Monday, April 13, 2009
Posted at
11:36
by
Carly Carioli
It's official: Phil Spector is guilty of second-degree murder. His victim, a 40-year-old House of Blues hostess who'd once held a bit role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, was found shot in the face, in Spector's mansion, in February 2003. (If you have a hard time taking Phil Spector seriously because of his infamously goofy mugshots, we recommend you take a look at the crime scene photos.) It will be much less fun to tell stories about what a kook Spector was in the studio, since the tales of his terrorizing Ronnie Spector and waving a gun at the Ramones will now reverberate less as talismans of music-biz bravado than as symbols of the industry's complicity in sweeping its heroes' dirty laundry under the rug. Phil Spector's life was a tragedy long before he pulled the trigger. Now it's epic tragedy. And the soundtrack was written long ago. Here's the five most dripping-with-irony hits in Phil's long, storied career.
5. The Teddy Bears, "To Know Him Is To Love Him"
4. Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, "Why Do Lovers Break Each Others' Hearts?"
3. Gene Pitney, "Every Breath I Take"
2. The Crystals, "He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)"
1. The Righteous Brothers, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"
