You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

According to BMI music publishing, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was played on American radio and television more times than any other song in the 20th century. It got over 8 million plays from the time it was released until 2000. Note that this includes all versions of the song, not just The Righteous Brothers'.

The husband and wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote this song at the request of Phil Spector, who was looking for a hit for The Righteous Brothers. It was inspired by "Baby I Need Your Loving" by The Four Tops.

Phil Spector produced this song using his famous "Wall of Sound" recording technique. Spector got a songwriting credit for this, as he usually demanded one around this time and had the clout to get it. Cynthia Weil has said that Spector never really wrote but instead "inspired."

This was the Righteous Brothers' first single for Philles Records, Phil Spector's label. Spector bought out the remaining two and a half years of the Righteous Brothers' contract with Moonglow Records (with whom they had regional hits "Little Latin Lupe Lu" - later covered by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - "Koko Joe," and "My Babe") so he could sign them. When this song became a hit, Moonglow released a lot of their old Righteous Brothers material to capitalize on the demand.

Phil Spector was determined to make this his finest production to date, and wanted it to be better than anything released by current top producers like Berry Gordy, George Martin, Andrew Loog Oldham and Brian Wilson. He chose the Righteous Brothers for their tremendous vocal talents, and enlisted his old Jazz guitar idol Barney Kessel to play on the song. Other musicians to play on the track included Los Angeles session pros Carol Kaye (acoustic guitar), Earl Palmer (drums) and Ray Pohlman (bass). Cher, who did a lot of work with Spector early in her career, can also be heard on background vocals near the end of the song. Spector was the first major West Coast producer to make the musicians wear headphones, so when they heard the song, they heard it with all the processing he added, which in this case meant a lot of echo. This got the musicians out of their comfort zones and made them work together to get a sound that gelled. It took more time to record this way, but Spector didn't mind: while a typical 3-hour session would produce about 4 songs, Spector would spend an entire session working on one track, leaving a few minutes at the end to record a throwaway B-side jam.

The line "You've lost that lovin' feelin'" was used as a placeholder until the writers could come up with something better. Spector thought it was great and insisted they use it.

The opening line, "You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips," was inspired by the Paris Sisters song "I Love How You Love Me," which begins, "I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me."

Spector put the time on the single as 3:05 so that radio stations would play it. The actual length is 3:50, but stations at the time rarely played songs much longer than 3 minutes. It took radio station program directors a while to figure out why their playlists were running long, but by then the song was a hit. (Thanks to Kent at the Forgotten Hits newsletter for all above. You can join the newsletter at The60sshop@aol.com.)

The Rolling Stones' manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, took out ads in the British trade papers saying that the Righteous Brothers' version was the greatest record ever made.

This was used in the 1986 movie Top Gun in a scene where Tom Cruise sings it to woo Kelly McGillis. Cruise is still occasionally asked to sing it by fans.

Some of the artists who covered this include Elvis, Dionne Warwick, Hall and Oates, and Neil Diamond, among others. Warwick's version hit #16 in 1969, Hall and Oates' hot streak began when their remake hit #12 in 1980 (they followed with the #1 "Kiss on My List" and #5 "You Make My Dreams." That LP, Voices, also had the original version of "Everytime You Go Away," later made into a #1 hit by Paul Young). Hall And Oates eventually replaced The Righteous Brothers as the #1 selling duo of all time.

When Mann and Weil sang this for The Righteous Brothers, low-voiced Bill Medley loved it, but Bobby Hatfield was puzzled. He asked, "What do I do while he's singing the entire first verse?" Spector replied, "You can go directly to the bank."

This is the only song to enter the UK Top 10 Three different times. It did it in 1965, and again when it was re-released in 1969 and 1990. The 1990 re-release was prompted by the rekindled success of "Unchained Melody," which itself hit #1 after being used in the movie Ghost. The re-release of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" peaked at #3.

In the UK, a version by Cilla Black was released just ahead of The Righteous Brothers' version. Both songs charted the same week, with Black's at #2 and The Righteous Brothers' at #3. The next week, The Righteous Brothers' version went to #1, giving Phil Spector his first #1 UK hit.

In Rolling Stone magazine, Bill Medley recalled, "We had no idea if it would be a hit. It was too slow, too long, and right in the middle of The Beatles and the British Invasion." The following is from the Rolling Stone's Top 500 songs: "Spector was conducting the musicians for a Ronettes show in San Francisco when he decided to sign the Righteous Brothers, who were on the bill. He then asked Mann and Weil to come up with a hit for them. Bill Medley's impossibly deep intro was the first thing that grabbed listeners. 'When Phil played it for me over the phone,' Mann recalled, 'I said, "Phil, you have it on the wrong speed!"' Bobby Hatfield was also puzzled by his partner's opening solo: 'What do I do while he's singing the entire first verse'' he asked Spector, who answered, 'You can go directly to the bank.'" (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for above 2)

In 2003, The Righteous Brothers played this to open the ceremonies when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It was odd timing, as Phil Spector was arrested on murder charges just a month before the ceremony.

Before he became a successful Country/Pop recording artist, Glen Campbell was one of about 50 Los Angeles session musicians who played on many hits of the '60s. Phil Spector used him as a guitarist on several of his productions, most famously on this song. In a 2011 interview with UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Campbell was asked how he found working with the contentious producer. "He was a strange guy. You've probably heard that. This guy came up, one of them hillbilly singers, and asked [Spector], 'what are you on, man?' And he said, 'Decca.' Hah hah! I think he probably was doing some kind of drug. I don't know. But he knew the musicians that he wanted to play on the records. And everything that he did was really, really good."