It seems incredible, but it is still so present in our memories that it is impossible for us to think that “dirty dancing” turns 35 today. It was such a day as today but in 1987 when the movie theaters of the United States screened for the first time this film starring the ever-eternal patrick swayze and by Jennifer Graywho is still looking great at the age of 62.
This drama with romantic touches was a relentless international success and is still considered today as one of the great classics of the eighties, presenting the story of Johnnya dance teacher who falls in love with the teenager Baby in the summer of 1963 and amidst the family difficulties posed by its plot.
The film, which barely had a budget of 6 million dollars, managed to collect almost 214 at the box office around the world, thus becoming one of the great premieres of that year and obtaining recognition from the public and critics. It is still so popular that it is easy for us to get hooked on one of those re-broadcasts that continue to be scheduled on television every weekend, something that only other films like “pretty woman” either “Titanic”.
But if there is something that captivates us in “dirty dancing”that’s its soundtrack, headed by the song “(I’ve had) the time of my life”, awarded an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best original song. There were many awards that this emblematic song collected, since it was also nominated for a Grammy Award in a category then called “best song written for a film, television or other visual medium”.
In fact, they were Bill Medley Y Jennifer Warren those who won the Grammy for best group or duo pop vocal performance at that 1988 ceremony, representing that great soundtrack that included up to twelve music classics. “(I’ve had) the time of my life” the one that stood out from the rest, for its power and for belonging to a key moment in the film.
Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes: “(I’ve had) the time of my life”
Did you know that during rehearsals for the dance scenes and part of the filming, music from the screenwriter’s personal record collection was used? eleanor bergstein, who had already chosen most of the songs that complemented the sequences of the script that he had written? That did not prevent new songs like this from being created as well, so it was necessary to convince patrick swayze to sing the song “She’s like the wind”which the actor had composed together with Stacy Widelitz some years before for another film, “grand view”.
was the choreographer Kenny Ortega and his assistant Miranda Garrison those who were in charge of choosing the song for the final scene, and for this they had to listen to all the cassette tapes in a box one by one. On the last cassette of all there was a song called “The time of my life” belonging to an album Franke Previte from 1981 and as soon as they heard it, it became the definitive option. Yes, they were Bill Medley Y Jennifer Warren those who would end up performing it, achieving the success we know today.
The film’s soundtrack became the revival of music from the sixties to the late eighties, something that caught even the label itself by surprise, RCA Records, who did not expect the sales rates of the album to be so high. The soundtrack of “dirty dancing” remained at number one on the list Billboard 200 for eighteen weeks, achieving eleven platinum records and selling over forty million copies worldwide.
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“Dirty dancing” turns 35: This is how Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray made us all fall in love