A righteous combination

Young Chang

Little known Righteous Brothers facts:

* “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” is the most played record in

the history of American radio. Bill Medley, one-half of the Righteous

duo, finds this “mind boggling.”

* The pair’s first public performance was at the Rendezvous

Ballroom on the Balboa Peninsula in the summer of 1962. Surf bands were really big here back then.

* Medley and the other Righteous half, Bobby Hatfield, both live

in Newport Beach.

“We’ve both been down here for, off and on, since the early ‘70s,”

Medley said. “The minute we could afford it.”

The 40-year-old group, best known for a sound coined “blue-eyed

soul” and ‘60s hits including “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” will

perform Friday and Oct. 5 with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra as part

of its pops series at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Despite their longtime residency in Newport Beach, it’s the

symphony’s first pairing with the Righteous Brothers. John Forsyte,

president of the Pacific Symphony, says the duo was uncertain about

how the orchestral style would meld with their more contemporary

sound.

“In a way, it’s a very historic moment for the Righteous Brothers

and for us to have them collaborate,” Forsyte said. “I think people

will hear them in a way which is completely different from the way

they are in a solo performance. When you have 60 musicians just

creating that lush, opulent sound, it’s tremendous.”

The symphony engagement is but one in the Righteous Brothers’

booked performance schedule. They’re on stage in Las Vegas for about

four months of the year and put on 50 to 60 one-nighters across the

county.

“Our show is probably better now that it’s probably ever been,”

Medley said. “It’s a lot different from being in your 20s and being

in your 60s. We know what the audience wants. We try to please them.

We’re not there to be self-indulgent.”

Mostly in the ‘60s and for a small part of the ‘70s, tracks

including “Unchained Melody,” “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,”

“Ebb Tide” and “Rock and Roll Heaven” regularly topped the pop

charts. Medley and Hatfield parted and reunited several times (“Rock

and Roll Heaven” was a hit in the mid-’70s after the pair had split

and then got back together), but they always came back to update

their classics and indulge in their trademark, duet sound. Movies

like “Top Gun” and “Ghost,” which featured “You’ve Lost That Loving

Feeling” and “Unchained Melody,” respectively, revived what may have

otherwise remained nothing more than oldies.

“You know, Bobby and I have been through a lot over 40 years,”

Medley said. “It’s just a lot of fun working with somebody that you

know, that you admire as an artist and as a good friend.”

They first came together as part of a five-member band called the

Paramours, for which they did a lot of duets. They used to perform at

a Santa Ana dive at a time when the term “righteous” meant “good” and

was used to describe everything from a nice car to a nice coat.

“And if they liked you as a friend, they called you ‘brother,’”

Medley said.

Medley and Hatfield split from the quintet and formed the

Righteous Brothers in 1962.

About two weeks ago, the Brothers learned they’d been nominated to

go in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They find out the results in

December.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Medley said. “It’s something

that we would like. At this point in our career, it would be nice to

be in there with all those wonderful people.”