influenced by phil spector

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I have to do a presentation tomorrow on the influence of "Be My Baby" on subsequent musicians and producers. The only examples I've got so far are The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey", The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and something off Loveless. Anyone got any ideas?

― OCP (OCP), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Denise James

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:34 (twenty-two years ago)

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS. Especially _The Wayward Bus_.

― mike a, Monday, 26 April 2004 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

the Ramones

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

This thread may help you:

Songs with the 'Be My Baby' drum intro

― Super-Kate (kate), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

"Do they know it's Christmas" Band aid, uses that drum intro, sort of.

(avoiding reactivating old thread, now)

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

screen the first five minutes of Mean Streets

― sexyDancer, Monday, 26 April 2004 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

For general influence, Cornelius has been called 'The Phile Spectro for the post-rave generation', which is an overblown way of saying he has that multi-layered, multi-detailed sound approach to pop production.

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Was Joe Meek influenced by Spector? I'm not familiar with his work, but I've heard the two being compared in the past.

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Sonny Bono--any of the big Sonny & Cher hits would illustrate.

― no opinion, Monday, 26 April 2004 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd say the influence extends beyond the drum beat.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

all homages to the overall sound not just the damn drum beat:

bruce springsteen, "born to run"

beach boys - not just "good vibrations," but a great deal of their '60s output. "don't worry baby" is a particularly spectoresque single.

billy joel's "say goodbye to hollywood" has the drum intro and is a direct homage all the way through.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

no opinion nailed it with Sonny & Cher -- see "But You're Mine" and "Living for You" as the best examples.

― Joseph McCombs, Monday, 26 April 2004 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

phil elvrium as phil spector? discuss

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 April 2004 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Was Joe Meek influenced by Spector? I'm not familiar with his work, but I've heard the two being compared in the past.

Joe was more a Buddy Holly obsessive if anything, though both were definitely trying to maximize what was available sonically at the time, and both were aiming for the charts while doing so; they weren't interested in something that didn't sell or connect, at least as they saw it. Something like "Telstar" isn't a wall of sound in a Spector-sense, though, it's...like a rush, a rising up.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 26 April 2004 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

connect w/ I hear a new world.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 26 April 2004 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Aisler's Set
Jonathan Richman
Spiritualized (especially Let it Come Down)
Julie Cruse (I dunno if this is the correct spelling of her name)
the Ramones
The Beatles, obviously

I think you could also make a decent argument that the glam Gary Glitter/T. Rex sound owes a lot to Spector's simple riffs + overblown production approach.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 26 April 2004 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Where does Phil Spector influence the Beatles, apart from when he produced them?
Did Spector produce Lennon's "Instant Karma" and/or "War is Over"?

― no opinion, Monday, 26 April 2004 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

it comes through in their solo work, even when he wasn't working directly with them. Harrison and Lennon both obviously borrowed a lot of his production techniques (witness Lennon's bit on the Nillson album he produced) + all of Harrison's 70s work.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 26 April 2004 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry, should've specified I meant the Beatles as collective individuals, not their actual albums as a band.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 26 April 2004 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Andrew Loog Oldham tried to do some Phil Spector-like productions for the Rolling Stones. You can hear them on the Metamorphosis album.

― Tim Ellison, Monday, 26 April 2004 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

(beatles and "instant karma" x-post)

i'm pretty sure spector produced both of those. he definitely produced "instant karma." he produced all of lennon's best solo work (mostly meaning the "plastic ono band" and "imagine" albums).

but i'm not sure how big an influence spector was on the beatles either. they were more into motown and arthur alexander and soul stuff like that.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 26 April 2004 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Wizzard, "This Is the Story of My Love (Baby)." Good Spector pastiche.

Brian Wilson is the only real example you need, though. And even his stuff doesn't really sound like Phil Spector's. I was listening to a best-of on the Ronettes recently--"I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine" is such a great song, and such a weird production. As a figure, Spector is something else, but I don't really enjoy listening to his stuff too much.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 26 April 2004 17:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Talking about Spector's influence on production is like talking about Dylan's influence on lyrics -- it's spread so thin over so many artists and genres that's it's practically invisible. It's in the Bomb Squad's collages and Alan Moulder's buzzsaw guitar sounds -- the influence is so broad that he isn't neccessarily cited as an influence. His way is just an inseparable component of the way music is heard and recorded.
The Wrecking Crew was the busiest session band in music for a reason. Check out Hal Blaine's resume or biography sometime -- those guys played on EVERYTHING.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 26 April 2004 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Barry has a good point -- isolating Spector's influence in pop is almost like trying to isolate Kraftwerk's influence on techno.

Some of the production on Super Furry Animals' "Rings Around The World" reminds me of Spector, as does Todd Rundgren's production work at times (eg: "Bat Out of Hell").

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Monday, 26 April 2004 20:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Also The Beach Boys' "I Do." Definitely fantastic. It's a bonus track on Surfer Girl/Shut Down Vol. 2.

― Ali Gorji, Monday, 26 April 2004 23:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Enya's producer cites Spector as a primary influence and I'm not even joking.

Also, early Microphones, "Bass Drum Dream"

― Kevin Erickson, Monday, 26 April 2004 23:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Enya's producer cites Spector as a primary influence and I'm not even joking.

I don't you needed to add the last part! All the overdubbed vocal interplay sorta gives it away.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 26 April 2004 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I often think French house sounds very Spector-ish.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 26 April 2004 23:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Recording the drums twice and syncing them up was one of the hallmarks of the Wall of Sound. It gives a very distinctive drum sound. See the Clash's The Card Cheat; Brian Jonestown Massacre, stuff already mentioned. You find it in surprising places.

― Orbit (Orbit), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Can't forget The Clash ("The Card Cheat").

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 06:19 (twenty-two years ago)

...as Orbit already mentioned right before me!

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 06:21 (twenty-two years ago)

"Say Goodbye to Hollywood" was covered by Ronnie Spector in a version produced by Steve Van Zandt and backed by, I think, the Asbury Jukes.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 06:34 (twenty-two years ago)

"Was Joe Meek influenced by Spector? I'm not familiar with his work, but I've heard the two being compared in the past. "

i agree with ned, they're more contemporaries with certain points of correspondence than anything else. i wouldn't argue for any special influence, except insofar as any sound that's big on the radio will "influence" you one way or another if you're aiming to make hit records.

also, phil is much more r&b than joe. i can't imagine phil producing ersatz country and western records, for example.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 06:36 (twenty-two years ago)

The Flatmates, albeit via the Ramones.

― Jez (Jez), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 08:22 (twenty-two years ago)

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