Showing posts with label Ronettes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ronettes. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Girl Groups: Top 100 Songs

Girl Groups:

Top 100 Songs

Girl groups emerged in the early days of rock and roll. They were typically vocal groups with three or more singers and could be viewed as the female version of doo-wop. However, while the term “girl groups” is typically associated with the ‘50s and ‘60s, this list reflects how such music is not restricted to those decades. This list was created by aggregating over 20 lists and then taking all those songs appearing on 2 or more lists and ranking them based on overall DMDB points.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

  1. Martha & the Vandellas “Dancing in the Street” (1964)
  2. The Ronettes “Be My Baby” (1963)
  3. Spice Girls “Wannabe” (1996)
  4. Sister Sledge “We Are Family” (1979)
  5. The Supremes “Baby Love” (1964)
  6. The Supremes “Stop! In the Name of Love” (1965)
  7. The Shirelles “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (1960)
  8. The Supremes “Where Did Our Love Go” (1964)
  9. The Supremes “You Can’t Hurry Love” (1966)
  10. The Andrews Sisters “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ (1941)

  11. The Marvelettes “Please Mr. Postman” (1961)
  12. TLC “Waterfalls” (1994)
  13. The Emotions “Best of My Love” (1977)
  14. Martha & the Vandellas “Heat Wave” (1963)
  15. The Chordettes “Mr. Sandman” (1954)
  16. TLC “No Scrubs” (1999)
  17. The Bangles “Walk Like an Egyptian” (1986)
  18. The Dixie Cups “Chapel of Love” (1964)
  19. The Chiffons “He’s So Fine” (1963)
  20. Destiny’s Child “Independent Women” (2000)

  21. The Shangri-La’s “Leader of the Pack” (1964)
  22. The Supremes “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (1966)
  23. The Crystals “Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)” (1963)
  24. The Crystals “He’s a Rebel” (1962)
  25. Destiny’s Child “Say My Name” (1999)
  26. Martha & the Vandellas “Nowhere to Run” (1965)
  27. The Shirelles “Soldier Boy” (1962)
  28. The Supremes “Love Child” (1968)
  29. The Supremes “Someday We’ll Be Together” (1969)
  30. The Chiffons “One Fine Day” (1963)

  31. The Pussycat Dolls with Busta Rhymes “Don’t Cha” (2005)
  32. The Bangles “Eternal Flame” (1988)
  33. The Chantels “Maybe” (1958)
  34. LaBelle “Lady Marmalade” (1974)
  35. The Angels “My Boyfriend’s Back” (1963)
  36. The Supremes “Come See About Me” (1964)
  37. The Shangri-La’s “Remember Walking in the Sand” (1964)
  38. The Shirelles “Dedicated to the One I Love” (1959)
  39. The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” (1982)
  40. The Crystals “Then He Kissed Me” (1963)

  41. The Weather Girls “It’s Raining Men” (1982)
  42. The Supremes “I Hear a Symphony” (1965)
  43. The Bobbettes “Mr. Lee” (1957)
  44. Martha & the Reeves “Jimmy Mack” (1967)
  45. The Supremes “Back in My Arms Again” (1965)
  46. The Toys “A Lover’s Concerto” (1965)
  47. The Go-Go’s “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1981)
  48. The Pointer Sisters “I’m So Excited” (1982)
  49. En Vogue “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” (1992)
  50. The Supremes “Reflections” (1967)

  51. The Chordettes “Lollipop” (1958)
  52. The Pointer Sisters “Slow Hand” (1981)
  53. Fifth Harmony with Ty Dolla $ign “Work from Home” (2016)
  54. Wilson Phillips “Hold On” (1990)
  55. The Exciters “Tell Him” (1962)
  56. Sisters with Voices (SWV) “Weak” (1993)
  57. Destiny’s Child “Survivor” (2001)
  58. The Supremes “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone” (1967)
  59. The Jaynetts “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” (1963)
  60. The Shirelles “Baby It’s You” (1961)

