Bill Medley, Sonny Turner to bring back ‘60s hits in concert

 MANILA, Philippines- You may not be a ‘60s kid, but you’ll surely know the songs of Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers, and Sonny Turner of The Platters.

Their names may not easily ring a bell to you, but "Righteous Brothers’" songs “Unchained Melody,” and “The Time of My Life” will make you remember the films “The Ghost” and “Dirty Dancing.”

And you may hear your moms or dads sing the songs “Only You” and “The Great Pretender” which were performed by Turner’s group "The Platters."

But yes, they are two of the “legends” of the music industry as their songs are still in the airwaves up to now.

It is no wonder then that a lot of the younger artists  cover or  make their own rendition of the songs.

“When someone records your music, it’s a compliment,” Turner said during their press conference Wednesday afternoon. “It keeps your music alive. So far I haven’t heard people re-record, I only hear movie tracks, I hear my voice recorded and used for movies.

“So that’s a compliment to me because they use this music now even for commercials.”

But Medley also  reminds these new artists that “they got to present it in their own vocal because people might say he’s not as good as Sonny Turner or Billy Medley. So it is better to do your own version.”

Turner agrees with Medle,  saying that making their own version  of the song helps to get their creative juices flowing.

“I think everyone should be their own self,” he said. “In other words don’t try to imitate. It’s better to interject their own feelings, though sometimes it doesn’t work for some, their presentation of the song.”

Meanwhile, since Medley and Turner will be having a show here in Manila with Medley’s daughter McKenna, on May 9 at Solaire Resort & Casino Grand Ballroom, 8 p.m., they promise their fans to give them what they’ve long to hear.

“We’re going to sing in our show the songs they loved,” Turner said. “As a performer you realize what the people want, and the people want to hear what made you famous.”

Medley also adds that “when people don’t hear what they want to hear, that’s really disappointing. We should give people what they paid for."