UNCHAINED MELODY. Continues later this week.
BEFORE IT WAS A
HIT SONG…
These songs are well known but you may not know about the
earlier attempts to score a hit record with prior versions of the same song.
Unchained Melody
The box office hit film 'Ghost' exposed The Righteous Brothers' 1965 recording of "Unchained Melody" to a wider audience in 1990. The duo scored a #1 hit in Britain, parts of Europe, Australia and New Zealand with their re-issued classic. Despite this being the definitive reading of "Unchained Melody", it was certainly not the original recording.
Initially, the song was composed for use in the 1955 prison movie 'Unchained'; hence its name. Todd Duncan sang the version found on its soundtrack. It earned an Oscar nomination. Numerous covers flooded the charts in America and Britain that same year. In Britain that year, 4 versions were listed in the Top 20 at the same time.
The Righteous Brothers recorded its remake with Phil Spector in the production booth, immersing the song with his legendary Wall Of Sound. In actual fact, the track is essentially a solo recording featuring only Bobby Hatfield. Upon its release in 1965, the single peaked at #4 in America and #14 in the UK.
By the time it was used effectively in a memorable scene in 'Ghost' involving co-stars Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, there had been countless other cover versions. The Righteous Brothers even re-recorded the song in the 1990s.
Since then, "Unchained Melody" has visited the top of the UK chart on 2 other occasions. Another duo, Robson & Jerome, returned it to the chart summit in 1995. Gareth Gates did the same 7 years later. Other versions have been recorded by the likes of Barry Manilow, U2 and Elvis Presley.
Each new song will be added to the
spotify playlist named: ‘Before It Was A Hit Song’. You can check out the previous earlier /
original versions of the hit songs you know and love.
The playlist and other Caffe` Latte`
selections can be found at:
spotify:user:alanrosscaffelatte
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