Audio Beaverhausen: Ronnie Spector's English Heart

Ronnie Spector returns with her first new album in years. Its title is English Heart and it displays Ronnie's affinity with the British people and theirs with her.

The album has its hits and misses. It wallows in its conceit as well as in occasional self-pity but fails to ever congeal into a satisfactory whole.

The album's 11 tracks have different producers and arrangers for one thing,  Although it opens with a cover of Lulu's "Oh Me, Oh My, I'm a Fool for You, Baby," a soft ballad that Ronnie does beautifully, many of the productions seem too spare to suit her voice.

Ronnie, still sounding sultry, a mixture of toughness and vulnerability, suits most songs on this album of covers very well. "I'd Much Rather Be with the Girls," a song by The Rolling Stones, is a stand-out. It was written by Spector's long-time pal and Connecticut neighbor, Keith Richards.

While past producers would usually harken back, imitating Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, the 11 producers of English Heart scrupulously avoid it. The problem is that the tension between Ronnie's voice and the music brings out the best in her. Still, almost undiminished by age (Ronnie is now 72), she's in fine form vocally on this new effort.

For that reason alone, give it a listen!

Exclusive Q&A with Sarah Dash ~ part 2 of 2

In part 2 of my Q&A with the one and only, inimitable Sarah Dash, we discuss her work with Keith Richards and The Rolling Stones, Megatone Records and Sylvester, the possibility of a Labelle reunion, and much more. On a personal note, I first met Sarah after a show at the Laurie Beechman. I had just come back from Floida after my mom had died. When my good friend, Kevin Scott Hall, invited me, he told me it would be good to get back out. He was right. During her patter, Sarah talked about her own mom dying and it touched me deeply. At the meet-&-greet after the show, we talked about our mothers' passings. There were tears and hugs and I was surprised at how warm and loving Sarah was. I indeed felt Lucky Tonight that evening.

Sarah Dash: Are you all right?
Buddy Beaverhausen: [Recovering from a coughing fit.] Just my sinuses. They're really bad today. I read on Twitter you have a cold and...pink eye?!
SD: Yes. I thought I had a cold but it's allergies. And, of course, at 54 Below, I was crying tears of joy and rubbing my eyes from the paper napkins on the table, so that might be how I picked up pink eye. The other thing is, at the hotel, I was sleeping on feather pillows which I'm allergic to. But I was so tired when I got into NYC, I just crashed!
BB: I heard you didn't even take your make-up off.
SD: Well, that was after the show, on Sunday, I just passed out with a full face of make-up on after talking to my sister on the phone. I was zonked! And when I woke up, I was like "What's wrong with my eyes?"
BB: Aww, that's horrible.
SD: I'm usually very conscientious about my health and my skin care and my scalp.
BB: Well, it paid off. You certainly don't look 70 by any means.
SD: Thanks, I think it's paid off. 
BB: I recently turned 63, so maybe I need some tips from you.
SD: No way! Baby, you look good! I thought you were 40-something.
BB: Bless you!

BB: I understand you'll be singing with Keith Richards again. He's said your version of "Time Is on My Side" is the best he's ever heard. Please tell us about working with Mr Richards and with The Rolling Stones.

SD: You can hear my voice on The Stones' album Steel Wheels. I love working with Keith and, yes, we have something new planned for everyone but I can't say much about that right now. I've recorded three times with Keith, and all these songs are being made available on cd. His newest, Crosseyed Heart, is being released this month sometime. I don't get to do a duet with him this time. Nora Jones does, and Aaron Neville as well. But getting to sing and work with Keith, who is amazing because he's a musical genius. Keith is an amazing guitar player and I cherish my experiences of working on the stage with him. He embraces many musical styles that I sing: jazz, blues, rock. I'm doing symphonic music now, singing Duke Ellington. I had my first live concert with a philharmonic, 50-piece orchestra this past July.
   But, getting back to Keith, when you sing with him, you get to work with the best and to shine with the best of your ability. He's a master musician and there are only a few who compare.

BB: Keith is also good friends with another '60s girl-group diva, Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes. (I think they're neighbors.) Have you and she ever met?

SD: We've never met but I admire her so very much. I haven't seen her onstage since her Brooklyn Fox days. As a talent and a unique voice, ever since I was with The Bluebelles. But also as an incredibly strong woman, to have gone through everything she's gone through and come out alive. No woman should be treated the way she was. She is a true spokeswoman for domestic abuse and I've dealt with that myself but nothing near the level of what she did.

