Remembering Ronnie: A Dozen Tracks from Ms. Spector's Solo Career
I had a crush on Ronnie Spector.
I realize that hardly makes me special, but I can at least say that I’m part of the generation who first developed their crush as a result of the video for Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight.” Obviously, Ronnie was around well before that, having burst onto the scene as part of the Ronettes and earning pop music immortality with “Be My Baby,” but… Well, not to speak for everyone of my era, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t alone in being captivated from the moment she wiggled her way onto the screen to sing, “Be my little baby…”
But I’m not here to talk about her hits. I wanted to shine a light on some of the tracks that you might not have heard, songs from her solo career. Ronnie struggled way harder than she should’ve to find a foothold on her own, but even after our man Eddie brought her back into the spotlight, she still couldn’t sway the masses back into her corner. As a result, however, she found herself collaborating with some pretty great producers, songwriters, and musicians who were happy to stop genuflecting long enough to put together some pretty great singles and EPs over the years. Yes, there were a couple of full-length albums, too, and they’re represented here, too, but I think what you’ll find from this mix of tracks is that the best stuff came not from the attempts to turn her into the next big thing but from the desire to remind people of the big thing that she already was.
1. “Try Some, Buy Some” (1971 - non-album single)
If you’re a George Harrison fan, then you may well know this song from the version he released on his 1973 album Living in the Material World, but you’d have to be a major-league Beatlemaniac to know that Ronnie released her version two years prior as a single on Apple Records. In 1990, she wrote in her memoir that it “stunk,” but nine years later, she cited it as one of her five greatest musical moments from her career. What, like it’s not a woman’s prerogative to change her mind?
2. “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” (1977 - non-album single)
This Billy Joel song always wanted to be a Ronettes song anyway, so this was really just a case of Ronnie turning a dream into reality.
3. “It’s a Heartache” (1978 - non-album single)
Yep, that’s right: the Bonnie Tyler song…or at least the song popularized by Bonnie Tyler, anyway, although Juice Newton had a minor hit with it, too. I’d argue that Ronnie’s version is at least as solid, and after you spun it a few times, you might find that it beats out the competition.
4. “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” (1980 - Siren)
Ramones fans will recognize this track as hailing from their sophomore LP, Rocket to Russia, but what you may not be able to spot is that this song as well as the subsequent two tracks feature guitar work from Cheetah Chrome of the New York Dolls.
4. “Darlin’” (1980 - Siren)
5. “Any Way That You Want Me” (1980 - Siren)
6. “Who Can Sleep” (1987 - Unfinished Business)
Yeah, I know, I could easily include “Take Me Home Tonight” in this list and call it a cheat, but why bother when I can instead offer up the first single from Ronnie’s 1987 album Unfinished Business, which also featured the vocal chops of one Edward Money? Bonus trivia: the song was written by Alan Gordon, who co-wrote The Turtles’ “Happy Together” and “She’d Rather Be with Me.”
7. “Dangerous” (1987 - Unfinished Business)
Written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, this track features Susanna Hoffs on backing vocals, but trust me, you don’t need me to tell you that. (If you know Ms. Hoffs, then you’ll recognize her the moment she starts singing.)
8. “(If I Could) Walk Away” (1987 - Unfinished Business)
I don’t know how many other people would necessarily hold this up as a must-hear from Ronnie’s solo career, but since it was penned by Don Dixon, there was never any question that it was going to feature in my retrospective.
9. “She Talks to Rainbows” (1999 - She Talks to Rainbows EP)
That’s right, Ronnie’s doing the Ramones again, this time taking a track from the bruddas’ last album, ¡Adios Amigos! In addition, it was co-produced by Joey Ramone and longtime Ramones knob-twiddler Daniel Rey.