Word: spectors
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...those vocals on the top! Ronnie of the Ronettes, of course - later Veronica when Phil was pushing her as a solo artist, and later still, Ronnie Spector when she ended her career by marrying him. (According to Ronnie's book, "Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or My Life As a Fabulous Ronette," she lived as a prisoner in Phil's L.A. mansion, finally escaping in bare feet with only the clothes on her back...
...About the same time as the American release of "Greatest Hits," Spector (who controlled all the rights to his catalog) set up a distribution arrangement with Polydor for a label called Phil Spector International, whose first and only release was a five-LP series called "The Phil Spector Wall of Sound." Featured were greatest hits collections from The Ronettes, The Crystals, Bobb B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, and Phil himself. (I wasn't interested in the last one since all the tunes on it were drawn from the other three LPs or the Warner Brothers collection...
...What did interest me, however, was LP number 5: "The Phil Spector Wall of Sound Vol. 5: Rare Masters." To an obsessive, of course, the words "rare master" are Pavlovian triggers like "never released", "obscure B-side" and "the Beatles butcher-cover." That it turned out to be a great record was irrelevant - I had no choice. I was Ahab, the white whale was off the starboard. Somehow I got the money (probably around six or seven dollars) and "Rare Masters" was in my hands...
...unknown April Stevens solo cut - she was usually half of a brother-sister act with sibling Nino Tempo - called "Why Can't a Boy and Girl Just Stay In Love." There is an obscure B-side known as "Torpedo Rock," a deliberately obnoxious instrumental, typical of what Spector sometimes placed on flip sides so the impact of the A-side wouldn't be diluted...
...hipster buyer who controlled the records section, which in those days were all LPs and 45s. I walk over to the Oldies section, or the Girl Groups section, or maybe just S in the alphabetical listing. I flip through the LPs and suddenly I'm holding "The Phil Spector Wall of Sound Vol. 6 - Rare Masters...