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<p><img src="https://geekydork.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/ghost-pottery-wheel.jpg" alt="Unchained Melody | geekydork"></p><p><br></p><p>"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North used the music as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers. According to the song's publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.In 1955, three versions of the song (by Les Baxter, Al Hibbler, and Roy Hamilton) charted in the Billboard Top 10 in the United States, and four versions (by Al Hibbler, Les Baxter, Jimmy Young, and Liberace) appeared in the Top 20 in the United Kingdom simultaneously, an unbeaten record for any song. The song and "Do They Know It's Christmas" are the only songs to reach number one in four different recordings in the UK. Of the hundreds of recordings made, it was the July 1965 version by the Righteous Brothers, performed as a solo by Bobby Hatfield, that became a jukebox standard for the late 20th century. This version achieved a second round of great popularity when it was featured in the film Ghost (1990). In 2004, it finished at number 27 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.In 1954, North was contracted to compose the score for the prison film Unchained (released in 1955). North composed and recorded the score, and then was asked to write a song based upon the movie's theme. North asked Hy Zaret to write the lyrics, but Zaret initially declined, saying he was too busy painting his house. North was able to convince him to take the job, and together they wrote "Unchained Melody." Zaret refused the producer’s request to include the word "unchained" in his lyrics. The song eventually became known as the "Unchained Melody" even though the song does not actually include the word "unchained". Instead, Zaret chose to focus on someone who pines for a lover he has not seen in a "long, lonely time". The film centered around a man who contemplates either escaping from prison to live life on the run or completing his sentence and returning to his wife and family. The song has an unusual harmonic device as the bridge ends on the tonic chord rather than the more usual dominant chord. With Todd Duncan singing the vocals, the song was nominated for an Oscar in 1955, but the Best Song award went to the hit song "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing".Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. He performs an abbreviated version in the film, playing one of the prisoners. Lying on a bed, he sings it accompanied by another prisoner on guitar while others listen sadly. Bandleader Les Baxter released a version (Capitol Records catalog number 3055) which reached number 1 on the US charts and number 10 in the UK. The words "unchain me" are sung repeatedly at the beginning and the lyrics are sung by a choir. Billboard ranked this version as the No. 5 song of 1955.Al Hibbler followed close behind with a vocal version (Decca Records catalog number 29441), that reached number 3 on the Billboard charts and number 2 in the UK chart listings. He was quickly followed by Jimmy Young, whose version hit number 1 on the British charts. Jimmy Young also later re-recorded another version of his 1955 chart topper in early 1964, which rose to number 43 in the UK. Two weeks after Young's version entered the top 10 of the British charts in June 1955, Liberace would score a number 20 hit (Philips PB 430). Roy Hamilton's version (Epic Records catalog number 9102) reached number 1 on the R&amp;B Best Sellers list and number 6 on the pop chart. June Valli recorded the song on March 15, 1955, which was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-6078, with the flip side "Tomorrow", and took it to number 29. Harry Belafonte sang it at the 1956 Academy Awards, where it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best</p>