Franke and the Knockouts "Sweetheart"

Franke and the Knockouts are responsible for the 1981 song "Sweetheart", but also for most of the radio hits from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. Lead singer Franke Previte (who sounds like he could be the lead singer of Toto) co-wrote both "Hungry Eyes" and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" which later became hits for Eric Carmen and Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, respectfully.

Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"

All teenage boys dream of their girlfriends doing a "dirty" dance for them. In my case, it wasn't at all what I expected. For weeks, my high school girlfriend, Missy, practiced a dance for her final high school choir concert. During said concert, all seniors had the opportunity to do something of their choosing. Missy told me she planned to do something from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. Since I had never seen the movie, I assumed she'd sing and dance to one of the movie's songs. When the curtain went up, she and her dance partner (who happened to be her ex-boyfriend) re-enacted the famous dirty dancing scene from the 1987 movie. A few seconds into the performance, Missy's cousin whispered into my ear, "Are you gonna be alright?". I jealously watched as the two of them did a damn good job up there. There were twirls, jumps, short skirts, and lots of touching. At the end, I wasn't sure how to feel. I swallowed hard and congratulated Missy while silently wondering if there was anything going on with her dance partner/ex-boyfriend. A while later, he announced he was gay.

The Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody"

How did a popular song from 1965 return to the charts in 1990?  You can thank Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and the movie Ghost.  The movie's soundtrack put the love song back on the radio and even induced The Righteous Brothers to record an updated version of the tune.  "Unchained Melody" topped the Adult Contemporary Chart for two weeks during the summer of 1990.  Ditto.

Ronnie Milsap - "Any Day Now"

The year 1969 was quite popular for the song "Any Day Now".  Frankie Valli, Percy Sledge, Bill Medley, and James Brown all recorded separate versions of the song.  Later, Elvis Presley, Luther Vandross, and Ronnie Milsap recorded versions of the tune.  In 1982, Milsap took the song to the #1 spot.

Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt - "Don't Know Much"

Bill Medley and Bette Midler couldn't pull off what Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt did.  Both duos recorded "Don't Know Much" (Medley and Midler in 1981 and Neville and Ronstadt in 1989), but only Neville and Ronstadt could say that they took the song to #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts.