Enhanced audio, in glorious MONOPHONIC SOUND, just like we listened to it on AM Top 40 radio in 1964 and '65 when this awesome song was on the charts.
For you reaction video people: They're not really brothers. Bill Medley, the tall guy with the dark hair and the deep voice, and Bobby Hatfield, the shorter guy with the blonde hair and the higher-pitched voice, started performing together in Southern California in the early 1960s. Early on, even before they had adopted the name Righteous Brothers, they were playing a club gig down near San Diego where a number of American servicemen would hang out. After the show one night, two of the 'brothers" saw them outside the club and called out to them, saying, "That was righteous, brother!" Right after that, Bill and Bobby adopted the name, Righteous Brothers.
Their first hit single was a rock 'n roll number written by Bill called "Little Latin Lupe Lu," which became a top 10 hit in 1962. They dabbled with a few other rock-songs. But the group's big break came in 1963 when the Beatles asked them to open for the Fab Four on their first American tour. This is when Beatlemania was just taking off, and this exposure was invaluable for the Righteous Brothers, But the grueling schedule of a national tour was a lot to deal with, and right about that time, ABC Television made them an offer they couldn't refuse. ABC-TV launched a weekly prime-time TV series called "Shindig!" Hosted by Los Angeles DJ Jimmy O'Neill, "Shindig!" featured a parade of A-list music stars that were topping the American Top 40 chart each week. To fill out the lineup, ABC-TV wisely invited a number of artists to comprise their "house band" (including Billy Preston, who would go on to become, in many people's minds, "the fifth Beatle"). And they also brought on a small nucleus of singing acts, including the Righteous Brothers. This opportunity was perfect for Bill and Bobby, as it would allow them to stay at home in LA while getting this massive national exposure on a hugely popular TV show geared to the very audience their music was for.
So not surprisingly, when they released "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" at the end of 1964, it climbed the charts to become the duo's first #1 hit, and became a mainstay on top 40 radio for the first few months of 1965, sharing the chart with such classic hits as "My Girl" by the Temptations, "She's A Woman" by the Beatles, "Downtown" by Petula Clark, "Love Potion Number Nine" by the Searchers, "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and many other classic hits that are beloved to this day by youngsters who today, all these years later, sill love hearing them.
The Righteous Brothers would follow "Lovin' Feelin'" with "Just Once In My Life," and later that same year, would release one of their most memorable hits featuring Bobby on solo, "Unchained Melody." They would finish 1965 back in the top 10 with another Bobby Hatfield solo, "Ebb Tide." Their sound on those hits in 1964-65 featured their producer Phil Spector's signature "Wall of Sound" style of production, made famous by artists like the Ronettes, another one of Phil Spector's groups.
In 1966, the Righteous Brothers left Philles Records (Phil Spector's label) and signed with Verve Records, a subsidiary of MGM, thereby enabling them to produce their own songs. (They produced one or two of their songs while at Philles Records, but the record labels had "Produced by Phil Spector" printed on the label, which infuriated Bill Medley, who actually produced "Unchained Melody"). Their first offering on Verve Records in 1966 was "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration," which went to #1 faster than any of their other hits. "Soul and Inspiration" was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, two of the songwriters working out of the Brill Building, and who also wrote "Lovin' Feelin'" (with Phil Spector). Sadly for Bill and Bobby, their follow-ups to "Soul and Inspiration" never quite connected with listeners, and the Righteous Brothers' star quickly fell.
Bill broke away from Bobby for a while in the late '60s and released a song called "Brown Eyed Woman" about an interracial relationship, shortly after the Supreme Court's landmark Loving v. Virginia decision that made interracial marriage legal in America.
The Righteous Brothers had one more big hit together in 1974 called "Rock and Roll Heaven," a tribute to artists who had died much too young (like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Jopin, Jim Morrison, among others).
"Unchained Melody" enjoyed a second run up the charts in the late '80s when it was featured in the movie "Ghost."
Shortly after, Bill Medley teamed up with Jennifer Warnes on a song called "The Time of My Life" that spent many weeks in the Top 10.
The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Bobby Hatfield passed away shortly thereafter.
Today, Bill Medley is still performing as half of the Righteous Brothers with his new partner, Bucky Heard.
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