THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

262-The Crystals-Da Doo Ron Ron.

1963-Number 5 single. It was re-issued in 1974, and this time reached Number 15.

Best Bit-At 1.04. ‘And after all you’re my ‘Wonder-Wall of Sound.”

Harvey Phillip Spector was born on December 26th, 1939, in The Bronx, New York, United States, in later years Spector suffered with mental and physical ill health, including bipolar disorder, possible Parkinsons disease, and laryngeal papillomatosis, which meant he had lost the ability to speak. The cause of his death according to his daughter Nicole was complications from COVID-19. Spector is recognised as one of the most influential figures in Pop Music history for his achievements in the development of music production which became known as the ‘Wall of Sound.’ He would record songs with, for example an acoustic piano and then duplicate with an electric piano and a harpsichord, when mixed the three instruments would be indistinguishable to the listener. Additionally Spector incorporated an array of orchestral instruments, woodwind, brass, and percussion, reverb from an echo chamber was also used for additional texture.

‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ was co-written by the legendary songwriting team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, (1940-2009) (see also best songs 820-331 and 192) Phil Spector (see also best songs 820-782-737-192-127-91 and 20) is also credited for his input, the song was the first collaboration between the three of them. The title ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ was initially just nonsense syllables used to separate each stanza and chorus until proper lyrics could be written, but it was Spector who decided that ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ should be kept in. Sonny Bono (1935-1998) (see also best songs 672) who was at the recording session has recalled Spector asking him if the song was ‘dumb enough,’ meaning was it accessible to the teenagers who were the target audience. On listening to the final recording Bono has said that Spector turned to him and said,’That’s solid gold coming out of that speaker.’

The Crystals were an all girl group formed in New York City, United States, in 1960. In total there have been seven members come and go, with the one constant being Dolores ‘Dee Dee’ Kenniebrew who was 15 years old when joining the original line up. The Crystals have released four official Albums between 1962-1999, and there are also eight compilation Albums available. They issued 14 singles between 1961-1967, with six reaching the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles chart, with ‘He’s a Rebel’ making Number 1 in 1962. In the UK four of their songs have made the top 40, with ‘Then He Kissed Me’ charting the highest when making Number 2 in 1963. Incidentally although ‘He’s a Rebel’ is classified as a hit for The Crystals it was actually performed by Darlene Love (see also best songs 820) on lead vocals, as was the follow up single ‘He’s Sure the Boy I Love.’

‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ has been covered on numerous occasions, most notably by the American teen idol Shaun Cassidy who took his version to Number 1 on Billboard in 1977, with a slight lyric change as ‘Bill’ became ‘Jill.’ In 1963 the French Rock N’ Roll singer Johnny Hallyday (1943-2017) took his recording to Number 1 in France, and Number 2 in Belgium. Also in 1963 Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich who were married at the time recorded a version, performing as ‘The Raindrops’

‘I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still, da doo ron ron, da doo ron ron. Somebody told me that his name was Bill, da doo ron ron da doo ron ron.