By R&B (138.238.41.118) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 03:28 pm:

WHAT POP SUPERSTAR EARLY IN HER CAREER SANG BACKUP ON THE RIGHTOUS BROS.[YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING]?

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 03:39 pm:

Do you mean Cher?

By douglasm (68.113.13.31) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 05:07 pm:

That sounds like it should be right. I understand she met Sonny at a Spector session, where he was an, what, aranger?`

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 07:33 pm:

Sonny was Phil's "assistant" (a glorified term for gopher) who also played percussion and sang on a few sessions. He brought Cher to the studio with him.

Cher (along with Darlene Love & the Blossoms) sang on many Spector productions during the early 1960s.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

(PS - Along with his prior experience as an A&R man for Specialty Records, Sonny was smart enough to know that Spector was the "man of the hour" and would later use the famous "Wrecking Crew" house band - along with New Orleans' legendary arranger/composer Harold Battiste - for the Sonny & Cher/Cher solo sessions)

By stephanie (64.63.221.241) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 11:37 pm:

It has to be Cher....Darlene Love is not a pop superstar..although I wish she were. Sonny Bono does NOT get the credit he deserves, He wrote those jokes on Sonny and Cher, he reinvented the group and so on and so forth. Classics like
Bang Bang
I Got You Babe
Baby Dont Go
Little Man
and so many more....I swear if it were not for Sonny ..Miss Cher would be nowhere....he learned a lot from Spector like you said KevGo and he always gave Cher credit she talked Sonny down a lot when they split up. I wish more people other than music people knew about Sonny's contributions to that show and his and Cher's records.
Stephanie

By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 07:57 am:

VERY GOOD GANG,IT WAS CHER BUT I PROMISE YOU THE NEXT ONE WON'T BE SO EASY!

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 11:28 am:

Stephanie:
For years whenever someone would talk about Sonny & Cher (or Cher solo) I would remind them that Sonny was the genuis of the two.
Granted, he didn't have the world's best singing voice, but hell - he was out there busting his tail as a songwriter, producer and businessman for almost ten years before "I Got You Babe" broke in 1965. In fact, when he first hit paydirt it was through his songwriting (1964's "Needles & Pins", first recorded by Jackie DeShannon and made into a hit by the Searchers), which enabled him to leave Spector to spend time developing Sonny & Cher.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By SteveS (209.219.207.3) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 11:34 am:

R&B - That's exactly what they said about Cher!

By Michael/Cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 12:26 pm:

Kevin:

I agree with you about Sonny being maligned and not getting the credit for the success of Sonny and Cher.

I was watching the Cher Farewell Concert on TV the other night and was astounded at the amount of hits that she has had. Some I had forgotten (All I Really Want To Do, and The Way of Love). You have to give the doll credit. Her first hit was in 1965 with Sonny and last year came up with a platinum album with her last studio album. That is 37 YEARS!!! There are not many performers who can top that kind of longevity. Whether you like her or not, Sonny helped create an icon.

By BankHouseDave (195.93.50.9) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 12:33 pm:

According to Ronnie Spector's autobiography, Darlene Love actually fronted a lot of Spector records. The groups whose names went on them learned them from the ready made disk and added them to their acts. Spector wouldn't pull them off tour and it was easier to get an experienced artist to get the thing right in the first place.

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 12:49 pm:

Darlene Love sang lead with Bob B. Soxx & the
Blue Jeans, but not on "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah",
the lead is Bobby Sheen. The reason she sang
lead on two Crystals' records--"He's A Rebel"
and "He's Sure The Boy..." is because the
actual Crystals refused to record until he
paid them. They didn't know he could do what
he did (use the Blossoms). That comes to me
from Deedee Kenniebrew of the Crystals. They
denied it was true for years because, accord-
ing to Deedee, it was embarrassing.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 02:12 pm:

I mentioned in a prior thread that Darlene sang lead on "He's A Rebel" because the Crystals didn't want to record it (not getting paid was one of the reasons). Spector's attitude toward "uncooperative" artists was that he could find others to record the songs and release them under the artists' names if he wanted to (which in this case he did).

Darlene Love was Phil's #1 go-to singer, no doubt. Cher mainly sang backgrounds while Darlene was heard loud & clear.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By TonyRussi (68.210.2.125) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 03:40 pm:

Chers' first record as a lead singer was the Spector produced "Ringo, I Love You" By "Bonnie Jo Mason"...it is said it did not get airplay because she sounded like a male singer?!

By Motownboy (12.158.230.250) on Friday, April 11, 2003 - 05:59 pm:

Wow, I guess she already had a gay following back then....!!