Dirty Dancing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

iTunes Review

In the ‘80s, movie soundtracks with duets were all the rage. The 1981 film Endless Love featured a hit title track with Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, while An Officer and a Gentlemen presented Jennifer Warnes who sang “Up Where We Belong” with spasmodic gesticulator Joe Cocker in 1982. Warnes hit again in 1987’s Dirty Dancing on “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” with Righteous Brother Bill Medley. But this album was so successful, it went platinum 11 times, spending 18 weeks in the #1 slot on the Billboard 200 album sales charts. It also won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song as well as a GRAMMY for Best Pop Performance By a Duo. Eric Carmen’s pop serenade “Hungry Eyes” yielded another hit for the soundtrack, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. And yes, even the late Patrick Swayze had a #3 hit with the romantic power ballad “She’s Like the Wind.” Swayze originally wrote the song in 1984 for the soundtrack to Grandview, U.S.A. but it was rejected. He played it for Dirty Dancing’s soundtrack producer Jimmy Ienner who loved it enough to place it in the top sequence of the album.