Golden oldie, oldier, oldiest

This Saturday's song selection is my second-favorite song of all time (edged out only slightly by Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale"). It's a song almost everybody knows: "Unchained Melody."

My grandchildren would tell you that this is an oldie, dating all the way back to 1995 when it was featured in the movie "Ghost."

My children would tell you--and they'd tell their children--"Oh, no, it's older than that. It was popular in 1965 when we were just toddlers."

And those of you who are near my own age would tell my children and grandchildren, "Why, that song was a top-ten hit for weeks on end in 1955!" And you would be right. I loved it back then, when I was 12 years old, and I've never stopped.

The best known version, the one that was popular in 1965 and enjoyed a huge resurgence in 1995, was sung by The Righteous Brothers*:

A whole bunch of people recorded this song in 1955, so I've listened to several of them, and I'm pretty sure that the version that was usually played on the radio in Springfield, Missouri was this one by Roy Hamilton*:

And a whole lot of people have recorded it in the intervening years, too. Just goes to show you that a really good song stays really good.


*Thanks to the folks who posted these videos on YouTube.