The Ronettes perform 'Be My Baby' on Shindig!, 1965

The Ronettes (named for lead singer Ronnie Spector) were one of the biggest acts of the 60s and the only girl group to every tour with The Beatles. In 1963 the trio of Spector, Nedra Talley and Estelle Bennett had a huge hit with the song ‘Be My Baby’, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Two years later they performed that song on the very popular musical variety TV show Shindig!

Here is the video of that performance. It’s just over two minutes in length but it’s catchy and kitchy and really captures the feel of the early 1960s. What makes this extra special, however, is the written narrative underneath the video which provides a wealth of history on The Ronettes including the famous artists who provided backing vocals (Sonny and Cher for example), their connection to Phil Spector and his ‘wall of sound’ recording style, and why ‘Be My Baby’ drove Beach Boy Brian Wilson “mad with envy”. Read the accompanying information and watch this video. You’ll be glad you did.

You can listen to music The Ronettes, Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys and all of the artists from the 1960s anytime on Dusty Discs Radio.