BB: "Low Down Dirty...," "Lucky Tonight," the now-classic "Sinner Man." What was it like working with Patrick Cowley and Megatone Records, and Sylvester?

SD: I didn't actually work with Patrick because he was sick at the time. I dealt with his life partner. I remember his last name was Blackman. But he pioneered the San Francisco disco sound and we were originally to do an album together. But Blackman actually produced "Lucky Tonight" and Sylvester came to the studio and was asked to sing back-up.

BB: What was it like to work with Sylvester?

SD: He had been following Labelle when we got back from London. And he just loved the group, and he especially adored Patti and did his version of her song, "You Are My Friend." I loved him and he always came to our shows. And, once the group split up, Sylvester and I got closer and he even gave me pieces of his clothing. He was so much bigger than me, I could wear his tops as dresses. We toured some of the discos together. I love and miss him very much. When he died was right around the time my mother did, so I didn't get to see him, but Patti did.

BB: Is Labelle going to be like another great '70s group, ABBA, shutting the door on any future concerts together now matter how much money is offered, or is that not totally out of the question?

SD: I say never say never. Who knows? I heard that a producer told one of the other girls "You shouldn't be doing this and that." I recently heard from a producer interested in another reunion. But I haven't yet had the chance to talk with Nona and Patti about that.
BB: Wow, that's fresh news!
SD: See? I told you I treat you as family! I think a lot of our fans would want that and it still surprises me how much love they have for us as a group. I'm not sure if we'd be like ABBA, I'm not sure if we'll ever do another show, but I certainly won't say no.

BB: What can fans expect from Sarah Dash in the near future? And when can New Yorkers see you perform again?
SD: I'm writing a play about my life called Sarah Dash: One Woman, and I have a producer named Curtis King, who has produced people like Ruby Dee. I hope to be showcasing my artwork. I'm the Trenton musical ambassador for the Grammys and I have many other things on my plate now. And I'm preparing to get back in the studio and record again.

BB: You have such a long and stunning career and my blog consists of LGBT readers around the world, '60s girl-group fans, disco fans, Labelle fans. Any final shout outs to all of them?
SD: Thank you so much for your support, the amazing love you've shown. Thank you, Buddy Beaverhausen for this interview, thanks to Melvin Johnson and my management, and God bless you all. Much love!

The Ronnie Spector Experience

EMI has released The Very Best of Ronnie Spector as part of its Playlist series. I bought the cd at last week's merchandise table at NYC's City Winery after her concert. It is autographed.

I met Ronnie once, in the early part of the decade, at an Ellen DeGeneres performance at the Beacon Theatre in NYC. As the oblivious crowd walked to the street, I said hello. She was quietly seated with her husband. Jonathan Greenfield. She had just won her lawsuit for royalties from ex-hubby Phil Spector. I congratulated her on her victory. "You're happy? I'm very happy!" Ronnie exclaimed.

This album includes early Colpix recordings of The Ronettes, Ronettes classics with Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, and some of her later solo hits.

"Say Goodbye to Hollywood," written for Ronnie by Billy Joel (but a hit for him after Ronnie's deal for an album with Columbia collapsed) is on here in all its glory, recorded with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. So is the Eddie Money hit duet, "Love on a Rooftop," written & produced by Desmond Child. Johnny Thunder's "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" is included, an anthem, now cemented in her repertoire.

I especially love George Harrison's spacey "Try Some, Buy Some" and "All I Want," my favorite track from The Last of the Rock Stars album.

So try some and buy one. CD version includes liner notes and numerous photos.

I was sorry, however, that the album didn't include these favorite tracks:







And her one disco single that should have been a club hit:

The Rose of Spanish Harlem: Ronnie Spector at City Winery

My autographed photo ready for framing

I've seen Ronnie Spector on many occasions but never has she put on a show as fantastic as the one she did tonight at the City Winery NYC.  She now has the rights to sing the entire Ronettes songbook, which has not always been the case. Apparently, ex-husband Phil Spector struck a deal with her which, I assume, came with the stipulation that she stop bad-mouthing him on stage because, oddly, his name never came up once during this performance.

With an expert band of five and two back-up singers (who also played additional guitar and tambourine, man), Ronnie entered smiling and shaking her shelf; one that Bette Midler would envy. Ms S was otherwise trim, slim and still girlishly coquettish, working her peplum (over tight black slacks) like a skirt. Yesterday was her birthday. She is 72 and looks 25 years younger.