  61. En Vogue “Hold On” (1990)
  62. Destiny’s Child “Bootylicious” (2001)
  63. Paris Sisters “I Love How You Love Me” (1961)
  64. The Pointer Sisters “Fire” (1978)
  65. The Ad Libs “Boy from New York City” (1965)
  66. The Poni-Tails “Born Too Late” (1958)
  67. All Saints “Never Ever” (1997)
  68. The Essex “Easier Said Than Done” (1963)
  69. Bananarama “Venus” (1986)
  70. The Dixie Cups “Iko Iko” (1965)

  71. Silver Convention “Get Up and Boogie (That’s Right)” (1976)
  72. TLC “Creep” (1994)
  73. Wilson Phillips “Release Me” (1990)
  74. The Ronettes “Baby I Love You” (1963)
  75. The Murmaids “Popsicles and Icicles” (1963)
  76. The Crystals “There’s No Other Like My Baby” (1961)
  77. The Supremes “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” (1963)
  78. The Shirelles “Mama Said” (1961)
  79. The Crystals “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” (1962)
  80. Bananarama “Cruel Summer” (1983)

  81. The Ronettes “Do I Love You?” (1964)
  82. The Supremes “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart” (1966)
  83. Jade “Don’t Walk Away” (1992)
  84. The Supremes “The Happening” (1967)
  85. Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue “Whatta Man” (1993)
  86. TLC “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” (1992)
  87. The Cookies “Chains” (1962)
  88. Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” (1963)
  89. TLC “What About Your Friends” (1992)
  90. The Pointer Sisters “Automatic” (1984)

  91. Spice Girls “Say You’ll Be There” (1997)
  92. The Shirelles “Tonight’s the Night” (1960)
  93. Salt-N-Pepa “Shoop” (1993)
  94. Sugababes “Freak Like Me” (2002)
  95. The Chiffons “Sweet Talkin’ Guy” (1966)
  96. En Vogue “Don’t Let Go (Love)” (1996)
  97. The Crystals “Uptown” (1962)
  98. The Supremes “My World Is Empty without You” (1965)
  99. En Vogue “Free Your Mind” (1992)
  100. The Ronettes “Walking in the Rain” (1964)
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First posted 4/14/2020; last updated 5/11/2021.

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Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Phil Spector: Top 50 Songs

image from thoughtco.com

Phil Spector

Top 50 Songs

Phil Spector was born December 26, 1939 in the Bronx, New York. He is best known as a record producer who developed what has been called “the Wall of Sound,” an approach to producing a dense orchestral asthetic within studio recordings. His personal life was troubled by a history with gun violence and in 2003 he was convicted of second degree murder. In honor of his birthday, here are his 50 biggest hits as a writer and/or producer:

Click here to see other best-of lists from performers and here to see other best-of lists from songwriters and/or producers.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

1. John Lennon “Imagine” 1971)
2. The Beatles “Let It Be” (1970)
3. The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1964)
4. The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” (1965)
5. George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” (1970)
6. The Ronettes “Be My Baby” (1963)
7. Ike & Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” (1966)
8. The Crystals “Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)” (1963)
9. John Lennon “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” (1970)
10. The Dixie Cups “Chapel of Love” (1964)

11. The Crystals “He’s a Rebel” (1962)
12. The Beatles “The Long and Winding Road” (1970)
13. Ben E. King “Spanish Harlem” (1960)
14. The Teddy Bears “To Know Him Is to Love Him” (1958)
15. John Lennon “Jealous Guy” (1971)
16. John Lennon “Stand by Me” (1975)
17. The Crystals “Then He Kissed Me” (1963)
18. John Lennon “Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)” (1971)
19. George Harrison “Give Me Love, Give Me Peace on Earth” (1973)
20. George Harrison “What Is Life” (1971)

21. John Lennon “Mother” (1970)
22. John Lennon “Working Class Hero” (1970)
23. Paris Sisters “I Love How You Love Me” (1961)
24. John Lennon “God” (1970)
25. Ramones “Rock and Roll High School” (1979)
26. The Beatles “Across the Universe” (1970)
27. The Ronettes “Baby I Love You” (1963)
28. John Lennon “Power to the People” (1971)
29. The Ronettes “Walking in the Rain” (1964)
30. Curtis Lee & the Halos “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” (1961)

