Exclusive: Black Eyed Peas Use 'Time of My Life' for New Single, Original Songwriter Weighs In

By Zach Dionne Posted Oct 21st 2010 03:37PM

Black Eyed Peas Use 'Time of My Life' In New Single, Original Songwriter Weighs In

The Black Eyed Peas have taken their sampling game to the next level. Fergie, will.i.am and co. fused the hook of 'Dirty Dancing' theme '(I've Had) The Time of My Life' with their next single, 'The Time (The Dirty Bit).' The hip-hop group previously sampled Dick Dale's 'Misirlou,' AKA the 'Pulp Fiction' theme, for their 2006 hit 'Pump It.'

Will.i.am announced the single on his blog, adding, "We secretly shot our first video in LA last week before we left on our South American tour." 'The Time (The Dirty Bit)' will lead the Peas' sixth studio release, 'The Beginning,' set to drop Nov. 30.

Asked for comment, 'Time of My Life' songwriter and Best Song Oscar-winner Franke Previte told us, "We got a request, they sent us an MP3 of what it's gonna be. I had no idea. The Peas actually sing the chorus -- it's not a sample."

UPDATE: Will.i.am posted the song. Hear it after the jump, and read the original songwriter's impression of the Black Eyed Peas' rendition.

Previte, who told PopEater in September that 'Time of My Life' continues to affect him on a daily basis, said he was excited when he first heard the Peas' interpretation. "I had a big grin on my face. Black Eyed Peas are a world-renowned group, so it's nice to get that kind of recognition for a song that's 23 years old. I have this saying -- if the Beatles wrote 'Yesterday' today, it'd be a hit. I feel pretty happy 'Time of My Life' is a song that keeps giving."

One of Previte's favorite recent iterations of his tune was in a Sandals, Jamaica advertisement. The musician recently released the song's original demos for digital purchase, with proceeds benefiting the Patrick Swayze Cancer Research Fund.

Hear 'The Time (The Dirty Bit)' by the Black Eyed Peas here:

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Tags: Black Eyed Peas, Dirty Dancing, Franke Previte, Time of My Life

Comments

(16)

Thursday 21 October

By Pamela

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Well, that is certainly 'different'. No, I won't purchase it

By JoAnne

Thanks for destroying a GREAT song!

By Nico Toscani

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There's a big difference between sampling and just jacking a well known tune for profit. The Black Eyed Peas are rip off artists of the highest order.

By tuffpaw

Have they ever done something like this before, or are they getting lazy and broke, and need to rely on proven material to have a hit?

By carol

wow, this sucks!! aww well they messed up this time. they took an iconic song and turned it in to crap.

Friday 22 October

By bsti

OMG - Fergie needs to cover up those ghastly knees. And all the rest as she looks like a hag!

By amazon1967

What happened to singers who could actually sing without the help of autotune? Pretty soon you'll need a time machine to find one.

Saturday 23 October

By J

I like it

Tuesday 26 October

By Nori

No. That's all I can say. No. Oh, wait, there's actually a lot more that I can say. No, Nein, Nada, Non, Nope, Negative, Negativo, and What Were You Thinking Will.i.am. I don't know what was going through their minds when they decided to punkify one of my favourite songs and one of the biggest movie songs of all time. They wanna do a cover of it, fine. They want to turn it into yet another trashy rap song, No. No, no, no, no, NO!!!!

Wednesday 17 November

By The Citizen

I love it, its so cool how they remixed it like that. And everyone on earth says the same thing everyday, lets hear this song and that song and this song over here, and put it together and see what it sounds like. People sing in their heads songs from different people and add other music to it, what makes this any different? Stop being so judgemental and give in. Its already been done. The old song is still their, and now this one is here, and I like it.

Thursday 18 November

By T.M.

It's alright. I can't stand the fact that they remade it like that. I love and will always love the original. No one can ever remake that song and make it sound even better. It was an absolutely perfect song to start out with. I'm hoping that they didn't do it just for their own profit. If a large portion of the proceeds went towards the Patrick Swayze Cancer Research Fund, I think I would actually buy it just for that purpose and gift it to someone who actually likes it.

Thursday 02 December

By K.D.

I for one like the remix, taking a song from the 80's and kicking it up a notch. Isn't that also what fashion is all about??!! Take what WAS and put a spin on it to make it current.

Love the BEP's! :)

Sunday 19 December

By aatpct

LOVE IT..and I'm 61

I agree wholeheartedly

Tuesday 25 January

By Russell

I think it's GREAT. Big tune. Keep up the excellent work!

Wednesday 26 January

By grave biggzz

You people need some theropy, its just a song. its not like the took the origonal recording and destroyed it to peice it back together in their own way. your gay song is still there, and will always be available. you have to remember , they are modernizing a song you grew up with. and now your kids are growing up with their version. if anything they revived the song so it could live on. dont hate because you have no artist inside you. if you dont like it DONT LISTEN TO IT , LISTEN TO YOUR GAY VERSION! Its sad you people, really.

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