The Great Spector Spectacle
- 30 Apr 07, 03:56 PM
How bizarre is the sight of Phil Spector on trial for murder? Certainly the man who invented ΅®the wall of sound΅― in the sixties was always more than a little eccentric to say the least. Short in stature he has long had a penchant for wearing platforms and Cuban heels, and then there are the wigs, from the ΅®I stuck my finger in an electric socket΅― to his current courtroom look, a rather fetching Ann Widdecombe style blonde bob.
It΅―s all a far cry from the days when he was churning out hits for the likes of The Crystals, The Ronettes and The Righteous Brothers, producing The Beatles ΅®Let It Be΅―, and writer Tom Wolfe could describe him as ΅®the Tycoon of Teen΅―. But even then the sub-text was of a troubled man with many demons to face, and stories of violence, gun play and all round craziness were common place.
When he finally withdrew from the world into his castle in Alhambra, a run down suburb of Los Angeles, it would be 25 years before he gave another interview, and when he did it was to Daily Telegraph journalist Mick Brown. In that interview Spector told him that in life timing is everything, ironic considering that within 36 hours of its publication in February 2003 former B-movie actress Lana Clarkson was found shot dead in the castle and Spector was on the front page of every newspaper in the western world.
In the four years since, Mick Brown has gone on to chronicle the life of the infamous legend in a new biography ΅®Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector. I΅―ve just finished it and despite the fact that it weighs a ton, I literally couldn΅―t put it down. So imagine how much I΅―m looking forward to interviewing its author tonight on Arts Extra at 6.30 ¨C or 10.30 Californian time ¨C and getting the latest on the trial. It΅―s also the best excuse I can think of to play some of the finest hits of the sixties on a sunny afternoon, and whether its win, lose or draw for Spector, however much we've lost that lovin feelin for him, those great songs will always be untouchable.
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