The Dirty Dancing movie starring Patrick Swayze came out in 1987. Its soundtrack spent 18 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart and 230 weeks in the Top 30. With an astonishing 55 million in sales worldwide, the Dirty Dancing original soundtrack is one of the greatest selling soundtracks of all time.
This podcast features the composers of the movie’s iconic songs John DeNicola, Franke Previte, and Stacy Widelitz. You will be inspired by their work and careers.
John DeNicola is an Academy & Golden Globe Award winning singer/songwriter co-wrote the 2 iconic songs “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” + “Hungry Eyes”. In the last few years John has released 2 solo albums. He also discovered MAROON 5, a pop rock band whose lead vocalist is Adam Levine.
is also an Academy & Golden Globe Award winning singer/songwriter who co-wrote the 2 iconic songs “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” and “Hungry Eyes”. Franke also had hits with Franke & The Knockouts …and co-wrote songs with Cyndi Lauper, Fleetwood Mac & many others who are well known in the music industry.
Stacy Widelitz is a multi-platinum songwriter and photographer who co-wrote “She’s Like The Wind” with his late friend Patrick Swayze, the star of Dirty Dancing. The award-winning song has played on US radio 4 million times. Stacy has also scored features, made-for-TV movies, written the end-title song for Disney’s Pocahontas II, and was nominated for an Emmy for ABC’s World of Discovery.
Joseph James is an award-winning mainstream singer-song writer/ producer from New York, and the founder of AP Music Group. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Joseph has performed, produced and toured with major acts all over the world. Some notable acts include Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta) and Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple).
Patrick Donaldson is a church Elder, husband and father. He has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years, focusing on retirement benefits and financial literacy. In addition to his Bachelor of Science degree, he has a Masters of Human Resources, holds a Tennessee insurance license and is a FINRA Securities Registered Representative with Primerica Financial Services. He has volunteered his expertise to the Chattanooga community with hands-on education workshops at numerous local churches and recreation centers, as well as actively working with the Citizen Safety Coalition.
Kimberly Rollins is the wife of Pastor Donald Rollins Sr. of Chattanooga’s Born Again Christian Church. She worked for 23 years for the City of Chattanooga, acquiring the leadership skills that she taught co-workers and the women of her church. Then 7 years ago, she expanded her calling to help others by working in finance, helping as many people possible to accomplish their goals and dreams with the knowledge that she’s acquired over the years.
Pianist Jacqueline Schwab spins musical stories out of the myriad strands in the American quilt and with community music making at their heart. Her signature playing features in over a dozen of 
Christopher Johnson is President of Global Financial Services at Pitney Bowes, where he manages the financing and lending businesses, as well as the consumer and merchant payments and risk management functions across the company. Christopher also holds leadership responsibility for Pitney Bowes Bank, a state chartered industrial loan company.
Manu Smadja is CEO and Co-founder at MPOWER Financing. Manu is a former Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on Global Financial Inclusion and U.S. mass-market banking. He has worked with top financial institutions in the U.S., Europe, and Africa. Prior to McKinsey he worked in marketing strategy and operations at CapitalOne and Vistaprint. Manu holds an M.B.A. from INSEAD, as well as an M.S. in Systems & Information Engineering and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.
Tonya Todd is a Las Vegas author, actress, and activist. Invested in fair representation, her continued involvement in the literary, theatre, and filmmaking communities provides a platform to champion marginalized artists and contributes toward an environment that embraces a variety of voices.
andra M. Moore is managing director and chief impact officer at Advantage Capital. The firm focuses on high growth and high wage business investing in communities where access to investment capital has historically been hard to find.
Everett Harper is an entrepreneur, strategist, and the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a technology infrastructure company. In his new book, “Move to the Edge, Declare it Center,” Harper shares effective methods for decision making in situations where there may be a lack of complete information, ways to sustain teams during uncertain and stressful periods, and effective techniques for managing personal anxiety—a crucial leadership skill.
Born prior to WWII Giselle Roeder spent her early life in the relatively tranquil setting of a rural village in Pomerania, the most eastern part of Germany ceded to Poland in 1945. The bloody trauma of the fighting between the advancing Russians and the retreating German army in her neighborhood meant that thousands of people, including her family became displaced persons. l
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