PERFORMERS THE RONETTES
PERFORMERSTHE RONETTES BY ROB BOWMAN h ? introduction to th e R on ettes’“Ire My Baby” needs to be heard onlyK i c e before it is forever burned intoK h e deepest recesses of one’s cra-nium. Studio drummer Hal Blaine lays R M R I m p le baion beat - boom-ba-boom (sm ash),boom-ba-boom (sm ash). Swathed in unprecedentedlevels of reverb, it has a cataclysm ic effect. Over thenext two bars the ante is upped as multiple pianos,guitars, a solitary bass, and an array of auxiliary per cussion fill out what had com e to be known as pro ducer Phil Spector’s trademark Wall of Sound.Collectively, it’s a mélange of sonic fury that woulddwarf m ost singers but not Veronica Bennett. Adim inutive twenty-year-old of m ixed heritage,Ronnie, as sh e is better known, is p o ssessed of apowerful, slightly nasal voice that proves the equalfor Spector’s Wagnerian Sturm und Drang. Equalparts co y innocence and sexual com e-on, with“Be My Baby,” Ronnie, her older sister, EstelleBennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley stood thesubm issive, subaltern world of girl groups on itshead. Subsequent teen anthems by the Ronettessuch as “Baby, I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain”raised the stakes even higher, fueling heretoforeundreamed-of romantic fantasies for adolescentmales everywhere.It’s hard to imagine a story more tailor-made forthe silver screen than that of the Ronettes. Bornin 1943,1941, and 1945, respectively, Ronnie, Estelle,and Nedra grew up in Washington Heights, nearSpanish Harlem, in New York City. As Ronnie andEstelle were entering middle school, their mother,Beatrice, was making ends m eet working as a wait ress at King’s Donuts, located on 125th Streetin Harlem, right next door to the fabulous ApolloTheatre. It was while serving sandw iches at thedoughnut shop that Beatrice cam e to know BobbySchiffman, w h o se family ow ned th e veneratedconcert venue. With Schiffman’s encouragement,in the spring of 1959 Ronnie, Estelle, Nedra, and threeother cousins, Elaine and Diane Mayes, and IraWilliams, entered the Apollo’s fabled Amateur Nightcontest. The song they had chosen to perform thatnight, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” had been a hitfor Harlem native Frankie Lymon and the Teenagersa few years earlier. Being th e only b o y in thegroup, Ira w as slated to sing lead but w henhe was overtaken by stage fright, the ebullient Ronniegrabbed the microphone and proceeded to tear thehouse up.With Ira’s stage fright a known liability and Elaineand Diane’s mother not wanting them to sing rock &roll, what had been a sextet quickly becam e a trioconsisting of Ronnie, Estelle, and Nedra. Recognizingtheir nascent talent, Beatrice and her sister Susuagreed to pay for the girls to take singing lessons.Twice weekly, the three budding starlets schleppeddown to Camilucci Studios, just a few doors awayfrom the Brill Building, w here Mr. Camilucciattempted to school them in the art of Tin Pan Alleyvocalese.Spurred by their reception at the Apollo, Ronnie,now ensconced as lead singer, Estelle, and Nedrasecured the services of a small-time agent and spentmuch of 1960 - first as the Darling Sisters andshortly thereafter as Ronnie and the Relatives performing w henever possible at sundry birthdayparties, sock hops, and bar mitzvahs. In 1961 thefulsom e trio signed a contract with Colpix Records.Over the next two years, a pair of singles wereissued on Colpix, including their debut, “SweetSixteen,” and three more were released on the sub sidiary May Records. The second May single, “YouBet I Would,” was penned by Brill Building stalwartCarole King. The May singles were issued under thesobriquet the Ronettes, the name being a combina tion of Ronnie’s first and last names. The fact thatThe Ronettes: Nedra Talley, Veronica “ Ronnie” Bennett Spector,and Estelle Bennett (from left)
