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).^[2] The song was recorded at Beachwood Studios in Beachwood, Ohio in 1987. "Hungry Eyes" peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on the Cash Box Top 100 in 1988. The power ballad^[3] was not released commercially in the UK, but it managed to peak at No. 82 in January 1988, having charted purely on import sales.

Songwriters Franke Previte and John DeNicola wrote the song, as well as another hit from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life".^[4]

Background

Eric Carmen, the lead singer on "Hungry Eyes", had been the vocalist of the Raspberries. In 1975, he released his first solo album Eric Carmen, spawning the worldwide hit "All by Myself", but subsequently faced declining chart fortunes.

"Hungry Eyes" was written in 1984 by John DeNicola and Franke Previte, and originally recorded by Previte's band, Franke and the Knockouts for their album Makin' the Point, but it did not appear on the original version of the album; it was, however, included on a 1998 reissue of the album. Jimmy Ienner, Raspberries' producer, asked Carmen to sing this song for the Dirty Dancing album because he was familiar with Carmen's musical style.^[5] Carmen was initially hesitant to produce a song for another film soundtrack because he believed that soundtrack music died "horrible deaths".^[6]

The song, Carmen's second Top 40 song of the 1980s, was his biggest hit since "All by Myself". A few months after the success of "Hungry Eyes", Carmen released the Ienner-produced "Make Me Lose Control", which also reached the Top 10 in the US.

Releases

The song was released commercially on 7" vinyl in many countries; plus, a 3-track 12" maxi single and 2-track cassette were produced. CD singles were a relatively new format; however, a 2-track Japanese mini CD single was commercially released in 1988.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Eyeopener version

British dance music group Eyeopener covered "Hungry Eyes" and released it as a single on 8 November 2004.^[23] Their take reached number 16 in the UK and number 25 in Ireland.^[24][25]

Charts

Other versions

New Found Glory released their version on their 2007 album of film covers, From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II.^{[citation needed]}

A reworked rendition with altered lyrics by James Radford appeared in a 2017 commercial for Sheba cat food in the UK.^[26]

John Denicola, co-writer of the song, released his own version in 2019 on his debut album The Why Because on Omad Records. It reached number 22 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.^{[citation needed]}

Tobacco covered the song in 2020.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ "200 Greatest Soft Rock Songs". entertainment.expertscolumn.com. Archived July 16, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
2. ^ Dennis Hunt (December 24, 1987). "Carmen Re-Sees Success With 'Hungry Eyes'". Los Angeles Times. Archived February 4, 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
3. ^ Stephen Lee Naish (2017). Deconstructing Dirty Dancing. John Hunt Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-78279-972-6.
4. ^ "Hungry Eyes", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved February 3, 2014)
5. ^ Kachejian, Brian (2024). "Top 10 Eric Carmen songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
6. ^ "Welcome to EricCarmen.com." Welcome to EricCarmen.com. N.p., n.d. Web. February 3, 2014.
7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated ed. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 55. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
8. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 14. April 2, 1988. p. 27. OCLC 29800226
9. ^ "European Airplay Top 50". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 11. March 12, 1988. p. 23. OCLC 29800226
10. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 10". DV. February 19, 1988. p. 44. ISSN 1021-8254. – via Timarit.is
11. ^ "Playlist Report: RAI - Italy". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 11. 12 March 1988. p. 6.
12. ^ "SA Charts 1965–1989 (As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion) – Acts C". The South African Rock Encyclopedia. Archived May 3, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
13. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending February 13, 1988". Cash Box. Archived February 8, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
14. ^ "The Back Page". Radio & Records. No. 723. February 5, 1988. p. 96. ISSN 0277-4860
15. ^ "Eric Carmen Chart History (Canadian Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
16. ^ "OLiS – oficjalna lista airplay" (Select week 05.04.2025–11.04.2025.) (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
17. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1988". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
18. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1988 – Singles" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
19. ^ "Top 100 Singles of '88". RPM. Vol. 49, no. 10. December 24, 1988. p. 9. ISSN 0033-7064
20. ^ "1988 The Year in Music & Video – Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 52. December 24, 1988. p. Y-20. ISSN 0006-2510
21. ^ "1988 The Year in Music & Video – Top Adult Contemporary Singles". Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 52. December 24, 1988. p. Y-26. ISSN 0006-2510
22. ^ "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1988 – Top 50 Pop Singles". Cash Box. December 31, 1988. Archived May 11, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
23. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. November 6, 2004. p. 25.
24. ^ "Eye Opener". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
25. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hungry Eyes". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
26. ^ "Sheba – Karaoke Cat Hungry Eyes". ukadmusic.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018. ^{[dead link]}