Singer-songwriter Previte was the lead singer of the bandFranke 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 ofMillennium Records,Jimmy Ienner, asked Previte about writing some music for "a little movie calledDirty Dancing". Previte initially turned the request down because he was still trying to get a record deal,[3] and he thought the film was apornographic film based on the title,[4] but Ienner was persistent, declaring that it would "change his life", and got Previte to write several songs for the film, including "Hungry Eyes", later recorded by singerEric Carmen, 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 downthe Garden State Parkway. He suggested that Ienner's pleading inspired the lyric.[5] After getting further approval, Previte, along with DeNicola and Markowitz, created ademo 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 byLionel Richie was initially planned to be used as the finale ofDirty Dancing,[6] but choreographerKenny Ortega and his assistantMiranda Garrison (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 Cappelli's much lighter and more youthful version was used as a backing track, so that the actors,Patrick Swayze andJennifer Grey, 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 albumFranke and the Knockouts, but is only listed as a "Bonus Track".
The movie's writer,Eleanor Bergstein, wanted a famous 1960s singer to perform it to blend then-contemporary musical elements with the aesthetics of the period.[7][8] The song was initially intended forDonna Summer andJoe Esposito, but Summer turned it down because she did not like the title of the film.[9] Afterwards, producer Michael Lloyd approached Richie,Daryl Hall ofHall & Oates and singer-songwriterKim Carnes to perform; they declined as well.[10] Meanwhile, Bill Medley ofthe Righteous Brothers 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" withGladys Knight, from the soundtrack forCobra) and also thought the film's title was "like a bad porno movie".[6][11]
Ienner then approachedJennifer Warnes, who had released a cover ofLeonard Cohen 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.[7] As a result, after the birth of his daughter, Medley was approached again, this time with Warnes' offer.[12] Medley then agreed to record the track.[13] Stephen Holden ofThe New York Times compared the duo of Medley and Warnes to the lead characters' romance inDirty Dancing, for a "blend of the earthy and the pristine".[14]
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.[7] The song was completed in around one hour.[4] The resulting mix was described as a "Righteous Brothers-type song" by DeNicola.[7]
The song was originally released on July 10, 1987; it was intended to be released alongside the film, but the film's producerVestron 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.[7] Initially, radio stations were reluctant to add the song before the release ofDirty Dancing.[14] With the release of the film it became a worldwide hit and is one of the most frequently played songs on radio.
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.
In a 2009 retrospective about movie theme songs, Leah Greenblatt ofEntertainment Weekly ranked "Time of My Life" as "great schlock".[21] Greenblatt also described it as "oddly '80s" for a film set in 1963.[22] Then in 2023, Lindsay Martell ofEntertainment Weekly rankedDirty Dancing as having the fourth best movie soundtrack of the 1980s and called "Time of My Life" the "unofficial anthem for every dreamy-eyed teen in the summer of '87".[23]
Tim McNelis, film studies lecturer at theUniversity of Liverpool, defended the inclusion of "Time of My Life" inDirty Dancing, describing Medley's voice as having "a rough timbre that approximates classic soul singers more than any of the other new songs in the film".[24]: 251
In the United States, the single topped theBillboard Hot 100 chart in November 1987 for one week and also reached number one on theAdult Contemporary for four weeks.[25] 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;[2] in January 1991, after the film was shown on mainstream television, the song reached No. 8.[26]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
In the ninth episode of the second season ofGlee, "Special Education", the New Directions performed this song. It was released as a single fromGlee: The Music, Volume 4 and peaked at No. 38 in the Billboard Hot 100.[77]
Medley re-recorded the song with his daughter McKenna in 2016, and released it under the Righteous Brothers name as part of their eponymous album with Bucky Heard.
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 albumThe Why Because, released in 2019.[citation needed]
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