Post by Freehold Resident on Jul 5, 2007 10:10:53 GMT -5
'Melody' writer Hy Zaret dies at 99
MARIAN GAIL BROWN mgbrown@ctpost.com
Article Last Updated: 07/04/2007 12:16:35 AM EDT
WESTPORT — When Hy Zaret first met Shirley Goidel at sleep-away camp, he predicted he'd marry her someday.
She had a job as a counselor. He was tagging along with a friend visiting someone at the camp. World War II was still years away.
"He was instantly smitten with her. He just knew. And he told her he would marry her. My mom didn't know what to think. It took her a little longer to be sure about him," Robert Zaret, their son, says of his parents' relationship. Zaret kept his word. Call it fate, determination or kismet, but their courtship endured until the "Unchained Melody" lyricist drew his last breath at his home in Westport Monday. He was 99 — and the couple had celebrated their 67th anniversary just three days earlier.
Ask anybody to tell you the title of the 1955 movie that "Unchained Melody" was written for, or what it was about. Few will have a clue. But the words to "Unchained Melody," one of the most enduring, haunting, romantic tributes to love, is another story. Everybody knows the song.
"Oh, my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch a long, lonely time. And time goes by so slowly and time can do so much "
Frank Enjem, a disc jockey with City Beat Productions in Derby, plays the song whenever he wants to pack a dance floor at weddings and other parties.
"It's a very recognizable song. It has a great melody. I don't get requests for it too often. But I play it a lot on my own," Enjem says. "I can get people of all ages
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out dancing with it." And when there are few out on the floor, "Unchained Melody," he says is a "definite ice breaker."
Recording industry statistics indicated that Zaret's best known song has been recorded at least 300 times with the likes of the Righteous Brothers, Elvis and even U2 doing covers. The Songwriters Hall of Fame paid homage to "Unchained Melody" last month with its Towering Song award, saying it "influenced culture in a unique way over the years."
None of Zaret's other songs ever matched it. Several did, however, become hits. They included "One Meat Ball," a tune about a poor guy with only 15 cents for food, that became a hit for the Andrews Sisters. Jimmy Dorsey climbed to No. 1 on the charts in 1941 with "My Sister and I." And "Dedicated to You," a jazz tune co-written with Sammy Cahn and Saul Caplin, drew audiences, too.
"I don't know if my father ever imagined how prolific 'Unchained Melody' might be," Robert Zaret says. "Can anybody, does anybody know something like that ahead of time? I doubt it."
Thousands upon thousands of married couples slow dance to it at their wedding receptions. And Robert Zaret was no exception. "It wasn't our wedding song, but we definitely danced to it."
The story Hy Zaret would tell his two sons, Robert and Thomas, years after "Unchained" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, was that he got a phone call from composer Alex North saying that he had written the music for a movie and needed some lyrics.
"My dad explained that he was busy painting the house," Robert Zaret says. "Now, I don't know if he was actually painting it or supervising painters who were doing it."
Hy Zaret apparently had a cantankerous side and, at first, he whined. Then, North explained the plot of the low-budget prison movie. Zaret, intrigued, decided to abandon the paint job. He wrote the words to "Unchained Melody" in two days flat. The rest is chart-topping history — to the tune of earning the music industry in excess of $150 billion.
In addition to bearing a lover's feeling of loneliness, the song has engendered some controversy when another Hy Zaret claimed to be the lyricist behind it. That particular Zaret, an engineer from Freehold, N.J, changed his name from William Stirrat to Hy Zaret and later claimed to be the author.
Nevertheless, the two Hy Zarets are forever linked in one of life's — and death's — ironies. Hy Zaret of New Jersey and Hy Zaret, the Westport lyricist, died on the same day — July 2 — three years apart.
The "Unchained Melody" lyricist grew up in New York City, attending public school. He was a skinny kid who managed to earn a spot on his various school football teams.