FROM LEFT: On T V with Soupy Sales, 1965; live in Philadelphia, with DJ Gene Kaye, the same year.the girls’ new name vaguely resembled “Rockettes” was abonus, as the trio’s live performances centered around thegirls’ iiber-hip sensuous dance moves.None of the Colpix or May recordings were particularlydistinguished, and consequently airplay and sales were vir tually nonexistent. Although their recording career seem ingly couldn’t get out of first gear, the Ronettes maintainedan active performing career. The group had early on devel oped a sultry, seductive look consisting of mile-high teasedhairdos, copious amounts of dark eye makeup, and tight, slitskirts. In 1961 the threesom e, dressed to kill in matchingoutfits, were lined up outside the Peppermint Lounge wait ing to get in to check out Joey Dee and the Starliters. In arather serendipitous moment, the club’s owner m istookthem for the backup dancers and singers who had beenhired for the night but had failed to show. Making the m ostof the moment, the Ronettes took the stage, shagging andfrugging to everyone’s delight, Ronnie bringing down thehouse with a version of Ray Charles’s “What’d I Say.”Hired as regulars at the Peppermint Lounge, the groupheaded south later that year with Joey Dee to open theMiami branch of the club. There they were seen by a vaca tioning New York disc jockey, Murray “the K” Kaufman, whoproceeded to hire the Ronettes for his show s at the Brook lyn Fox Theatre. Billed as Murray’s Dancing Girls, theRonettes sang backup for a variety of artists and had theirown two- or three-song miniset. With their hair, makeup,clothes, and general attitude, no one was going to mistakeRonnie, Nedra, Estelle, and Phil Spector with George Harrison and others around the time of the Beatles-Ronettes tour, 1964
Performing on the set of Hullabaloo, 1965the Ronettes for what was then the standard girl-group lookand sound of the Chantels or the Shirelles. Somewhere inthis period the group managed to appear in a dance scenein the m ovie Hey, L et’s Twist.In addition to their performances at the PeppermintLounge and the Brooklyn Fox and touring with a Twist pack age put together by Clay Cole, the Ronettes sang backup onrecording session s for Bobby Rydell, Joey Dee, and others.How they hooked up with Phil Spector is the subject of leg end. According to Ronnie, they had managed to get ahold ofSpector’s office number and had decided that Estelle wouldcall the office and ask for an appointment to audition for thefast-rising producer. To Estelle’s surprise, Spector’s secre tary put her on hold and a minute later thé man himself wason the phone. What the girls didn’t know was that Spectorhad already seen the Ronettes perform several tim es at theBrooklyn Fox. Smitten by their looks and sound, he wasdetermined to steal them from Colpix Records. Once theconnection was made, Spector and Ronnie and Estelle’smother persuaded them to tell Colpix exec Don Kirshnerthat they were quitting the business, a ruse to get themreleased from their contract. A few m onths later Spectorsigned them to Philles Records, spending close to a yearsearching for the right song.When the Ronettes signed with Spector in 1962, the boywonder producer was on a roll, turning the m usic industryon its head with hit records for the Teddy Bears, the ParisSisters, the Crystals, Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, andDarlene Love. While Spector’s female groups typically sangsongs such as the Crystals’ “He’s a Rebel” and “He’s Sure theBoy I Love” as third-person narratives, for the Ronettes hecast everything in the first person. Ronnie sang directly toher object of affection in virtually all their hits, including “BeMy Baby,” “Baby, I Love You,” and “Do I Love You?” Theeffect was one of greater agency for the son gs’ female pro tagonists and a hypersexuality conveyed via direct addressthat was totally absent on the vast majority of recordings byother girl groups.The Ronettes’ first Spector-produced release, “Be MyBaby,” proclaimed by Beach Boys wunderkind Brian Wilsonas his favorite song ever, soared to the Number Two sp ot onthe pop charts and Number Four R&B. It was quickly fol lowed by the even more volcanic “Baby, I Love You,” bothsingles written by Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich.Between the group’s first two hits on Philles Records, theycontributed three songs to Spector’s A Christmas Gift forYou, considered by many to be the finest Christmas albumin rock & roll history. As 1963 gave way to 1964, the Ronettescontinued their chart streak with “(The Best Part of)Breakin’ Up” and “Do I Love You?” That year, Spector testmarketed two singles by Ronnie under the name Veronica:“So Young,” a cover of a 1958 recording by the Students, anda Spector-Barry-Greenwich original, “Why Don’t They Let UsFall in Love,” both released on the otherw ise nonexistentPhil Spector Records. Capitalizing on their su ccess, thegroup toured England in February, headlining a bill thatincluded the Rolling Stones.That fall Spector produced what might be the greatest ofallR onettesrecords,theBarry M ann-CynthiaW eil-and-Spector-penned “Walking in the Rain.” Openingwith the crackling sound of thunder, the track features apleading, tremulous vocal from Ronnie replete with hertrademark “w ho-oh-oh.” The multitracked backgroundvocals of Nedra and Estelle ably support Ronnie, echoingher every phrase on the chorus, engaging in call-andresponse on the bridge, and underpinning the verse with
