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.

B.J. Thomas & Dusty Springfield "As Long As We Got Each Other"

Indeed, the theme song to Growing Pains ("As Long As We Got Each Other") charted on Adult Contemporary radio stations in 1989 (some four years after the show first premiered). The duet featured B.J. Thomas with Dusty Springfield even though the theme song featured Jennifer Warnes in four of the sitcom's seven seasons.

Growing up in the '80s without cable TV meant that my brother and I resorted to free over-the-air TV. Most mornings when there wasn't school, we welcomed the Seavers into our living room as the show aired in syndication on ABC. To this date, I still remember one "very special episode"of the show when Mike Seaver (played by ultra-religious Kirk Cameron) faces peer pressure to do drugs. In the very special 1987 episode entitled Thank God It's Friday, Mike and his high school buddies Eddie and Boner go to a college party where everyone is doing lines of cocaine in the bathroom. Mike faces the challenge to "just say no" and eventually leaves Boner and Eddie at the party as he goes home to talk to his dad (played by the father of Robin Thicke, Alan Thicke). Mike and Jason discuss what happened that night where Jason shares that Boner called and left Mike a message: "they didn't go to the bathroom and didn't want to." Before the final credits, Kirk Cameron insisted he wasn't get paid to say this message: drugs are bad and don't do them.

The character of Mike Seaver started as a trouble-making teenager who lied, cheated and broke any rule in sight. He would learn a lesson during sitcom's 23-minute run, but he went right back to making bad decisions in the next episode. This all ended when Cameron became a born-again Christian and suddenly found himself at odds with the character he played. Stories surfaced about his clashes with the show's writers for storylines he found inappropriate. His character seemingly grew up and matured very quickly by the show's peak in 1990. His off-screen relations with fellow cast members also shifted. He withdrew from others on the show and only spoke with co-star Chelsea Noble (another born-again Christian) who he later married in real life. None of his other co-stars on the show received an invitation to their wedding. When Growing Pains wrapped up in 1992, Cameron left and didn't speak to any of them. The silence continued until 2000 while the cast reunited to film The Growing Pains Movie.

Today, Cameron continues to be active in his ministry. He remains married to Noble and the couple has six children. Since the two married, Noble serves as a body-double for whomever Cameron has to kiss on-screen as he refuses to kiss any actresses.

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.

Jennifer Warnes "Right Time of the Night"

Game shows such as The Newlywed Game coined the term "making whoopie" to describe intimate relations between two people. For soap operas and music, the term "making love" found its way into dialog and lyrics (like those in Jennifer Warnes' hit ballad "Right Time of the Night").

Roy Orbison - "You Got It"

Do yourself a favor and watch Roy Orbison & Friends: A Black and White Night.  The Los Angeles concert was filmed in one take for a Cinemax special in 1987 and features a who's who of rock 'n roll artists accompanying (and cheering on) Roy.  If you've already seen it, you should watch it again.  It's that good.  A year after the concert, Orbison died of a heart attack.  Released posthumously, "You Got It" was Orbison's final solo effort and, in 1989, reached the #1 spot on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

Jennifer Warnes & Joe Cocker - "Up Where We Belong"

"Up Where We Belong" almost didn't make the cut for the movie An Officer & A Gentleman.  Don Simpson, the movie's producer, didn't think the song was a hit and demanded that it be nixed.  Simpson was dead wrong as the ballad won a Golden Globe, Grammy, and went to #1 on the Hot 100.  Hell, even Richard Gere said he got chills after watching the completed scene with "Up Where We Belong" added.  Eat it, Don Simpson.