"Unchained Melody" (written by Alex North & Hy Zaret) is one of the most beautiful and emotional songs of all-time. Most of you I'm sure have heard the Righteous Brothers' classic rendition of it. If not, here it is.
There are over 500 versions of this song, but maybe the best, certainly the most powerful is by Vito & the Salutations. This is a master class in interpretation. I warn you -- you're going to need a hanky.
That was like the chipmunks on Speed.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I hear that song I think of this (starts around 1:25):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRBLsiLRAxM&feature=related
I see on IMDB that the writers are: David Isaacs & KEN LEVINE!!! Hurray!
They've just nailed the emotional tone of that song.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed Vito and the guys didn't get the call when they were re-interpreting "Candle In The Wind" for Princess Di's funeral.
I didn't know about the Righteous Brothers version until I was an adult; instead I grew up with Dionne Warwick's version (arrangement by Burt Bacharach) included in one of her anthologies of mostly Bacharach-David songs. However one may regard its merits and flaws from a distance of 45 years, that Bacharach/Warwick record makes the Brothers' version sound rather pallid by comparison.
ReplyDeleteOf course I love doo-wop too - I had only heard this version once before, probably on the (sadly defunct) Scooter Magruder's Night Train weekend radio show in the DC area.
You're right, I did need a hanky -- to wipe the spittle from my laptop screen when I burst into laughter.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ken, I needed that laugh.
Dammit Ken, I gotta stop blindly clicking your media links. That was painful.
ReplyDeleteIt has a good beat and I can dance to it. I'll rate it a 95.
ReplyDeleteJesus wept.
ReplyDeleteI laughed.
Master class in interpretation indeed. :)
No one ever remembers that this song was composed for the film UNCHAINED--a prison drama starring none other than Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch (with jazz musician Dexter Gordon in a small role--he was not hired for the film; he was actually serving time on a drug charge in the prison where it was shot).
ReplyDeleteWord verification: "Singsms." What the characters in GLEE have when they have sex.
Bobby Hatfield died just down the street from here seven years ago yesterday. If the coroner's report is right, that sounds like it might have been his last performance.
ReplyDeleteWe met Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley backstage at Bally's here in Las Vegas many years ago. We had a Best of CD with the photo you have at the top of this post. As Bobby was signing it, he told us that he and Bill nearly froze during that photo shoot.
ReplyDeleteNice to hear an under-wrought performance of such an overwrought ballad.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet The Situation & Snooki were spoon fed this. And now I have a new Guilty Pleasure ... Thanks, I think ___
ReplyDeleteIf I hear this song on K-EARTH one more time I am going to cut my throat. One of the most over played oldies of all time.
ReplyDelete