Chart Rewind – Sida 2 – WelcheMusic.com

Five Things You’d Forgotten About Dirty Dancing

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.

‘(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 20^th Anniversary Edition Included a DVD

In October 2007, a 20^th 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

Carola Häggkvist – The Swedish Queen of Eurovision

Most Swedes have an opinion about Carola Häggkvist, but no matter what you think. Few may disagree that she’s the undisputable Swedish queen of the Eurovision Song Contest. She rose to fame in 1983 when she won the Swedish contest with ‘Främling,’ written by Lasse Holm and Monica Forsberg. The album Främling came to sell more than 1 million copies, becoming one of the biggest albums ever in this country. The television broadcast was watched by 6.1 million Swedes – 84% of the population. Surely, she had trended on Twitter had it been around. She finished third in the Eurovision final behind Luxembourg and Israel. In 2013, she performed at the Swedish Melodifestivalen performing the new version of ‘Främling’ to celebrate her 30 years anniversary as an artist.

Carola – Främling – 30 år @Melodifestivalen 2013 Friends Arena [HD]

In 1990, she returned to Melodifestivalen with ‘Mitt i ett äventyr,’ which finished second behind Edin-Ådahl. Her track was included on her album Much More. No rest, Carola didn’t give up and won both the Swedish contest and the whole Eurovision Song Contest in 1991. ‘Fångad av en stormvind’ arrived atop in Rome, Italy. It was a narrow margin as she had the same result as France’s Amina Annabi, but Carola had been awarded most “12 points”-votes.

Eurovision 1991 – Carola – Fångad av en stormvind

Carola Häggvist finally returned to Melodifestivalen in 2006, when she won the national competition with ‘Evighet,’ which was translated into ‘Invincible.’ On stage at the ESC in Athens, this was the third time! She finished fifth.

Carola – Invincible (Sweden) 2006 Final

The Story Behind Mark ’Oh’s Smash Tears Don’t Lie

One of the greatest rave and EDM tracks of the 1990s is no doubt ‘Tears Don’t Lie.’ Recorded by German DJ Mark ’Oh, the track became a HUGE hit in Sweden and Germany where it topped the charts. Née Marko Albrecht, he was born in the German town Dresden in 1970.

Rising to fame as a Eurodance DJ and producer, Mark ’Oh actually started out in the rock band Line Up. Turning Marko to Mark ’Oh, the DJ chose rave over rock.

In 1993, he charted with ‘Randy (Never Stop That Feeling).’ Taken off the debut album Never Stop That Feeling, the set included the aforementioned title track, ‘Love Song’ and ‘Tears Don’t Lie.’

Mark ’Oh – Tears Don’t Lie

Samples Michael Holm’s ‘Tränen lügen nicht’

‘Tears Don’t Lie’ became a massive hit in Germany and Sweden in 1994/1995. The track was inspired by Michael Holm’s ‘Tränen lügen nicht.’ According to WhoSampled, Michael Holm’s sample is found after 1:11 minutes. But hey, wasn’t this track an Italian track from the beginning? Actually, there are plenty of stories behind this prime rave track.

Michael Holm – Tränen lügen nicht

Let’s take it from the beginning. In 1974, ‘Soleado’ was released by Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble. This composition contained no words and was composed by Ciro Dammico with the artist name of “Zacar.” ‘Soleado’ was, in its way, based on the composition ‘Le rose blue’ from 1972.

Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble – Soleado

The Michael Holm song was recorded the very same year as ‘Tränen lügen nicht,’ but it was also available in French by Mireille Mathieu (‘On ne vit pas sans se dire adieu,’ 1975). It was made to fame in an English version by Johnny Mathis in 1976 with the title ‘When a Child Is Born.’

In Sweden, Mark ’Oh’s ‘Tears Don’t Lie’ spent two weeks atop the Swedish singles chart, amassing 15 weeks in total on the chart. A remix version peaked at No.18 just weeks after, concluding the DJ’s run of hits in 1996 as his cover of Visage’s ‘Fade to Grey’ peaked at No.45.

You’re Never Alone with 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor

In 1994, I bought a copy of the Dutch EDM act 2 Brothers on the 4^th Floor’s maxi-CD ‘Dreams (Will Come Alive).’ Before last.FM scrobbles and Spotify, that CD spun a maximum of times. 21 years later I accidentally stumbled upon 2 Brothers on the 4^th Floor via Spotify and back comes the memories.

The song in question was the 1993 release of ‘Never Alone,’ a top three hit in native Holland and Belgium. Despite churning out loads of singles, only two albums were released – “Dreams” (1994) and “2” (1996). Apart from ‘Dreams (Will Come Alive),’ major hits included ‘Fly (Through the Starry Night)’ and ‘Fairytales.’ In 1996, they even made a Christmas version of their hit ‘There Is a Key’ née ‘Christmas Time.’

Who were 2 Brothers on the 4^th Floor?

The duo consisted of the brothers Martin and Bobby Boer. They created the group in 1990, and earned cross-over success in markets such as Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Brazil. Being the creators, the Boer brothers didn’t sing. Instead, various of singers and rappers were front figures throughout the career.

The debut hit came in 1990 when ‘Can’t Help Myself’ reached the top ten in the Netherlands, placing the on the US dance charts. In 1994, Des’Ray (née Désirée Manders) joined the act with rappoer ‘D-Rock’ on the aforementioned ‘Dreams.’ It was a great international success.

Kategori: Chart Rewind