Her voice has lost none of its adolescent timbre as obvious on her first song, "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love?" She began her patter by telling us that she, her sister Estelle and cousin Nedra began as models doing the hula in the window of midtown's Hawaii Kai.

Ronnie and Matt at stage door.

Her set included the Carole King/ Gerry Goffin "Is This What I Get for Loving You, Baby?", "Do I Love You?", a sensational version of "Paradise", the Phil Spector arrangement for "Chapel of Love", "Walking in the Rain" and the wonderful "The Best Part of Breaking Up".

Rare clips and photos of The Ronettes were shared on the big-screen monitors to each side of the stage. The videos of her on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and Shindig were priceless.



She first finished off with The Rosettes' # 1 hit, "Be My Baby" after her version of Johnny Thunder's "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory". She told us she had a residency in a NJ gay bar when Thunder saw her perform, introduced himself and later wrote wrote this song for her. By the way, I saw Ronnie turn straight men gay tonight as they broke out into fabulous hand gesturing any drag queen would envy, listening to their siren sing.

Ronnie mistily dedicated her closing number, "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" to her late sister, Estelle. Ronnie tours the UK in November and returns to City Winery NYC to do her Christmas shows this year. Reserve your seats early. Guaranteed to sell out.

Ronnie Spector Redux

When it comes to survival tales in the entertainment industry, Ronnie Spector is surely an outstanding example.The ex-Ronette and ex-wife of Phil Spector has been to hell and back, especially regarding the vindictive bullying by Phil, even from his jail cell to this very day. The problem with breaking up with obsessive-compulsives, I tell you.

Lesley Gore's recent passing reminds us how few of the girl-group artists of the '60s are alive, well and actively performing today. I saw Ms Spector's annual Christmas show, back at BB King NYC, just two months ago. She is ageless, her voice still as girlish and vibrant as it was more than 50 years ago.

The recent issue of the Uk's Mojo magazine has an exclusive interview with Madonna inside and her picture on its semi-gloss cover. However, up in the upper right corner of the cover is the blurb: "RONNIE SPECTOR HAUNTED BY PHIL." I was hooked and had to have it.

The interview by David Mignis probably has no big revelations for Ronnie fans, focusing on her relationship with Phil. Everything she discusses, she's discussed before in other interviews, in her autobiography Be My Baby and in her multi-media stage show, "Beyond the Beehive," which I saw twice in New York at City Winery.

Perhaps the most revealing thing in Mr Mignis' well-written article is how, after Ronnie received her first check after recording with the Ronettes, the girl from the ghetto went out and splurged on a mink pants suit.

Mojo's artwork and layout for this article, with a related side column by Andrew Mali highlighting some of Ms Spector's iconic singles, is top-notch magazine eye candy.

I recommend this article to Ronnie fans on both sides of the Pond. You may want to add this to your collection. You'll learn little new but we never get tired of hearing this tale. Do we?

Ronnie Spector's Holiday Spirit 2014

The original "bad girl" of rock & roll, Ronnie Spector, returned to BB King's last night to spread Christmas cheer to a full and very appreciative crowd. At 71, she still has the voice of an adolescent; forever the lead singer of the '60s girl group, The Ronettes.

Amid some humorous patter as well as some bitter memories of ex-hubby Phil Spector, Ronnie's show mixed Christmas numbers with others from her long song book. Like Darlene Love (whom I will see on December 27), Ronnie's identified with the Christmas holiday as both artists were prominently featured on the 1963 Phil Spector Christmas album. That record was originally a failure because it was, unfortunately, released the day of the Kennedy assassination. However, re-released in the '70s, it gradually received its overdue recognition and its recordings have become a holiday staple.

In her concert this year, Ronnie sang "Frosty the Snowman" (sending wintry chills up our spines), "Sleigh Ride" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," but also numbers from her Best Christmas Ever e.p. These included a cover of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "It's Christmas Once Again" and the titular song.

Abetted by a dynamic band and back-up vocalists, the singer also served up classic Ronettes like "Baby, I Love You," "The Best Part of Breaking Up," "You Baby" and "Be My Baby." Oh, baby, baby, baby! She paid tribute to the late Amy Winehouse (a Ronnie fan) by singing "Back to Black," and delighted the house by covering The Carpenters' "Yesterday Once More" and John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." She also did a few solo classics like "You Can't Wrap Your Arms Around a Memory."

