The Righteous Brothers - Later Career and Going Solo

Later Career and Going Solo

In 1974, they signed with Haven Records, run by producers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, and distributed by Capitol Records. They scored another hit with songwriter, Alan O'Day's "Rock and Roll Heaven", a paean to several deceased rock singers: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Otis Redding, Jim Croce and Bobby Darin are among the mentioned (Croce and Darin died within three months of each other in late 1973, shortly before the song was released). It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, but failed to chart in the UK. It was updated in early 1991 to mourn the passing of Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, Dennis Wilson, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Cass Elliot, who died a few months after the original version of the song was released. Several more minor hits on Haven followed, and then the Righteous Brothers found themselves "hitless" again until 1990, although they toured frequently.

Medley also had solo success: In 1984, he scored country hits with "Till Your Memory's Gone" and "I Still Do" (which crossed over to the adult contemporary charts and later became a "cult" hit with the Carolina Beach/Shag dance club circuit); and in late 1987, his duet with Jennifer Warnes — "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", which appeared on the soundtrack for Dirty Dancing — topped the Billboard Hot 100 and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture (for the three songwriters, which did not include Medley) as well as a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (which, of course, did). He also scored a moderate UK hit in 1988 with a version of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." One of Medley's minor entries, "Don't Know Much," was a long running #2 Hot 100 and #1 Adult Contemporary, Grammy-winning smash duet by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville in 1989-90. "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" is now seen and heard ubiquitously on TV and radio commercials — covered by singers other than Medley and Warnes — usually connected with vacation, cruise, resort, and other such holiday-themed advertisers aimed at those looking at what to do with their dream holiday excursions.

In 1990, the original recording of "Unchained Melody" was featured in the enormously popular feature film Ghost (starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Best Supporting Actress Oscar®-winner Whoopi Goldberg). It caused an avalanche of requests to Top 40 radio by fans who had seen the movie to revive the 1965 Righteous Brothers chestnut. This motivated Polygram (who now owned the Verve/MGM label archives) to re-release the song to Top 40 radio where it became a major hit for a second time (their second UK #1) and a greatest hits CD collection called The Very Best of The Righteous Brothers...Unchained Melody. was reissued. The group quickly re-recorded a cover version for Curb Records which also made the charts, and the re-recorded version appears on the budget priced CD The Best of The Righteous Brothers. The reissue of the original 1965 version of "Unchained Melody" hit #13 on the Hot 100 in 1990 in connection with the film, and the following re-recording of the song by The Righteous Brothers hit #19 on the Hot 100 and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2003. In 2008, The Righteous Brothers 21st Anniversary television special, filmed at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in 1983, aired on numerous Public Television stations throughout the United States. Bill Medley is currently performing in Branson, Missouri