A Classic Love Song: "Unchained Melody"

">

             

     Today we join the "Monday's Mewsic Moves Me(4M)" group of bloggers. The theme for this Monday is love songs. Hop along to the next blog after you read my post. (Sorry, I'm running a day or so late finishing up this post,because I'm under the weather.)

     -------------------------♪♪♪-------------------------

     Before our current love songs-like "Señorita" or  "Crazy In Love"- became popular, there was a classic love song called "Unchained Melody." The song has been recorded and sung several times over the past 6 decades by various musicians; from lesser known singers- like Todd Duncan and Robson & Jerome- to more popular- The Righteous Brothers, Sam Cooke, Elvis, Gareth Gates, LeAnn Rimes, Susan Boyle, Clay Aiken, and many more.  A few videos of these artists' performances of this love song are scattered below; and more are included in the embedded YouTube playlist, which also contains the songs mentioned at the top of the post.

 

 

  -------------------------♪♪♪-------------------------

 

 

  

           This love song was penned by Alex North and Hy Zaret for a movie called Unchained in 1954. It was actor Todd Duncan who was the first to sing Unchained Melody in the movie, which took place in a prison setting . Unchained Melody was nominated for an Oscar, but another tune from the same film won. 
          A more recent film, Ghost, is probably the most familiar to use this ballad in the story-line.  Swayze stars as a murder victim who tries to warn his girlfriend, portrayed by actress Demi Moore, that she could be in peril. When Swayze's character cannot reach Moore's, he uses a psychic(Whoopi Goldberg). The film has moments that are; scary, funny, touching, sad, and romantic. The romantic moment that features today's song involves Swayze-as the titled character - guiding his girlfriend as she is working on a potter's wheel to mold clay. The song is recorded by the Righteous Brothers(RB), originally in 1965, slightly altered by RB singer, Bobby Hatfield. Ghost was filmed in the 1990's.

Picture RGB Stocks Edited with PicsArt

  Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody ('Ghost' Soundtrack) - YouTube

      This song also had been recorded by The Drifters, who also are featured in the Ghost soundtrack.

 The Drifters- Unchained Melody

  -------------------------♪♪♪-------------------------

 

      In 1994, a pair of actors-who became a popular British musical twosome after singing this ballad on the television series Soldier, Soldier. This twosome was Robson & Jerome(R& B) and their recording of Unchained Melody soon topped the British charts. It was Simon Cowell-from American Idol, America's Got Talent, and Britain's Got Talent - who strongly urged Robson and Jerome to record the song.

 Robson & Jerome - Unchained Melody (Official Video)

 

 

 

  -------------------------♪♪♪-------------------------

         

 

       In the early 2000's, reality talent show stars Clay Aiken, Gareth Gates, Susan Boyle, and Mike Yung are among the vocalists to record this romantic song. Yung was a subway performer before he was on television. Clay was a college student, preparing to become a special education teacher before Idol. Clay performed this song during competition and later recorded it on his Tried and True cd and on Steadfast.

 

 

Subway Performer Mike Yung - Unchained Melody (23rd Street Viral Sensation)

 

          Clay Aiken - Unchained Melody

 

  -------------------------♪♪♪-------------------------

             

     I hope you find this review of Unchained Melody pleasurable. Whether you are single or coupled during this Valentine month, I'm sure that you'll agree that this is a classic love song. Whose performance is your favorite? If you liked this post, please drop a comment below and share it on social media. Thank you!

Here is the Unchained Melody playlist  ;

<       

Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash
Photo by Bent Hertema on Unsplash
Photo by Javiera Argandoña on Unsplash
Clay photo: Author: Judy Butler Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8436547@N08/

Edited with PicsArt

 

 

 

  See also: Sunday's Song: "Unchained Melody."