Dirty Dancing Demos Set For Release

Included are two versions of the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning smash, "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" -- originally sung by Previte, noted frontman of '80s hit makers Franke and the Knockouts ("Sweetheart"), as a duet with Rachelle Cappelli.

This is the actual recording that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey danced to when filming the unforgettable grand finale dance scene in the movie.

The other demo version is a sharp new remix of the No. 1 blockbuster by its original producer, the renowned Michael Lloyd. Fan favorite and No. 4 Billboard hit, "Hungry Eyes," written by Previte and De Nicola and sung by Franke, brings home another big song from the film. Rounding out the set is "Someone Like You," another Previte/De Nicola original written for Bill Medley. An instrumental version of the tune is currently heard in the stage play, Broadway-bound Dirty Dancing: The Musical. The live show continues the Dirty Dancing phenomenon, setting box office records worldwide.

Previte began thinking about the historical significance of the demos after being interviewed with De Nicola as part of the "Dirty Dancing: Limited Keepsake Edition" project, released on DVD and Blu Ray this spring by Lionsgate. In it, Dirty Dancing choreographer, Kenny Ortega, (Michael Jackson's, This Is It) and Eleanor Bergstein, the film's writer and co-producer, also drove home the impact the original demos had on Swayze and Grey.

But, Previte laughs when he remembers he and his writing partners almost didn't get the chance to make history with their songs: "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" was the last song on the last tape submitted on the last day for the movie's final scene,"" he recalls. "But, everyone loved it!"

And it ended up galvanizing the cast, prompting Ortega to cast aside a Lionel Richie track in favor of the song that helped make the movie a huge box office hit and defined the coming-of-age romance for the actors and audiences. Previte didn't find out just what an impact the demos had on the actors until the night of the Academy Awards, 1988, when he met Swayze at an after-party.

"Patrick said, 'I need to know who sang the demo tape!,'" says Previte. "And I said, 'I did, with Rachelle Capelli. Why?' 'Because we filmed out of sequence and that last scene was the first thing we filmed. As soon as your demo played, everyone knew that was our song.'"

Because no songs better defined the career of Patrick Swayze than the hits of Dirty Dancing, Previte, De Nicola and Markowitz want to honor their friend. They've decided to donate a generous portion of the proceeds of DIRTY DANCING: THE ORIGINAL DEMOS package to the Patrick Swayze Pancreas Cancer Research Fund at Stanford Cancer Center. The Fund was established by Patrick's beloved wife and partner, Lisa Niemi Swayze, at the medical institution where her husband was treated for the extent of his courageous battle.

"I feel this is the right thing to do and the right time to do it," says Previte. "We salute and honor our friend, Patrick Swayze, for his courage, generosity and talent."

As Swayze told Previte on the night of the Academy Awards ... "We filmed the finale to your demo and it gave us a camaraderie we didn't have before. The scene just came out so phenomenally that it created the rest of what everyone knows Dirty Dancing to be. Because of that song, we knew then that we had the makings of a tremendous hit!"

Swayze said it all.