RCA 6408
Executive producer: Jimmy lenner
Track listing: (I’ve Had) the Time of My Life [Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes] / Be My Baby [The Ronettes] / She’s Like the Wind [Patrick Swayze] / Hungry Eyes [Eric Carmen] / Stay [Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs] / Yes [Merry Clayton] / You Don’t Own Me [The Blow Monkeys] / Hey Baby [Bruce Channel] Overload [Zappocosta] / Love Is Strange [Mickey and Sylvia] / Where Are You Tonight [Tom Johnston] / Iin the Still of the Night [The Five Satins]
November 14, 1987
18 weeks (nonconsecutive)
“A lot of people wanted me committed. They were picking out rooms with little flowers.” Those are the words of record executive Jimmy lenner, recalling how some of his cohorts reacted to the concept that would make Dirty Dancing one of the biggest soundtrack hits of the ’80s, second only to Prince’s Purple Rain.
lenner’s concept was to find singers with voices that mirrored the film’s lead characters portrayed by Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. His choice of the Righteous Brothers’ Bill Medley and singer-songwriter Jennifer Warnes was seen by some as less than righteous, but Ienner was certain it would work. “Bill had an emotional voice like the Johnny character, and Jennifer had a voice that mirrored Baby,” lenner says. The pair would sing a duet on “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” the hit single that would help propel Dirty Dancing to the top of the album chart.
Yet it wasn’t easy for lenner to convince Medley to take part in the project. The singer had just come off a duet with Gladys Knight that had flopped. “Telling people they should get involved in something called Dirty Dancing was not easy,” he admits.
The Medley-Warnes duet was only part of the Dirty Dancing phenomenon. The album also spawned hits by Eric Carmen and the film’s male lead, Swayze. lenner and Carmen had a relationship dating back to the early ’70s, when lenner had helped the Carmen-fronted Raspberries land a recording contract with Capitol Records. “Some of the film people wanted a larger name,” lenner admits. Yet lenner stuck by his old friend and was rewarded for his loyalty, as “Hungry Eyes” climbed to number four, becoming Carmen’s biggest hit since “All By Myself” made number two in 1975.
Swayze’s musical contribution, which also featured singer Wendy Fraser, came as a bit of a surprise. “I got a call from the set,” lenner recalls. “Patrick just presented this demo, I heard it, and I loved it. We decided we should really try to fit it in.”
Aside from the new material, Dirty Dancing also featured several classic sides from the late ’50s and early ’60s, including the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby,” Mickey and Sylvia ‘s “Love Is Strange,” and the Five Satins’ “In the Still of Night.”
lenner says the album was so successful because of emotional impact tied into the film: “If you look at the hits, they all are from a specific place and time in the movie, so you relive those moments when you hear them.”
Dirty Dancing was so successful that RCA released More Dirty Dancing less than a year later. The sequel peaked at number three. “People really had a thirst for it and wanted those other cuts,” lenner says. “This was an album that probably deserved to be a double album from the get-go.”
THE TOP FIVE
Week of November 14, 1987
1. Dirty Dancing, Soundtrack
2. Tunnel of Love, Bruce Springsteen
3. Bad, Michael Jackson
4. Whitesnake, Whitesnake
5. A Momentary Laspe of Reason, Pink Floyd