How ‘Dirty Dancing’ songwriter is raising money for ‘One World’

Franke Previte has seen the world go from having "The Time of Our Lives" to a time no one could have ever imagined. The co-writer of the iconic Dirty Dancing song has seen so many of his fellow musicians, as well as others struggle, that he reached back with a song written a while ago to come back with a song "One World" that could make a difference right now.

Previte called into my show on Monday night to talk about it.

"I wrote it back in the '90s, when I was chosen as one of 25 songwriters to represent the United States and I went to Moscow with Barry Mann, Mike Stoeller, Cindy Lauper, Desmond Child, 25 of us, and we wrote with 25 Russian counterparts with interpreters."

Previte continues: "When we got back, Earth Wind and Fire cut 'One World' and I wrote a second song while I was there called 'Cold Sky' with Cindy Lauper, The song never really came out. It was on Columbia records and they went through some changes."

Fast forward to the present.

"I've been doing a lot of radio interviews the last three months and an interviewer asked 'How is this affecting you in America?' And I said this is not only affecting us, this is one world, this COVID-19 is one world, and I realized that I've got a song called 'One World' and there's a lot of my friends that are out of work. Musicians, who have no idea what the other side of normal is gonna be like with theaters and places closing, where they can play."

So they decided to rerecord the song, with Michael Mayo, Ronee Martin, Ellis Hall, Dorian Holley, Judith Glory Hill, Valerie Pinkston, Amy Keys, Christine Collister and Lisa Sherman. The musicians are Jon Gilutin, Bill Schnee, Lennie Castro, Brendan Buckley, Scott Mayo, Jerry Watts Junior, James Harrah, Randy Jacobs, and Tollak Ollestad.

"The song has the feel of I don't want to say an anthem, but it gives you that 'We Are The World' kind of vibe," Previte said.

You can get a download of "One World" by clicking here and donating to any one or all of the four charities on the website. The Musicians Foundation, First Responders Children's Foundation, The Actors Fund for Everyone in Entertainment, and LDF, which is the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund.

It is definitely a song that will inspire hope in these troubled times.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise. Any opinions expressed are Steve's own. Steve Trevelise is on New Jersey 101.5 Monday-Thursday from 7pm-11pm. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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