Season 576 - "Dirty Dancing"

[Canada Jim]

The Kellerman Anthem

I figured no-one else would be too anxious to add this one to their repertoire, but it has to be done this season, so I'm biting the bullet.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Dirty dancing part one

View attachment 148915
This is a photograph of a young Eleanor Bergstein, many years before she became a novelist and the writer of the screenplay Dirty Dancing.
Eleanor was a self-proclaimed "Teenage Mambo Queen." She was crazy about dancing, including performing in dance competitions and what she and her circle of friends called 'dirty dancing' to be found at neighbourhood basement parties. From a very young age she would enter latin dance contests and win bottles of champagne, which were then handed over for her parents to enjoy, since she was barely in her teens.

The life of Eleanor Bernstein is mirrored in many facets of the story and characters found in Dirty Dancing. When she wrote the script, she included numerous pages of choreography to be used in the scenes and a selection of songs from the era that were to be part of the soundtrack to the film. She wrote from experience, and that is big part of why the story resonates with so many people. Dirty Dancing is her story.

This book and movie came to mind when reading Mel Brooks's memoir in which his first experience as a stand-up comedian was while standing in for another performer during a summer job as busboy/ pool boy in various 'Borscht Belt' resorts scattered throughout the Catskills region.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

The Kellerman Anthem

I figured no-one else would be too anxious to add this one to their repertoire, but it has to be done this season, so I'm biting the bullet.

A wonderful version of an awfully campy tune. You needed a Smokey Bear scoutmaster hat for this one, Jim!

 

[Yukio]

Dirty Dancing part four

We leave our co-producers Eleanor and Linda hitting up independent studios on the west coast and waiting for a phone call or something in the mail that isn't a rejection letter.

We now shift our focus to a place far-removed from Hollywood; Stamford Connecticut. Stamford was the home of Vestron Video, a distributor of home entertainment VHS video cassettes. It was founded in 1981 after acquiring the rights to Time-Life Films. In the early years, Vestron was very successful, acquiring the rights to distribute A-list films out of Hollywood. But as the boom in the home videocassette market matured, the major studios were mostly doing video distribution themselves, leaving companies like Vestron to pick up the crumbs of a dwindling supply of titles that they could acquire and distribute. Vestron needed films to distribute, so they decided to get into the movie business and thus Vestron Pictures was born.



This is a crazy idea. But desperation makes you do some crazy things, no? Vestron Pictures was looking to produce low budget material at under 2 million per film (mostly going direct to video) and 'mainstream' films at anywhere from 2 to 6 million dollars per picture. This mainstream fair was to have a theatrical release and later go into video distribution by Vestron.

But these were just ideas on paper, because they had not produced any films at all up to 1986. At this time they were literally dumpster-diving to read rejected movie scripts coming out of the Hollywood studios, hoping to come up with marketable movie ideas. It was in this way that they came across one of the rejected Dirty Dancing scripts. They liked the title and they read the script. In February 1986, they picked up the phone and dialed Linda Gottlieb's number.

 

[YorkSteve]

ok scratch that hosting piffle, i just went to the sign up thread and i see joo stepped up

Thanks for trying Lynda - it's the thought that counts!
I know that "hosting-lite" was your idea - you really should copyright it. But as you say, Joo jumped in first, so you are all spared a week of Val Doonican B-sides with no host present.

 

[Ms Bean]

EVERYONE'S SEEN "DIRTY DANCING" ... how did you manage to avoid it???

I haven't seen it either.
I'm looking for inspiration with reaction videos on YouTube .

 

[Barbablanca]

FAWM is ending today, so I thought I'd do a video I could post here and there as my final entry to FAWM.
This is an original song supposedly sung by Penny after she finds out she is pregnant. I watched the film this morning on Prime to "prime" myself for this task
It is sung by my drag queen alter ego. "Queen Beaver" - If I had had time I would have sought collaboration with a true female vocalist, but as this is the last day of February, it was today or never...

