My deepest reaction to the death of Ronnie Spector was “there goes the lead singer of ‘Be My Baby,’ the early ’60s pop tune that accompanied one of the greatest main title sequences in film history.”
Everyone thinks of poor Ronnie as a marital cautionary tale, having suffered sustained psychotic abuse from longtime boyfriend and husband Phil Spector in the ’60s and early ’70s.
It’s such a shame that Phil’s genius, which launched the Ronettes into the pop stratosphere in ’63, was fused with such malignant assholery.
Honest admission: After hearing of Ms. Spector’s passing yesterday, I immediately thought of “Wait Till My Bobby Gets Home,” which of course Ronnie didn’t record — it was sung by Darlene Love, another Phil Spector protege.
