RONNIE SPECTOR (1943 - 2022)

Ronnie Spector, the voice behind the girl group, The Ronettes who had big hits in the 1960's with "Baby, I Love You" and "Be My Baby", has passed away on January 12th at the age of seventy-eight after a battle with cancer. Referred to as the "bad girl of rock and roll", Spector had a brief, volatile marriage to producer, Phil Spector who helped bring the group to great success with his unique production style.

Born Veronica Bennett in the Spanish Harlem section of New York, she began singing with her older sister, Estelle and their cousin, Nedra Talley as young girls, first forming a group called the Darling Sisters. The girls managed to get a recording contract with a local label, releasing a few singles that failed to chart. Unhappy at the label, the trio had Phil Spector on their radar and worked to audition for him. He was impressed with their sound, particularly Ronnie, and signed the group, now renamed "The Ronettes", to his label, Philles Records in 1963.

"Be My Baby", written by Spector and the songwriting team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, was The Ronettes's first official single (after several of their early recordings were credited to "The Crystals") and was an immediate hit, peaking at number two on the the Billboard Top 100 chart. This began their meteoric rise with other hits, "Do I Love You?", "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up" and "Walking in the Rain" before the group's first album, "Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica" was released in late 1964 and would ultimately become their only studio album. 

With Spector falling in love with Ronnie, it seemed like he didn't want the Ronettes to become too popular, refusing to release some of their already recorded singles that would go on to be recorded by other groups. By 1967, due to a decline in popularity and internal problems within the group due to Spector's complete devotion to Ronnie, the Ronettes broke up. Not long after, Ronnie married Spector which began years of psychological abuse and being held captive in their Beverly Hills mansion before finally escaping him in 1972.

Spector first tried to restart her career by attempting to reunite with the Ronettes but Nedra and Estelle were not interested in returning to the group. She hired new singers and recorded some songs in 1975 before deciding to go on as a solo artist. After several attempts, Spector recorded her first solo album, "Siren" in 1980 but it didn't get much attention. It would not be until rocker, Eddie Money asked her to perform backing vocals on his 1986 song, "Take Me Home Tonight" and appeared in the music video that Spector enjoyed a brief moment of renewed popularity when the single reached the top-five on the pop chart. She recorded another solo album, "Unfinished Business" the following year but it failed to chart. Spector went on to write a memoir in 1990, "Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, Or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette" and was inducted with the Ronettes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

PHIL SPECTOR (1939 - 2021)

Phil Spector, a highly influential producer and songwriter known for the creation of "the wall of sound" which brought a dense orchestral aesthetic to rock music, has passed away at the age of eighty-one. He died on January 16th from complications of COVID-19 as an inmate at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, CA. after being convicted for the 2003 murder of actress, Lana Clarkson and sentenced to nineteen years to life in prison. This is not a warm tribute to this unstable and deeply troubled man but simply acknowledging his important contributions to pop music.

Born Harvey Phillip Spector in the Bronx, he began his career as a musician, performing with the group, The Teddy Bears as a guitarist and vocalist. He wrote their number one hit, "To Know Him Is to Love Him" in 1958, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. He soon moved to forming his own record label, Philles Records, at the age of twenty-one in 1960 and focusing on production. Spector had an ear for talent and went on to sign and produce The Crystals ("He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Then He Kissed Me"), The Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration"), Darlene Love ("(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry", "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)") and The Ronettes ("Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up"). One of the last artists he signed to his label were Ike & Tina Turner and Spector produced the single, "River Deep, Mountain High" in 1966. While the song reached number three in the UK, it did not even come close to the top-forty in the US, disappointing him greatly since he considered it his greatest work.

Spector slowly began withdrawing from recording after this, living largely like a recluse. He was lured out in 1970 by Allen Klein, the manager of the Beatles, to help work on completing their abandoned project which would ultimately become the group's final album, "Let It Be". The album was a major hit with Spector later producing solo work for John Lennon ("Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)", "Imagine", "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)") and George Harrison ("My Sweet Lord", "What Is Life"). Spector went on to produced the albums, "Death of a Ladies' Man" for Leonard Cohen in 1977 and "End of the Century" for the punk-rock band, The Ramones in 1979. In both of these cases, fans were unhappy with the results as they found the records too commercial and strayed too far from their musical roots.

While married to his first wife, Annette Merar, a lead vocalist of the Spectors Three, Spector began an affair with Veronica Bennett, (later known as Ronnie Spector), the lead singer of The Ronettes and married her in 1968. Ronnie went on to later describe being psychologically terrorized by him and in forced isolation in their home for years before escaping from Spector in 1972.

SING IT LADIES - THE SEQUEL

It's been no secret that I love the sound of the female voice so here is a follow-up with a collection of a few more of my all-time favorite girl groups:

Bananarama - "I Heard A Rumour" (1987)

Jade - "Don't Walk Away" (1993)

The Ronettes - "Be My Baby" (1963)

The Bangles - "Eternal Flame" (1989)

Pussycat Dolls - "Stickwitu" (2005)

Destiny's Child - "Independent Women" (2000)

Wilson Phillips - "Hold On" (1990)

The Shangri-Las - "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" (1964)

Exposé - "Let Me Be The One" (1987)

Salt-n-Pepa - "Shoop" (1993)

BABY. . .

After listening to Ariana Grande's latest single, "Baby I", it made realize how that term of endearment is probably the most overused word in music. It's really amazing how many songs where "baby" has been applied over and over to easily capture in simple shorthand the deep affection one has for another.

So, this post is dedicated to songs heavily using this favored word throughout pop music history. This will hardly cover all of the many, many tunes but these are just a few of my favorites:

"Be My Baby" - The Ronettes (1963)

"Don't Worry, Baby" - The Beach Boys (1964)

"Baby, I Need Your Loving" - The Four Tops (1964)

"Ooh Baby, Baby" - The Miracles (1965)

"B-A-B-Y" - Carla Thomas (1966)

"Baby I'm-A Want You" - Bread (1971)

"Baby Come Back" - Player (1977)

"Baby, What a Big Surprise" - Chicago (1977)

"Baby I'm Burning" - Dolly Parton (1978)

"Somebody's Baby" - Jackson Browne (1982)

"Baby, I'm Scared Of You" - Womack & Womack (1984)



"Baby Baby Baby" - TLC (1992)



"Baby" - Brandy (1995)

"Baby I" - Ariana Grande (2013)