Remembering Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes

I learned of Ronnie Spector’s death this past Thursday when my wife Polly called me to the TV saying they were getting ready to tell something about the Ronettes. I was saddened by this news, but it brought back a very wonderful memory for me from the summer of 2014 when I gave an entertaining speech at the Pharr Family YMCA in McAdenville with the help of some of my great-nieces and nephews and a few of their friends where we paid tribute to the Ronettes and several other groups from the early days of Rock ‘n Roll.

To prepare for that speech, I read Ronnie’s book “Be My Baby: How I survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness or My Life as a Fabulous Ronette.” In it she tells a story about meeting Elvis that I liked and included in my speech that had to do with the Ronettes’ “look.”

She said for her 26th birthday her husband at the time, Phil Spector, took her to Las Vegas where they went to see Elvis perform. Elvis sent word to the two of them that he would like for them to come to his dressing room after the show because he would like to meet them.

So, after the show they go to where his dressing room is but Phil, because he is very possessive and jealous of Ronnie, makes her stay out in the hallway with his bodyguard while he goes in to see Elvis. And that’s the background for this little story she tells that follows:

"I was standing there, trying to peek through a crack in the dressing room door, when this beautiful young girl pops out and nearly smashes the door in my face. I didn’t recognize her at first, but when I saw she was the only girl there wearing more mascara than I was, I knew she had to be Priscilla Presley."

The best part of the night was when my great-nieces and nephews and their friends who were all young children at the time pantomimed songs from the groups I talked about that night. I tried to outfit them in a way that would make them look like the groups they were representing with the help of their parents and grandparents.

For the Ronettes (Taylor Royston, Gracie Hullett and Natalie Richardson) I found some T-shirts online with a picture of the Ronettes on the front and their parents and grandparents used some hair bumps and make up to give them the big hair-dos and Ronettes’ look.

The other groups or individuals were Karen and Richard Carpenter (Noel Herron and Evan Richardson), Elvis (Miles Royston), and Chubby Checker (Patrick Hullett). They had outfits too. Elvis especially was in full costume with a white jumpsuit and wig.

One interesting story from that night is about which children played which parts. Because Evan Richardson played the piano in real life and his pretty sister, Natalie, could sing well, I thought they were the perfect pair to be Richard and Karen Carpenter and when I bought the shirt online like the one that Karen Carpenter often wore with “Lead Sister” on it, I thought I was getting it for Natalie.

But as it turned out Natalie didn’t want to be Karen Carpenter. She wanted to be one of the Ronettes. I don’t know if it was the big hairdos and makeup that attracted her to the Ronettes or that she wanted to perform with her cousins instead of her brother or some other reason. But as it turned out the part of Karen was played by Evan and Natalie’s friend Noel, and it all turned out wonderful!

The performance part of our program that night was coordinated by my nephew. Wes McLean’s wife Abby. The following was my introduction of her and the performances, that I was particularly proud of.

Now it’s time for the children to perform. One thing I didn’t tell you about the Ronettes was that they were a family group made up of two sisters and a cousin. And before they were ever the Ronettes, they were called “Ronnie and the Relatives.”

At our Christmas get-togethers in our family, Abby McLean often gets the children together and involves them in musical activities. She’s a fifth-grade school teacher and very musically talented. So at this time, I’m going to turn it over to Abby and the Relatives, and some friends.

But again, the news of Ronnie’s passing last week brought sadness to me, as well as these happy memories I’ve shared. I hope my great-nieces and nephews felt something similar, which would of course mean a great deal to me for them to remember this great night we had together, but I also hope they will always remember Ronnie Spector and how that although we never met her, our lives were all touched and blessed by her.

Rick Dominy, who thought he was funny when he said in his speech that when Ronnie sang “for every kiss you give me, I’ll give you three” that he liked her math, is a Gaston county resident and can be reached at 704-675-4862 or humorick007@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Remembering Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes