Who is this? Hint: It isn’t Keith Richard.
Category: Music
Phil Spector
Phil Spector’s songs are sometimes thought of as being so pre-Beatles. The old man producer whose orchestrated post-Do-Wop creations couldn’t compete with the fresh, new Fab Four’s guitars.
But Spector was with the Beatles on the plane that brought them to America for the first time (ignoring George’s prior solo trip), and Spector is, in fact, two months younger than John Lennon. And without Brian Wilson’s admiration of Spector there most certainly wouldn’t have been the stunning Pet Sounds.
Who knows when it happened, but Spector almost certainly must have crossed the line from eccentricity to insanity. And now he’s on trial on suspicion of murder, only a week after his ex-wife Ronnie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, eighteen years after receiving the same honor himself.
Here are three Ronettes songs in glorious stereo, presented as a single track, encoded at 256 kbps. The Phil Spector Wall of Sound, taken from a British LP I bought used 25 years ago and have played dozens of times.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/Ronettes.mp3]Classical Crossover?
Click here for a brief NPR report on what is called in the intro a surprising increase in the sale of classical music. After hearing the report I realized that’s not what is really happening.
According to the story, downloaded music accounts for much of the increase. But what’s being downloaded? Complete Beethoven symphonies?
As explained in the report, Sting and Josh Groban are now categorized as “classical crossover artists”, and their sales are being counted along with traditional classical music. That’s silly. Another name associated with the bump up in sales is André Bocelli. His popularity is thanks to the same sort of fan that bought CDs by The Three Tenors. None of these entertainers will add to the base of traditional classical music aficianados.
Dame Petula Clark?
The British government is trying out a new online form, where citizens can petition the Prime Minister. Pet fans have Irene Seaton to thank for initiating a petition to recommend granting Petula Clark the title of Damehood. Click here.
It’s bloody well about time! Only British citizens can vote, so there’s nothing for us US fans to do but watch and wait.
I’ve lost all respect for Tony Blair, who stupidly convinced himself that aligning with George Bush would somehow be a worthwhile venture. This is Tony’s chance to redeem himself, before leaving office!
More Messer Chups
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Here’s some more of the bizarre Russian duo Messer Chups, with Zombie Girl on bass. I don’t know if evoking the look of Bettie Page and combining it with a surf guitar sound makes sense, but somehow it works.
More Henry Mancini Music
It’s generally believed that the Hitchcock movie North By Northwest with Cary Grant influenced the development of the James Bond movies. After the first Bond movie Dr. No proved to be such a hugely successful hit, in 1963 Cary Grant, almost 60, was featured in a less physical spy movie called Charade.
Henry Mancini wrote the Charade score and Andy Williams sang the theme song. Compare this to Matt Monro singing the theme to From Russia With Love, also from 1963.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/Charade.mp3]Nice, huh? Well, here’s a Russian duo performing a decidedly different version of “Charade” at a rowdy German club last year. That’s Zombie Girl playing bass.
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