"Unchained Melody" - Righteous Brothers

Were "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" unique mono mixes for the 45, or were they fold downs?

Thanks, Bill!

In 1990, the original 1965 recording was only available as a vinyl single on Verve Forecast 871882. The newly recorded
version was available as a cassette single on Curb 76842. This is a case where the original version got nearly ALL of
the radio airplay and the new version got nearly ALL of the sales. In fact, the new version actually went platinum
(which at the time was 1 million units). Brilliant move by Curb to get that new version out there for sale.

As discussed in The Contours "Do You Love Me" thread,
when The Contours song became a hit for the second
time in 1988, the Motown Yesteryear reissue 45 was
still in print. By the time "Unchained Melody" became
a hit for the second time in 1990, however, Polydor
had discontinued its 'Band Of Gold' reissue 45 series
and was licensing its reissue 45s to Collectables and
Eric. (The Collectables 45s of Polydor material were
actually manufactured by Polydor and I believe at
least some of the Erics were as well.) So I believe
that the Verve Forecast 45 Paul Haney mentions was a
new 1990 issue and not a reissue Polydor already had
in print. Polydor did not issue a cassette single to
encourage sales of its Greatest Hits album.
When Curb realized that a cassette single of the 1965
version would not be issued, the new version was
quickly recorded and released. I also only ever heard
the Curb version on the radio on AT40. Billboard
listed the two versions separately for this song. For
the 1965 version, Billboard listed only the Verve
Forecast 45, even though the Collectables and Eric 45s
were also in print at the time. For "God Bless The
USA" in 2001, Billboard listed three versions (MCA,
Capitol, and Curb) as one listing.

"Unchained Melody" is often mentioned as one of Phil
Spector's greatest productions. It has long been
rumoured, however, that Spector had no involvement in
its recording and that it was actually produced by
Bill Medley. It was recorded to fill out the Just
Once In My Life album and was issued as the B-side
of "Hung On You". Early pressings of the 45 list
Spector as the producer of "Hung On You" and do not
list a producer at all for "Unchained Melody'. Singles
pressed once the B-side became the hit list Spector as
producer on both sides. A few months later, Spector
sold The Righteous Brothers' contract and their
Philles masters to Verve, reportedly for $1,000,000,
and more or less retired.

The Wrecking Crew producer posted the AFM
sheet for Unchained Melody, turns out Bill
did produce it, and most of the musicians
on it were from the duo's touring band at
that time.