Rehearsals for the dancing, and some filming, used music from Bergstein's personal collection of gramophone records. When it came time to select actual music for the film, Vestron chose Jimmy Ienner as music supervisor. Ienner, who had previously produced albums and songs for John Lennon and Three Dog Night, opted to stick with much of the music that had already been used during filming and obtained licenses for the songs from Bergstein's collection. He also enlisted Swayze to sing the new song "She's Like the Wind". Swayze had written the song a few years earlier with Stacy Widelitz, originally intending for it to be used in the film Grandview, U.S.A. (1984).[74]
John Morris composed the film's score. The lyrics for the Kellermans' song that closes the talent show were written specifically for the film[30] and were sung to the tune of "Annie Lisle", a commonly used theme for school alma maters.[75] Kenny Ortega and his assistant Miranda Garrison chose the song for the finale by going through an entire box of tapes, listening to each one. According to Ortega, literally the last tape they listened to had "The Time of My Life", which they saw as the obvious choice.[76] Ienner then insisted that Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes record it. The song won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group, an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[76][77]
The film's soundtrack started an oldies music revival,[78] and demand for the album caught RCA Records by surprise. The Dirty Dancing album spent 18 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 album sales charts and went platinum 14 times, selling more than 32 million copies worldwide.[79][80][81] It spawned a follow-up multi-platinum album in February 1988, entitled More Dirty Dancing.[82]
Songs from the album that appeared on the charts included:[76]
- "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, composed by Franke Previte, John deNicola, and Donald Markowitz – this song rose to No. 1 on the pop charts.[83]
- "She's Like the Wind," performed by lead actor Patrick Swayze, composed by Swayze and Stacy Widelitz; this song peaked at No. 3 in 1988.
- "Hungry Eyes," performed by Eric Carmen, composed by Franke Previte and John deNicola; this song peaked at No. 4 in 1988.
- "Yes," performed by Merry Clayton, composed by Neal Cavanaugh, Terry Fryer, and Tom Graf; this song peaked No. 45 in 1988.
The Dirty Dancing album held the number one spot on the Billboard album chart for over four months. As of July 2022, the Dirty Dancing album has sold over 14 million copies.[81] Additionally, the resurgence in popularity of the oldies contained in the movie led to a re-release of The Contours' single "Do You Love Me." "Do You Love Me" was featured in the movie but was omitted from the original soundtrack; it was included on More Dirty Dancing. Upon being re-released, "Do You Love Me" became a surprise hit all over again, this time peaking at No. 11 (it originally hit No. 3 back in 1962).[84]
