MAKING MUSIC The Righteous Brothers May 17, 2023 Bergen Performing Arts Center

By L. Kent Wolgamott

Sixty years ago, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield were having fun singing in Los Angeles rock ‘n’ roll vocal groups. But Medley never thought that, well into the 21st century, he’d still be with the Righteous Brothers, singing many of those early-1960s songs.

“When Bobby and I first started, rock ‘n’ roll was considered a fad at that point,” Medley said. “We had some West Coast hits from ‘63-’65. We thought, ‘we’ll ride it out until the fad’s over and we’ll go back to driving a truck.”

Now 82, Medley’s never had to get behind the wheel of a Peterbilt or Mack. In fact, because of COVID, he had the longest time off from performing in six decades.

“Thank God, we’re out and the audiences are out, getting back to some sort of normal,” said Medley, who is singing with his new Righteous Brother partner Bucky Heard. “I’m kind of a one-trick pony. All I can do is perform.”

Off the road for the first time in 55 years and performing only by livestream while quarantined at his California home, Medley had surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his throat in May 2020, then, in June, Paula, his wife of 35 years, passed away after a five-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Medley’s voice, he said, is fine. He can even hit some higher notes than before the surgery.

First together in a group called the Paramours, bass Medley and tenor Hatfield became the Righteous Brothers in 1963, and the next year had a couple L.A. area hits with “My Babe,” and “Little Latin Lupe Lu” that were big enough to land them an opening spot for the Beatles. Then the duo hooked up with “Wall of Sound” producer Phil Spector and found the Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil song, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

“We knew it was a great song,” Medley said. “But after it was recorded, we didn’t have a clue it was going to do what it was going to do. It was a 4-minute song and in those days, songs were 2-, 2½-minutes long. I sounded like I was on the wrong continued to perform until Hatfield died of a heart attack in a Kalamazoo, Michigan hotel room prior to a 2003 concert. This seemingly ended the Righteous Brothers, but, in 2016, Medley reformed the group with Heard stepping into Hatfield’s role.

I think everything wrong with it made it a special song.”

“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” now radio’s most played song ever, propelled the Righteous Brothers to a new level.

“‘Lovin’ Feeling’ was a huge national hit and we were doing ‘Shindig,’ a national TV show at the same time,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member said. “Those two things are what got us there.”

Medley, who got thrown into producing the duo’s early singles “because nobody else wanted to do it” ended up producing the Righteous Brothers’ next big hit.

“Every disc jockey in the country flipped it over and I’d produced a hit record,” Medley said.

The Righteous Brothers, who had another handful of hits, split up in 1968 when Medley left to pursue a solo career. But they regrouped in 1974, and

“I wasn’t looking to reform the Righteous Brothers, but I had a lot of friends and industry people telling me I should do it,” he said. “When I heard Bobby, I thought ‘if I ever get to do it, he’s the guy.’ Because we were already good friends. That’s a key part of putting the puzzle together.”

The Righteous Brothers will, of course, do all their hits in their concerts, as “Lovin’ Feeling,” “Unchained Melody,” “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” and “Rock and Roll Heaven” bring in multiple generations of fans to Righteous Brothers shows.

“I feel so grateful the audience still wants to come out and hear these songs,” he said. “The audience is really what keeps the excitement alive. When you walk out on stage, you feel like you’re 25 years old anyway. When the audience reacts, it’s kind of like a magical, out-ofbody experience. It’s a real wonderful feeling.”

If You Go

Bergen PAC

30 N Van Brunt St, Englewood, NJ 07631, United States https://www.jambase. com/show/the-righteous-brothers-bergenperforming-arts-cen-

This Friday and Saturday

March 3rd & 4th from 4pm-7pm

Project Greenville is delighted to be hosting many talented artists in their intimate space (including live music by Sofia Oro ( @sofiaoromusic ) on Saturday at 6pm) in the turn of the century house at 128 Winfield Avenue (between Old Bergen-Ocean)...

On offer will be--besides our modest table of refreshments, some from local Greenville businesses--paintings, drawings, sculpture, textile work, photography, mosaic and more by:

•Sidney Acosta (@yay4love)

•Natasha Arbelo (@ moonspirit_211)

•Artistic Afro (@artisticafro)

•Deidre Callaghan (@ deecallhn)

•Christine (@ christinewasawesome)

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Pat Olsen

Lucy Rovetto (@lucyrovetto)

Bethe Schwartz Separ8tor (@ portraits_of_hue)

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Elsie Sienkiewicz

Susan Sienkiewicz (@susan. sienkiewicz)

Athena Toledo (@flora.athens)

And our musical guest, Ms. Sofia Oro (@sofiaoromusic)

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