My only criticism is that this show couldn't go on all night. It's a total holiday delight that Ronnie's been doing at BB King's since 1988, so don't miss her next year.

Oh, and by the way, Ronnie Bennett Spector Greenfield converted to Judaism decades ago.

2013 Christmas Countdown with Ronnie Spector

Those great, indelible lead vocals from the Ronettes, Miss Ronnie Spector, covers the Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers doo-wop Christmas classic, "Christmas Once Again!" It's from her Christmas e.p., Best Christmas Ever.

Just one week until Christmas!

Giving Thanks for Divas on Thanksgiving 2013

Posted on a fan's Facebook Page

Thanksgiving has arrived, my turkeys, gobble gobble! Of course, Buddy B has so much to be thankful for this year, especially not having to cook for guests! (Ain't nobody got time for that.) I'm thankful for going to Bay Ridge's Lighthouse Diner, Thanksgiving afternoon, two blocks away, with my friend who called in the rezzies. Give me a bloody mary and a plate of lasagne and I'll be grateful, pilgrim! And, hey, Plymouth rocks! But also, I am thankful to the harvest of contemporary divas who keep us dancing and inspire us with their awesome voices.

Martha Wash has been our divine diva for five decades now, as a solo artist and as the voice of Two Tons of Fun, The Weather Girls, Black Box and C&C Music Factory. I am truly thankful for Miss Martha! And I adore her current album, Something Good, which is a perfect ~ and very inspirational ~ gift for the holidays. Available at Amazon.com.

I'm thankful for Cher! What a legend, icon, superstar diva, with an outstanding six-decade career. Her new album, Closer to the Truth, is marvelous and I highly recommend it for the holiday season and beyond!

La La Brooks, Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector. 1960s girl-group divas who survived Phil Spector and continue to have vibrant careers today! All have albums available on Amazon; Darlene and Ronnie having Christmas cds. Our Ms Brooks has a new album this season on the indy Norton label.

Cyndi Lauper! What more do I have to say? One of the outstanding pop vocalists of our lifetime. And she even recorded a Christmas album. Guess where you can get it!

Madonna and Lady Gaga continue to impress, tantalize and titillate. (Though neither has yet done a holiday cd; get on it, girls!)

Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand -- both boasting Christmas cds no holiday collection should ever be without.

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen and Our City Radio are grateful for our enduring divas and give thanks unto them. Not a turkey amongst them.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and may God bless us all this holiday season! Stay safe, stay warm, stay tuned into Queens Our City Radio.

Phil Spector Christmas Album: 50th Anniversary

Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You Christmas album was released on November 22, 1963, the same day as the assassination of JFK. Although now considered a holiday classic, it was a relative disappointment at the time as it peaked on Billboard at #13. (Ooo! That unlucky number.) Perhaps the national mood had something to do with it. (Another famous Jackie, Ms Susann, was upset that the President's death would affect sales of her first book, Every Night, Josephine by stealing the media spotlight at the time!)

The album was re-released on Apple Records in 1972 ~ with a picture of Spector dressed as Santa, wearing a "Back to Mono" button. It was retitled Phil Spector's Christmas Album. This version went to No. 6 on Billboard's Christmas Albums chart in December of that year.

The album features the major artists from Spector's Philles label including The Ronettes, Darlene Love, Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans, and The Crystals. Ms. Love and Ronnie Spector have become so associated with the holidays because of this quintessential pop Christmas album, they tour every holiday season with a special Christmas show. (Both are returning in December to B.B. King's in NYC; I'll be reviewing both shows.)

Darlene Love's "Christmas, Baby Please Come Home" became a smash hit as a result of her annual appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. As Dave says, "It isn't Christmas until Darlene Love sings Christmas, Baby Please Come Home."

Video Beaverhausen: Phil Spector According to HBO

When I discuss the Phil Spector murder case, as when I discuss Mommie Dearest, let me say I am most distinctly neither a defender or apologist for either the abuse of women or child abuse. But, as I have reasonable doubt about the Christina Crawford book (and the cult film based upon it),  I have the same regarding music producer Spector's guilt regarding the death of Linda Clarkson that has sentenced him to jail for life. (Ironically, Ms Clarkson had a role in Pacino's Scarface.)

The David Mamet-directed and -written HBO telefilm, Phil Spector, ends with Helen Mirren, as defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden, saying, "I believe Phil Spector is not guilty." To which "Are you sure?" is the response. Mirren offers the last line in the film with the reply: "No. But I have reasonable doubt."

