Patrick Swayze, R.I.P.

His fame stretched way beyond the pop-star realm, but let’s not forget that the late Patrick Swayze’s star turn in the 1987 Catskills romance Dirty Dancing also spawned the No. 3 hit “She’s Like The Wind,” a velvety, saxophone-enhanced ballad that, thanks to its superglossy ’80s sound, was something of an outlier on the movie’s oldies-heavy soundtrack. (It later inspired covers by the likes of Lumidee and Girls Aloud.) Swayze’s filmic links to pop music both on and off the charts didn’t end with Dirty Dancing—the use of the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” in his 1990 film Ghost resulted in two versions of the track being on the Hot 100 at the same time, while the 1989 flick Road House inspired its own musical adaptation. Swayze was 57. [NYDN / YouTube]