Sometimes I choose a Music Monday song for one reason: it makes me happy. "Do I Love You?" by the Ronettes is one of those songs. This girl group started singing together as teenagers. The singers consist of Veronica Bennett (a/k/a Ronnie Spector), her sister Estelle Bennet, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They grew up in Spanish Harlem and originally called their group The Darling Sisters. They started working with Spector as The Ronettes in 1963. "Do I Love You?" was a Top 40 song for The Ronettes in 1964. It features everything that made them great: Ronnie Spector's amazing voice, terrific instrumentals, and the "wall of sound" that Phil Spector engineered. I heard this song for the first time in a long while on the radio a few days ago, and had forgotten how much I like it. I hope you do, too.
This weekend I was catching up with email and listening to the 1950's channel on SiriusXM. This song came on and I had to stop and listen. I can't believe that I had never heard this fun, infectious 1957 tune before. "Bad Motorcycle" was recorded by The Storey Sisters (Ann and Lillian Storey) in Philadelphia in 1957 on the Cameo label. This song charted briefly in 1958 on the Billboard pop charts. It's a girl group sound with a rockabilly beat, and it is just FUN.
I can't believe I've never included "Tell Him" as a Music Monday selection before. This girl group song from 1962 is one of my all time favorite songs. The Exciters were a girl group from Queens, New York. Brenda Reid, the lead singer, suggested adding her husband, Herb Rooney, to the group, and he joined them on most of their popular songs. Legend has it that "Tell Him" is the song that inspired Dusty Springfield to sing pop/soul music. This video, filmed at a zoo, is great fun! I love everything about it - the dresses, the gloves, and especially the music.
Readers of my blog will know that I am a huge fan of classic soul music. I can (and sometimes do) listen to it all day. One of my favorite retro soul songs is "I Can't Stand the Rain" by Ann Peebles. Ann Peebles is from Memphis, and she co-wrote this song with Don Bryant and Bernie Miller. This song made the Top 40 in 1973, and - a little bit of trivia - it was one of John Lennon's favorite songs. Tina Turner covered this song in the 1980's, and I like her cover ... but the original is just so great.
"Nothing But a Heartache" is one of my all time favorite songs. It combines many things I love: retro soul, girl group music, and a melody that is catchy and dynamic. The Flirtations recorded this song in 1968, and it was a hit for the group, making the Hot 100 list. The Flirtations started recording in 1962 as the Gypsies. Two of the singers were sisters from South Carolina. They were marketed as being like the Supremes, and there are some real similarities in sound and performance style. "Nothing But a Heartache" became a Northern Soul hit. Northern Soul music was soul music that achieved popularity in dance clubs in Northern England, Scotland, and Wales in the mid-1960's. Northern Soul songs were typically by less well known artists. They were uptempo with a good beat for dancing. I have loved this song for years. I have it on my Blackberry, my iPad ... and now I am happy to share it with you, too.
20 Feet From Stardom is one of my favorite movies from recent years. This 2013 Academy Award winner (Best Documentary) goes behind the scenes with some notable background singers including Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, and more. These women sang backup on some iconic songs, but their names and faces are not well-known. You'll meet them in this movie, and also hear from singers including Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Bette Midler, and more. The movie has some fascinating footage of 1950's background singers, who were often called "readers" because they had a great skill at reading music and hitting the notes pitch perfect. As the 1960's brought rock, pop, and soul music, background singing changed to a free form art, with more interpretation by the singers. The heart of the movie is Darlene Love, who found success as a backup singer working with Phil Spector. Her experiences working with him, and the trajectory of her career (both highs and lows) are chronicled here. Spector manipulated her, using her voice on songs by the girl group The Crystals (a group she did not belong to), while promising her that the songs she recorded would be promoted under her name. She did have a 1960's hit with "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." You will also meet Merry Clayton, who had a last minute, late night call to do backups for the Rolling Stones. She left the house in her nightgown and a mink coat to record the memorable background vocals on "Gimme Shelter." Some of the women profiled in this movie tried a solo career and returned to background singing. Some of them love background singing and harmonizing. They are all passionate about music, with great stories and songs.
If you love music, especially 1960's and 1970's, you will find this movie fascinating. It is the rare film that I finished with the immediate thought: "I am looking forward to seeing this again."
If you've seen 20 Feet from Stardom, I would love to hear what you thought of it in the comments below.
For your listening pleasure: Darlene Love sings "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on The David Letterman Show (2013):
