The Ronettes

The Ronettes are, in my opinion, the greatest girl group of the 1960's. They have great harmony in their songs, most of which deal with falling in love, heartache and telling another girl to back off your manz. The Ronettes admitted universal vulnerability and insecurities while maintaing that confident cool- a mastery of the societal ideas that are attributed to the 1960's youth in America; an honest naivete that is altogether outdated. Listening to their songs definitely takes the listener back to those times. Although they seem tame by today's standards, they had a New York bad girl edge-they're from Washington Heights- sporting huge teased beehives and that thick winged eyeliner us girls are such big advocates of. The band consisted of lead singer Ronnie Spector (born Veronica Yvette Bennett) according to some she is "The Original Bad Girl of Rock and Roll," sister Estelle Bennet(1941-2009-RIP), and cousin Nedra. Ronnie and Estelle were multiracial, their father being Irish and their mother African-American and Native-American(I hate these labels) which was really rare to see in the 1960's spotlight. Ronnie got her last name from husband Phil Spector, a major record producer who was credited with creating a musical technique dubbed 'The Wall of Sound' as well as the success of many musical groups. He later regained notoriety as a defendant in a second degree murder case- guess he kept those HITS coming(get it?) I'm such a dork. Needless to say Phil ain't doing too well:

Anyway, this song is one of the most used songs in soundtracks: BE MY BABY

This is another classic plus they have flowers in their hair-always a big plus:

Mary Wells

The stunning, incredible Mary Wells, was in my opinion the true darling of Motown soul. With the production assistance of Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells released a string of hit singles during soul's golden era. This new singer, sometimes referred to as 'The first lady of Motown', brought forth an irresistible, aggressive charm, a quality shared by greats (and personal favorites) such as Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding.

Beginning with her first release, the 1960 single 'Bye, Bye Baby', the 17 year old Mary was introduced to the world as a promising new addition to the Motown cast. Featuring a uniquely gritty production quality, 'Bye Bye Baby' shows Wells as a brazenly powerful singer, who though not yet in her prime, would never again quite capture the raw energetic feel of her early singles. There are moments when her voice unexpectedly elevates into such a soulful howl, that it shakes you down to the very core, brings you to your knees, and as Little Richard says "Makes ma' big toe shoot up in ma' boot!"

It was only a few years later in 1964, that her most well known hit 'My Guy' was released, displacing the Beatles number one spot in the charts. Mary's voice had found it's place, and though a great song, 'My Guy' was miles away from the energy of her first two singles, lacking that certain charming, innocence of naivety that the more experienced individual often loses in their search for perfection. As usual, when an artist becomes associated with one particular hit, the rest of their output no matter how good, becomes overshadowed. But Mary Wells, was no one hit wonder. I'll take a great tune like the Martha Reeves-esque 'You Lost the Sweetest Boy' or 'Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right' over 'My Guy' any day of the week.

There is an 'Ultimate Collection' disc available that includes almost everything you need to hear. Though there are a few worthwhile b-sides you might have to get the actual singles for. That punchy, exciting r&b sound really comes through best on vinyl, and seems to lose it's impact, and original magic when in digital form. So, start digging for those Motown labels! - Joe Western