Ronnie Spector in 1999was ultimately not where her life was headed. Ron nie, Nedra, and Estelle played their last showtogether in January 1967. In the early 1970s, afterRonnie separated from Phil Spector, sh e puttogether with Denise Edwards and Chip Fields a newset of Ronettes, issuing a pair of singles on BuddahRecords. Neither record went anywhere, and by1975 the group had disbanded. While Estelle andNedra were never interested in taking another crackat music-industry su ccess, Ronnie has recorded avariety of records over the years for Apple, Polish,Epic, Alston, Columbia, Kill Rock Stars, and Bad GirlSounds. Among the highlights of her solo careerwere the 1977 Billy Joel-penned “Say Goodbye toHollywood,” recorded with the E Street Band andproduced by Steve Van Zant; her 1986 duet withEddie Money on the Top Ten pop sm ash “Take MeHome Tonight”; and th e 1999 Joey R am oneproduced She Talks to Rainbows, which included acover of the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry Baby,” a songthat was written by Brian Wilson a quarter-centuryearlier for the Ronettes but had been rejected byPhil Spector.While their recording career lasted less than sixyears and they placed only a handful of singles onthe charts, songs such as “Be My Baby,” “Baby, ILove You,” and “Walking in the Rain” were largerthan-life hit recordings that made the Ronettes anindelible part of the sonic memory of early- and mid sixties rock. As the sexiest, hippest, and perhapsgreatest-sounding girl group of all time, tonight theytake their rightful place as members of the Rock andRoll Hall of Fame.GRonnie gets a little help from her friends: BruceSpringsteen and the E Street Band, 1977.vocables. To this day, “Walking in the Rain” remainsRonnie’s favorite recording by the group. The firstPhilles record to be released with a picture sleeve,it w on its producer a Grammy in the “SpecialEffects” category.In November 1965 Phil Spector was hired as musi cal director and associate producer for The BigT.N.T. Show. It was loosely m odeled on The TAMIShow from the year before, and Spector ch ose aneclectic range of artists to perform, including JoanBaez, the Byrds, Ray Charles, the Lovin’ Spoonful,Donovan, Petula Clark, Bo Diddley, Ike and TinaTurner, and, of course, his prize charges, theRonettes. Their riveting, frenetic performances of“Be My Baby” and “Shout,” included in the film ofthe event, give a sen se of just how electric theRonettes were onstage. Pity th ose who never hadthe chance to se e them.In the summer of 1966 the Beatles personallyrequested that the Ronettes open up their NorthAmerican show s. By year end, Phil Spector had allbut retired and Nedra Talley had gotten married,found the Lord, and decided that being a RonetteRonnie performing in the 1970s
Nedra, Estelle, and Ronnie with Phil Spector while recording Christmas Gift, 1963or me, the story of Ronnie, Estelle, andNedra began a long time ago - in fact, inthe late fifties and early sixties, when Iwas on the road with Danny and theJuniors doing one-nighters. From city to city, therecord com panies would se t up local dance show sand hops for the artists to promote their records.One of the show s was the Clay Cole TV show. Thiswas the first time I saw th ose three knockout, sen sual, and sensational dancers. One must rememberthat this was before the go-go craze. The girls stuckin my mind. A year later w e appeared on Murray theK’s holiday show at the Brooklyn Paramount. And loand behold, th ese three magnificent dancers werethere as Murray took the stage.Next, I was in New York having dinner at A1 &Dick’s when in walked my friend Morris Levy, whohad not only owned Roulette Records but also theRound Table and a piece of the hottest club in NewYork, featuring the