31. The Crystals “There’s No Other Like My Baby” (1961)
32. The Righteous Brothers “Just Once in My Life” (1965)
33. The Crystals “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” (1962)
34. Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” (1962)
35. Sonny Charles & the Checkmates Ltd. “Black Pearl” (1969)
36. The Ronettes “Do I Love You?” (1964)
37. The Righteous Brothers “Ebb Tide” (1965)
38. Connie Francis “Second Hand Love” (1962)
39. Ray Peterson “Corrine, Corrina” (1960)
40. The Crystals “Uptown” (1962)

41. George Harrison “Bangla-Desh” (1971)
42. The Ronettes “Born to Be Together” (1965)
43. Darlene Love “Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry” (1963)
44. Darlene Love “A Fine, Fine Boy” (1963)
45. John Lennon “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” (1972)
46. Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans “Why Do Lovers Break Each Others’ Hearts” (1963)
47. Gene Pitney “Every Breath I Take” (1961)
48. Ramones “Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio” (1980)
49. George Harrison “Isn’t It a Pity” (1970)
50. The Ronettes “The Best Part of Breakin’ Up” (1964)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 12/26/2017; updated 7/19/2021.

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Saturday, August 31, 2013

50 years ago: The Ronettes charted with “Be My Baby”

Be My Baby

The Ronettes

Writer(s): Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector (see lyrics here)

First Charted: August 31, 1963

Peak: 2 US, 11 CB, 2 HR, 4 RB, 4 UK, 2 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.4 UK

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 67.4 video, 185.31 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

This “staple of oldies radio” AMG represents “the quintessence of the ‘girl group’ aesthetic of the early 1960s” NRR but also served as “the Rosetta stone for studio pioneers such as the Beatles and Brian Wilson.” RS500 He called the song his favorite RS500 and even recorded an answer song, “Don’t Worry Baby,” with his group the Beach Boys. SF

The song is also one of the best examples of the wall of sound NRR a method introduced by producer Phil Spector of layering multiple instruments to create “a slow-burn pop symphony.” AMG Ronnie Bennett, the only Ronette to sing on the song, RS500 has speculated that her then-blossoming romance with Spector may have inspired the song. SF They would marry in 1968, but when they split six years later, the song actually figured into the divorce settlement with Bennett denied the right to sing the song on TV. SF In 1986, though, she did revive parts of it in Eddie Money’s top 10 pop hit “Take Me Home Tonight.” SF

Ironically, “Spector’s most grand most grandiose production to date” was crafted around “the least polished vocalist in his stable.” AMG He “built a rock and roll cathedral around what little her voice had to offer” MA by making Bennett rehearse for weeks and then doing 42 takes once in the studio. RS500 Despite her vocal shortcomings, “Be My Baby” actually works because “her voice radiates pure baby-doll sexuality.” AMG

The song has remained a music fixture for movie soundtracks, most effectively used in the opening credits of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets and in the 1987 blockbuster Dirty Dancing. AMG

Resources:

First posted 8/20/2012; last updated 11/3/2022.

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Saturday, February 28, 2009

Mojo: Top 100 Songs

Mojo:

Top 100 Songs

Mojo is a monthly UK magazine first published in October 1993. They have published multiple best-of lists over the years. Below is an exclusive Dave’s Music Database list in which 15 song-based lists (see links at bottom of page) from Mojo hae been aggregated into one best-of list.

Click here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations.

1. Sex Pistols “God Save the Queen” (1977)
2. Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)
3. The Ronettes “Be My Baby” (1963)
4. Oasis “Live Forever” (1994)
5. Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
6. Ike & Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” (1966)
7. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
8. Aretha Franklin “Respect” (1967)
9. The Miracles “The Tracks of My Tears” (1965)
10. Stevie Wonder “Superstition” (1972)

11. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five “The Message” (1982)
12. The Beach Boys “God Only Knows” (1966)
13. The La’s “There She Goes” (1990)
14. Pulp “Common People” (1995)
15. The Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (1963)
16. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
17. The Beatles “Revolution” (1968)
18. The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)
19. The Beatles “Hey Jude” (1968)
20. The Beatles “Penny Lane” (1967)

