Franke Jon Previte (born May 2, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, and Academy Award-winning composer. He was the lead singer of the 1980s pop rock band Franke and the Knockouts.

Biography

Born and raised in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city in and the seat of government of Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

rock quintet Franke and the Knockouts as the singer and songwriter. Previously he had sung with the Oxford Watch Band and the heavy metal band Bull Angus. Franke and the Knockouts were signed by

Millennium Records Millennium Records is a defunct record label run by record producer Jimmy Ienner from 1976 to 1983. During its RCA-distributed years, a significant portion of its output was content licensed from Canadian record labels. Hits The label's best-sel ...

in 1981 and had three U.S.

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

singles, as well as two Top 50 albums. Their biggest single, " Sweetheart", was written by Previte and Knockout

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

Billy Elworthy, and became a Top 10 hit in 1981. The group's other two Top 40 hits were "You're My Girl" and "Without You (Not Another Lonely Night)". The band switched to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

in 1984, and split up around 1986. Previte co-wrote music for the hit

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

for the 1987 movie '' Dirty Dancing'', including "

(I've Had) The Time of My Life "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" is a 1987 song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, and used as the theme song for the 1987 film '' Dirty Dancing''. The song has ...

," and

Eric Carmen Eric Howard Carmen (born August 11, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. He was first known as the lead vocalist of the Raspberries. He had numerous hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Rasp ...

's hit "

Hungry Eyes "Hungry Eyes" is a song performed by American musician Eric Carmen, a former member of the band Raspberries, and was featured in the film '' Dirty Dancing'' (1987). The song was recorded at Beachwood Studios in Beachwood, Ohio in 1987. "Hungry ...

Awards

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Achievement in Music; Best Song for 1987 for '' Dirty Dancings "

" with co-composers John DeNicola and Donald Markowitz. That same year Previte also received a Golden Globe and a Grammy nomination. "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" also won the ASCAP song of the year award. In 2014, the song was chosen as one of ASCAP's top 100 songs ever written, landing at number 15. Previte was chosen as one of America's top 25 songwriters to represent the US in a songwriter summit in the USSR, which resulted in a release of an album called ''

Music Speaks Louder Than Words ''Music Speaks Louder Than Words'' is an album released by Epic Records in 1990. Overview Artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Atlantic Starr, Roberta Flack, Patti LaBelle, Earth, Wind & Fire, Anne Murray and the Cover Girls featured on the album. Th ...

'' in 1990. Today, Previte helps raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network charity in Patrick Swayze's honor. He continues to raise money for the charity with his new band, The Brotherhood. "If you're a songwriter then you're in the Brotherhood,” said Previte.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Previte, Franke Living people Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Songwriters from New Jersey American male composers 21st-century American composers Musicians from New Brunswick, New Jersey 1946 births 21st-century American male musicians American male songwriters

Biography

Awards

See also

References