(I've Had) The Time of My Life

Last updated
"(I've Had) The Time of My Life"
Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time of My Life single cover.jpg
Single by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
from the album Dirty Dancing: Original Soundtrack from the Vestron Motion Picture
B-side
ReleasedJuly 10, 1987
Recorded1986
Studio Los Angeles, California
Genre
Length
  • 6:46
  • 4:50 (LP and single version)
Label RCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Michael Lloyd
Bill Medley singles chronology
"Loving on Borrowed Time"
(1986)		"(I've Had) The Time of My Life"
(1987)		"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"
(1988)
Jennifer Warnes singles chronology
"Bird on the Wire"
(1987)		"(I've Had) The Time of My Life"
(1987)		"Rock You Gently"
(1992)

Reception

Critical reception

Robert Christgau panned the song as having "technocratic ardors", in a review grading the Dirty Dancing soundtrack a D. [19]

In 2004, the American Film Institute ranked "Time of My Life" 86th in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, its list of the 100 greatest songs written for film. [20]

In a 2009 retrospective about movie theme songs, Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment 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 of Entertainment Weekly ranked Dirty 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 the University of Liverpool, defended the inclusion of "Time of My Life" in Dirty 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 

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 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]

Awards

Formats and track listings

  1. "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" – 4:47
  2. "Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia – 2:52
  1. "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" – 4:47
  2. "In the Still of the Night" by The Five Satins – 2:59
  3. "Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia – 2:53
  4. "Overload" by Zappacosta – 3:39

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [58] Gold35,000^
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [59] Gold30,000‡
Canada (Music Canada) [60] Gold50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [61] Platinum90,000‡
Germany (BVMI) [62] Gold250,000‡
Italy (FIMI) [63] Gold25,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI) [64] Platinum100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [65] Platinum20,000*
United Kingdom (BPI) [66] Platinum600,000‡
United States (RIAA) [67] Gold500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Other versions

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 136. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  3. ↑ Robert Dye (October 10, 2014). "The Times In His Life: A Q&A With Franke Previte". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Yates, Henry (April 9, 2019). "How we made Dirty Dancing's (I've Had) The Time of My Life". The Guardian. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  5. ↑ Dye, Robert (May 22, 2020). "Behind The Song: "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life"". American Songwriter. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "(I've Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes". Song Facts. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
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  8. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (November 22, 1987). "Another Hit Film Song Has Jennifer Warnes Dancing" . Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Lost Soundtrack Classics: "You're the Best"". popdose.com. February 12, 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
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  11. ↑ Hunt, Dennis (October 24, 1987). "Bill Medley's life is righteous again" . Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  12. ↑ Medley, Bill (April 24, 2014). The Time of My Life: A Righteous Brother's Memoir. Da Capo Press. pp. 138–139. ISBN   978-0306823169.
  13. ↑ Prato, Greg (June 25, 2014). "Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers". Song Facts. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
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  23. ↑ Martell, Lindsay (January 4, 2023). "The best '80s movie soundtracks". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  24. ↑ McNelis, Tim (2013). "Dancing in the Nostalgia Factory: Anachronistic Music in Dirty Dancing". In Lincoln, Siân; Tzioumakis, Yannis (eds.). The Time of Our Lives: Dirty Dancing and Popular Culture. Wayne State University Press. pp. 239–256. ISBN   978-0-8143-3624-3.
  25. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 167.
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