21. The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1968)
22. The Beatles “Paperback Writer” (1966)
23. The Beatles “Rain” (1966)
24. The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1965)
25. Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” (1939)
26. Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967)
27. The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1963)
28. Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)
29. The Smiths “This Charming Man” (1983)
30. The Who “My Generation” (1966)

31. Ray Charles “What’d I Say” (1959)
32. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Purple Haze” (1967)
33. The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” (1967)
34. The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” (1966)
35. The Jackson 5 “I Want You Back” (1969)
36. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
37. Four Tops “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (1966)
38. Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976)
39. The Byrds “Eight Miles High” (1966)
40. Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights” (1978)

41. Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (1968)
42. Blue Oyster Cult “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” (1976)
43. The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
44. ? and the Mysterians “96 Tears” (1966)
45. The Specials “Ghost Town” (1981)
46. Squeeze “Up the Junction” (1979)
47. The Small Faces “Itchycoo Park” (1967)
48. Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)
49. The Dils “I Hate the Rich” (1978)
50. Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On” (1971)

51. Sex Pistols “Holidays in the Sun” (1977)
52. Martha & the Vandellas “Dancing in the Street” (1964)
53. Edwin Starr “War” (1970)
54. The Undertones “Teenage Kicks” (1978)
55. The Clash “White Riot” (1977)
56. The Poni Tails “Born Too Late” (1958)
57. The Byrds “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)
58. Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come” (1965)
59. Marvin Gaye “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” (1971)
60. Derek and the Dominos “Layla” (1971)

61. Stevie Wonder “Living for the City” (1973)
62. Don McLean “American Pie” (1971)
63. The Kinks “You Really Got Me” (1964)
64. Link Wray and His Men “Rumble” (1958)
65. R.E.M “.Losing My Religion” (1991)
66. James Brown “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (1965)
67. Booker T. & the MG’s “Green Onions” (1962)
68. The Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil” (1968)
69. Del Shannon “Runaway” (1961)
70. Manic Street Preachers “A Design for Life” (1996)

71. David Bowie “Space Oddity” (1969)
72. John Lennon “Imagine” (1971)
73. This Mortal Coil “Song to the Siren” (1984)
74. The Small Faces “Tin Soldier” (1967)
75. The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” (1967)
76. Massive Attack “Unfinished Sympathy” (1991)
77. Buddy Holly & the Crickets “That’ll Be the Day” (1957)
78. Eddie Cochran “Summertime Blues” (1958)
79. Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes” (1972)
80. Jimmy Ruffin “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” (1966)

81. Primal Scream “Higher Than the Sun” (1991)
82. Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Two Tribes” (1984)
83. Oasis “Wonderwall” (1995)
84. Oasis “Champagne Supernova” (1996)
85. Chic “Good Times” (1979)
86. McAlmont & Butler “Yes” (1995)
87. Radiohead “Creep” (1993)
88. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Hey Joe” (1966)
89. The Temptations “My Girl” (1964)
90. Martha & the Vandellas “Heat Wave” (1963)

91. The Smiths “How Soon Is Now?” (1984)
92. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps “Be-Bop-A-Lula” (1956)
93. Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” (1976)
94. Television Personalities “Part-Time Punks” (1978)
95. Pete Seeger “We Shall Overcome” (1963)
96. Kraftwerk “Autobahn” (1974)
97. Subway Sect “Ambition” (1978)
98. Ultravox “Vienna” (1981)
99. Fairport Convention “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” (1969)
100. R.E.M. “Everybody Hurts”” (1993)

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First posted 12/10/2010; last updated 4/8/2021.

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Tuesday, November 12, 1991

Back to Mono box set released

Last updated 11/16/2020.

