Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip - Ronnie Spector

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip

Ronnie Spector

In my own personal big gay church there are many wings. One is dedicated to The Rockbirds - so named after a turn of phrase coined by Debbie Harry, one of the divas who resides there. These ladies raged against a very specific machine: the misogynistic heart of the corporate music business.

They endured countless interviews asking them how they felt being a woman in the world of rock n' roll - the assumption being that it was exclusively a man's world. Are they the women of rock? Hell, no... they just rock! And they did it all with a singular style and unique voice.

One such diva?

Ronnie Spector

What a voice. Like acid-etched glass, razor sharp, yet haunting.

She became every boy's American dream - you know, the kind you don't take home to mother.

That was all image. In reality, she was a sweet, kind kid with stars in her eyes. She loved singing. She lived to perform. 

That's why when she was not-yet a teen, she recruited her older sister Estelle and cousin Nedra to form the Ronnettes. They honed their act singing in the echo-laden hallways of their apartment building.  

Then she got her mother, who worked as a waitress across from the famed Apollo theatre, to flirt with Bobby Schiffman who owned the Apollo in order to convince him to give the girls a shot on stage. They got it.

Now, originally, there was a boy cousin who was supposed to front the group, because back then, that was the norm. When stage fright left him speechless, Ronnie grabbed the mike and a moment in music history was born. 

When Phil Spector, already an established superstar producer, heard her sing he declared... "That's the voice I've been looking for!"

Phil Spector became obsessed with his protégé and eventually convinced her to marry him. And that was the beginning of a four-year stay in hell.

She eventually ran from his mansion, barefoot and without a penny to her name - only to discover how extremely revered she'd become in the rock community. Brian Wilson even wrote 'Don't Worry Baby' in honor of her.

She'd go on to work with George Harrison, Gena Raven, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Money, and Joey Ramone - touring non-stop - when she wasn't tied up in the court system with Phil.

In the end, she remained an icon, a true original and became a legend.

The Gospel according to her?

Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? The Ronnettes, Phil Spector and The Road Back

"No one has their own identity like the Ronettes did back in the day."

"We had the skirts with the slits up the side, sort of tough, sort of Spanish Harlem cool, but sweet too. We didn’t have no dancers, we didn’t have no goddamn wigs."

"We were the only girl group that wore tight dresses with splits up the sides. We sang and danced, had long hair piled high into beehives and then falling down mid-show."

"The 'bad girl' came from when The Ronettes would walk out onstage and we didn't have a hit record yet and all the other groups did - Marvin Gaye, The Crystals. We didn't have a hit record, but we had attitude. When the three Ronettes walked onstage, people went nuts because we were different. We wore tight dresses when everyone else wore those flared dresses, we had long hair when people had short hair; it was like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones wearing suits - that's what made them different. The Stones got the long-hair idea from us, when they supported us on tour in the UK in 1964. I love having attitude onstage, and the 'bad girl' thing still runs through my entire show."

"...We got paid more than any other act for our show. We did the Brooklyn Paramount, the Apollo for a week. We made money from personal appearances, not record royalties. We were the most popular girl group ever for bar mitzvahs - people wanted The Ronettes."

"He was “a lousy husband."

"I talk about Phil Spector, but I say good things about him, too. I did love him. I just tell the truth. It's the difference between ripping someone's head off and telling the damn truth, and I tell the damn truth. Before Phil got involved, we were already going over better than some of the other acts, and I had my style way before Phil came along. He did one thing - he gave us hit records."

"When I was working with Phil Spector, watching him create in the recording studio, I knew I was working with the very best. He was in complete control, directing everyone. So much to love about those days. Meeting him and falling in love was like a fairytale. The magical music we were able to make together, was inspired by our love. I loved him madly, and gave my heart and soul to him."

"Unfortunately Phil was not able to live and function outside of the recording studio. Darkness set in, many lives were damaged. I still smile whenever I hear the music we made together, and always will."

"My honeymoon night was spent on the floor in the bathroom with my mother."

"I couldn’t go out for seven years. I didn’t go anywhere… What goes around, comes around. I was in prison. Now he is. So that’s how I look at it."

"You would have to ask Phil Spector [about the glass coffin in the basement]. He told my mother he had it, but I never went down to the basement. Do you think I'd go down there and look at my own coffin?"

"I never tried to kill myself or anything."

"So many lies, I had to run away, I didn't know people lied that way."

"But I don't really like to discuss Phil anymore."

"My life, I’ve been in litigation for fourteen years, I was stopped from doing so much stuff, because of my ex. He would write to the record companies and say “She’s still married to me,” and this and that. And so I had such a hard time for ten years after my divorce. I couldn’t get arrested because he would write to the record companies, and they would just get afraid of the whole thing, because he was a big figure in the record business."

"I have three adopted children with Phil, and for years I was fighting in court with him over being able to see my kids. I was always going back and forth to California, going to court, and I was never able to get a project going."

"Back 20 years ago, I was recording with Bruce Springsteen, and his producer called me and said I had to be in the studio the next day to finish the sessions, and I couldn't. I had to be in court, in California. All this took like 10 years out of my life."

"I used to cry myself to sleep every night. I missed singing so much. And performing. Man, I missed it so much."

 

Be My Baby - The Ronnettes

Say Good-bye To Hollywood - Ronnie Spector

Girl From The Ghetto - Ronnie Spector

"I can’t complain. Because when you complain, that becomes a whole way of life, and a way of looking at things. And it stops you from being positive. Have I been victimized? Absolutely. But who wants to be a victim? Get on with your life."

"I love the fact that 35 years later, I still hear my songs on the radio."

"So don't get me wrong, I love my songs, and I still love hearing them. That's history, baby."