Hope you like:

 

[Yukio]

Dirty Dancing part five


When Vestron Pictures called up Linda Gottlieb and told her they wanted to make Dirty Dancing, Gottlieb was stunned. She had been rejected by so many studios, big and small, that she had been worried that a call might never come. Nevertheless, she put on her game-face and cheerfully congratulated Vestron on making a 'wise move' by picking up Dirty Dancing. Inwardly she was thinking to herself, "They're new. They're in Stamford, Connecticut. Maybe I can close the deal quickly before the rest of the industry tells them how crazy they are!"

Vestron Pictures had one proviso...and it was a doozy. They said that Gottlieb must bring in the movie for under $5 million, including a contingency of 10 percent and the cost of a completion bond. Linda did some quick arithmetic and figured that meant she would have about $4.4 million dollars to spend on the actual making of the movie. To film this period piece set in the Catskill Mountains of New York, Linda's first pass at the budget came in at more than $8 million. Negotiations with unions and making cuts to the budget brought it down to around $6.5 million. But the chairman at Vestron, Austin O. First, Jr. said that if he sees so much as a decimal point after $5 million, the answer is, "NO!"

Linda reflected, "It seems we were being given money to make a picture about the Catskills, but not enough money to make the picture in the Catskills. "

In April of 1986, Linda decided that "her Catskills" would be located in a right-to-work (non-union) state in the South. Furthermore, it was clear to her that whatever hotel they were going to book to house the cast and crew must also, for no additional money, become "Kellerman's Mountain House," the fictional resort hotel in the film. They were going to have to shoot their own lodgings.

Linda and Eleanor tried to find a suitable "Kellerman's" all up and down the American Southeast. They even considered transforming an unused penitentiary in Tennessee into their Jewish resort hotel. It took them until the month of June to locate The Mountain Lake Hotel in Giles County, Virginia. (Our pal, Rick 'Hendulele' may be able to tell us about this place.) It was a beautiful place 4,000 feet up in the Allegheny Mountains with a big stone main house, a wooden gazebo, surrounding bungalows and a mountain lake! They made an agreement to house their entire cast and crew for the film starting on September 3rd. The management agreed to let them shoot all around the hotel as their film set for free!

Exiting the negotiations with the hotel, Eleanor and Linda shared a private dance of joy!

 

[Charley B]

"Nobody puts Charley in the corner ..."
i'm expecting extra points for doing the 'dirty dancing lift'!

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Dirty Dancing part five

View attachment 148990
When Vestron Pictures called up Linda Gottlieb and told her they wanted to make Dirty Dancing, Gottlieb was stunned. She had been rejected by so many studios, big and small, that she had been worried that a call might never come. Nevertheless, she put on her game-face and cheerfully congratulated Vestron on making a 'wise move' by picking up Dirty Dancing. Inwardly she was thinking to herself, "They're new. They're in Stamford, Connecticut. Maybe I can close the deal quickly before the rest of the industry tells them how crazy they are!"

Vestron Pictures had one proviso...and it was a doozy. They said that Gottlieb must bring in the movie for under $5 million, including a contingency of 10 percent and the cost of a completion bond. Linda did some quick arithmetic and figured that meant she would have about $4.4 million dollars to spend on the actual making of the movie. To film this period piece set in the Catskill Mountains of New York, Linda's first pass at the budget came in at more than $8 million. Negotiations with unions and making cuts to the budget brought it down to around $6.5 million. But the chairman at Vestron, Austin O. First, Jr. said that if he sees so much as a decimal point after $5 million, the answer is, "NO!"

Linda reflected, "It seems we were being given money to make a picture about the Catskills, but not enough money to make the picture in the Catskills. "

In April of 1986, Linda decided that "her Catskills" would be located in a right-to-work (non-union) state in the South. Furthermore, it was clear to her that whatever hotel they were going to book to house the cast and crew must also, for no additional money, become "Kellerman's Mountain House," the fictional resort hotel in the film. They were going to have to shoot their own lodgings.

