The Ronettes

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Ronettes was a girl group from Washington Heights in New York, with the singer Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett, her older sister Estelle and their cousin Nedra Talley. They sang together as children at their grandmother's home and, as teenagers, performed at an amateur night at the Apollo Theater. As Ronnie and the Relatives they recorded a few singles for Colpix from 1961, without success. In the meantime they danced the twist at the Peppermint Lounge and sang backing vocals in the shows of the radio presenter Murray the K. That was where their striking look arose: heavy eye make-up and high-piled hair.

Music and breakthrough

In 1963 they auditioned for the producer Phil Spector. He really wanted only Ronnie, but her mother insisted that he take the whole group. In July 1963 they recorded Be My Baby, written by Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. The song reached number two in America and became their best-known record. Baby, I Love You, (The Best Part of) Breakin' Up and Walking in the Rain followed, and in 1964 their only album, Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica. In England The Rolling Stones were their opening act, and in 1966 they toured with The Beatles. In 1967 the group split up.

Influence

Be My Baby is a textbook example of Spector's Wall of Sound: a large group of musicians and backing singers, among them the young Cher, who together sound like an enormous wall of sound, with Ronnie's voice rising above it. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was so impressed that he wrote Don't Worry Baby as a tribute to the group.

Listening

• 
  Be My Baby · The Ronettes, 1963
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1964Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 12: The Hit Factory^NL Reader
• Magazine: De jukebox gaat de film in^NL Magazine
• Magazine: Een film die platen verkoopt^NL Magazine
• Magazine: Wie betaalt het lied?^NL Magazine

Mentioned in other articles

• Brill Building and girl groups GenreHe recorded them at the Gold Star studio in Los Angeles and piled up guitars, pianos, horns and strings into one dense wall of sound: the Wall of Sound, heard in Be My Baby by The Ronettes (1963).
• Wall of Sound TechnologyGirl groups such as The Ronettes were given their grand sound this way, and later Bruce Springsteen built on it.
• Be My Baby SongBe My Baby by The Ronettes from the summer of 1963, written with Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, is the textbook example.

See also

• Brill Building and girl groups