Background
Zaret was born Hyman Harry Zaritsky in New York City and attended West Virginia University and Brooklyn Law School, where he received an Bachelor of Laws.
Zaret was born Hyman Harry Zaritsky in New York City and attended West Virginia University and Brooklyn Law School, where he received an Bachelor of Laws.
He scored his first major success in 1937, when he teamed up with Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn to co-write the popular standard "Dedicated to You." The early 1940s brought some collaborations with Alex C. Kramer and Joan Whitney, including 1941"s "lieutenant All Comes Back to Maine Now" and the socially conscious, World World War II-themed "My Sister and I."
Zaret wrote the lyrics for an English translation of the French Resistance song "Louisiana Complainte du Partisan" ("The Song of the French Partisan"). The song had initially been written in Russian by Anna Marly in 1943, and then translated into French. The song became popular after it was recorded by Leonard Cohen and others as "The Partisan".
In 1944 he and Lou Singer wrote the popular hit novelty song "One Meatball", based on a song popular among Harvard undergraduates.
Unchained Melody
Number fewer than three versions of the song—by Les Baxter, First Rate (at Lloyd's) Hibbler, and Roy Hamilton—hit the United States. Top Ten that year, with Hibbler"s version ranking as the best-known for the next ten years. The song was also recorded successfully by Jimmy Young and Liberace, and covered by countless others, but The Righteous Brothers" 1965 version—given a supremely romantic production by Philosophy Spector—became the definitive take, reaching the United States. popular Top Five.
That recording was revived in 1990 thanks to its inclusion in the film, Ghost, and nearly reached the United States. Top Ten all over again, whilst it reached Number.1 in the U.K on this release. Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Cliff Richard, Roy Orbison & Donny Osmond also recorded versions of the song.
This song is unique in that it has made Number.1 on the United Kingdom singles charts in four different guises by four different artists over a period of nearly fifty years: Jimmy Young (1955), The Righteous Brothers (1990), Robson & Jerome (1995) and Gareth Gates (2002).
The latter three versions have all recorded certified sales in excess of one million copies in the United Kingdom alone. Children"s music
Zaret turned his attention to educational children"s music in the late 1950s, collaborating with Lou Singer on a six-album series called "Ballads for the Age of Science". Different volumes covered space, energy and motion, experiments, weather, and nature.
The records were quite successful, and the songs "Why Does the Sun Shine" (aka "The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas") and A Shooting Star Is Not a Star were even covered by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants in 1994 and 2011, respectively.
(source: Steve Huey, Allmusic).