"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is a 1965 number-one hit
single in the United States and the United Kingdom by The
Righteous Brothers. In 1999, the performing-rights organization
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) announced that it was the
most-played song of the 20th century in the United States.
Additionally, the song was chosen as one of the Songs of the
Century by RIAA and ranked #34 on the list of the 500 Greatest
Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone.
Written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector and Cynthia Weil, the
song is one of the foremost examples of producer Phil Spector's
"Wall of Sound" technique. Recorded in Studio A of the famed
Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, it features lead vocals by
Bill Medley. Bobby Hatfield reportedly expressed his annoyance
to Spector upon learning that he would have to wait until the
chorus before joining Medley’s vocals. When Hatfield asked
Spector just what he was supposed to do during Medley’s solo,
Spector replied: “You can go straight to the fucking bank.”
Among the background singers in the song's crescendo is a young
Cher.
Cynthia Weil recalled that, "After Phil, Barry and I
finished [writing it], we took it over to the Righteous
Brothers. Bill Medley, who has the low voice, seemed to like
the song." Even with his interest in the song, however, Medley
had his doubts. In an interview with
Rolling Stonemagazine, he 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." Indeed, the
song ran for nearly four minutes when released. This was much
too long by contemporary AM standards, but Spector refused to
cut it shorter. On the label where the time is indicated, he
had "3:05" printed, instead of the track's actual running time
of 3:45. He also added a false ending which made the recording
more dramatic, and would also trick radio deejays into thinking
it was a shorter song. Upon being played the finished record
over the phone, co-writer Barry Mann reacted to Medley’s deep
baritone by telling Spector, “Phil, you have it on the wrong
speed!”
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 dated 6 February 1965 and remained at #1 the
week of 13 February 1965. In additon the song crossed over to
the R&B charts peaking at number two .
The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" debuted at #35 on
the UK Top 40 chart dated 16 January 1965: on the same chart a
rival version by Cilla Black debuted at #28. Black had become a
recording star by covering Dionne Warwick's newly released
American hit "Anyone Who Had a Heart" for the UK market with a
resultant #1 in February 1964; Black's producer Gordon Mills
had repeated the strategy that had given Black her first #1 hit
by having the songtress cover the Righteous Brothers new
American release "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling". (Black's
version had an abbreviated bridge which she explained saying:
"I don't want people to get bored";the abridgment also removed
the necessity of Black's attempting to match the Righteous
Brothers' climactic vocal trade-off.)The 24 January chart saw
Black remain in ascendancy at #12 while the Righteous Brothers
at #20 but while the 6 February chart saw Black jump to #2 the
Righteous Brothers made a larger jump to #3 powered by a
full-page ad Andrew Oldham had run in
Melody Maker:
"This advert is not for commercial gain, it is taken as
something that must be said about the great new PHIL SPECTOR
Record, THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS singing "YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN'
FEELING". Already in the American Top Ten, this is Spector's
greatest production, the last word in Tomorrow's sound Today,
exposing the overall mediocrity of the Music Industry. Signed,,
Andrew Oldham"
The UK Top 40 dated 20 February saw the Righteous Brothers'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" at #1 - it would
remain there 27 February - while Black's version began its
descent dropping to #5. Although Black's version of "You've
Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" would prove to be
her highest charting UK single apart from her two #1's: "Anyone
Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World", and also reached #2 in
Australia - where the Righteous Brothers' version was also a
hit at #5 - the eclipse of Black's version by the original did
usher in a downtime in Black's recording career: after the
followup "I've Been Wrong Before" fell short of the Top Ten at
#17 in the spring of 1965 Black spent the remainder of the year
concentrating on performing and resumed recording only at the
start of 1966 when "Love's Just a Broken Heart" (#5) began the
most successful year of her recording career.
Cilla Black remade "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" for her
1985
Surprisingly Cillaalbum.
The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin
'" is the only single
to enter the UK Top 10 three times, having successful
re-releases in 1969 (#10) and 1990 (#3), the last release being
to follow-up the re-release of "Unchained Melody", which had
hit #1 due to being featured in the film
Ghost. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" also reached #42
after a 1977 re-release and in 1988 reached #87.
Hall & Oates' US Top 20 remake of "You've Lost That
Lovin' Feelin
'" in 1980 was a minor
UK hit at #55. More successful was Telly Savalas' 1975 version
which reached #47; Savalas' single was the follow-up to his
novelty #1 "If" and was similarly talked rather than sung.