And so I felt precisely that way after watching the British documentary, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector, to which this dramatization makes a great companion piece. I'm not confident in Spector's innocence but feel he was convicted with very reasonable doubt outstanding.

Ms Mirren stepped into the role of Spector's attorney at the last minute after original cast member Bette Midler suffered a back injury “and had to be carried off the set," according to the real Ms Baden (who, like moi, is a Jersey Girl). That might explain why the ubiquitous Ms Mirren, emotionally real in the part, slips back and forth from a British to a neutral American accent but never nails the Jersey nasality. (I was roundly lampooned when I went to University of Colorado amongst the Northwesterners with their contrasting open vowels.)

Phil Spector opens with the disclaimer: "This is a work of fiction. It's not 'based on a true story.' It is a drama inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon on the trial or its outcome." I.e., "Don't sue!" ("Not based on a true story"??!!)

Al Pacino's Phil Spector is a brilliant performance, wigs, prosthetic teeth and all! He speaks like Phil,  gestures like him, and even has something of the unfortunate watery mouth on display (as seen in The Agony)! I thought Spector's famous though tragic "Jewfro" was meant to make him look like Beethoven, but it turns out he was going for Jimi Hendryx. Go figure.

Yet Pacino humanizes the hermetic eccentric especially in his bravura explosion during an arranged rehearsal of the trial meant to prepare him for his court appearance.

He flies into a rage at the video testimony of Ronnie Spector  (shabbily portrayed by Linda Miller), calling her a "psychotic bitch." This scene is classic Pacino and absolutely riveting. (Of course, the real-life Ronnie has her own version of all this.)

Early on, Mirren enters the Spector mansion, a recluse's scary Gothic air-conditioned labyrith within a guarded compound, where even some of the doorways aren't real. The film's focus is on the two characters' growing sense of trust and affection. Though moments of this movie have a very Law & Order feel, there are certainly flashes of brilliance that set it apart.

Obviously, Spector permitted HBO to use his songs "Be My Baby," "He's a Rebel" and "When I Saw You" in the context of this film. Below, HBO's trailer:

 

Forward to the Past

"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be," it's been said, but I find that to be a misleading comment. A couple of weeks ago, I commented on the nostalgia craze on the Billboard Dance/Club Chart, for example. http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/01/retro-is-new-new-on-billboard.html  But it is far from the sole example of people being positively aghast at the past.

Walking through the trendy Bloomingdale's Belt in Bloomberg's bountiful borough of Manhattan today, I have to admit the streets were loaded with fashion, hair and make-up styled with an eye towards the '60s and '70s. Both from people old enough to relive the era and the younger crowds. Yes, the styles have been adjusted slightly and, for the mature crowd, tailoring has been let out a little, but the patterns and basic "look" is distinctly based in the '60s & '70s.

Susan Sontag wrote that the camera is addictive, promoting nostalgia while evoking "the sense of the unattainable in the industrialized world." Certainly, our current cultural imagery reveals that, through ad images and on the runway, we are celebrating hand-me-down fashion. Trash with flash! Pictured here is Ronnie Spector, Sixties styling on a 2012 runway in France! (For those who love the '60s girl group music, please check out http://www.facebook.com/groups/139551149525146/  .)

There was, it seems, no post-War nostalgia. Eyes were mostly set upon the future; the rebuilding; the new world order of the era.  In the '60s, the inception of our modern concept of Nostalgia began. The faux-Depression fashions of Bonnie & Clyde, then imitated by a public hungry for something old that was could be made new again. The romantic longing for 19th-Century Lord Byron-like long hair; the return of sideburns; the embracing of the past and rejection of the modern by beatnik and hippie culture.

The '70s was a big time for nostalgia of the '30, '40s, '50s and '60s, spearheaded by Bette Midler. As she said at one of her performances at the Continental Baths in the early '70s: "The '60s were a decade. It's gone, right? We are none of us just 10-years-old, are we?" The '60s were swiftly reborn.

The new nostalgia isn't so much about the '30s through the '50s. It's about baby boomer memories and how they've been reinvented by younger generations. And it's a growing craze. The new and re-newed interest in '70s disco music was already on the rise, then grew even greater since the death of Donna Summer last year. http://www.facebook.com/groups/477960508906045/  The current desire for melodic songs is what has supported contemporary artists like Adele and the late Amy Winehouse.

Nostalgia may not be here to stay. It never is. It comes and goes with the times, often emerging when the economy is weak. But for now, it's where it's at musically, fashion-wise and in our pop culture. Can you dig it?

