You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - Writing, Recording and Public Reception

Writing, Recording and Public Reception

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 'The Wrecking Crew' instrumentally and 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.” The strings were arranged by legendary arranger Gene Page. Among the background singers in the song's crescendo is a young Cher. The form of the song is the tried and true pop song form of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus or ABABCB form. Several interesting features are: 1) The bridge is one of the longest bridges one will find in any genre of popular music and slowly builds bit by bit to the dramatic final chorus. 2) The lyric in the final chorus is cleverly, effectively and pleadingly altered to "Bring back that loving feeling" rather than "You've lost that loving feeling." And 3) In the Righteous Brothers version this is one of the rare songs which has no 4-bar, 8-bar, or even one note of instrumental intro, getting right to the point stating, "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips." Thus, it pulls the listener immediately into the drama of a relationship that has changed.

Cynthia Weil recalled that, "After Phil, Barry and I finished, 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 Stone magazine, 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!”

To Spector's surprise, "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 addition the song crossed over to the R&B charts peaking at number two.