Ronnie Spector with Darlene Love
Where: Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Info: $33; 301-279-5301; montgomerycollege.edu/pac
Ronnie Spector remembers well her childhood, when she stood in line at Macy’s in New York waiting to see Santa.
Inching up the line — which traditionally has hundreds, if not thousands, of people in it waiting to give Santa their gift lists — she’d spot a glimpse of a red outfit or the white of Santa’s beard and think she was getting close to seeing him.
“When I was in the studio, I’d close my eyes and go back to that time,” Spector said by phone from her Connecticut home. “That’s how excited I am about this album.”
Little wonder. After a childhood of singing and dreaming about a career in the music business, Spector made her name as the lead singer of the 1960s girl group The Ronettes with hit singles including “Be My Baby” and “Baby I Love You” before marrying legendary producer Phil Spector, who she says basically ended her career. In her 1989 autobiography, “Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness,” she detailed how Spector kept her a virtual prisoner and wouldn’t allow her to sing or perform.
Now all that has changed with the release of “The Last of the Rock Stars.” The 12 tracks on the CD include a host of guest artists ranging from the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards to Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Joey Ramone.
“It took me years to make this CD because so many people passed,” Spector said of the untimely death of some of her relatives and many friends, including Ramone. “I hear about these artists like Barry Manilow or Aretha Franklin with 45, 50 albums, and I have about two.”
But Spector’s sparse catalogue is rich in quality, showing her trademark vocals are as strong as ever. Though the guest artists’ contributions on this latest CD are sensational, each track of the CD highlights Spector’s slightly naughty, always strong pipes.
“That power comes out of not being given a chance earlier to perform,” she said. “I had to run away [from my marriage] because I knew I would die if I wasn’t able to sing and perform.”
Physically Spector has always taken pains to lead a healthy life and protect her voice. But again, she said some of her vocal longevity went back to determination.
“I hear my voice and I’m even surprised at how good it sounds,” she said. “I knew by the time I was 8 or 9 that music was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I never stopped signing, even when I would have to go into bathrooms, make sure they were soundproof and sing my butt off.”
