Chart performance:
| Week | Position | Movement | Comments |
| 24-Sep-65 | 20 | New | |
| 01-Oct-65 | 15 | +5 | Star rater |
| 08-Oct-65 | 11 | +4 | Biggest climber/Star rater |
| 15-Oct-65 | 8 | +3 | |
| 22-Oct-65 | 5 | +3 | |
| 29-Oct-65 | 4 | +1 | |
| 05-Nov-65 | 2 | +2 | Peak |
| 12-Nov-65 | 3 | -1 | |
| 19-Nov-65 | 4 | -1 | |
| 26-Nov-65 | 4 | 0 | |
| 03-Dec-65 | 9 | -5 | Biggest faller |
| 10-Dec-65 | 13 | -4 |
Written by: Alex North & Hy Zaret
Produced by: Phil Spector
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): London
| Hit number for artist | 1 |
| Peak position | 2 |
| Weeks | 12 |
| Biggest climber awards | 1 |
| Star rater climbs | 2 |
| Biggest faller awards | 2 |
| Top 20 points | 154 |
| Overall Top 20 points ranking | =670 |
| Top 20 points ranking for the artist | 1 |
| Top 30 Points | 274 |
| Overall Top 30 points ranking | =767 |
| Top 30 points ranking for the artist | 1 |
Annual ranking:
| 1965 | 13 |
Original 1965 release:
| Belgium | 10 |
| Canada | 9 |
| Netherlands | 8 |
| New Zealand | 4 |
| UK | 14 |
| US | 4 |
1990/91 Re-release:
| Australia | 1 |
| Austria | 1 |
| Belgium | 3 |
| Canada | 4 |
| Finland | 24 |
| France | 6 |
| Germany | 6 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| Netherlands | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Switzerland | 4 |
| UK | 1 |
| US | 19 |
| Zimbabwe | 3 |
SA Radio charts:
| Capital 604 | 2 |
| Radio 702 | 9 |
The song was written in 1955 for a film called ‘Unchained’ (hence the song title which is not mentioned in the lyrics). The film version was sung by a guy called Todd Duncan. A number of versions were released around that time with 3 of them (by Les Baxter, Al Hibbler, and Roy Hamilton) charting simultaneously in the US and 4 (by Al Hibbler, Les Baxter, Jimmy Young, and Liberace) charting in the UK at the same time. The Jimmy Young version would top the UK charts for 3 weeks with Al Hibbler’s version sitting at 2 for 2 of those weeks. Bobby Hatfield would sing the lead vocal on The Righteous Brothers’ version. Apparently both he and Bill Medley wanted to do lead so they ended up tossing a coin. Their version was originally released as a b-side to ‘Hung On You’. The radio DJ’s preferred the b-side and began playing it. Although the producer was uncredited on the 1965 pressings of the single, it was later noted as being Phil Spector. Spector was so annoyed with the DJ’s playing the b-side that he began calling radio stations asking them not to play it, but to no avail. The song would be kept off the top spot on our charts by Tom Jones’ ‘What’s New Pussycat’. It would get a lot of renewed interest in 1990/91 when it was used in a memorable scene from the film ‘Ghost’ which starred Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.
Video:
Artist link: The Righteous Brothers
SA Singles Charts 