Song: Unchained Melody
Artists: The Righteous Brothers
Original artist: Todd Duncan
Any blog about song cover versions would be incomplete without a mention of
Unchained Melody. It is claimed – and who am I to argue? – that more than 1,500
versions of the song have been recorded by more than 670 singers.
The original is credited to a chap named Todd Duncan. No, I haven’t heard of him either.
He recorded it for a 1955 prison-based film called, not surprisingly, “Unchained”. See
brief clip here
In the UK an unprecedented four versions of the song ranked in the top 20 at the same
time. The four artists involved were Al Hibbler, Les Baxter (not a clue about either), UK
radio personality Jimmy Young and Liberace.
But it is the 1965 version by the Righteous Brothers I concentrate on here. I say the
Righteous Brothers, but really their version was the sole work of Bobby Hatfield. His
‘brother’ Bill Medley did not sing a note. It’s a personal theory – for which I have no
backing – that this was the song, when the pair were performing, that would allow
Medley to take a break from the stage to grab a fag, take a quick swig of something or
whatever.
The story goes that the pair had agreed to sing one solo piece each per album and,
although Medley wanted to do it, he lost the coin toss to his partner.
Being part of a film soundtrack is a major part of the Unchained Melody story because,
as you almost certainly know, the song underwent a major revival when it featured in the
film Ghost.
But in the UK, at least, the success of Unchained Melody was not the sole domain of
the Righteous Brothers. Several years after their version two Brits – Robson and
Jerome – who starred in the army-based TV programme, Soldier Soldier, also had a hit
with it. It topped the UK charts for seven weeks.
