The Righteous Brothers Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

William Thomas Medley was born on September 19, 1940 in Santa Ana, California, USA, where he grew up. He sang in choirs and glee clubs. His father played sax and was a band leader, his mother sang and accompanied herself on the piano.

Robert Lee Hatfield was born on August 10, 1940 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, USA. He grew up in Anaheim, California, where his parents moved when he was four years old. Bobby Hatfield died of a heart attack brought on by a cocaine overdose on November 5, 2003. Bobby died in his hotel room in Kalamazoo, Michigan, just a few hours before a scheduled concert.

The two met at the California State University at Long Beach.

Answer: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

In 1999, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) determined that "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was number one in U.S. radio and television play during the 20th century (an estimate of over eight million plays!).
A quote from Vanity Fair stated that the song was "the most erotic duet between men on record." "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is number 34 on the Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and helped to earn the Righteous Brothers their place in history: on March 10, 2003, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Answer: From a fan

From a 1996 interview with Bobby Hatfield: "On this one particular evening there were several black Marines in there and when Bill and I finished doing a duet, one of them yelled out "That's righteous brothers"." Some sources state this story is apocryphal, but this is from Bobby Hatfield himself!

The name is one of the reasons some people were surprised to discover that both the singers were white. The name "Righteous Brothers" is suggestive of a black R&B group. The group was given the nickname "Blue-eyed Soul Men".

Answer: Jimmy Walker

Jimmy Walker from The Knickerbockers teamed up with Bobby Hatfield in an attempt to keep the Righteous Brothers going. It didn't work.

Neither Bobby Hatfield or Bill Medley had as much success on their own as they did as a team. In 1974 they reunited, kicking off the Righteous Brothers' resurrection with an appearance on the popular "Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour".

Answer: Elvis Presley

During the 1970s, Elvis Presley frequently sang "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "Unchained Melody" in concert, but the Righteous Brothers never performed with Presley. In the 1991 version of the song "Rock and Roll Heaven", Presley's name was added to the members of the heavenly band of dead rock & roll musicians.

Answer: It was on the soundtrack of a movie

In 1965 "Unchained Melody", produced by Phil Spector, was released as the B-side of the song, "Hung On You". It reached number three on Billboard's "The Top 100" chart the same year.

The Righteous Brothers, with the same recording of "Unchained Melody", were the first artists to score a top 20 hit in two different decades with the exact same song. "Unchained Melody" achieved its second recognition in 1990 when the blockbuster movie "Ghost" featured the song on the movie's soundtrack. In 1990, the reissue of the 1965 hit single reached number 13 on Billboard's "The Top 100" chart.

Answer: Medley

"(I've Had) The Time of My Life", included on the soundtrack for the hit movie "Dirty Dancing", topped Billboard's "The Hot 100" chart. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (1987), the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (1988), and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song (1988).

Barry Manilow included "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" on his album of cover songs, "The Greatest Songs of the Eighties".

Answer: They were tired of trying to sing to fans screaming for the Beatles

Bobby Hatfield recalled in an interview: "We were fine as far west as Denver, we were fine in LA and San Francisco but once we got east of Denver nobody knew us. Those first couple of songs were basically west coast hits. And then there's something about trying to sing in front of about 50,000 kids screaming 'We want The Beatles' that just wasn't pleasant (he laughs). We went to Brian Epstein and he fully understood. He was cool about it."

Bobby goes on to say that he and Bill had fun singing old songs and doo-wop with the Beatles on the plane between tour dates, and that George and Ringo were the friendliest. On touring with the Rolling Stones, he says that "They were crazy, but we had a great time with them!"

Answer: Cher

The young Cher was one of the backup singers on this prime example of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique. The song was written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector and Cynthia Weil, and topped Billboard's "The Top 100" chart for a week in February of 1965, finally giving way to "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

Answer: Elvis Presley

"Rock and Roll Heaven" was written by Alan O'Day and released by Haven Records. The 1974 version also honors Otis Redding, Jim Croce, and Bobby Darrin, and got to number three on Billboard's "The Top 100" chart.

In 1991 the song was updated to include Sam Cooke, Cass Elliot, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dennis Wilson, and Jackie Wilson.