Unchained melodies: The Righteous Brothers say goodbye as 'Lovin' Feelin' Farewell Tour' makes Isleta Resort & Casino stop

After more than 60 years, The Righteous Brothers are saying goodbye to fans following a career full of memorable songs.

It all began with the song, “Little Latin Lupe Lu,” written by founding member Bill Medley at age 19. At the time, Medley and singer Bobby Hatfield, were in a five-piece band called The Paramours. The duo left the group and recorded the song in 1962 for Ray Maxwell at Moonglow Records.

“I dated a girl named Lupe for a couple of years and we broke up, obviously,” Medley said. “I just wrote the song and I just liked how ‘Little Latin Lupe Lu’ was fun to sing. So I wrote a song around that, and they loved it, and they wanted to record it. That was our first hit, and started everything off.”

The duo needed a name and came up with The Righteous Brothers, which was inspired by Black Marines from El Toro Marine base in California. The Marines heard about the duo singing rhythm and blues songs and went to check out their performances in the early 1960s in Orange County, California. Sometimes at the end of a song, the Marines would yell out, “That’s righteous, brother!”

Shortly after “Little Latin Lupe Lu” peaked at 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, the duo was approached by record producer and songwriter Phil Spector, and recorded “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”

“When Barry (Mann) and Cynthia Weil wrote the song for us, it was kind of faster and higher, and I couldn’t get the real high notes,” Medley said. “They’d have to lower it and every time they would lower it, Phil Spector, who produced it, slowed it down. And so it just became kind of a different record and it just did amazingly well.”

The Righteous Brothers music has spanned several generations, with its songs being used in blockbuster films such as “Ghost” and “Top Gun.” However, the song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” performed by Medley and Jennifer Warnes for the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack, stands out the most in Medley’s mind. He jokingly refers to it as “the song that won’t die.”

In 2003, Medley took a short hiatus after Hatfield passed away at age 63. It was not until Medley listened to Bucky Heard, 10 years after Hatfield’s death, that he realized he was not ready to give up what he and Hatfield created together and returned to the stage with Heard. It has been a good run for Medley and Heard, who are bidding adieu to fans with their “Lovin’ Feelin’ Farewell Tour” that makes a stop at Isleta Resort & Casino on Saturday, Feb. 1.

“We do the songs that we had kids with and I know that’s why 90% of the people are there,” Medley said. “We just do those songs and a couple of other surprises. But the main thing is we have a lot of fun in the show. We both have pretty good sense of humors and so it’s always kind of a party.”

Medley also credits young at heart audiences for keeping the mood lively during The Righteous Brothers concerts and keeping him touring after all these years.

“The audience makes you feel like you’re 25-years-old,” he said. “You walk on stage and they feel like they’re 25, so the whole room is filled with 25-year-old people. The only tough thing is the traveling. The traveling’s getting a little tough, but I love what I do, and I can’t do anything else, so it’s a no brainer.”