He graduated from Brooklyn Law School in the 1930s and embarked on a career practicing an "obscure area of real estate law," his son, Robert Zaret says. "Songwriting was not a promising career path then."
Still, Zaret, the eldest of his Russian immigrant parents' four children — and only son — always knew he had his family behind him. Zaret was born Hyman Harry Zaritsky in New York City, on Aug. 21, 1907, to Max and Dora Shiffman Zaritsky. In the early 1930s, the future songwriter shortened his last name to Zaret. The Zaritskys had immigrated to the United States in the 1890s. Max worked in the garment industry as a manufacturer. Zaret's mom doted on her eldest child.
For a number of years, Zaret practiced real estate law. It earned him a solid living. Then he wrote and produced radio and television programs for CBS.
When World War II began, Zaret enlisted with the Army, where he served in a special unit — along with Frank Loesser, who would later compose "Guys and Dolls" — writing wartime propaganda jingles and songs.
Among the work Zaret was proudest of were his "Little Songs on Big Subjects," a series of short works, tackling everything from science, math, justice and civil rights.
"You might not know this, but during World War II, even blood was segregated. A white person couldn't donate to someone black" and vice versa, Robert Zaret says. He can still recite the chorus to one of his father's songs, "Put Your Finger on a Map."
It goes: "Close your eyes and put your finger on a map and let it linger. Anywhere you put your finger too there's someone with the same blood type as you "
In their 67-year marriage, the Zarets understood that while they shared some things in common, they often had different mindsets and outlooks on life.
"My mom loves to travel. Paris is one of her favorite places. And my dad, he was a real homebody. He could be quite content, puttering around the house, fixing things, coming up with endless house projects for himself," Robert Zaret says. "It would have been quite easy, after his heart attacks a few years ago, to refuse to go with her to Paris. He had a good excuse. But he never did that."
Growing up, Robert Zaret says he always knew his parents loved each other. "My dad wrote poems to my mom all the time. They loved each other a lot. Their marriage lasted so long because they both worked hard at it. They worked hard, but they didn't make it look that way. That's not something I appreciated when I was growing up. But I do now."
MARIAN GAIL BROWN mgbrown@ctpost.com
Article Last Updated: 07/04/2007 12:16:35 AM EDT
WESTPORT — When Hy Zaret first met Shirley Goidel at sleep-away camp, he predicted he'd marry her someday.
She had a job as a counselor. He was tagging along with a friend visiting someone at the camp. World War II was still years away.
"He was instantly smitten with her. He just knew. And he told her he would marry her. My mom didn't know what to think. It took her a little longer to be sure about him," Robert Zaret, their son, says of his parents' relationship. Zaret kept his word. Call it fate, determination or kismet, but their courtship endured until the "Unchained Melody" lyricist drew his last breath at his home in Westport Monday. He was 99 — and the couple had celebrated their 67th anniversary just three days earlier.
Ask anybody to tell you the title of the 1955 movie that "Unchained Melody" was written for, or what it was about. Few will have a clue. But the words to "Unchained Melody," one of the most enduring, haunting, romantic tributes to love, is another story. Everybody knows the song.
"Oh, my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch a long, lonely time. And time goes by so slowly and time can do so much "
Frank Enjem, a disc jockey with City Beat Productions in Derby, plays the song whenever he wants to pack a dance floor at weddings and other parties.
"It's a very recognizable song. It has a great melody. I don't get requests for it too often. But I play it a lot on my own," Enjem says. "I can get people of all ages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
out dancing with it." And when there are few out on the floor, "Unchained Melody," he says is a "definite ice breaker."
Recording industry statistics indicated that Zaret's best known song has been recorded at least 300 times with the likes of the Righteous Brothers, Elvis and even U2 doing covers. The Songwriters Hall of Fame paid homage to "Unchained Melody" last month with its Towering Song award, saying it "influenced culture in a unique way over the years."
