Hungry Eyes

For other uses, see Hungry Eyes (disambiguation).

"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.

"Hungry Eyes"
Single by Eric Carmen
from the album Dirty Dancing: Original Soundtrack from the Vestron Motion Picture
B-side	"Where Are You Tonight"
Released	October 1987 (US)
Recorded	1987
Studio	Beachwood Studios (Beachwood, Ohio)
Genre	Pop rock soft rock[1]
Length	4:11 3:49 (single/video edit)
Label	RCA Arista
Songwriter(s)	John DeNicola · Franke Previte
Producer(s)	Eric Carmen
Eric Carmen singles chronology
"The Rock Stops Here" (1986) "Hungry Eyes" (1987) "Make Me Lose Control" (1988)
Music video
"Hungry Eyes" on YouTube

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.

Music video

The music video featured Carmen with Paulina Porizkova^[7] as the main actress/mystery girl and Sally Steele in a short scene in a café at the end. Steele later founded Vegas Rocks! Magazine.^[8]

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.

Track listing

7" vinyl single – UK/US

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hungry Eyes"	Franke Previte, John DeNicola	3:49
2.	"Where Are You Tonight"	Mark Scola	3:59

12" vinyl single – UK

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hungry Eyes"	Franke Previte, John DeNicola	3:49
2.	"Where Are You Tonight"	Mark Scola	3:59
3.	"(I've Had) The Time of My Life (Full Length Film Version)"	Donald Markowitz, Franke Previte, John DeNicola	6:49

Cassette single – US

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hungry Eyes" (Song on side A1 and B1)	Franke Previte, John DeNicola	3:49
2.	"Where Are You Tonight" (Song on side A2 and B2)	Mark Scola	3:59

CD single – Japan

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hungry Eyes"	Franke Previte, John DeNicola	3:49
2.	"Where Are You Tonight"	Mark Scola	3:59

Charts

Weekly charts 1988 weekly chart performance for "Hungry Eyes" Chart (1988) Peak position Australia (Australian Music Report)[9] 4 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 9 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[11] 2 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[12] 6 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles)[13] 53 Europe (European Airplay Top 50)[14] 15 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 10)[15] 6 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16] 12 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17] 16 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[18] 18 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[19] 10 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 6 UK Singles (OCC)[21] 82 US Billboard Hot 100[22] 4 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[23] 2 US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[24] 3 US Contemporary Hit Radio (Radio & Records)[25] 6 US Adult Contemporary (Radio & Records)[25] 1 West Germany (GfK)[26] 17 2019 weekly chart performance for "Hungry Eyes" Chart (2019) Peak position Hungary (Single Top 40)[27] 28 2024 weekly chart performance for "Hungry Eyes" Chart (2024) Peak position Canadian Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[28] 15 UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[29] 74 US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[30] 13 2025 weekly chart performance for "Hungry Eyes" Chart (2025) Peak position Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[31] 48

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Hungry Eyes" Chart (1988) Position Australia (ARIA)[32] 39 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[33] 88 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[34] 49 US Billboard Hot 100[35] 25 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[36] 7 US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[37] 30

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[38]	Gold	250,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[39]	Gold	50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[40]	2× Platinum	1,200,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Eyeopener version

British dance music group Eyeopener covered "Hungry Eyes" and released it as a single on 8 November 2004.^[41] Their version reached number 16 in the UK and number 25 in Ireland.^[42][43]

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA)[44]	25
UK Singles (OCC)[45]	16
UK Dance (OCC)[46]	15

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[47]	Silver	200,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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 version with altered lyrics by James Radford appeared in a 2017 commercial for Sheba cat food in the UK.^{[48][importance?]}

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]}