Today’s classic song from a movie of the day is “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from the 1987 blockbuster film, Dirty Dancing. The theme song was performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes; released as a single in July of 1987, it hit #1 all around the world, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, and, in the U.S. both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts.
“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” was written by the trio of John DeNicola, Donald Markowitz, and Franke Previte. The song was played during the movie’s finale, with Johnny (Patrick Swayze) and Baby (Jennifer Grey) doing their big dance.
Eleanor Bergstein, the movie’s writer, initially wanted a famous 1960s singer to do the honors, to blend with the time period of the movie. Then the producers approached Donna Summer and Joe Esposito, who turned it down. (Ms. Summer didn’t like the film’s title; she thought it was literally a dirty picture.) Daryl Hall and Kim Carnes were approached next, but they also said no. Finally, Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers and Jennifer Warnes were asked, and they both said yes. The pairing worked.
Dirty Dancing, for those of you either not born yet or living under a rock at the time, was about the romance between a dance instructor at a summer resort and a young woman visiting the resort with her parents during the summer of 1963. Because it was about dancers it had a lot of dancing and a lot of music to dance to. It got positive reviews and cleaned up at the box office. It was targeted at the lucrative teen audience but drew viewers across all age segments.
Like the movie, Dirty Dancing, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” was a bounding success. It won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. It brought renewed attention to both Mr. Medley, at that point on his way down from his Righteous Brothers days, and Ms. Warnes, then somewhat of a niche performer. (Her most recent release was Famous Blue Raincoat, an album of Leonard Cohen songs—an acquired taste back then but one of my all-time favorites.) The song’s success was the result of everything coming together—a really good song performed by two first-class performers, featured in a megahit movie. Its success was inevitable.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, the final scene from Dirty Dancing, with Johnny and Baby doing the routine they’d been practicing all summer, complete with that flying lift move thing. It was the time of their lives.