Linda and Eleanor tried to find a suitable "Kellerman's" all up and down the American Southeast. They even considered transforming an unused penitentiary in Tennessee into their Jewish resort hotel. It took them until the month of June to locate The Mountain Lake Hotel in Giles County, Virginia. (Our pal, Rick 'Hendulele' may be able to tell us about this place.) It was a beautiful place 4,000 feet up in the Allegheny Mountains with a big stone main house, a wooden gazebo, surrounding bungalows and a mountain lake! They made an agreement to house their entire cast and crew for the film starting on September 3rd. The management agreed to let them shoot all around the hotel as their film set for free!

Exiting the negotiations with the hotel, Eleanor and Linda shared a private dance of joy!

I've thoroughly enjoyed this multi-part film-making history lesson! Please indulge this bit of subject-related old man reverie:

In the late spring of 1991, off duty but technically still under active duty orders following the famously one-sided Operation Desert Storm cease-fire, I grabbed a standby flight atop the red-webbed jump seats of a C-141 departing on a one-way, non-stop flight from what was then Dobbins AFB to Sea-Tac. That destination was a coin-flip decision, which remains my preferred method of deciding among two different travel options. The only other Space-A flight that day was bound for Maine. Maine was "tails" and the quarter landed heads-up. A recently- retired colonel was the only other passenger. When not dozing, each of us took turns lurking just behind the cockpit, shooting the [breeze] with the pilots.

The following day, I exchanged Army Class A's for civvies, rented a convertible, lowered the top and drove straight to a very long line of traffic at the Seattle ferry landing. Departing the ferry at Port Angeles fairly late that afternoon, I began a wonderful drive around the Olympic Peninsula. That evening, I was able to rent a small but charming room at Lake Quinault Lodge and ended up staying a second night. Other than the nice selection of adult beverages in the bar, I didn't give the place all that much thought until stumbling down to breakfast the following morning.

As I sipped the very good coffee and eagerly awaited a short stack, I found myself startled but amused when the view out the wall of windows, down the broad, lush lawn and over Lake Quinault mentally transported me to Kellerman's.

 

[TheOnlyUkeThatMatters]

I went for the second-cheesiest 80s ballad on the soundtrack.

And yes, I love it.



Now I can put some energy into the cheesiest 80s ballad on the soundtrack, composed by the lead actor

 

[_mourningdove]

I’ve been meaning to practice trying to harmonize.

 

[captain-janeway]

For all of you who haven't seen it, that's your homework lol. It has to be on at least one of the streaming services.

 

[Yukio]

I went for the second-cheesiest 80s ballad on the soundtrack.

And yes, I love it.



Now I can put some energy into the cheesiest 80s ballad on the soundtrack, composed by the lead actor

Yes! Bring on the cheese! I am charmed by the Carmen, but can't wait for the Swayze!

 

[Yukio]

I've thoroughly enjoyed this multi-part film-making history lesson! Please indulge this bit of subject-related old man reverie:

In the late spring of 1991, off duty but technically still under active duty orders following the famously one-sided Operation Desert Storm cease-fire, I grabbed a standby flight atop the red-webbed jump seats of a C-141 departing on a one-way, non-stop flight from what was then Dobbins AFB to Sea-Tac. It was coin-flip thing, which remains my preferred method of choosing a destination. The only other Space-A flight that day was bound for Maine. Maine was "tails" and the quarter landed heads-up. A recently- retired colonel was the only other passenger. When not dozing, each of us took turns lurking just behind the cockpit, shooting the [breeze] with the pilots.

