Righteous Induction: Medley says he and Hatfield a perfect fit in rock hall

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 | 9:38 a.m.

Who: The Righteous Brothers.

When: Tuesday through Feb. 23 (dark Mondays), 8 p.m.

Where: The Orleans Showroom.

Tickets: $39.95-$59.95.

Information: (702) 365-7075.

With one obvious exception, the inductee list for next month's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony is loaded with modern rock pioneers: AC/DC, the Clash, Elvis Costello and the Police.

The other act set to be enshrined? The Righteous Brothers, whose heyday was the 1960s, not the late '70s or early '80s.

After a 15-year wait to join rock music's most select fraternity, however, you won't find Righteous Brother Bill Medley complaining about not going in earlier with his contemporaries.

"It doesn't matter to us," Medley, 62, said in a recent phone interview from his part-time Las Vegas home. "They're all legitimate groups, and even though they're not our era or our kind of stuff, they're real good at what they do and they all deserve to be in there."

Tuesday, Medley and Righteous Brothers co-founder Bobby Hatfield begin a 12-night stand at The Orleans, the first of six such runs the pair are scheduled to play at the hotel this year.

After that, it's off to New York City, for a March 10 induction ceremony. It's an honor Medley had begun to doubt he and Hatfield would ever receive.

"I naturally wanted in, but because it had taken a while, I think maybe I had talked myself into the fact that it was OK that we weren't in," Medley said. "We were starting to second-guess ourselves, like maybe we didn't have as much effect on people as we'd thought."

According to the Hall of Fame's criteria, performers are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first recording. That meant the Righteous Brothers, whose first album, "Right Now!" came out in 1963, could have been voted in starting in 1988, the Hall's third year of existence.

As it turned out, that year was earmarked for rock deities, with the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Supremes among the inductees.

Overall, the Hall of Fame opened its doors to 127 performers, not to mention dozens of inductees as sidemen, non-performers and early influences, and the Righteous Brothers were left off the list.

"I heard on and off there was some political stuff going on, but I don't know what," Medley said. "I think maybe it just got a little absurd that we weren't in, and they finally said, 'OK, let's nominate them and if they're worthy of being in they'll get voted in.' "

A panel of select rock 'n' roll historians nominates a list performers each year. That list is then sent out to 1,000 international "rock experts," with 50 percent of their vote required for election.

On their first nomination, the Righteous Brothers received the requisite votes. The duo will perform one of their most revered songs, 1965's "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' " at the ceremony, which will be aired on VH1 on March 19.

"It's very exciting, kind of a stamp of approval in some strange way," Medley said. "When they called to say, 'You're in,' it was a wonderful thing."

Elvis Presley aside, the Righteous Brothers might be the most Las Vegas-friendly act selected for the Hall of Fame to date. The pair became regulars on the local scene in the mid-1960s.

"We were the first rock 'n' roll act to work a major Strip hotel, no question about that," Medley said. "Frank Sinatra was in the main room at the Sands, and they had to ask him who he wanted in the lounge because he would always take his parties in there.

"So they went to him and said, 'We'd like to bring the Righteous Brothers in.' And thank God his daughters, Tina and Nancy, were sitting there when they asked, because they said, 'Oh yeah, yeah, Daddy, please.' Because I'm sure he didn't know who the Righteous Brothers were."

The pair split briefly in the late '60s, then took an indefinite hiatus in 1976 when Medley retired from music. In 1982 the Righteous Brothers reunited to celebrate their 20th anniversary, and have been performing in tandem ever since.

The duo experienced an unexpected revival in the late 1980s and early '90s, when their songs were featured in three hit movies: "Lovin' Feelin' " from "Top Gun," "Unchained Melody" from"Ghost" and Medley's duet with Jennifer Warnes, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from"Dirty Dancing."

The Righteous Brothers even re-recorded "Unchained Melody," which became a radio hit again in 1990, 25 years after it first graced the airwaves.

"That's one great thing about this business, you never know what is going to bring your music back to the forefront," Medley said. "It was real odd to turn on the radio in 1990 and hear all this '90s music and then, all of a sudden, here's the Righteous Brothers' 'Unchained Melody.' "

Medley and Hatfield, who both reside in Newport Beach, Calif., spent five years performing regularly at the MGM Grand during the 1990s, then moved off the Strip to The Orleans in 1998. After four years at the Orleans, the Righteous Brothers relocated to the Las Vegas Hilton in 2001, playing four months' worth of shows there throughout the year.

Now, the duo is back at The Orleans, set to begin again at the hotel's familiar showroom they once called home.

"It was great to be (at the Hilton), but we missed The Orleans," Medley said. "We love the room there. They have great sound and great lighting. And they've always presented us in the way we felt we needed to be presented."

The Righteous Brothers are close to finalizing a concert album recorded at various dates at the Las Vegas Hilton and The Orleans, though it might not be ready in time to sell during their upcoming Vegas stint.

In the meantime fans hoping to hear the pair's classic "blue-eyed soul" sound -- a combination of Medley's deep baritone voice and Hatfield's higher-pitched range -- need only turn on a radio.

"Lovin' Feelin' " has been certified as the most-played single in American radio history, with more than 8 million spins, and was also named the song of the 20th century by both Dick Clark and BMI, a performers' rights organization representing songwriters and music publishers.

"To have the most played record in the history of American radio is harder to wrap my brain around than getting into the Hall of Fame," Medley said. "We're just so proud of it, but we're also dazed by it.""

Bill Medley