"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" is a 1987 song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter. She has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong" and in 1987 for ...

, and used as the theme song for the 1987 film '' Dirty Dancing''. The song has won a number of awards, including the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

, the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

, and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

History

Singer-songwriter Previte was the lead singer of the band Franke and the Knockouts. He had success with the song " Sweetheart" in 1981, but by 1986 was without a recording contract. In late 1986 or early 1987, producer and head of

Millennium Records Millennium Records is a defunct record label run by record producer Jimmy Ienner from 1976 to 1983. During its RCA-distributed years, a significant portion of its output was content licensed from Canadian record labels. Hits The label's best-sel ...

Jimmy Ienner Jimmy Ienner ( ; born ) is an American music producer, best known for producing albums for such artists as Bay City Rollers, The Raspberries and Three Dog Night. Biography He went to Stamford (Connecticut) High School and graduated in 1963. H ...

, asked Previte about writing some music for "a little movie called ''Dirty Dancing''". Previte initially turned the request down because he was still trying to get a record deal, and he thought the film was a

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotic ...

based on the title, but Ienner was persistent, declaring that it would "change his life", and got Previte to write several songs for the film, including "

Hungry Eyes "Hungry Eyes" is a song performed by American musician Eric Carmen, a former member of the band Raspberries, and was featured in the film '' Dirty Dancing'' (1987). The song was recorded at Beachwood Studios in Beachwood, Ohio in 1987. "Hungry ...

", later recorded by singer

Eric Carmen Eric Howard Carmen (born August 11, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. He was first known as the lead vocalist of the Raspberries. He had numerous hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Rasp ...

, which also became a top 10 hit. Previte wrote the lyrics, and the music was written by John DeNicola and Don Markowitz. He compared writing the song to the writing process of " MacArthur Park". The title was conceived at random while he was traveling down

the Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jerse ...

. He suggested that Ienner's pleading inspired the lyric. After getting further approval, Previte, along with DeNicola and Markowitz, created a demo of the song, performing on it himself, along with singer Rachele Cappelli. The demo showcased how the harmonies were to be used, employing a "cold open", or a slow build-up of the song to its finale. A song by

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recor ...

was initially planned to be used as the finale of '' Dirty Dancing'', but choreographer

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films ''Newsies'', '' Hocus Pocus'', ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', '' High School Musical'', '' Michael Jackson's T ...

and his assistant

Miranda Garrison Miranda Garrison is an American actress, dancer, and choreographer, best known for her film choreography. Career For the 1987 film '' Dirty Dancing'', starring Patrick Swayze, Miranda Garrison assisted Kenny Ortega in choreography; she also ac ...

(who also played Vivian in the film) selected "The Time of My Life" instead. This demo wasn't used in the final cut of the film − the more polished version with Warnes and Medley was. However, because the Warnes/Medley track was not ready by the time the finale was filmed (it was shot first, due to the tight budget), Previte and Capelli's much lighter and more youthful version was used as a backing track, so that the actors,

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze (; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and ...

and

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She subsequently earned worldwide ...

, and the dancers, could have something to dance to. (Swayze later remarked that it was his favorite version, even including all the subsequent remakes.) The demo version finally appeared on the 1998 CD reissue of Previte's 1981 album '' Franke and the Knockouts'', but is only listed as a "Bonus Track". The movie's writer,

Eleanor Bergstein Eleanor Bergstein (born 1938) is an American writer, known for writing and co-producing ''Dirty Dancing'', a popular 1980s film based in large part on her own childhood. Life and career Bergstein was born in 1938 in the Brooklyn borough of New ...

, wanted a famous 1960s singer to perform it to blend then-contemporary musical elements with the aesthetics of the period. The song was initially intended for

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her musi ...

and Joe Esposito, but Summer turned it down because she did not like the title of the film. Afterwards, producer Michael Lloyd approached

Daryl Hall Daryl Franklin Hohl (born October 11, 1946), known professionally as Daryl Hall, is an American rock music, rock, rhythm and blues, R&B and soul music, soul singer and musician, best known as the co-founder and principal lead vocalist of Daryl ...

