Righteous Brothers – You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling

Spector Printed 3:05 On The Label For A Song Running 3:45

Released in November 1964, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” entered the Billboard Hot 100 on December 12 at number 77 before climbing to number one by February 6, 1965, where it stayed for two weeks. The song also topped the UK chart and reached number one across Europe and Australia, becoming the most-played song on American radio and television during the entire 20th century according to BMI, racking up over eight million plays by 2000. What makes this recording revolutionary is that Phil Spector deliberately lied about its running time, printing 3:05 on the label when the track actually ran 3:45, knowing radio DJs wouldn’t play anything approaching four minutes.

The single spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100, an unusually long run for 1965, and reached number two on the R&B chart despite featuring two white singers. In Britain, it debuted at number 35 in January 1965 and hit number one by its fourth week, where it stayed for two weeks before the Kinks’ Tired of Waiting for You replaced it. The song made UK chart history by entering the top 10 three separate times, returning to number 10 in 1969 and number three in 1990 after Ghost featured their other hit Unchained Melody. At a moment when the Beatles and British Invasion dominated radio, this moody, nearly four-minute ballad proved that Spector’s Wall of Sound could still compete, even when everyone told him it was too slow, too long, and too dirge-like for AM radio.

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote the song at Spector’s request after he signed the Righteous Brothers to his Philles label. Spector flew the New York couple to Los Angeles and put them up at the Chateau Marmont with one mission: write a ballad for Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. Taking inspiration from the Four Tops’ Baby I Need Your Loving, Mann crafted the opening line by adapting a phrase from his earlier song I Love How You Love Me, changing it to “you never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips.” The title was meant to be a placeholder, but Spector loved it and insisted they keep it. When Spector joined the writing, he added those “gone, gone, gone, whoa, whoa, whoa” lines that Weil hated, and borrowed a Hang On Sloopy riff for the bridge. The moment Brian Wilson heard the finished record in January 1965, he called Mann and Weil at 3 a.m. New York time to tell them it was the greatest record ever and had inspired him to keep writing, later creating Good Vibrations as his attempt to surpass it.

Recording took place at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles with engineer Larry Levine. Spector crammed Studio A with musicians from the legendary Wrecking Crew, including multiple guitars, basses, and pianos, creating microphone leakage that contributed to his signature sound. Gene Page arranged the huge instrumental track, which they recorded first, followed weeks later by the vocals in the studio’s cement-lined echo chambers. Everything was mixed down to mono because Spector believed stereo allowed too much flexibility, preferring to fix the sound permanently. The production cost around 35,000 dollars, massive for 1964. When co-writer Barry Mann first heard the finished track over the phone, he told Spector it sounded like the tape was running at the wrong speed because Medley’s baritone was so deep. Bobby Hatfield was furious that he didn’t sing until the chorus, asking Spector what he was supposed to do during the verses. Spector’s response: “You can go directly to the bank.”

The single appeared on the album You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ released in March 1965 on Philles Records, though the duo had been recording for Moonglow before Spector signed them. Their previous singles Little Latin Lupe Lu and My Babe barely dented the top 100, but Spector saw something in their blue-eyed soul that fit his vision. This was his first production featuring white male vocalists after years of working exclusively with African-American female groups. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and launched the Righteous Brothers into superstardom, though Bobby Hatfield later admitted they had no idea if it would be a hit when they recorded it.

The song’s influence rippled through decades. Dionne Warwick’s version hit number 16 in 1969. Hall and Oates reached number 12 with their 1980 cover, launching their run of hits and eventually replacing the Righteous Brothers as the bestselling duo of all time. Elvis Presley covered it for his 1970 live album and concert film That’s the Way It Is, reprising it for his 1972 Madison Square Garden album. The song appeared in Top Gun when Tom Cruise sang it to Kelly McGillis in that infamous bar scene. Billy Joel even referenced Spector’s time manipulation in The Entertainer with the line “if you’re gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05.” The BMI named it the most-played song of the century, it entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1997, Rolling Stone ranked it number 34 on their 500 Greatest Songs list, and it made the RIAA’s Top 365 Songs of the Century.

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin‘ stands as the ultimate expression of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound technique and the moment the Righteous Brothers transformed from club singers into legends. Spector later called it the pinnacle of his achievement at Philles Records, and he was right. The song that everyone criticized before release, that Mann and Weil’s publisher wanted renamed, that radio DJ Murray the K thought needed restructuring, became the most-played recording in a hundred years. Sometimes the greatest art comes from ignoring every piece of advice, lying about the running time, and trusting your vision enough to spend 35,000 dollars proving everyone wrong. The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson said it best in that 3 a.m. phone call: it was the greatest record ever, period.