"Oh, My Love,
 My Darling...
 I've Hungered for your touch
 A long, lonely time....

"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, hence the name. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some estimates having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages.

Les Baxter (Capitol Records) released an instrumental version which reached #1. Then came song recordings by: Al Hibbler (Decca Records ), reaching #3 on the Billboard charts; Jimmy Young which hit #1 in the United Kingdom; and Roy Hamilton (Epic Records ), reaching #1 on the R&B Best Sellers list and #6 on the pop chart, all in the initial year of its release in 1955.  Hundreds of other recordings followed. However, it was the July 1965 version by The Righteous Brothers that became a jukebox standard for the late 20th century, achieving a second round of great popularity when it was featured in the 1990 blockbuster film Ghost.

Here are those versions and several others for your enjoyment. Pick your favorite!

    THESE ARE THE BIG FOUR FROM 1955

LES BAXTER, ORCHESTRA & CHORUS #1

---

JIMMY YOUNG  TOP SELLER IN THE UK

AL HIBBLER, TOP SINGLE SOLO SELLER

---

ROY HAMILTON  #1 R&B VERSION

---

THE MOST WELL KNOWN VERSION: THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS  1965

JUST A FEW OTHER GOOD VERSIONS...NO WHERE NEAR 500 PLUS!!!

LEE ANN RIMES (COUNTRY)

SUSAN BOYLE (CURRENT)

THE CAST OF "GLEE" TV

---

                   SAM COOKE

                      ELVIS

---

                 THE PLATTERS

                          U2

---

THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA                       ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINK