  If rotating core collapse leads to the formation of a proto-neutron star
binary in super-close orbit, then the lighter star, propelled toward the
minimum stable mass, explodes. The neutron star (or black hole) that remains
acquires a spin-perpendicular kick of very large amplitude. Kicks of the type
are required to explain the geodesic precession in double neutron star binaries
such as B1913+16. On the contrary, spin-kick alignment has been claimed for the
Vela and Crab pulsars whose kicks are relatively small. We propose that the
larger kick component, when present in a pulsar, results from the disruption of
an evanescent proto-neutron star binary and is spin perpendicular; the smaller
kick component is associated to some other mechanism that leads to less
vigorous kicks, predominantly parallel to the spin, because of phase averaging.
This gives rise to a "bimodal distribution" in the peculiar velocities of
neutron stars, as observed in the pulsar sample. The kick velocity is found to
scale with the mass of the star that remains as M^(-2/3). This scenario can
explain the run-away black hole GRO J1655-40, the first to show evidence for a
natal kick.