Below, Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" by Harper's Bizarre (a hit recorded in '67; this performance from '68, and used as the theme song for the movie The Boys in the Band). Nostalgia for nostalgia for nostalgia....

What Ever Happened to La La Brooks?

http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/07/la-la-brooks-vs-darlene-love.html

When the above post was created, I decided that would be the end of story, at least on my blog, no matter what drama continued. But, as things stand, I find that's so very hard to do.

Let me just add that I love Love and Brooks. I adore their voices. I enjoy seeing them perform. But La La has decided to sink her teeth into Darlene and it's becoming not only a public embarrassment on our Ms Brooks' Facebook page but a question of possible litigation. In her one rebuttal, Darlene Love, recently recovered from surgery for her heart attack, described La La's attacks as slanderous, and I for one smell litigation in the making.

When does one's free expression of thought become an issue of public harassment and/ or slander? La La is currently testing the parameters, having gone so far beyond the pall that I am beginning to lose respect for her, to be frank. Shouldn't La La be placing her energy in reviving her own career and not obsessively picking at the scabs of who was a real Crystal, and who sang "Da Doo Ron Ron" initially? Let go, baby, it's in the girl-group, Phil Spector past. So many psychic scars from those days. Ronnie knows and built a new show around it. As Ronnie warns in a song, "You can't put your arms around a memory/Don't try, don't try...."

In her single reply to your ranting, Ms Love said she related to you as a survivor of those Spector days and was hurt by your remarks. You ignored the olive branch and went on.

Who is pumping you up to keep tearing away at Ms Love on Facebook? This is not approprate discussion on such a public forum. As a friend of mine asked me privately, where the fuck is your manager? What is he getting paid for? Why doesn't he step in as you are out of bounds?

You have become a joke. Ms Blah Blah Babbling Brooks. Bette Davis never ripped into Joan Crawford with this much vitriol.

I enjoy your many recollections about "the old days" and working with Phil. But I am turned off by your unrelenting attacks on Ms Love. Kindly stop and proceed in a positive, productive kind of a way.

Ginger Casey made an attempt to smooth things over on your Facebook, yet you attacked her, her husband and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Honey, you don't need Phil to petition against The Crystals induction now!

Are you high, are you going insane? These are things I wonder as I read your cruel, paranoid hissy fits. I can't believe you've gone this far and it makes me sad. Even a frequent-posting Facebook friend suggested you get to bed after a full night of frothing at the mouth.

Last weekend, at the Laura Nyro tribute in Damrosch Park, I was speaking to a young woman, bringing up the gala Ponderosa Stomp Girl Group concert from last year. She asked if I knew La La Brooks. I said I didn't know you personally but you were nothing short of fabulous doing "River Deep, Mountain High" at that show's finale. She told me she met you in the neighborhood in the Village and thought you were very sweet.

That was encouraging. Please concentrate on your career, not on Darlene. It's uncomely for you to air dirty laundry in public.

Ta ta, La La! I'm hoping you get a grip. I'm sure you are nice to know. Let us know that sweetness again and let's hear more of your great talent, less of your bitter bile.

Beyond the Beehive with Ronnie Spector

The stretch of Varick Street in Soho that leads to the entranceway to the Holland Tunnel is highly trafficked yet dreary. Yet it is here that City Winery is located, like an expansive suburban New Jersey supper club come to Manhattan. Any new venue for quality music in the city is welcome, however, and City Winery's staff was attentive and their pino grigio flavorful.

Baby boomers filled said space last Friday night, and denhim vests and crimped hair ruled once more. It was the fourth time that rock'n'roll icon Ronnie Spector took to the stage to present her new act, Beyond the Beehive and it was very warmly received by a houseful of fans. It will return to City Winery Saturday, August 18 and Saturday, September 15.

The year was 2003 and I was leaving the Beacon Theater after an Ellen Degeneres show. Spotting Ronnie seated beside husband, Jonathan Greenfield, I went over to say hello, tell her how much I enjoyed her performances and congratulate her on her having, just that week, won the protracted lawsuit against Phil Spector over royalties owed. I told her the news made me happy.

"You're happy?" Ronnie squealed in her best baby-doll, New Yawk voice. "I'm very happy!" I left the theater smiling, thinking Ronnie deserved all the happiness she could gather.

