It would have been easier if Dirty Dancing had been given a different working title while it was in production. Everyone assumed that it was an inappropriate movie. Take Franke Previte, who wrote the lyrics to the theme song, (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life. When he was approached to write a song by his former label boss, Jimmy Ienner, Previte hesitated. As Previte tells it, “He goes: ‘It’s gonna change your life. The film’s called Dirty Dancing.’ So my hand hits my forehead: ‘Ah, poor Jimmy’s doing adult films.'”
Once Previte was persuaded that it was “boy meets girl, a good little movie”, he wrote lyrics for the instrumental that John DeNicola had prepared according to his instructions (up-front chorus in halftime until the verse, then double time to create a dance groove). The lyrics came to Previte while he was driving. “The song was really written by the man upstairs,” he said, “because I had no idea what the movie was about”. Let’s watch the climactic dance scene from Dirty Dancing:
Guru Jr comments: “It will always remain one of the greatest dancing finales along with Flashdance and Footloose. There was just something about the 1980s.” Robis2349 gushes: “My god, the talent of Patrick Swayze is just unmatched. Is there anything he couldn’t do? He was in his own league. A renaissance man, talented in many fields. He set a very high bar. A true legend.” Jennings1213 reflects: “The fact we lost him makes it so much more precious. He was a gift. Thank you, Patrick.”
Lyric writer Franke Previte met Patrick Swayze when (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life won the Academy Award in 1988. Swayze said they filmed the final dance scene first, with different music, and it tainted everyone’s perception of the film. Swayze said, “We were like, ‘Let’s just get this challenging scene over with.’ When we heard your song, it changed everything – and how we reacted to our scenes. It just created this vibe.” Here’s a radical reinterpretation of the song by co-writer John DeNicola:
DeNicola explains: “I wanted to figure out how I might do this song that would be interesting and different. I decided to pay homage to it and strip it down to a quiet interpretation with just an acoustic guitar and small brass section.”
When the final dance scene of Dirty Dancing was re-shot with (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, the production used the demo version sung by Franke Previte and Rachele Cappelli so as not to hold up filming. It was hoped that Donna Summer and Joe Esposito would sing on a more polished, final version. Donna Summer turned the song down because of the title of the film. Daryl Hall and Kim Carnes also declined. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers wasn’t interested either, and thought the title was “like a bad porno movie”. Eventually Jennifer Warnes was persuaded, so long as she could sing the track with Bill Medley. Fortunately, Medley relented.
Warnes recorded her vocals while watching the scene on video so she could sync her vocals to the action, especially the famous lift. The Medley/Warnes version of (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Not bad for the theme song of a movie that musicians were initially reluctant to be associated with!
To conclude, Jennifer Warnes has an observation for Music Man Readers who might be planning a wedding. “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life is in the past tense,” she notes, “so you shouldn’t really be using it at a wedding.”