THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS
 Like
The Walker Brothers, The
Righteous Brothers were not brothers at all.
Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield were a club act popular in
southern California, but they attracted national attention in 1965
when Phil Spector provided them with
the soulful classic You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - his
and their finest hour, according to many.
Spector met Hatfield and Medley at San Francisco's Cow
Palace in 1964 (The Righteous Brothers were on the bill and
Spector was conducting the band). Impressed by the pair's
performance, Spector leased their contract from Moonglow Records,
then had New York songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil fly to
write Los Angeles to write a song for them.
Mann and Weil composed You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' on
a rented piano at their hotel, the Chateau Marmont, then finished
the song at Spector's house, with Spector helping out on the
bridge.
Spector then spent over a week - not to mention $2000 (a
considerable amount at that time) - working on the backing tracks.
Although the song ran for nearly four minutes, it was listed on
the label at three minutes and five seconds as Spector feared
radio stations would be reluctant to play the song if they knew
how long it really was. Lying about the length of the song worked
and the record became an instant worldwide number one.
Within a year they had four Top 10 hits, all produced by Spector.
The duo barnstormed the US as headliners, opened package tours for
The Beatles and The
Rolling Stones, and were almost weekly fixtures on the TV
music show Shindig.
At the peak of their success however, a legal battle between
their original label, Moonglow, and Spector's Phillies label ended
their collaboration with Spector.
 They
eventually signed with MGM Records and came up with three more
hits, including (You're My) Soul and Inspiration which
went to number one in 1966.
But the magic of the Spector years was gone and it was
downhill all the way, leading to the duo parting in 1968 with
Medley going solo and Hatfield hiring another singer, Jimmy
Walker, to continue touring as The Righteous Brothers.
Six years later Medley and Hatfield reunited for a Top 10
return, Rock & Roll Heaven. In 1982 the duo formed a
working partnership again, as well as opening a restaurant and
dance club - called The Hop - together in Fountain Valley,
California.
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin enjoyed another burst
of success when it was included in the 1986 Tom Cruise movie Top
Gun.
Bobby Hatfield was found dead in his hotel room in Kalamazoo,
Michigan on 5 November 2003, half an hour before the duo were due
to perform at Western Michigan University. The cause of his death
was attributed to cocaine-related heart failure.
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