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

and singer-songwriter

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

to perform; they declined as well. In response, Bill Medley of

the Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

was approached by Jimmy Ienner repeatedly over two months to do the recording, but he also turned it down because his daughter McKenna was due to be born, and he had promised his wife he would be there. He was also concerned about appearing in another song that would flop (as had happened with "Loving on Borrowed Time" with

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

, from the soundtrack for '' Cobra'') and also thought the title was "like a bad porno movie". Ienner then approached

, who had released a cover of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

songs the previous year. She initially expressed reluctance upon hearing Previte's demo but was persuaded (because of Ienner offering a large sum of money) by her then-boyfriend to take the offer, on the condition that she could sing it with Medley, whom she admired. As a result, after the birth of his daughter, Medley was approached again, this time with Warnes' offer. Medley then agreed to record the track, having also admired her singing, on the condition that he record the song in Los Angeles. To give emotional depth to the song, Warnes had a video playback machine and footage of the final scene brought in to synchronize her singing with the movie's ending scene, particularly "the lift". After completing the main vocals, Medley and Warnes were asked by Lloyd to add additional harmonies and flourishes for the song. The song was completed in around one hour. The resulting mix was described as a "Righteous Brothers-type song" by DeNicola. The song was originally released on July 10, 1987; it was intended to be released alongside the film, but the film's producer Vestron Pictures had moved the American release date to August without notifying RCA Records. Ienner quickly edited the song from the original 6:46 to 4:50 for radio airplay. With the release of the film it became a worldwide hit and is one of the most frequently played songs on radio.

Music video

A music video was produced for this song in October 1987. The video features several couples dancing like in the movie, and it also featured clips from it.

Personnel

* Bill Medley - vocals *

- lead vocal and additional backing vocals *Gary Herbig - saxophone solo * Laurence Juber - guitar *Dennis Belfield - bass"The Dirty Dancing Soundtrack: the inside story from its hitmaking songwriters." ''The Strange Brew''
Retrieved November 21, 2021. *

Paul Leim Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chr ...

- drums * Marcy Levy - backing vocals *Produced by Michael Lloyd *Arranged by Gene Page; additional arrangements by Michael Lloyd and John D'Andrea *Recording (at The Village Recorder) and Mix by Carmine Rubino; First engineer: Dan Nebenzal (Second engineer: Jeff DeMorris) *Remixed by Carmine Rubino, Dan Nebenzal,

and Michael Lloyd *Published by Knockout Music Inc., Jemava Music Corp., Donald Jay Music and R U Cyrius Music.

Chart performance

In the United States, the single topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in November 1987 for one week and also reached number one on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

for four weeks. In the United Kingdom the song had two chart outings: in November 1987, after the film's initial release, the song peaked at No. 6; in January 1991, after the film was shown on mainstream television, the song reached No. 8.

Awards

, 1987 * Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, 1988 *

, 1988 *

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

"Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures" and "ASCAP Songwriter Of The Year" for its writer. In 2004 AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey placed it #86 among the top tunes in American cinema.

Formats and track listings

*7" single #"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (4:47) #"Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia (2:52) *12" maxi and CD single #"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (4:47) #"In the Still of the Night" by The Five Satins (2:59) #"Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia (2:53) #"Overload" by Zappacosta (3:39) *Cassette #"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (4:47) #"In the Still of the Night" by The Five Satins (2:59) #"Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia (2:53) #"Overload" by Zappacosta (3:39)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

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Other versions

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...

' 2010 single " The Time (Dirty Bit)" features interpolations of the song performed by Will.i.am and Fergie. * In the ninth episode of the second season of '' Glee'', "

Special Education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

", the New Directions performed this song as part of their setlist for Sectionals with featured solos by Quinn Fabray (

Dianna Agron Dianna Elise Agron ( ; born April 30, 1986) is an American actress and singer. After primarily dancing and starring in small musical theater productions in her youth, Agron made her screen debut in 2006, and in 2007, she played recurring charac ...

) and Sam Evans (

Chord Overstreet Chord Paul Overstreet (born February 17, 1989) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Sam Evans on the Fox television series '' Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in the Apple TV+ comedy series ''Acapulco'' since ...

) with small parts from Mercedes Jones (

Amber Riley Amber Patrice Riley (born February 15, 1986), sometimes known mononymously as RILEY, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series '' Glee'' (2009–2015). For her perf ...

). It was released as a single from '' Glee: The Music, Volume 4'' and peaked at No. 38 in the Billboard Hot 100. One of the writers of the song, John DeNicola, released his own version of "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" on his debut album ''The Why Because'', released in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I've Had The Time Of My Life Film theme songs 1987 singles 1987 songs 1980s ballads 1992 singles Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songs Best Original Song Golden Globe winning songs Bill Medley songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Jennifer Warnes songs Male–female vocal duets Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in South Africa RCA Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Michael Lloyd Songs from Dirty Dancing Songs written by Franke Previte Songs written by John DeNicola American soft rock songs