Monday, July 24, 2006

THE RONETTES: Be My Baby




The opening drumbeat of this song hooks me and the adorable Ronnie Spector and her voice lure me in.

No matter where I am, if I hear Be My Baby, I must stop what I’m doing and listen.

And what about you lot?

Tell us the song that stops you dead in your tracks. The song you can’t resist.

And now, Be My Baby…





Be My Baby hit the charts in August 1963.

The Ronettes were Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Bennett, Ronnie’s sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley.




The Ronettes (left to right) Veronica 'Ronnie' Bennett, Nedra Talley and Estelle Bennett



Music impresario Phil Spector took the Ronettes under his wing, produced Be My Baby and other hits for them, and married Ronnie in 1968.

Phil Spector was a control-freak who wouldn’t allow Ronnie to record or to leave the house. Phil and Ronnie divorced in 1974.




Phil Spector today


While Phil Spector earned millions at their expense, he cheated the Ronettes out of their royalties.


Ronnie wrote a best-selling autobiography, Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or My Life as a Fabulous Ronette.

More about Ronnie Spector and what she’s doing now.

19 comments:

  1. Nice start to the day for me there with Be My Baby. Love it. There are so many songs that stop me in my tracks - mostly all stuff from the 60s. It doesn't even have to be the good stuff. Nostalgia - dontcha love it!

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  2. Today I'd say Party Fears Two by the Associates.

    But I'd probably stop for hundreds of tracks: any excuse.

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  3. Be My Baby is a nice song. The Ronettes are quite pretty. Phil Spector really needs a trip to the salon.

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  4. Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack. Still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Alone Again by Love has the same effect.

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  5. Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes. Just for the bass runs. And I'd like to second Unfinished Sympathy.

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  6. Everyone: I've been listening to your choices this morning and thank you for commenting.

    Geoff: I typed 'Party Fears Two' into YouTube and have a question for you. Why does the announcer say "Joanna Lumley on the keyboards?"

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  7. I love the eyeliner they were rocking! I so want to do that to myself.

    That being said...what the fuck is up with that dude's hair.

    *runs aways screaming*

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  8. That was Radio Two DJ Steve Wright who hosts Top of the Pops 2 which shows clips of old TOTPs.

    He said "Joanna Lumley on the keyboards" because like most BBC radio DJs he is a twat who thinks he's funny.

    The keyboard player doesn't look anything like Joanna Lumley and is in fact one of the Marthas from Martha and the Muffins.

    Have you been to Echo Beach, MJ? I know it's far away in time but I don't know its exact location.

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  9. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Sylvester at the moment, or Can You Party by Royal House. I love disco and house music. Mind you, what I like changes all the time so it's difficult to pin anything down.

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  10. Awaiting: You would look rockin' yourself in the extended eyeliner look. And a teased-up bouffant hairstyle. Try it out and take a pic for us.

    Phil Spector could be spending his millions on a decent personal hairstylist. What is it with millionaires and their hair? I'm thinking Donald Trump here.

    Geoff: I had to Google 'Echo Beach' and found out that the guy who wrote the song said it's not a real beach; just a symbolic notion. So in that case, I've been there.

    Betty: I'm with you where Sylvester's involved. I was playing 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)' just last week at home. In fact, I started a posting about him back in March and it's still sitting unfinished in my files. Will get around to it soon.

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  11. I love that song MJ! In fact it was on my list of songs to look for on YouTube. There's a new Tide commercial out now that has "Be My Baby" playing in the background. Thanks for posting.

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  12. Chelly: Now you don't have to look for it! Just come here. I hear it in my head all the time. (When I'm not hearing the other voices.)

    I heard that commercial the other day and I yelled at the screen to "stop using my song." There are a few songs on commercials right now that I love and don't like the fact that they're representing products I have no interest in.

    Geo: Good to see you here!

    Excellent suggestion. But I bet his hair is shatterproof.

    Now go and hide before Piggy finds you here.

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  13. I lOVE THAT SONG!
    I immediately transport to the days of bobby socks and malt shops.
    Specter was a genius but he is such a freak. What is the deal with that doo???
    Is he in prison yet?

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  14. HE: Phil Spector will go on trial for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson in January 2007. He's free on $1 million bail right now.

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  15. Ronnie was always hot. PHil - it should have been "Spectre" - what a ghoul!

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  16. Phlegmfatale: Ronnie is so hot I can hear her sizzle. "Spectre"... ha!!!

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  17. I bet you there are some Southern Trailor Park Dwelling Women who would KILL to get a perm like that...

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  18. Maddie: The bigger the hair, the closer to God.

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  19. Geo: Yes, I saw her and she was smokin'.

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