The week of August 24, 1965, found a trio of major hits atop the Billboard Hot 100: Sonny & Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe,’ The Beatles’ ‘Help!,’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls.’
In the #4 spot that week, its peak position on the chart, was The Righteous Brothers’ ‘Unchained Melody.’ I was sure I had featured this song on the blog before, but it turns out I have posted other versions (five, to be exact) but never the most famous one.
Throwing back to the week of May 31, 1955, we find a quartet of repeats atop the Billboard chart: Perez Pablo’s ‘Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White,‘ Les Baxter’s ‘Unchained Melody,’ Georgia Gibbs’ ‘Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower),’ and Bill Hayes’ ‘The Ballad of Davy Crockett.’
I mentioned in the Les Baxter post that multiple versions of ‘Unchained Melody’ were kicking around the top ten that spring, and this week at #5 we find another of them. Al Hibbler’s take was the top-performing vocal version of the song until the Righteous Brothers came along a decade later.
Throwing back to the week of May 17, 1955, we find a couple of repeats atop the Billboard chart in Perez Pablo’s ‘Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White‘ and Georgia Gibbs’ ‘Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower).’
In the #3 spot that week was Les Baxter’s version of ‘Unchained Melody,’ a short instrumental take with choral accompaniment. This is one of three versions of the song that bounced around the top ten in 1955 — the other two were by Al Hibbler and Roy Hamilton.
If Aladdin benefitted from my low expectations, Booksmart suffered because my expectations were too high.
The Olivia Wilde-helmed high school comedy blew through Sundance and left a trail of rapturous reviews and breathless recommendations in its wake. Its Rotten Tomatoes score sat at 100% until The New Yorker‘s Richard Brody spoiled the party. Comparisons were made to Superbad and Lady Bird.
In keeping with yesterday’s theme, today I’m writing about another song I never knew was a cover until discovering that fact through SongPop.
Like most people of my generation, my first real exposure to ‘Unchained Melody’ was through the pottery scene in Ghost. Demi Moore, at her hottest, straddled the phallic slab of clay while the late Patrick Swayze approaches from behind and straddles her… yes, that left quite an impression.
Meet Me In Montauk 