None of Zaret's other songs ever matched it. Several did, however, become hits. They included "One Meat Ball," a tune about a poor guy with only 15 cents for food, that became a hit for the Andrews Sisters. Jimmy Dorsey climbed to No. 1 on the charts in 1941 with "My Sister and I." And "Dedicated to You," a jazz tune co-written with Sammy Cahn and Saul Caplin, drew audiences, too.
"I don't know if my father ever imagined how prolific 'Unchained Melody' might be," Robert Zaret says. "Can anybody, does anybody know something like that ahead of time? I doubt it."
Thousands upon thousands of married couples slow dance to it at their wedding receptions. And Robert Zaret was no exception. "It wasn't our wedding song, but we definitely danced to it."
The story Hy Zaret would tell his two sons, Robert and Thomas, years after "Unchained" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, was that he got a phone call from composer Alex North saying that he had written the music for a movie and needed some lyrics.
"My dad explained that he was busy painting the house," Robert Zaret says. "Now, I don't know if he was actually painting it or supervising painters who were doing it."
Hy Zaret apparently had a cantankerous side and, at first, he whined. Then, North explained the plot of the low-budget prison movie. Zaret, intrigued, decided to abandon the paint job. He wrote the words to "Unchained Melody" in two days flat. The rest is chart-topping history — to the tune of earning the music industry in excess of $150 billion.
In addition to bearing a lover's feeling of loneliness, the song has engendered some controversy when another Hy Zaret claimed to be the lyricist behind it. That particular Zaret, an engineer from Freehold, N.J, changed his name from William Stirrat to Hy Zaret and later claimed to be the author.
Nevertheless, the two Hy Zarets are forever linked in one of life's — and death's — ironies. Hy Zaret of New Jersey and Hy Zaret, the Westport lyricist, died on the same day — July 2 — three years apart.
The "Unchained Melody" lyricist grew up in New York City, attending public school. He was a skinny kid who managed to earn a spot on his various school football teams.
He graduated from Brooklyn Law School in the 1930s and embarked on a career practicing an "obscure area of real estate law," his son, Robert Zaret says. "Songwriting was not a promising career path then."
Still, Zaret, the eldest of his Russian immigrant parents' four children — and only son — always knew he had his family behind him. Zaret was born Hyman Harry Zaritsky in New York City, on Aug. 21, 1907, to Max and Dora Shiffman Zaritsky. In the early 1930s, the future songwriter shortened his last name to Zaret. The Zaritskys had immigrated to the United States in the 1890s. Max worked in the garment industry as a manufacturer. Zaret's mom doted on her eldest child.
For a number of years, Zaret practiced real estate law. It earned him a solid living. Then he wrote and produced radio and television programs for CBS.
When World War II began, Zaret enlisted with the Army, where he served in a special unit — along with Frank Loesser, who would later compose "Guys and Dolls" — writing wartime propaganda jingles and songs.
Among the work Zaret was proudest of were his "Little Songs on Big Subjects," a series of short works, tackling everything from science, math, justice and civil rights.
"You might not know this, but during World War II, even blood was segregated. A white person couldn't donate to someone black" and vice versa, Robert Zaret says. He can still recite the chorus to one of his father's songs, "Put Your Finger on a Map."
It goes: "Close your eyes and put your finger on a map and let it linger. Anywhere you put your finger too there's someone with the same blood type as you "
In their 67-year marriage, the Zarets understood that while they shared some things in common, they often had different mindsets and outlooks on life.
"My mom loves to travel. Paris is one of her favorite places. And my dad, he was a real homebody. He could be quite content, puttering around the house, fixing things, coming up with endless house projects for himself," Robert Zaret says. "It would have been quite easy, after his heart attacks a few years ago, to refuse to go with her to Paris. He had a good excuse. But he never did that."
Growing up, Robert Zaret says he always knew his parents loved each other. "My dad wrote poems to my mom all the time. They loved each other a lot. Their marriage lasted so long because they both worked hard at it. They worked hard, but they didn't make it look that way. That's not something I appreciated when I was growing up. But I do now."