You've Lost That Loving Feeling – Righteous Brothers

 

There used to be a nightclub in a town about half hours drive from where I lived, we used to go there quite often as a crowd. This was around the time of the music that's now called 'Old Skool' but then it was just dance music to us. We had to dress up in those days to just get in the door, past the bouncers, park your coat in the cloakroom and hit the bar. There was always a need for a few pints before even thinking about putting a toe near the dance floor. The club had a great light system and they would show it off by doing a launch theme and all the lights going off in stages building up the excitement of the evening.

Then when enough beer had been consumed to pluck up the courage a few braver souls would attempt to dance to the sounds of the day, trying not to embarrass themselves and not crash into the people next to them. It was then like tag wrestling as some of the crowd would replace the early starters as they would retreat to the bar to start the cycle all over again.

And then, when things were just getting to the point that the repetitive beats were driving everyone daft, it was time for the party section. Over the years the house DJ got a mix together that basically became a staple of each visit, quit often you'd know what he was about to play next as he used to mix them together with what I think was a spade as one song would collide with the next. He often only used to play the intro and the sing along bit and then we'd be off to the next song.

The only two exceptions were the designated 'girls' and 'boys' songs. Just like that he would drop Gloria Gaynors 'I Will Survive' and every single lady in the place would belt it out, normally pointing at their other half or to the group of horrible blokes that had been trying to chat them up for the past hour. 

 

Then it was the 'lads' turn, as you probably guessed, we got this song. Suitably inspired as it was used in the film Top Gun, Maverick (Tom Cruise) sings it to his would be girlfriend in the middle of a crowded bar. Me and my mates were all over this, we even had the routine of all going down on one knee for the third verse. Many a group of ladies were quite taken with us doing this and we even ended up on the video screen on occasions. We thought we'd made it.

The next part of the evening was a few more rounds of the current tunes before we'd end up with the 'slow section'. This is where if you hadn't done to many return trips to the bar you were supposed to try and ask a lady to dance before the house lights came up and you'd realise you weren't dancing with the partner you were hoping for, but maybe better luck next week.

Favourite lyric : Baby, baby, I'd get down on my knees for you / If you would only love me like you used to do, yeah