The following day, I exchanged Army Class A's for civvies, rented a convertible, lowered the top and drove straight to a very long line of traffic at the Seattle ferry landing. Departing the ferry at Port Angeles fairly late that afternoon, I began a wonderful drive around the Olympic Peninsula. That evening, I was able to rent a small but charming room at Lake Quinault Lodge and ended up staying a second night. Other than the nice selection of adult beverages in the bar, I didn't give the place all that much thought until stumbling down to breakfast the following morning.

As I sipped the very good coffee and eagerly awaited a short stack, I found myself startled but amused when the view out the wall of windows, down the broad, lush lawn and over Lake Quinault mentally transported me to Kellerman's.

What a great story! You really know how to travel. I have lived in both Maine and Washington State. Even though the hemlock and fir of the Olympic Peninsula is not quite the same as the spruce and cedar of the Maine woods, I can imagine that you might have found a Kellerman's down each of these divergent roads. After all, you take Kellerman's with you in your heart, wherever you go.

 

[Yukio]

Dirty Dancing part six

Things are looking up for our intrepid pair of filmmakers. They have a studio, the fledgling Vestron Pictures out of Stamford Connecticut, they have a production budget of about $4.4 million, and they have a film location in the mountains of Virginia. Now I would like to introduce you to a gentleman who grew up in Stamford and who was working at Vestron Pictures as a consultant. Meet Jimmy Ienner.


Jimmy Ienner (pronounced EYE-ner)

Jimmy Ienner was a music producer who had produced records for acts like The Bay City Rollers, The Raspberries (featuring Eric Carmen), Three Dog Night, and Frankie and the Knockouts. He was hired as a music consultant by Vestron Pictures and it was going to be his responsibility to secure the music rights to the songs that were going to be used in Dirty Dancing.

Eleanor Bergman insisted that three songs MUST be part of the film; Be My Baby by The Ronettes, Big Girls Don't Cry by The Four Seasons, and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles. Also there had to be a newly written closing song that was seven minutes long to go with the final triumphant scene of the movie. It was agreed that there would be a total of six new songs to be written and the rest would be oldies from the early sixties. The balance would be about 80% oldies and 20% new songs. A very tall order, given the incredibly tight budget.

Ienner brought a lot of experience to the table and he applied this experience by first calling a lot of old partners in the business and doing a lot of horse trading to get the songs he needed. He called Frank Previte, the lead singer for Frankie and The Knockouts to try to write some songs for the movie. Previte and his friend from the band, John DeNicola, wrote Hungry Eyes. Ienner took this song to Eric Carmen, another long time associate, to get him to sing it for the recording. Previte, DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz also came up with the closing number, (I've Had) The Time of My Life. DeNicola and Markowitz wrote the music and recorded the backing track and Previte came up with the lyrics listening to the backing track on cassette tape while driving home in his car. Ienner got Bill Medley (1/2 of The Righteous Bros.) and Jennifer Warnes to sing it.

Ienner also got his connections at RCA records to release and distribute the soundtrack on their label. He knew he could make a successful soundtrack for both the movie and for the record buying public when the music in the film is as immersive as it is in Dirty Dancing. That engagement with the film would drive public demand to buy the record. In films where the music is part of the background and a single hit song is more like window-dressing, the record sales would suffer. Ienner was choosing songs carefully based on this principle to craft a soundtrack that would be a hit with the public. RCA agreed and advanced Ienner $210,000 to help out with his song budget.

Fast forward to when Dirty Dancing was released in theatres in August 0f 1987 and Ienner's choices began to bear fruit. People of all ages were going to see the movie and stopping by the record store on the way home to buy the soundtrack LP, CD, or Cassette. By the week ending November 14, 1987 the album had reached #1 on the charts and remained there for nine weeks during the bustling Christmas season. A huge triumph! The soundtrack went on to global success, selling more than 32 million copies* worldwide.

(*source: Wikipedia, for what it is worth, but they sold a whole bunch of records, to be certain.)