Back to Mono

Various Artists, produced by Phil Spector

Released: November 12, 1991

Recorded: 1958 to 1969

Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 0.5 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: pop

Tracks:

ACT “Song Title” (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

Tracks, Disc 1:

  1. TEDDY BEARS “To Know Him Is to Love Him” (9/22/58, 1 US, 2 UK, 10 RB)
  2. RAY PETERSON “Corinna, Corinna” (11/21/60, 9 US, 41 UK)
  3. BEN E. KING “Spanish Harlem” (12/31/60, 10 US, 15 RB)
  4. CURTIS LEE “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” (7/3/61, 7 US, 47 UK)
  5. GENE PITNEY “Every Breath I Take” (8/7/61, 42 US)
  6. THE PARIS SISTERS “I Love How You Love Me” (9/4/61, 5 US)
  7. CURTIS LEE “Under the Moon of Love” (10/16/61, 46 US)
  8. THE CRYSTALS “There’s No Other Like My Baby” (11/20/61, 20 US, 5 RB)
  9. THE CRYSTALS “Uptown” (3/31/62, 13 US, 18 RB)
  10. THE CRYSTALS “He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)”
  11. THE BLOSSOMS (aka THE CRYSTALS) “He’s a Rebel” (9/8/62, 1 US, 19 UK, 2 RB)
  12. BOB B. SOXX & THE BLUE JEANS “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” (11/17/62, 8 US, 7 RB)
  13. THE ALLEY CATS “Puddin’ N’ Tain” (1/12/63, 43 US, 21 RB)
  14. BOB B. SOXX & THE BLUE JEANS “Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts” (2/16/63, 38 US)
  15. DARLENE LOVE “Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry” (4/6/63, 39 US)
  16. THE CRYSTALS “Da Doo Ron Ron” (4/27/63, 3 US, 5 UK, 5 RB)
  17. THE CRYSTALS “Heartbreaker”
  18. VERONICA “Why Don’t They Let Us Fall in Love”
  19. DARLENE LOVE “Chapel of Love”
  20. BOB B. SOXX & THE BLUE JEANS “Not Too Young to Get Married” (6/8/63, 63 US)
  21. DARLENE LOVE “Wait Til My Bobby Gets Home” (7/20/63, 26 US)
  22. THE CRYSTALS “All Grown Up” (8/1/64, 98 US, 98 RB)

Tracks, Disc 2:

  1. THE RONETTES “Be My Baby” (8/31/63, 2 US, 4 UK, 4 RB)
  2. THE CRYSTALS “Then He Kissed Me” (8/17/63, 6 US, 2 UK, 8 RB)
  3. DARLENE LOVE “A Fine, Fine Boy” (10/19/63, 53 US)
  4. THE RONETTES “Baby, I Love You” (12/21/63, 24 US, 11 UK, 24 RB)
  5. THE RONETTES “I Wonder”
  6. THE CRYSTALS “Girls Can Tell”
  7. THE CRYSTALS “Little Boy” (2/1/64, 92 US, 92 RB)
  8. THE TREASURES “Hold Me Tight”
  9. THE RONETTES “The Best Part of Breakin’ Up” (4/4/64, 39 US, 43 UK, 39 RB)
  10. THE RONETTES “Soldier Boy of Mine”
  11. DARLENE LOVE “Strange Love”
  12. DARLENE LOVE “Stumble and Fall”
  13. THE RONETTES “When I Saw You”
  14. VERONICA “So Young”
  15. THE RONETTES “Do I Love You?” (6/20/64, 34 US, 35 UK, 34 RB)
  16. THE RONETTES “Keep on Dancing”
  17. THE RONETTES “You, Baby”
  18. THE RONETTES “Woman in Love with You”
  19. THE RONETTES “Walking in the Rain” (10/24/64, 23 US, 28 RB)

Tracks, Disc 3:

