I don't believe Merle's view was sexist, and mine isn't either when I say that just a couple of years back when I hosted pop music on the radio, I grew weary of singers like Bebe Rexha, Maren Morris, Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato, et al. What I heard were pleasant but interchangeable voices with zero originality.
We lost Veronica "Ronnie" Spector (cancer, age 78) and Rachel Nagy (older than the copycat news stories giving her age as 37) this month. Spector and Nagy didn't sing like anybody else; no shortage of style there!
Perfection was something that never existed in Ronnie's vocals yet the best of them were pure magic. Ronnie's greatest sides with the Ronettes are among the cream of rock'n'roll history: "Be My Baby" (1963), "Walking In the Rain" (1964) and the moody "Is This What I Get for Loving You?" (1965)--an explosion of sound due to then-partner Phil Spector's innovative production but might have been gimmick-laden were it not for the emotional voice we all fell in love with. Ask Brian Wilson.
More uplifting work followed from Ronnie, though after the '60s, it trickled in at a disappointing pace:
"Tandoori Chicken" (Apple single, 1971): The jaunty B-side of George Harrison's lumbering "Try Some, Buy Some" (the same backing track was used for the 1973 Harrison version on Living In the Material World). So off the cuff and cool.
"Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (Epic single, 1977): Backed by the E Street Band and starting with Clarence Clemons' seismic saxophone, Ronnie's version blows away Billy Joel's (though, to be fair, I heard Spector's remake before Joel's original). It was produced by Steven Van Zandt, whose autobiography Unrequited Infatuations says that these A and B-side sessions kept the musicians afloat, as Bruce Springsteen was tied up in a legal battle with his ex-manager and was prohibited from working with them.
Siren (Polish Records, 1980): A patchy, vibrant and skillful modern rock'n'roll album which kicks off with the Ramones' "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" and sustains itself throughout. The record label logo is a silhouette of a woman polishing furniture; that's how you know it's not referring to Poland the country.
Unfinished Business (Columbia, 1987): A wasted opportunity to reconnect Ronnie with the music marketplace after her successful guest shot on Eddie Money's 1986 hit "Take Me Home Tonight," which peaked at #4 on the national charts. Only Don Dixon's "(If I Could) Walk Away"--first recorded by his wife, Marti Jones--is a smart song choice on this dullsville outing.
She Talks to Rainbows (Kill Rock Stars, 1999 [EP]): A delicious hodgepodge of styles on the Olympia label that would soon split for Portland. Highlights: Johnny Thunders' "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" plus "Bye Bye Baby," a duet with Ronettes de facto fan club president Joey Ramone.
Something's Gonna Happen (Bad Girl Sounds, 2003 [EP]): Radiant Marshall Crenshaw covers--Ronnie was made for these songs.
"Hey Sah Lo Ney" (Bad Girl Sounds single, 2006): A terrific remake of the 1966 Mickey Lee Lane tune (also cut by the Detroit Cobras as "Hey Sailor").
"Back to Black" (Bad Girl Sounds single, 2011): Even though she skipped the risque line Amy Winehouse penned, Ronnie's version is haunting, spooky, brilliant.
English Heart (429 Records, 2016): Where Ronnie's almost desolate reading of the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is one for the ages--sounds like classic rock'n'roll on its last legs.
Ronnie Spector's huge heart and rippling sound will not fade away any time soon. If anyone inspired the curious mix of badass and glamor that became the Shangri-Las, it was the Ronettes, who were an inspiration to Rachel Nagy as well; the Cobras recorded their early track "He Did It."
Goodbye, Ronnie. It's a sweet consolation to know that we will still hear the Ronettes on the radio at Christmas.
Early in her life, Rachel Nagy was unaware that she could sing, but she jumped on the 1990s garage/punk scene in the Motor City (as did the White Stripes) and founded the Detroit Cobras with rhythm guitarist Mary Ramirez. Their approach had a twist: the Cobras' material focused on obscure soul and R&B--songs that connected with the band so deeply that they wondered how rock fans were missing them. The Cobras unearthed chestnuts from the Marvelettes, Mary Wells and especially the grand Irma Thomas; Nagy described seeing Thomas on stage as her "Beatlemania."
There was just one original song in the Cobras' repertoire but their mandate to use outside material from the past did not indicate a shared lack of ambition.
The band's 1998 debut on Sympathy for the Record Industry, Mink Rat or Rabbit, included the Shangri-Las' "It's Easier to Cry" in addition to a high-powered take on Thomas' "Breakaway" that rivals Irma's. Some YouTube fans believe Major Accident's 2010 version is better but it ain't true (the second best cover is by the female Japanese ska band the Oldtones--see their live video).
Mink and its followup album Life, Love and Leaving (2001) deepened the Cobras' sound as Nagy's voice got more and more powerful; I also detected just the slightest bit of a good kind of weariness a la Texas blues singer Angela Strehli. Besides two additional albums, an EP and more singles, their final tracks were 2016's "Feel Good" (Wild Honey) and 2018's "What More" (Third Man, the label run by Jack White). At the end of their reign, the Cobras concentrated on live performing.
Sidebar: In 2011, Rachel Nagy took part in guitarist Dennis Coffey's self-titled album on the Strut label. Coffey had played on Motown sessions and with Funkadelic, and reprised that band's great tune "I'll Bet You" with the Dirtbombs' Mick Collins and Nagy on vocals--an inspired, soulful remake.
It's doubtful that Ronnie Spector would have recorded "Hey Sah Lo Ney" in 2006 without hearing the Detroit Cobras' 1998 version. There was something about Rachel Nagy's forceful singing that inspired many--even the classic singers who had initially influenced Nagy. Fans everywhere will miss her.