version of ‘The Time of My Life,’ and no singles were lifted off the album.
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The 20th Anniversary Edition Included a DVD
In October 2007, a 20th anniversary set was released featuring a promotional DVD with videos and photos. The tracklisting differed from the original and there were additional tracks included. A few of them were taken from aforementioned More Dirty Dancing set.
‘Hungry Eyes’ Was Never Released Commercially in the UK
Despite becoming such a huge success across the world, ‘Hungry Eyes’ with Eric Carmen was denied an official release in the UK. It, however, charted based on import sales and peaked at a disappointing No.82 position. It was a top ten hit in Sweden, Canada, the US and Belgium.
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Eric Carmen – Hungry Eyes
