Spector Gets Slammed In Court

The Ronettes finally got their day in court Tuesday, as a judge in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York heard first-day arguments in their lawsuit vs. producer Phil Spector.

The Ronettes -- whose Spector-helmed hits include "Be My Baby" and "Walking In The Rain" -- charge that the producer, his Philles Records label, and successor labels breached the group's 34-year-old contract by paying the members, led by Spector's ex-wife Ronnie Greenfield, no royalties since 1963.

The suit, filed in 1988, was held up by a slow discovery process and legal maneuvering. It asks for $12 million in damages, rescission of the contract, the return of the masters, and recoupment of all monies received by the defendants, minus expenses, from the sale of Ronettes masters.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

More Song Stories entries »

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