The Brat Pack Sings - "She's Like the Wind"

I have to make a confession - when I conceived this "The Brat Pack Sings" series, I wasn't thinking about Frank Sinatra at all. I was sitting and watching a movie. Now I'm not really a movie person, but I have been watching more movies as of late. And one Saturday evening, I finally got around to watching "Dirty Dancing" for the first time. This movie, which stars Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, includes a number of songs taken from the movie's story setting of the summer of 1963. But in a pivotal scene, a much more modern song appears.

After the movie was over, I turned to my daughter and asked her a trivia question. (I torture her by asking her questions about songs that were released before she was born.) I turned to her and asked, "Who do you think sang that 'She's Like the Wind' song that appeared toward the end of the movie?"

She didn't know this, but you may know that Patrick Swayze himself sang that song - and, in my opinion, did a credible job of it. However, Amazon reviewer Jerry McCulley disagrees:

Mickey and Sylvia once again argued that "Love Is Strange"--if not quite as strained as Swayze's own attempt at balladry, "She's Like the Wind."

McCulley thought more highly of the other newer songs, from artists such as Eric Carman and Bill Medley/Jennifer Warnes.

However, BMI thought highly of the songwriting, giving the song an award. The songwriters? Stacy Widelitz and...Patrick Swayze. And, according to Wikipedia, it wasn't originally written for Dirty Dancing:

Swayze and Stacy Widelitz co-wrote the song in 1984, originally for the soundtrack of Grandview, U.S.A.. It was not, however, used in that film. During production of Dirty Dancing in 1986, Swayze played the demo for the producers and director. They loved it and passed it on to Jimmy Ienner, the soundtrack's executive producer.