In 1965, the musical group The Righteous Brothers had a top-selling single with the song, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” which was written by Barry Mann, Cynthis Weil and legendary producer Phil Spector. The song was able to bridge the gap among musical genres, since it was popular with teenagers and those whose interests were more in tune with older pop tunes. In addition, black people enjoyed the song because of its soulful rendition by the group’s two performers, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield.
Video of a performance during an appearance on an American television program was posted in June 2013, and has had more than 881,000 views since that time. The black and white video shows the duo performing the hit song in front of a screaming crowd of enthusiastic individuals.
Lasting just under five minutes, the duo sings while dressed in suits, clothing that is rarely if ever seen today in musical performances today.
The song was popular enough to be used in the 1986 film, Top Gun, which helped return it to the Billboard charts. In addition, performers such as Dionne Warwick, Hall and Oates and Cilla Black have covered it.
The Righteous Brothers had other hits during their career, such as “Unchained Melody,” which culminated in 2003 with election to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They first began performing in 1963 before breaking up 12 years later.
Sadly, Hatfield died in November 2003, just prior to performing a concert with Medley in Michigan.