History Music / PhilSpector

* TheTysonZone: The man was so crazy that some particularly outrageous stories about him are at least somewhat plausible. This trope may in fact have played a role in his 2009 murder conviction; he had such a colorful history of borderline-psychopathic behavior that him killing someone would've been as atypical as buying groceries.

Spector's credits include recordings by numerous {{Girl Group}}s ([[Music/RonnieSpector The Ronettes]], The Crystals), Ike and Music/TinaTurner, The Righteous Brothers, Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/LetItBe'', Music/JohnLennon's first three solo albums, Music/GeorgeHarrison's ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'', Music/TheRamones' ''Music/EndOfTheCentury'' and Music/LeonardCohen's ''Death of a Ladies Man''. Moreover, his production style has served as an important influence on several subgenres of AlternativeRock, such as [[BaroquePop Chamber Pop]] and {{Shoegazing}}.

Spector's credits include recordings by numerous {{Girl Group}}s ([[Music/RonnieSpector The Ronettes]], The Crystals), Ike and Music/TinaTurner, The Righteous Brothers, Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/LetItBe'', Music/JohnLennon's first three solo albums, Music/GeorgeHarrison's ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'', Music/TheRamones' ''Music/EndOfTheCentury'' and Music/LeonardCohen's ''Death of a Ladies Man''. His production style has served as an important influence on several subgenres of AlternativeRock, such as [[BaroquePop Chamber Pop]] and {{Shoegazing}}.

Spector's credits include numerous {{Girl Group}}s ([[Music/RonnieSpector The Ronettes]], The Crystals), Ike and Music/TinaTurner, The Righteous Brothers, Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/LetItBe'', Music/JohnLennon's first three solo albums, Music/GeorgeHarrison's ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'', Music/TheRamones' ''Music/EndOfTheCentury'' and Music/LeonardCohen's ''Death of a Ladies Man''. His production style has served as an important influence on several subgenres of AlternativeRock, such as [[BaroquePop Chamber Pop]] and {{Shoegazing}}.

Harvey Phillip "Phil" Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American RecordProducer, songwriter, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and convicted murderer]], active from 1958 to 2003.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Phil certainly had, shall we say, an 'interesting'' way of thinking. Creator/DavidMamet made this a central element of the HBO film.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Phil certainly had an, shall we say interesting way of thinking. Creator/DavidMamet made this a central element of the HBO film.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: His father committed suicide when he nine, his mother was very domineering, and he was subjected to bullying throughout his childhood and adolescence.

* InsufferableGenius: An example where the "insufferable" part overshadowed his genius.

* BrokenAce: The defining producer of 60's pop, while also suffering from severe mental problems.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Say what you will about Spector, but even ''he'' wouldn't put up with Ike Turner's {{Jerkass}} HairTriggerTemper ControlFreak behavior, bribing Ike to stay away from the recording session for "River Deep--Mountain High" with Music/TinaTurner.

However, chances are you mostly know him for being totally, 100% batshit insane; there's a reason he's at the top of our "Producer from Hell" list after all. Aside from [[https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/28392/5-artists-reportedly-held-gunpoint-phil-spector allegedly threatening five artists with loaded guns]] and stealing the tapes of Lennon's ''Rock 'n' Roll'' album at gunpoint, there's also the part where he showed his wife a coffin and threatened to kill her if she left, and also the part where he got convicted for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. As a result of the last incident, Spector was given a prison sentence of 19 years to life, and would've been eligible for parole in 2025. He ultimately passed away in prison in January of 2021, at the age of 81. The last album he was credited on was 2003's ''Silence is Easy'' by post-{{Britpop}} band Starsailor, and even then, they almost immediately booted him off after he produced two tracks.

* HairTriggerTemper: As noted above, Phil is as famous for his explosive temper as he is for his musical genius.

However, chances are you mostly know him for being totally, 100% batshit insane; there's a reason he's at the top of our "Producer from Hell" list after all. Aside from threatening Music/LeonardCohen with a loaded gun and stealing the tapes of Lennon's ''Rock 'n' Roll'' album at gunpoint, there's also the part where he showed his wife a coffin and threatened to kill her if she left, and also the part where he got convicted for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. As a result of the last incident, Spector was given a prison sentence of 19 years to life, and would've been eligible for parole in 2025. He ultimately passed away in prison in January of 2021, at the age of 81. The last album he was credited on was 2003's ''Silence is Easy'' by post-{{Britpop}} band Starsailor, and even then, they almost immediately booted him off after he produced two tracks.

* EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas: Spector (whose birthday is December 26) was Jewish, but produced one of the definitive Christmas albums.