 

[greenie44]

So this is probably not allowed, but it's the best I could do this week. The infamous BEVOMU and I collaborated on this version of a song that happened to also appear in Dirty Dancing. We had so much fun putting it together I thought it deserves another lap around the Seasons block. The first appearance was 420 Seasons ago!

 

[LimousinLil]

Hello again, Christopher ... I am abiding by the rules this time! I think this must be about the third time that I've attempted this song, but I DO love it and it is sung here from the female perspective ...

 

[ukudancer]

Here's my take on Eric Carmen's Hungry Eyes featuring our one and only host of Season 576, Yukio! I initially messaged Chris for vocals & Xenia Bertoni for some sax solo awesomeness, but I ended up learning it on the uke instead...Perhaps it's more appropriate for UU this way.

Anyway, once I get the saxophone parts, I'll edit them in the place of my solo in case any of you are interested in seeing both versions.



I'll have to admit that this was the most intensive song I've put together so far. 21 tracks of music and 8 separate videos! I definitely learned a LOT this time around.

PS - Special thanks to @Yukio for jumping on this and trusting me to put it together, in addition to hosting this fun theme.

 

[hendulele]

Dirty Dancing part five

View attachment 148990
When Vestron Pictures called up Linda Gottlieb and told her they wanted to make Dirty Dancing, Gottlieb was stunned. She had been rejected by so many studios, big and small, that she had been worried that a call might never come. Nevertheless, she put on her game-face and cheerfully congratulated Vestron on making a 'wise move' by picking up Dirty Dancing. Inwardly she was thinking to herself, "They're new. They're in Stamford, Connecticut. Maybe I can close the deal quickly before the rest of the industry tells them how crazy they are!"

Vestron Pictures had one proviso...and it was a doozy. They said that Gottlieb must bring in the movie for under $5 million, including a contingency of 10 percent and the cost of a completion bond. Linda did some quick arithmetic and figured that meant she would have about $4.4 million dollars to spend on the actual making of the movie. To film this period piece set in the Catskill Mountains of New York, Linda's first pass at the budget came in at more than $8 million. Negotiations with unions and making cuts to the budget brought it down to around $6.5 million. But the chairman at Vestron, Austin O. First, Jr. said that if he sees so much as a decimal point after $5 million, the answer is, "NO!"

Linda reflected, "It seems we were being given money to make a picture about the Catskills, but not enough money to make the picture in the Catskills. "

In April of 1986, Linda decided that "her Catskills" would be located in a right-to-work (non-union) state in the South. Furthermore, it was clear to her that whatever hotel they were going to book to house the cast and crew must also, for no additional money, become "Kellerman's Mountain House," the fictional resort hotel in the film. They were going to have to shoot their own lodgings.

Linda and Eleanor tried to find a suitable "Kellerman's" all up and down the American Southeast. They even considered transforming an unused penitentiary in Tennessee into their Jewish resort hotel. It took them until the month of June to locate The Mountain Lake Hotel in Giles County, Virginia. (Our pal, Rick 'Hendulele' may be able to tell us about this place.) It was a beautiful place 4,000 feet up in the Allegheny Mountains with a big stone main house, a wooden gazebo, surrounding bungalows and a mountain lake! They made an agreement to house their entire cast and crew for the film starting on September 3rd. The management agreed to let them shoot all around the hotel as their film set for free!

Exiting the negotiations with the hotel, Eleanor and Linda shared a private dance of joy!

Aha! Some of the “Catskills” settings were at a resort in Lake Lure, NC, where the crew and some of the cast stayed. Some of the buildings were destroyed in a fire and others were swept aside for development (“the progress of man,” one famous songwriter mused). From this account, you can still visit a few bits of the remains in person:

Dirty Dancing

Several areas of Lake Lure were used in the filming of the 1987 classic film Dirty Dancing. While filming, many of the cast and production team stayed at the 1927 Lake Lure Inn and Spa. The majority of filming was done at a former Boy's Camp. The camp gymnasium was the filming location of both...

www.visitncsmalltowns.com