William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ; Year: 1965; Genre: Soul/R&B Woke up the other day to find out that legendary songwriter Cynthia Weil passed away. She and her husband Barry Mann were an extremely prolific songwriting team that wrote quite a few landmark hit songs; most likely you've heard a song that they wrote at some point. As you probably guessed, this is one of those hit songs they wrote together along with Phil Spector. I've always loved the deep and smooth vocals on this track from Righteous Brother Bill Medley; it really is a showcase of his vocal ability and flat-out range. As always, musicians from the acclaimed Wrecking Crew really brought it to the classic that it is.   Hear You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Eddie Grant - Electric Avenue   My song pick 2 years ago today: Melvins - The Mechanical Bride   My song pick 3 years ago today: Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) - Little Gandy Da...

From: Just Once In My Life... ; Year: 1965; Genre: Soul/Rock Was enjoying some of The Righteous Brothers' music the other day whilst driving around the city and thought I'd pick one of them. I was actually quite surprised to discover that I had not chosen one of their song as of yet... definitely need to correct that oversight. Anyway, Unchained Melody is probably their most noted hit to this day, mostly due to its use in film pop culture, and other media; back in the early 1990s after it was featured on the movie Ghost its popularity especially skyrocketed. Even though the song has been attributed to them as "the original," the genesis of the song actually came out a decade earlier in the prison flick Unchained and was that film's main theme, plus, versions by other artists were recorded and released in the meantime. With all that said though, The Righteous Brothers' recording is without a doubt the de-facto version of the track.   Hear Unchained Melody o...