** Music/JohnLennon was at the receiving end of Spector's bizarre and rather dangerous antics with guns several times when he was working on the album ''Rock 'n' Roll'' in 1973. During recording, Spector routinely showed up late, usually high as a kite, dressed in elaborate costumes, and always armed with a gun. At one time, Spector, while dressed a surgeon, allegedly as a prank, fired his gun in the control room, inches from the former Beatle's ear. An outraged Lennon responded with "Phil, if you're going to kill me, kill me. But don't fuck with my ears. I need 'em." Another time, Spector pulled his gun and chased Lennon through the hallways of the studio, while screaming threats. Matters with the album got even more complicated when Spector at one point stole the mastertapes from the studio at gunpoint, and then disappeared with them for several months.

** He once used a gun to force the Music/TheRamones to stay at his place for an entire night and listen to music he considered genius. One member (accounts varies whether it was Dee Dee or Johnny Ramone) got fed up with this and left with the comment: "What are you going to do, shoot me? Go ahead. I'm leaving. Goodbye."
** Debbie Harry, the lead singer of Music/{{Blondie}}, was once invited over to Spector's mansion in the late '70s to discuss a studio collaboration, as he hoped to make a comeback. When the discussion turned sour, Spector suddenly stuck a gun in one of Harry's boots and said "Bang!" Harry wisely took it as a sign to get the hell out of dodge.

* SignatureStyle: The "Wall of Sound", in which he used complicated mixing techniques and effects like reverb, alongside arrangements that utilized large numbers of musicians, to produce a dense style in which it's often hard to pick out any individual instruments (in fact, it's the drumming, usually by Hal Blaine, that typically stands out in the mix).

* TheUnSmile: Just about all of the photos of him released since his imprisonment have him putting on a very forced-looking smile.

* UsefulNotes/BipolarDisorder: He claimed to have been diagnosed and treated for this.

Harvey Phillip "Phil" Spector (December 26, 1939 - January 16, 2021) was an American RecordProducer, songwriter, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and convicted murderer]], active from 1958 to 2003.

However, chances are you mostly know him for being totally, 100% batshit insane; there's a reason he's at the top of our "Producer from Hell" list after all. Aside from threatening Music/LeonardCohen with a loaded gun and stealing the tapes of Lennon's ''Rock 'n' Roll'' album at gunpoint, there's also the part where he showed his wife a coffin and threatened to kill her if she left, and also the part where he got convicted for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. As a result of the last incident, Spector was given a prison sentence of 19 years to life, and would've been eligible for parole in 2025. He ultimately passed away in January of 2021. The last album he was credited on was 2003's ''Silence is Easy'' by post-{{Britpop}} band Starsailor, and even then, they almost immediately booted him off after he produced two tracks.

* UsefulNotes/BipolarDisorder: He claims to have been diagnosed and treated for this.
* BlatantLies: Despite all evidence to the contrary, he insists that he doesn't wear a toupee.

* BrooklynRage: He was born and raised in the Bronx and possesses a famously short fuse.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He's regarded as one of the greatest producers of all time. He's also regarded as completely, mouth-frothingly insane.

* CoolShades: Wears these often.
* ControlFreak: Disagreeing with him about any aspect of an album was a good way to send him into a rage and he was domineering of Ronnie Spector during their marriage, only allowing her to leave the house once a month.
* CrazyJealousGuy: He threatened to murder Ronnie Spector if she ever left and other women he's been linked with have reported similar instances of jealous behavior.

* DodgyToupee: He was fond of wearing these though [[BerserkButton nobody dared bring it up around him]]. It's believed that he began doing this to cover up scars from a near fatal car accident he suffered in 1974.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His first hit as a performer, The Teddy Bears' "To Know Him is to Love Him", is a spare DooWop influenced ballad. His first big hits as a producer, before he developed the Wall of Sound, were a sappy pop ballad ("I Love How You Love Me" by the Paris Sisters), an orchestrated version of an old {{Blues}} song ("Corrina Corrina" by Ray Peterson), and an uptempo DooWop number ("Pretty Little Angel Eyes" by Curtis Lee).

* EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas: Spector (whose birthday is December 26) is Jewish, but produced one of the definitive Christmas albums.
* GunNut: He is quite notorious for several stories involving him, loaded guns, and musicians.

* TheNapoleon: He stands at about 5'4 and his short fuse and abrasive personality are legendary. A few people have said that he wore lifts in his shoes.

* TheTysonZone: The man is so crazy that some particularly outrageous stories about him are at least somewhat plausible. This trope may in fact have played a role in his 2009 murder conviction; he had such a colorful history of borderline-psychopathic behavior that him killing someone would've been as atypical as buying groceries.

* DodgyToupee: He's fond of wearing these though [[BerserkButton you're advised never to bring them up with him]]. It's believed that he began doing this to cover up scars from a near fatal car accident he suffered in 1974.

