1965 The Righteous Brothers: You've Lost That Loving Feelin'

Back in the eighties, Castrol ran a long running advert on British television to promote their oil in which, to the suitably sombre sounds of Mahler's Seventh, they announced that such were the myriad uses of their 'liquid engineering' product that 'oil was too small a word for it'. 'You've Lost That Loving Feelin'' has overtones of that same notion, because although the song reigned resplendent as the most popular selling single in January 1965, 'pop' is too small a word for the widescreen hurricane of emotion that blows up within its grooves.

Actually, I don't need to consider the song in the round to justify this - there's a moment at 1:26 where the brothers* cry "baby, something beauitful's dying" in a way that slays me every time. More wailing than singing, the words sound like they're being beaten out of them, and in the context of the song they probably are - another love affair has gone sour and a person is drifting away while the other can only stand by and watch.

They don't start off spilling their guts; initially anyway the Brothers try to keep their dignity with a level of resigned observation on the opening "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips", sung in a conversational tone to a sheepish, hangdog beat that hints that a good chat to clear the air will sort things out. But having opened the can of worms, it's clear as the song progresses that reconciliation is not an option, leading to the repeated accusation of the title before Medley and Hatfield break ranks from their harmonising to trade call and responses ("I need your love/I need your love", suggesting they're both vying for the attention of the same girl) before falling onto their knees as one in a pleading "Bring back that loving feeling" as it fades into an ominous silence that the girl fills not with her answer but the empty sound of her walking away.

Of course, such lyrical drama requires an appropriate setting to contain it and one is duly provided by a Phil Spector 'wall of sound' production that gives 'You've Lost That Loving Feelin'' the density of tropical air. Loud isn't everything though and sometimes it's nothing - even the biggest wall will topple over in a breeze if the cement doesn't bind the bricks properly and Spector is wise enough to lead the listener by the hand instead of bludgeoning them over the head from the off, building to his crescendo from an almost plodding opening to an apocalypse of anguish to match the increased desperation of the vocals as the four horseman take the Brother's loving feeling away.

Pop music for gown ups or grown up music for the kids? It's both and neither; 'You've Lost That Loving Feelin'' is a monolith of a song, but the whole is very much greater than the sum of it's parts; Spector, Mann and Weill may have written it, the Righteous Brothers may have sung it and Spector may have produced it, but it's the end product of the single itself that's the true star rather than any individual component outshining another. Look no further than Cilla Black's version sitting at number two to hear how horrible the results are when the elements aren't in balance, and the fact that this is the seed that spawned the power ballad further shows what can go wrong when you're lazy with the ingredients and produce vinegar instead of wine. 'You've Lost That Loving Feelin'' is never lazy, and games would now have to be raised if anyone wanted to compete.


* Just to clarify, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield weren't brothers at all, but their twin vocals were always seemingly telepathically linked to compliment each other to the extent that it's pointless to try and separate them out individually. I couldn't anyway.