We had the time of our lives.
Dirty Dancing was put in the Home Video corner in January 1988, after a August 21, 1987 theatrical release.
To be honest, Dirty Dancing wasn’t exactly my go-to VHS in the late ’80s, the whole “forbidden summer romance” thing wasn’t my jam. I still had a bit of growing up to do.
The soundtrack, though? Oh, that was a different story.
For the whole of ’88, my mom’s car stereo had two settings: Dirty Dancing and More Dirty Dancing. Those cassette tapes got such heavy rotation during school runs and grocery trips that I probably could’ve sung She’s Like the Wind backwards in my sleep. Was it love, or was it Stockholm syndrome? Hard to say, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit those songs grew on me.
Even now, Hungry Eyes and She’s Like the Wind hit me right in the feels, and let’s not forget the life lessons buried in Love Is Strange. Mickey and Sylvia taught me how to call a loverboy with absolute precision – knowledge that eventually came in handy during a drunken karaoke performance in 2006. Thanks mom.