However, chances are you mostly know him for being totally, 100% batshit insane; there's a reason he's at the top of our "Producer from Hell" list after all. Aside from threatening Music/LeonardCohen with a loaded gun and stealing the tapes of Lennon's ''Rock 'n' Roll'' album at gunpoint, there's also the part where he showed his wife a coffin and threatened to kill her if she left, and also the part where he got convicted for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. As a result of the last incident, Spector is now serving out a prison sentence of 19 years to life, and will first be eligible for parole in 2025. The last album he was credited on was 2003's ''Silence is Easy'' by post-{{Britpop}} band Starsailor, and even then, they almost immediately booted him off after he produced two tracks.

Harvey Phillip "Phil" Spector (December 26, 1939 - January 17, 2021) was an American RecordProducer, songwriter, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and convicted murderer]], active from 1958 to 2003.

Harvey Phillip "Phil" Spector (December 26, 1939 - January 17, 2021) is a RecordProducer, songwriter, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and convicted murderer]], active from 1958 to 2003.

Harvey Phillip "Phil" Spector (born December 26, 1939) is a RecordProducer, songwriter, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and convicted murderer]], active from 1958 to 2003.

Spector's credits include numerous {{Girl Group}}s (The Ronettes, The Crystals), Ike and Music/TinaTurner, The Righteous Brothers, Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/LetItBe'', Music/JohnLennon's first three solo albums, Music/GeorgeHarrison's ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'', Music/TheRamones' ''Music/EndOfTheCentury'' and Music/LeonardCohen's ''Death of a Ladies Man''. His production style has served as an important influence on several subgenres of AlternativeRock, such as [[BaroquePop Chamber Pop]] and {{Shoegazing}}.

* CrazyJealousGuy: He threatened to murder his wife if she left and other women he's been linked with have reported similar instances of jealous behavior.

* DomesticAbuser: Ronnie Spector claims that Phil kept her secluded away in their home and subjected her to years of psychological torment before she got away.

* FunnyAfro: Phil [[http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01372/Phil-Spector-afro_1372154i.jpg famously sported a large blonde afro]] during his murder court case. Creator/AlPacino even [[https://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/tdy-130201-ent-pacino-spector-photoblog6003.jpg?w=635 recreated it in the 2013 HBO tv movie.]]

* BaldOfEvil / ThousandYardStare: [[http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01421/phil-spector_1421717i.jpg His mugshot.]]

* EvilOldFolks: He finally crossed the line from threatening people to killing them in his sixties.

* {{Jerkass}}: As you've probably noticed from the rest of this page, Phil was not the nicest guy in the music industry.
* LeanAndMean: He was noted for being very short and skinny. As for mean, just look at the rest of this page.

* PsychopathicManchild: Phil loved producing, and wasn't above death threats to get the musicians under his control. Of course, there's also the fact that he ''murdered'' a woman.

* TheSociopath: Again, he's a convicted murderer with a history of using a loaded gun to control the musicians he worked with as well as [[DomesticAbuser abusive behavior towards women]].

** Music/JohnLennon was at the receiving end of Spector's bizarre and rather dangerous antics with guns several times when he was working on the album ''Rock 'n' Roll'' in 1973. During recording, Spector routinely showed up late, usually high as a kite, dressed in elaborate costumes, and always armed with a gun. At one time, Spector, while dressed a surgeon, allegedly as a prank, fired his gun in the control room, inches from the former Beatle's ear. An outraged Lennon responded with "Phil, if you're going to kill me, kill me. But don't fuck with my ears. I need 'em." Another time, Spector pulled his gun and chased Lennon through the hallways of the studio, while screaming threats. Matters with the album got even more complicated when Spector at one point stole the mastertapes from the studio at gunpoint, and then disappeared for several months.

** Debbie Harry, the lead singer of ''Music/{{Blondie}}'', was once invited over to Spector's mansion in the late '70s to discuss a studio collaboration, as he hoped to make a comeback. When the discussion turned sour, Spector suddenly stuck a gun in one of Harry's boots and said "Bang!" Harry wisely took it as a sign to get the hell out of dodge.

Harvey Phillip "Phil" Spector (born December 26, 1939) is a RecordProducer, songwriter, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and convicted murderer]].

However, chances are you mostly know him for being totally, 100% batshit insane; there's a reason he's at the top of our "Producer from Hell" list after all. Aside from threatening Music/LeonardCohen with a loaded gun and stealing the tapes of Lennon's ''Rock 'n' Roll'' album at gunpoint, there's also the part where he showed his wife a coffin and threatened to kill her if she left, and also the part where he got convicted for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. As a result of the last incident, Spector is now serving out a prison sentence of 19 years to life, and will first be eligible for parole in 2025. The last album he was credited on was ''Silence is Easy'' by post-{{Britpop}} band Starsailor, and even then, they almost immediately booted him off after he produced two tracks.