Postby WildcatOne » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:22 pm
She was a member of the Ronettes, a dancing group who performed as go-go-girls at Joey Dee's Peppermint Lounge in New York at the dawn of the 60s, and later sang backup for her sister Ronnie on the song "Be My Baby", which is often referred to as the greatest pop song of all time. Controlled by record producer Phil Spector, the Ronettes were not allowed another major hit after Spector married Ronnie. He held them back from the superstardom that came with that hit record after a small but brilliant tour which included England...His "groups" were manufactured in the studio to perform the songs he produced with his trademark "Wall Of Sound", a style which he learned from Lee Hazlewood when he was training under Lee's wing in the late 50s and early 60s and later developed to its apogee with the Crystals, Sonny and Cher and a few more of his chosen clique. This sound was to profoundly impact and influence Brian Wilson ("Pet Sounds") and later Bruce Springsteen ("Born To Run", "The River"), but there was probably no other group with more potential (with the possible exception of Badfinger a few years later with Apple) than the Ronettes, who were in my opinion a more passionate, streetwise and accessible girl group than the Supremes at Motown were; they ended up being a footnote to Spector's record label Philles' world-beating success in the early-to-mid 60s. It's a perfect example of a group with world-class talent being snuffed by a manipulative and self-serving megalomaniac in control of the whole shebang. Thanks, Estelle, and God Bless. Rest in peace. Sing and dance in Heaven. WC1
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