The Phil Spector Spectacle Begins Today

We could call it what it really is – a trial – but we all know it has the potential to be a spectacle. If you’ve been waiting for a salacious celebrity trial to come to TV for the past two years since Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005, here you go. Fifty reporters are expected to sardine themselves into the courtroom so you can expect this one to be all over the news wherever you may turn for it.

How The Mighty Have Fallen…
Not that Spector was ever the picture of grace; you did notice his preferred hairstyle, right? Spector is (or was) a musical genius. He was the guy who created the “Wall Of Sound.” It’s quite an accomplishment for a teenager who initially hoped to become a French translator for the UN. He was working with big names by age 21 like Sonny Bono and the Valley’s own Glenn Campbell. By this time he was also a millionaire, having played a role as either musician or producer in 1960s hits like The Drifters’ On Broadway and Ben E. King’s Spanish Harlem.

He put out not just a few but 20 consecutive hits at one point, including:

The Crystals – Da Doo Run Run
The Crystals – Then He Kissed Me
The Ronettes – Be My Baby
The Righteous Brothers – You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling
Darlene Love – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
John Lennon -- Imagine
George Harrison -- My Sweet Lord

With hits like that which have been reissued several times, it’s easy to imagine the incredible royalty checks Spector receives twice a year. But all was never roses and honey with Spector who allegedly abused ex-wife Ronnie of the Ronettes. Spector is known as being the rich, tormented, eccentric – but extremely gifted producer. More on his eccentricities later because the Peak Dope writer has to go to a meeting.