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" was the only single
released off
Soulfula 1969 release aimed to showcase Dionne Warwick
as more of an R&B singer than was evinced by her work with
Burt Bacharach. Co-produced by Warwick and Chips Moman and
recorded at American Sound Studios in Memphis, Tennessee,
Soulfulwas one of Warwick's most successful albums with
a #11 peak although "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" was not
one of Warwick's very biggest hits (#16). In Australia the
Go-SetTop 40 chart ranked Warwick's version of "You've
Lost That Lovin' Feeling" with a #34 peak in January of
1970.[1] (Warwick's version spells the last word of the title
out fully as "feeling" rather than the usual "feelin
'".)
Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's self-titled 1972 album
featured a version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" which was released
as the second single after the Top 30 version of "You've Got a
Friend". The Flack/Hathaway take on "You've Lost That Lovin'
Feelin
'" reached #30 R&B
with a Billboard Hot 100 peak of #71 (Cash Box Top 100 Singles
peak was #57;Record World 100 Pop Chart rank peak was #53).
[2][3]
In 1979 Long John Baldry featured "You've Lost That Lovin'
Feelin
'" on
Baldry's Outthe Jimmy Horowitz produced disc which was
Baldry's first recording in his newly adopted homeland of
Canada. This version is performed as a duet with Kathi McDonald
who in singing the latter half of the first and second verse
inverts the usual order. Released as a single, the mild
Canadian chart success (#45) of Baldry's "You've Lost That
Lovin' Feelin
'" spilled over into
the US charts at #89. However the track did reach #2 in
Australia in 1980 and Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers has
called the Baldry/McDonald version the best remake of "You've
Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'". Baldry had first
recorded the song for his 1966 album
Looking at Long John.
The 1980 Hall & Oates
Voicesalbum featured a remake of "You've Lost That
Lovin' Feelin
'" with a spare
arrangement contrasting with the lavish Righteous Brothers
version ; the second non-original song Hall & Oates
had ever recorded, the track was issued as the album's second
single after the original "How Does It Feel to Be Back" peaked
at a disappointing #30. The November peak of #12 made "You've
Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" the first Hall
& Oates single to ascend higher than #20 since the #1 hit
"Rich Girl" in the spring of 1977. The Hall & Oates
comeback which began with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" was strengthened by
the follow-up single "Kiss on My List" which inaugurated the
duo's 80s superstardom attaining a #1 chart position and
refocusing attention on Hall & Oates' original
material.
In 1986 a remake of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" by Grant &
Forsyth reached #48 in the Netherlands, where the song was a
#57 chart item in 2002 for André Hazes & Johnny Logan.
Günther Neefs reached #31 on the Belgian charts (Flemish
region) with his 1996 recording "You've Lost That Loving
Feeling".
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" charted C&W at
#41 for Barbara Fairchild in 1975 while in 1988 Carroll Baker
took the song to #8 on the C&W chart in Canada.
Barry Mann has twice recorded his composition "You've Lost
That Lovin' Feelin
'", the first time on
his 1971 album
Lay It All Outand on
Soul and Inspirationa 2000 Atlantic release comprising
Mann's own renditions of his classic songs.
Bill Medley recorded a version of "You've Lost That Lovin'
Feelin
'" for his 1971
A Song For Youalbum.
Glen Campbell who was the rhythm guitarist on the Righteous
Brothers' version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" cut his own version
of the song; it first appeared on the 1999 album
My Hits and Love Songs.
The concert movie
The Big T.N.T. Showfilmed at the Moulin Rouge in Los
Angeles 29 November 1965 features Joan Baez singing "You've
Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" to the piano
accompaniment of Phil Spector.
Elvis Presley covered the song with a unique arrangement on
his 1970 live album & concert film
That's the Way It Is. Presley's version was reprised for
his 1972 album
Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden.
Phil Collins performed "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" at the Princes
Trust Rock Gala in 1987.
Paul Shane's performance of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" on
Pebble Mill at Onein 1996 was voted the 72nd Funniest
Moment on British Television in a poll on Channel 4 in 2004.
[4]
During the Main Event Tour of Australia in 1998, the
headliners John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow
joined vocal forces on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'"; the performance
was included on the 1999 album release
Highlights from The Main Event.
Reggae versions of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
'" have been cut by
Lorna Bennett, the Blackstones, Dennis Brown, Ray Darwin, the
Heptones and Sugar Minott.
Instrumental versions have been recorded by Acker Bilk, Paul
Brett, Fania All-Stars, Floyd Cramer, Sonny Criss, King Curtis,
Johnny Harris, James Last, Lincoln Mayorga, Junior Mance, Bill
Pursell, Boots Randolph, John Schroeder, and Kai Winding.