Be My Baby
| "Be My Baby" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Be My Baby" was a 1963 single written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, performed by the Ronettes and produced by Spector. The drums were played by Hal Blaine.
It is one of the best-known and most enduring songs of its era, and arguably one of the greatest pop songs of all time: According to Rolling Stone magazine, "Be My Baby" is the 22nd greatest song of all time. Critic Jason Ankeny writes, "No less an authority than Brian Wilson has declared 'Be My Baby' the greatest pop record ever made — no arguments here."[1]
In her autobiography, Ronnie Spector relates that she was on tour with Joey Dee and the Starlighters when "Be My Baby" was introduced by Dick Clark on American Bandstand as the "Record of the Century."
The song has been covered many times by artists including Andy Kim (a 1969 chart hit produced by Jeff Barry), John Lennon, the Bay City Rollers, the Glitzzi Girls, and We Are Scientists. In 1986, Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" included the lyrics "Just like Ronnie sang" and Ronnie Spector herself singing part of the chorus to "Be My Baby". The song's famous drum intro is replicated on a number of notable songs, including the Jesus and Mary Chain song "Just Like Honey" and the Camera Obscura song "Eighties Fan."
Pop culture references
The song is featured in a memorable scene from the television series "Moonlighting". In Bret Easton Ellis' novel, American Psycho, Timothy Price offers to pay the cab driver five dollars if he will turn up the volume of the radio playing "Be My Baby". The Martin Scorsese epic "Mean Streets" also features a montage of street scenes and group photographs set against the Ronettes soundtrack. "Be My Baby" featured on the multi-million selling soundtrack album to the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. (See Dirty Dancing (soundtrack). The first few measures after the infamous drums at the beginning of the song are looped as the theme song for the NBC sitcom The Class (2006).