The Righteous Brothers - The Universal Masters Collection (2000)

William Medley: born 19 September 1940, in Los Angeles, USA.
Bobby Hatfield: born 10 August 1940, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, USA / died: 5 November 2003, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.

The Righteous Brothers were born in 1963, and were the two remaining members of the vocal group, The Paramours.

They're probably best known for two tracks "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ". The latter being written and produced by legendary producer Phil Spector from 1964, which many critics deem to be the pinnacle of Spectors' producing career. In order for Lovin' Feelin's success, many believe it can be attributed to the fact the playing time was listed on the original promo's sent to radio stations as 3:05 --because Spector refused to shorten the track-- which was lower that it's actual playing time of nearer 4 minutes at 3:45. This is because at that time many stations would program shows to fit-in with ad-breaks so wouldn't play anything longer than around 3 minutes long. Also, British pop artist Cilla Black released a version in Christmas 1964, before the original version was released in the UK, which furthermore attracted media attention. All this happening despite the US being in the middle of Beatlemania and the British Invasion.

In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) announced that it was the most-played song of the 20th century. Additionally, the song was chosen as one of the Songs Of The Century by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 (Performer).