Ronnie Spector RIP

[Reactionary Rage]

Sang on at least half a dozen of the very best pop songs ever.  

I've been a little bit in love with her since I first heard Be My Baby at the beginning of Mean Streets.  

RIP

[Charlie O.]

Oh, man.

What a life.

R.I.P.

[fange]

RIP Ronnie and thank you.

[rayge]

Sad news.

[jeffk]

Fuck. I didn't know she had cancer.

[fonz]

Jan 12, 2022 22:28:37 GMT Reactionary Rage said:

Sang on at least half a dozen of the very best pop songs ever.  

I've been a little bit in love with her since I first heard Be My Baby at the beginning of Mean Streets.  

RIP

Me too.

I remember watching ‘Mean Streets’ the week before I got married.
It made a profound impression.

Within moments of the film starting I decided that serenading my wife with ‘Be My Baby’ would be a good thing to do, getting all her friends (christened ’The Vickettes’ for the occasion- my bride: Vicky) to do choreographed backing vocals.

It was, of course, amazing!

I can’t hear the song without tearing up a little.

Well, we’re still married. Happily, I might add.

RIP beautiful lady

[Reactionary Rage]

That’s lovely Fonz.

I can still remember watching the opening of Mean Streets for the first time with those titanic drums crashing in and being swept along completely by the drama and intensity of the opening line alone. It’s probably the closest I’ve ever come to love at first sight really! I don’t know how old I was, 12 perhaps, maybe a little younger or a little older but something powerful definitely stirred in my adolescent heart. Hearing that vocal was almost like falling in love with a real person because she sounded exactly like the kind of girl you yearned to meet in real life.  Crucially she also sounded like a teenager which helped. Like she was still in close enough proximity to fulfil that fantasy role and yet she was just an otherworldly voice on a record so how the hell could that be?  How can you fall for a voice?  Of course when I finally did see what she looked like I was like “wow, she really fucking IS the girl of my dreams!"  The 60s bouffant hair, the black eyeliner, the cute little dresses.  Christ, the first girl I ever really loved had eyeliner like Ronnie which of course impressed me no end.  What red blooded teenage boy could resist? 

Has any singer ever captured the drama and sheer intensity of (adolescent) love as exquisitely as her? I mean really?  There was something so adorable about that voice and it was full of charm and personality, sensual yet devotional, innocent and pure but with enough attitude and spark to make you sigh.  Her New York accent alone could make you swoon but the vulnerability of her vibrato could break your heart. It’s fitting then that for someone so adept at communicating the joy and heartbreak of that most human of experiences that she would end up being the singer on some of Phil Spector’s greatest ever records because, let’s face it, few artists have ever managed to produce a musical canvas that communicates all the heightened emotions love encompasses as magnificently as him.

I mean listen to this...



When she sings "Oh I swear I’m gonna get you if it takes me all my life...." I almost feel like crying. These may been "teenage symphonies" but she infused them with an emotion and depth of feeling that took them to the pop heavens and beyond.  As time goes by they shimmer more beautifully than ever.  Nice one lass.  Job done.

[sloopjohnc]

Jan 12, 2022 22:50:55 GMT rayge said:

Sad news.

Ditto.

Yesterday on Instagram, I saw a conversation between her and Brian Wilson where she was saying Phil was supposed to give her Don't Worry Baby and instead gave her Baby I Love You. Great song, but she started singing Don't Worry Baby to Wilson and you could sense the awe he had for her in his appreciation.

[sloopjohnc]

She even made Eddie Money sound good. Almost.