Gene Pitney recorded Town Without Pity in 1961 for the movie of the same name. It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Song and was also nominated for an Academy Award but lost out to Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
I am not sure where I heard this but supposedly the producer of the record kept making Gene do take after take of it. Very late in the evening he made Pitney do it one more time and Pitney was so tired that his voice actually cracks in spots as he sings the song. The producer got exactly what he wanted – a very tired song sung by a very tired singer.