For the large part, Beyond the Beehive is the saga of two Spectors: both Ronnie and her ex, Phil, bound by love (or was it merely lust and mutual ambition?), then contempt. And by a bizarre sado-masochism spanning decades after their marriage, with Phil determined to squash any attempt Ronnie made to revive her career, and by his mad desire to delete her pop music legacy.

This is an oft told tale, largely told by Ronnie herself, as if hoping, understandably, to one day exorcise part of her past. Large parts of BtB echo moments from her 1989 autobio,  Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts and Madness. However, Phil Spector rose once again, not from a grave but from behind bars, to place an injunction against his ex-wife from being able to sing two of her most famous songs in the show: "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You."

"Phil Spector is a bitter, spiteful man," Ronnie said as the following image showed up on the large screens to either side of the stage:



Many in the audience, including myself, came to this show in the name of diva worship, and the Bad Girl of Rock & Roll is nothing if not a diva. "It feels so good to let everything out in front of everybody, it's like therapy" she gushed at one point of the show. Of Mr Spector, she quipped "I should have shot him! I just didn't know where the guns were."

The 90-minute psychodrama told in monologues and songs features a live band, and two screens to either side of the stage that display projected stills and videos from the singer's private collection. These lovingly and vividly annotate her life story.

Ronnie's scripted schpiel is both hilarious and harrowing, though her line readings are awkward at times and lack polish at this point in the show's development. I don't expect she'll be asked to perform "The Vagina Monologues" any time soon. However, Ronnie is not simply acting a part when she cries, coos and laughs. She is reliving it all, the pain and the glory of her life, in a very heartfelt and moving manner. The Agony & the Ecstasy of Ronnie Spector! So, script be damned! Everybody loves a survivor story, and everybody loves Ms Spector.

Projected photos of Ronnie with her friends -- the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Cher, Joey Ramone -- are a time capsule of a rock & roll Camelot; a time that's gone forever.

At one point, Ronnie said that '60s producers wanted their girl groups to be "little Stepford singers."  But now she's Beyond the Beehive and she's here to prove it.

The rock & roll icon does a number of Spector songs ("The Best Part of Breaking Up," "Walking in the Rain"); covers her ealier Colpix years ("He Did It," written by Jackie DeShannon); does an electrifying cover of "Time Is on My Side;" a superb job singing "Try Some, Buy Some," written for her by George Harrison and released as a 45 on Apple records. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," written for her by Billy Joel, was for an uncompleted album for Columbia. And her newest efforts have a sharp, modern edge to them; specifically, "She Talks to Rainbows" by Joey Ramone and " You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" by Johnny Thunder, though both songs offer plenty of the siren's familiar "whoa-oh-ohs." Our Bad Girl is not a nostalgia act, she'll let you know.

On the heels of Phil Spector's sentencing for the murder of Lana Clarkson, The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ironically, Phil petitioned the Hall of Fame for many years against the Ronettes being inducted. "The only artists petitioned by their own label and producer," Ronnie points out, bitterly.

Ronnie proudly mentions being invited to the White House by President Clinton to talk about the need to protect recording artists regarding royalties.

"Ronnie has the quintessential 'girl' voice," Cher says in one of the show's video moments. True and, although she may be a Stepford Girl no more, don't count on her having put that Aqua Net and those whoa-oh-ohs away... at least, not just yet. Hopefully, Ronnie can honestly say, "I'm very happy" today.

Darlene Love at Joe's Pub

It was the summer of love. At least it felt like summer and Darlene Love was putting on a show. This is a performer who never disappoints and her current show was as easy, breezy and as warm as today's weather.

Joe's Pub is under construction but, beyond taking the bar out of the cabaret room, and placing it in the kitchen to add more seats, I don't see what's all that new. Anyhow, Joe's is an intimate venue in the East Village (part of the Public Theater, in fact), so different from seeing Miss Love at B.B. King's in Times Square. "Here, I don't have to be the Christmas Queen," she quipped, in reference to her annual Christmas shows at B.B. King's. (Nonetheless, she'll be returning this December.)

Darlene Love announced she will be 71 years young later in the year, and she rocks with the energy of a 25-year-old.  She is a 2011 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Asked recently if Phil Spector, famously the producer of the '60s records that introduced her as a solo artist, congratulated her on that, Miss Love laughed, "He's in jail, child!" What about Ronnie Spector? "No," she remarked, "And everybody says that's weird!"

But other divas have congratulated her and sung her praises, namely Dionne Warwick, Cher, Gladys Knight and Nancy Sinatra. "I was also truly thrilled (and a little bit jealous!) to see her get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame," said Nancy. Maybe more than a little bit? But, basically, an honest account, no doubt.

