I learned of the death of Ronnie Spector Friday checking online news. She actually passed away on Wednesday, but I did not see any announcements on TV or hear anything on the radio. Considering the impact that she and the Ronettes had on rock-n-roll music, that is truly sad.
Yes, she was married to the tyrannical producer Phil Spector, who basically made her famous then destroyed her career in the 1960s after their crazy marriage. She made a comeback when Eddie Money had her singing on his hit “Take Me Home Tonight.” Every guy wanted to date her, and every girl into rock-n-roll wanted to be her.
The Ronettes were a different all-girl vocal group. They weren’t the happy-go-lucky style of the Andrew Sisters, and they weren’t the crooning sweethearts like the McGuire Sisters. No, they had a sexual aura about them, and it showed with their style and their songs. And Ronnie led the charge!
She had her near romances with many, including John Lennon and Keith Richards (who remained her close friend and even did the induction speech for the Ronnettes in 2007 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). She glowed with sexuality all of her adult life. Just look at those photos with her beehive haircut, the tight white dress with the slit up the back, and the cat-like eye makeup, and any man would kill for her.
As sexy as she was physically, it was that voice that would melt hearts. When Ronnie sings “Be My Little Baby,” you prayed to God that she was singing it to you. It was gorgeous. Loud and with just enough grit to make you feel her fingernails scratching into your back as you held her close. Although she was very demur in real life, that voice was powerfully feminine, loving her man yet letting him know that she had some toughness to her.
Being married to Phil Spector was not an easy life for Ronnie. She fell in love with him at an early age, and he was already married. After his divorce, they lived together, then adopted some children. Once married, however, he was very forceful, not allowing her to even leave the house many times. After the breakup of the Ronettes in 1967, Phil tried to milk a solo career out of her in his usual demanding way. She had dome minor hits while signed to Apple Records (thanks to George Harrison more sympathetic co-production work with Phil), but she would always remain a cult figure, working with 70’s rock starts like Eddie Money and Bruce Springsteen. In the 1990s she was doing vocal work with punk rock icons Joey Ramone and the Misfits.
Ronnie battled alcoholism during her final years with Phil, and could never quite shake off the “Oldies Performer” stigma. However, so many artists from different genres and time periods held her in high esteem. She and her fellow Ronettes fought a years-long battler against Phil for unpaid royalties. She ultimately secured about $1 million from his bank acocunt.
Pop-rock singer Amy Winehouse attributed much of her perfroming and looks to Ronnie. When Winehouse died in 2011, Ronnie recorded Winehouse’s song “Back to Black,” with proceeds going to drug addiction treatment organizations. She also appeared in the documentary Amy Winehouse: Back to Black.
She would eventually marry her manager Jonathan Greenfield and live her last years in Connecticut. While her career never truly rebounded, there was always tons of attention paid to what she, the Ronettes, and her voice did to move rock-n-roll forward. She passed away from cancer at the age of 78, but she will always be remembered ast the sexy young girl singing so that no boy would always be in love with her and never forget her. Watch the video and dare to tell me that she was not sexy. That woman had it all.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 