Ronnie Spector RIP

I am away in Jamaica at the moment - my first foreign trip for two years - so slightly behind on the news. But waking up this morning to learn that Ronnie Spector has died feels like a real punch in the gut. When I get home I will post some photos of occasions when I've seen Ronnie perform. For now I can only reminisce about the pleasure that superb, slightly quavery voice has given me over the years. 'Be My Baby', 'Baby I Love You' 'Walking In The Rain' were all smash hits in the personal top ten that I kept at the time. and when I saw the Ronettes, with their tight skirts beehive hair and exotic make up performing on 'Ready Steady Go' I was entranced. The memory stays with me vividly and I collected every record I could by them, including their only LP 'The Fabulous Ronettes' on London. I followed Ronnie's career and her travails with Phil Spector over the years but didn't see her perform again until 1990 when she did a show at the Town and Country 2 and I got myself photographed with her. She was everything I remembered and hoped for with her warm yet emotional voice and I felt a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye as she sang her hits. Very few singers have that effect on me. I saw her quite a few times after that, memorably at the Ponderosa Stomp and at what became regular annual visits to London around Christmas time. It's hard to believe that she's gone she always seemed so powerful on stage. Apparently she could be a demanding diva off stage. But if anyone had the right to be demanding after what she went through with Phil, it was Ronnie. RIP