page_title: Unchained Melody
section_title: The Righteous Brothers versions
hierarchical_section_title: Unchained Melody / The Righteous Brothers versions
caption_attribution_description: English: "Unchained Melody" by Righteous Brothers 1965 US vinyl
context_page_description: "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained, hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers. According to the song's publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.
  In 1955, three versions of the song charted in the Billboard Top 10 in the United States, and four versions appeared in the Top 20 in the United Kingdom simultaneously, an unbeaten record for any song. The song continued to chart in the 21st century, and it was the only song to reach number one with four different recordings in the UK until it was joined by Band Aid 30's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 2014.
  Of the hundreds of recordings made, the Righteous Brothers' version in July 1965, with a solo by Bobby Hatfield, became the jukebox standard after its release.
context_section_description: The best-known version of "Unchained Melody" was recorded by the duo The Righteous Brothers for Philles Records in 1965. The lead vocal was performed solo by Bobby Hatfield, who later recorded other versions of the song credited solely to him. According to his singing partner Bill Medley, they had agreed to do one solo piece each per album. Both wanted to sing "Unchained Melody" for their fourth album, but Hatfield won the coin toss.
  "Unchained Melody" was originally released as the 'B' side of the single "Hung On You" as the follow-up single to "Just Once in My Life". However, "Hung On You" failed to interest radio DJs who instead chose to play the 'B' side "Unchained Melody". According to Medley, producer Phil Spector, who would deliberately place a throwaway song that wasn't meant to be played on the 'B' side, was incensed that the DJs chose to play the 'B' side and started calling radio stations to get them to stop playing "Unchained Melody". However, he failed, and the song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 14 in the UK in 1965.
caption: B-side label of the original US vinyl single "Hung on You"
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