Franke and the Knockouts formed in 1980, with the original line-up including Previte as frontman, Billy Elworthy on guitar, Blake Levinsohn on keyboards, Leigh Foxx on bass, and Claude LeHenaff on drums. Signed by
Millennium Records, this line-up released their self-titled debut album in 1981, scoring a top ten hit with "
Sweetheart", co-written by Previte and Elworthy. Keyboardist Tommy Ayers, who had played a key role performing on the debut album, became an official member of the band soon thereafter, expanding the line-up to six. The group toured and appeared on shows such as
Fridays and
American Bandstand. As they were looking ahead to record a follow-up album in 1982, drummer Claude LeHenaff parted ways with the band, apparently at the behest of the record company. Continuing on as a quintet once again, the group recorded their second album,
Below the Belt, with Detroit-based session drummer Al Wotton, who had previously performed on albums by
Mark Farner and
Rachel Sweet. Shortly after the album's release later in 1982, future
Bon Jovi drummer
Tico Torres came on board to officially fill LeHenaff's spot on the kit. Meanwhile,
Below the Belt featured the top-25 hit "
Without You (Not Another Lonely Night)", but was not as commercially successful as the debut album. After Millennium folded, the band switched to
MCA Records in 1984. Band membership shifted considerably throughout recording sessions for the group's third album. The lone album Franke and the Knockouts would release with MCA, ''Makin' the Point'', appeared later in 1984, failing to match the success of their previous work. The group disbanded in 1986, having achieved three top 40 U.S. singles and two top 50 albums. Several years before the breakup, the group also wrote and recorded the original versions of
Eric Carmen's 1987 hit single "
Hungry Eyes" and the song "
(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (both of which were featured in the 1987 film
Dirty Dancing). This material earned Previte an
Academy Award for Best Original Song. Franke and the Knockouts' original version of "Hungry Eyes" was later featured as a bonus track on the 1998 re-release of the ''Makin' the Point'' album, and was also included, along with the original version of "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", on the band's compilation album
The Sweetheart Collection. ==Members==