The Righteous Brothers bring soul and inspiration to N.J.
July 18
By Natalie Pompilio  
For NJ Advance Media
After Bobby Hatfield died in 2003 on the eve of a Righteous Brothers’ tour, longtime musical collaborator Bill Medley decided to give the band a rest. He still toured, still performed, but he couldn't imagine partnering with anyone else. 
hen he went to one of long-time friend Bucky Heard's concerts where he saw and heard someone he could parter with and have by his side performing around the world. The latest iteration of the Righteous brothers,  together for about two years, will perform July 11 at Mayo PAC.  Their current tour next travels to Canada, Texas and will wrap up in September in Branson, MO, where Heard is well-known. 
"The stage, for me, has always been a safe place, a comfortable place to go and be," Medley, 76, said in an interview with NJ Advance Media. "This is a fun show. Bucky and I are very relaxed and we have a great, great band."
Medley -- and yes, that's his real name although he's been known to tell those who question it that "I changed it from Tune -- said he'd never thought about a musical career until a song writing friend asked him to sing a tune he'd written.
"My life wasn't in a great lane," Medley said. "i'd quit school at 16 and i was one of those jerks. Then I was 17 or 18 and someone asked me to sing and i just loved it."
The original pairing of Medley and Hatfield came about in 1962. The so-called "blue-eyed soul brothers" built up a following in Orange County, where they'd both grown up. They were particularly popular with African American Marines who were based nearby and gave the duo their name.
 "If you had some nice clothes or a nice car, they would say, 'What a righteous looking car!" and they started greeting us that way, 'Hey righteous brother, how you doing?" Medley said in his distinct baritone. "We were not brothers, not righteous."
The duo released their first single “Little Latin Lupe Lu in 1963. A year later, they released the blockbuster “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”  More hits followed, including “Rock and Roll Heaven” and “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration.”   
Medley sung lead on almost all of the duo's biggest songs with one notable exception: Hatfield took the lead on “Unchained Melody.”  On this tour, Medley sings the song while a video tribute to Hatfield plays behind him. 
"It would be unfair to Bucky to have to do 'Unchained Melody.' That is such a Bobby Hatfield song," Medley said. "I do it, but as a tribute to Bobby."

Righteous Brothers
Mayo Performing Arts Center
100 South St., Morristown. 
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.