  1. THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (12/12/64, 1 US, 1 UK, 3 RB)
  2. THE RONETTES “Born to Be Together” (2/6/65, 52 US)
  3. THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS “Just Once in My Life” (4/10/65, 9 US, 26 RB)
  4. THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS “Unchained Melody” (7/17/65, 3a US, 1 UK, 1 AC, 6 RB, sales: 1.0 m)
  5. THE RONETTES “Is This What I Get for Loving You?”
  6. DARLENE LOVE “Long Way to Be Happy”
  7. THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS “Love You for Sentimental Reasons”
  8. THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS “Ebb Tide” (12/4/65, 5 US, 3 UK, 13 RB)
  9. THE MODERN FOLK QUARTET “This Could Be the Night”
  10. THE RONETTES “Paradise”
  11. IKE & TINA TURNER “River Deep, Mountain High” (5/28/66, 88 US, 3 UK)
  12. IKE & TINA TURNER “I’ll Never Need More Than This”
  13. IKE & TINA TURNER “A Love Like Yours Don’t Come Knockin’ Everyday” (10/27/66, 16 UK)
  14. IKE & TINA TURNER “Save the Last Dance for Me”
  15. THE RONETTES “I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine”
  16. THE RONETTES “You Came, You Saw, You Conquered”
  17. SONNY CHARLES & THE CHECKMATES “Black Pearl” (5/10/69, 13 US, 8 RB)
  18. THE CHECKMATES “Love Is All I Have to Give” (4/5/69, 65 US)

Tracks, Disc 4 (A Christmas Gift for You):

  1. DARLENE LOVE “White Christmas”
  2. THE RONETTES “Frosty the Snowman”
  3. BOB B. SOXX & THE BLUE JEANS “The Bells of St. Mary”
  4. THE CRYSTALS “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
  5. THE RONETTES “Sleigh Ride”
  6. DARLENE LOVE “Marshmallow World”
  7. THE RONETTES “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
  8. THE CRYSTALS “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
  9. DARLENE LOVE “Winter Wonderland”
  10. THE CRYSTALS “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers”
  11. DARLENE LOVE “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
  12. BOB B. SOXX & THE BLUE JEANS “Here Comes Santa Claus”
  13. PHIL SPECTOR & ARTISTS “Silent Night”

Total Running Time: 206:12

Rating:

4.529 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

Quotable: “Spector’s Wall of Sound made even the most pedestrian teen pop seem mythic.” Blender Magazine

Awards:

About the Album:

“Two hits and ten pieces of junk, was how [producer Phil] Spector described the typical album, so the groups he produced released singles – honed to perfection and exclusively in mono.” TL “Monomaniacally massive, magical and mysterious,” BL “Spector thought that stereo sound gave listeners more control than producers; he really liked control.” TL

“This junk-free, four-disc set released in 1991 includes Ben E. King’s Spanish Harlem, The Ronettes’ Be My Baby (Brian Wilson pulled off the road and wept with joy the first time he heard it) and the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, all pinnacles of Spector’s Wall of Sound production techniques” TL in which “a huge Wagnerian slab of instruments…made even the most pedestrian teen pop seem mythic.” BL

“At the time Back to Mono was released in 1991, Phil Spector’s reputation as one of pop's great visionaries was intact, but there was no way to hear his genius. It wasn't just that there were no collections spotlighting his productions, there weren't collections of artists he produced. It wasn't until Back to Mono that there was a thorough overview of Spector's greatest work, and while it’s not without flaws, it still stands as one of the great box sets. Some may complain that there are no selections from his superstar '70s productions for John Lennon, George Harrison, Leonard Cohen, and the Ramones, but that's for the best, since their presence would have been incongruous, taking attention away from the music that forms the heart of Spector's legacy.” STE

“All of that music is here, not just on the first three discs, all devoted to singles, but also on the fourth disc, his seminal 1963 holiday album, A Christmas Gift for You,” STE “the only holiday album one ever need own.” TL Not only is it “the greatest rock Christmas album, but a crystallization of his skills.” STE

“It could be argued that the song selection overlooks some obscure fan favorites, such as ‘Do the Screw,’ but that’s simply nitpicking, because what’s here are all the great Spector records, which were hardly just great productions, they were great songs as well. As the set plays, it’s hard not to be stunned by the depth of the material and clarity of Spector’s vision…whether you’ve heard these songs hundreds of times or not at all – especially because they gain power when grouped together. Many producers have been credited as the true creative force behind many rock records, but usually that’s hyperbole. In Spector's case, it wasn’t, as this set gloriously proves.” STE

Resources and Related Links:

  • DMDB encyclopedia entry for Phil Spector
  • BL Blender Magazine’s “100 Greatest American Albums” (10/08)
  • STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
  • TL Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light, Time Magazine’s “All-TIME 100 Albums” (11/13/06)

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