Darlene Love is a diva's diva and I have been a life-long fan. Tonight's show was a relaxed workshop of sorts with off-the-cuff patter (including a mention of Donna Summer, whose voice Darlene acknowledged as phenomenal); fleeting, last-minute huddling with her musical director on-stage; and careful movements across the small, cramped stage. Choreography of any sort would be out of the question.

Darlene sparkled in a glittery black jacket with chiffon sleeves and glittery shoes as well. Her back-up singers also sparkled (although Darlene eschews the word "back-up," having been one of the hardest working back-ups in the business herself). They included Ula Hedwig (one of the original Harlettes with Bette Midler).

Said Ula: "I have been singing background vocals for Darlene Love for 30 years.... It's great fun to be on the stage with her because we are not just 'the back-up singers,' we are right there with her and a part of the show."  The two other backing singers were Elaine Caswell and Milton Vance who impressed during the duets with Darlene.

The set began with the new "If You Believe in Me," those background singers a heavenly chorus for certain. It was followed up with a medley of "Wait till My Bobby Gets Home"/"Da-doo-ron-ron;" included a loving and lengthy Marvin Gaye tribute. Darlene's other Phil Spector-produced classics, "Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry" and "He's a Rebel," were included, as was "A Change Is Gonna Come," from her Broadway role as Motormouth Mabel in Hairspray, before she ended the show with "River Deep, Mountain High," the song in which Spector replaced her, as lead vocalist, with Tina Turner. Darlene always reclaims this as her own.

A couple of Joe's Pub's killer cosmos, a nice perch at the back of the room (table for two), good company, great show, let out into the warm, clear night on a high from such a perfect performance. Indeed, my Summer of Love has begun!

Ronnie Spector's Christmas Wish

For Christmas Eve's stocking stuffer, presenting none other than the fantastic Ronnie Spector and her distinctively iconic voice. Intentionally non-Wall-of-Sound but still an updated '60s arrangement, enjoy this song from Ronnie's Christmas ep from last year, on this year's Christmas Eve.

Sleigh Ride with The Ronettes

From Phil Spector's famed Christmas album, originally entitled "A Christmas Gift for You," comes the classic Wall of Sound production of "Sleigh Ride" featuring The Ronettes. Ronnie Spector's lead vocals are phenomenal, and its obvious why her distinctive vocals made her a rock icon through the ages.

I first heard The Ronettes when I was coming back from Palisades Amusement Park, in NJ. My grandfather was driving, Grandma was next to him, and I was in the back with my Mom. (My brother wasn't born yet.)

"Be My Baby" came over the car radio, and my grandmother reached for the dial. "Oh, this garbage!" she despaired. "Grandma! No," I yelled, and she shrugged and let it play. I was bouncing around on the backseat to the beat, the sound, something new and liberating to me.

Later, when I saw The Ronettes on tv with their beehives that must have required a full can of Aquanet each, and their tight dresses slit up the sides, not to mention all that extreme mascara, I couldn't believe how trashy they were! I knew, right then and there, I wanted to be just like them when I grew up.

So, it's time to hop on the sleigh with The Ronettes cuz, you know, they can really take you places.

RONNIE SPECTOR & DARLENE LOVE, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (1992)

Thanksgiving dinner's over and tomorrow, in America, it's Black Friday: the unofficial first day heading toward Christmas when merchants hope to go into the black due to holiday shoppers. Many people in the USA have Thanksgiving and the following day off work, adding up to a four-day holiday weekend.

So, we're all heading toward Christmas now, all around the globe, and it's time for some good, hard to find holiday music. First up: the first and only (I believe) duet between Phil Spector's divas Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love, covering the famed Brenda Lee rock'n'roll Christmas number. It's a great production I think you'll all enjoy.

Ronnie will be singing, on Black Friday, at the lighting of the South Street Seaport Christmas tree. Her Christmas show, in New York City this year, will be at The Cutting Room in the Flatirons District. Darlene Love will again be at B. B. King's NYC, which I already have tickets to.

So, here are two legendary rock'n'roll women joining forces for the first and probably only time to wish us all a Merry Christmas.

By the way, if in NYC, doing your gift buying, stop in Rainbows & Triangles on 8th Ave. between 19th & 20th Streets for great cds and, at this time of year, Christmas music and other fabulous gifts to make the season gay.