We lost the indelible rock ’n’ roll voice of Ronnie Spector Wednesday. She died of cancer at the age of 78.
Simply her work on the Ronettes biggest hit “Be My Baby” would warrant her everlasting legacy, but she continued through the decades working with Bruce Springsteen, Joey Ramone and Keith Richards and finding a late career affinity with Amy Winehouse. When I talked to Spector in 1995, though, she said she thought at least some of her fame came from her distinctive, tough beehive hairstyle.
“We had this different look, this big hair — which was ours,” Spector said of the group she led. “A lot of groups back then used wigs. But this was our own hair. We’d put it up before shows, and it would fall down as we would dance. And Murray the K would say, `Keep that in!’ “
It caught on quickly.
“We’d do a show, and all the girls in the first few rows would stand up and have our hairstyles, our clothes,” Spector recalled. “It was the greatest feeling to know that they were imitating you, not just in your singing but actually what you wore. And they’d ask what color lipstick we were wearing.”
The songs, of course, were strong, too — representing the biggest hits from ex-husband Phil Spector’s influential “Wall of Sound” years.
“The songs were different” from others of the day, Ronnie said, before she started quoting the lyrics from “Be My Baby.” ” `For every kiss you give me / I’ll give you three.’ Right to the point.”