n ew est dance craze of thedecade, the twist - the Peppermint Lounge, wherehis artists, Joey Dee and the Starliters, performed.Naturally that was the next stop, and, déjà vu th ese three knockout ladies. Now they’re not justdancing but singing with the Joey Dee revue.In 1961, for my radio show in Camden, New Jer sey, I played strictly R&B. In those days, the discjockey was the sole commander of his show anddestiny and created his own persona. Promotionmen, label owners, and artists would visit when Iwas doing my show. Enter Phil Spector, who at thattime was producing for Ray Peterson (“Corinna,Corinna”). He flipped w hen he heard me play a songby the Students called “Every Day of the Week.” Hehad to have it. He took it and produced “Pretty Lit Ftle Angel Eyes,” by Curtis Lee, giving it the sam estom p beat as “Every Day of the Week.” That m eet ing was the beginning of a friendship that has lasteda lifetime. He was about to leave Leiber & Stoller tostart his own label, with backing from the PhillyConnection - Harry Finfer, Howard Lipsius, HelenNoga out of Chicago, and an early mentor, Lester Sill.The label, named after Phil and Lester, was thePhilles label.Meanwhile, the three dancers were pursuing asinging career, with little su ccess. But talent is like afine precision instrument. In the hands of som eonewho doesn’t know what to do with it, it w on’t hap pen. Phil knew what to do. He took them into thestudio and recorded a song, “Be My Baby.”When Phil sent m e the demo, I flipped over therecord. It never entered my mind that the Ronetteswere the three ladies I had seen years earlier. It wasnot until Phil sent them to Philly to do my TV show,The D iscophonic Scene, that I realized that Ronnieand Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra were thedynamite trio I had first seen as dancers and thensingers at the Peppermint Lounge.The flipside to “Every Day of the Week,” “I’mSo Young,” would eventually play a part in Ronnie’ssolo career when sh e recorded it under the nameVeronica. So greatly im pressed was Brian Wilsonby Ronnie’s sound on the recording that he andthe Beach Boys went into the studio to do theirown version.The R onettes, whom w e honor and inducttonight, are a great example of how passion, desire,defeat, and determination can all eventually leadto stardom.- J e r r y “th e G e a to r” B la v a t
for Spector’s Wagnerian Sturm und Drang. Equal parts coy innocence and sexual come-on, with “Be My Baby,” Ronnie, her older sister, Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley stood the submissive, subaltern world of girl groups on its head. Subsequent teen anthems by the Ronettes
May 02, 2018 · D. Program Evaluation ͟The organization has provided a description of the framework for how each program will be evaluated. The framework should include all the elements below: ͟The evaluation methods are cost-effective for the organization ͟Quantitative and qualitative data is being collected (at Basics tier, data collection must have begun)
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Dr. Sunita Bharatwal** Dr. Pawan Garga*** Abstract Customer satisfaction is derived from thè functionalities and values, a product or Service can provide. The current study aims to segregate thè dimensions of ordine Service quality and gather insights on its impact on web shopping. The trends of purchases have
Chính Văn.- Còn đức Thế tôn thì tuệ giác cực kỳ trong sạch 8: hiện hành bất nhị 9, đạt đến vô tướng 10, đứng vào chỗ đứng của các đức Thế tôn 11, thể hiện tính bình đẳng của các Ngài, đến chỗ không còn chướng ngại 12, giáo pháp không thể khuynh đảo, tâm thức không bị cản trở, cái được
Le genou de Lucy. Odile Jacob. 1999. Coppens Y. Pré-textes. L’homme préhistorique en morceaux. Eds Odile Jacob. 2011. Costentin J., Delaveau P. Café, thé, chocolat, les bons effets sur le cerveau et pour le corps. Editions Odile Jacob. 2010. Crawford M., Marsh D. The driving force : food in human evolution and the future.
tourism using existing information due to the subjective scope of the sector and a resultant lack of comparable data. However, a small number of studies which include aspects of outdoor activity tourism as defined for this study, as well as wider tourism research offer an insight into the market. These are discussed below. An economic impact study of adventure tourism (including gorge walking .
