Eric Carmen's Hungry Eyes: The Cheesiest Sax-solo Ever

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 romantic film made in the . Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Cynthia Rhodes, and Jerry Orbach. The story is a coming of age drama that documents a young débutante's rebellion against her father by starting a relationship with a dance instructor during a family summer vacation. Almost a third of the film involves dancing scenes choreographed by Kenny Ortega (later famous for High School Musical), and the finale has been described as "the most goosebump-inducing dance scene in movie history".

Originally a low-budget film by a new studio and with no major stars, Dirty Dancing became a massive box office hit. As of 2007, it has earned $213.9 million worldwide. It was the first film to sell more than a million copies on home video, and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, including "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", which won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award for best duet. The film spawned a 2004 prequel, Category: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights - , as well as a stage version which has had sellout performances in Australia, Europe, and North America, with plans to open on Broadway.

Dirty Dancing (full title: Dirty Dancing: Original Soundtrack from the Vestron Motion Picture) is the original soundtrack of the 1987 film of the same name. The album became a huge commercial success in the USA. It spent 18 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales charts and went platinum eleven times. It spawned a follow-up album entitled More Dirty Dancing. The album went on to sell 42 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling albums of all time. As of 2007, it is still re-entering the Irish charts on occasion, having spent more than 230 weeks in the top 30.

"'(Ive Had) The Time of My Life'" is a song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, after having been selected to be the finale song for the 1987 film Dirty Dancing'' by choreographer Kenny Ortega and his assistant Miranda Garrison (who also played Vivian in the film).

"Love Is Strange" was a 1957 Top 40 hit for Mickey & Sylvia, originally released on Groove Records, a division of RCA. It reached #11 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, becoming their only Top 20 hit. The song features a sinuous guitar riff and provocative verbal byplay between Mickey and Sylvia as well as a Latin American beat and a strong melodic hook. The lyrics consist of just eight lines, each of which uses the same basic tune, with some variances in the harmony. The role of the lead guitar, the bright recording technique, and the lush melody had an influence that can be clearly heard in many more modern rock songs, notably "Day Tripper" and other guitar-driven Beatles songs. Dave "Baby" Cortez used the same break riff as "Love is Strange" on his 1962 hit "Rinky Dink", got sued for copying down that melodic riff, and had to pay thousands of dollars in damages to both Mickey and Sylvia. The 1963 song "Killer Joe" by one-hit wonders the Rocky Fellers, bears more than a passing similarity to the chorus of "Love is Strange," though it never sparked a lawsuit.

In addition to its musical quality, the song is remarkable as an instance of convergence. Although only a one-hit wonder, the recording was touched by, or touched, a large number of important people and musical trends, even down to a dispute over authorship.

Mickey was Mickey Baker, guitarist on dozens of rock and roll hits and many recordings, considered the "go to" session guitar player of the 1950s and early 1960s. Sylvia was Sylvia Vanderpool, formerly billed as Little Sylvia Vanderpool, who became in the 1980s the impresario behind Sugar Hill Records and a major force in the emergence of rap music. The song was written by Bo Diddley, (but credited to his wife at the time, Ethel Smith), and Jody Williams, who had developed the distinctive lead guitar riff. Williams had recorded the riff earlier on a song called "Billy's Blues" for Billy Stewart. Eventually the song, much more than just a riff, ended up being credited to Smith, Baker and Vanderpool. Buddy Holly recorded a version of the song and also adopted the riff and melody for his own "Words of Love".

Jazz musician Everett Barksdale plays rhythm guitar on the recording. The song also marked the first recording of drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, who went on to become one of the most recorded drummers of all time.