During the run of Philles singles,

The third Righteous Brothers release on Philles has caused controversy and disagreement for years...When Philles 129 was first released, Spector intended the A-side to be "Hung On You" and he affixed his name as producer on that side of the record. He did not, however, put his name anywhere on the B-side, "Unchained Melody." When DJs decided that the A-side was not up to the standard of previous songs from the group, they flipped it over and found a beautiful rendition of a classic tune. As airplay increased on the B-side, Spector re-issued the single, now with his name as producer on "Unchained Melody" (possibly so that he wouldn't get caught with a hit Philles recording that didn't list him as producer?). Did Spector really produce that side? Some claim he did, some claim it was Bill Medley who produced it. You decide....

Despite being not as controversial as the above example, the following has still been somewhat of a mystery...During the run of Philles singles, one release was also issued with a slightly different issue number...Philles 109, "He's Sure the Boy I Love"/"Walkin' Along La La La" by the Crystals was also issued as Philles 109X - Why?

One possible theory is as follows...After Philles 109 was released, Spector began in earnest his quest to rid Lester Sill from the partnership. In creating the terms of the break-up, one condition was that Sill would receive royalties from one more Crystals release...Spector already had "Da Doo Ron Ron" in the can, ready to go, but he really didn't want Sill to get a part of the royalties from what Spector believed (and, rightly so) was going to be a big hit...So, he re-released Philles 109 as 109X (Philles 110 had probably already been assigned) and passed it off as "another Crystals release"...Sill's lawyers didn't buy into the ruse, and Spector had to come up with a legitimate new Crystals song...Hence, the birth of "(Let's Dance) The Screw" (see "Withdrawn & unreleased Philles"), of which a few copies were passed out (including one to Sill) as Philles 111. Once the partnership was dissolved the record was quickly withdrawn, a Darlene Love song was released with the same issue number, and the Crystals hit that Spector had held back, "Da Doo Ron Ron," came out as Philles 112.

Another "mystery" involves what happened to all of those copies of "(Let's Dance) The Screw." What do I mean? Well, as of now, there are three varieties of the single - There are the promo copies that have the title all in large letters (see "Withdrawn & unreleased Philles" ), and there are promo copies and a stock copy that have "(Let's Dance)" in smaller letters than the rest of the title...(As they were pressed on both coasts, this could be a clue as to where it came from). Since a plant will supposedly press no fewer than 50-300 copies of a variety, colored vinyl notwithstanding, there, in theory, had to be many more copies of the record pressed. But, only 5 or 6 promo copies and one stock copy are known to exist...Where are the rest???? Destroyed? In a warehouse? Under Spector's bed? What do you think? Let me know...(By the way, although Phil gave his mother, Bertha, many of his personal and business items, including acetates, sheet music, a few singles, and some copies of Philles LP-4011 and LP-100, the sale of her estate seemingly did not turn up any copies of "The Screw").

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Did you know....

* that although Spector appeared "as himself" on the TV show "I Dream of Jeannie" (on several occasions Jeannie referred to him as "Phil Spector" or "Mr. Phil Spector"), the credits list him as playing the part of "Steve Davis"?...Ooops!

* that there is a musical connection between Spector and Frank Zappa?? One of the early Mothers of Invention members was a guitar player on Phil's "Bumbershoot" session years earlier & a friend in Spector's youth....his name is Elliot Ingber.

* that the working title during production of "Be My Baby" was "My One and Only Baby"?

* that "Bonnie" of Bonnie and the Treasures was not Ronnie Spector, as many people think, but rather a white female singer from L.A. named Charlotte O'Hara?

* that the infamous instrumental B-sides of Philles singles, usually attributed to the group that recorded the A-sides, were instead credited to "The Phil Spector Group" on many U.K. London 45s?

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Many collectors have assumed over the years that a record made by Anita Bryant called "An Angel Cried" was a Spector-written tune, as "Weiss-Spector" appears on the label under the title...

However, this was, in fact, Abner Spector (no relation), a well-known writer/producer of the 50's and 60's...Beware if someone offers you this record as a Phil Spector-produced/written item. Phil Spector had nothing to do with this recording!!!

Although this logo became most noticeable to the public during the A&M years of the late-60s, appearing on the labels of Spector releases from that company, it actually was used as early as 1963 in print ads for Philles product. What's the origin of this figure? Does it have a name?

And, here's something you might not know. A few times, especially while Spector was having trouble with the musician's union, this figure appeared with a "slogan" next to it which read:

Conform to norm society
Won't stand for impropriety
In the extreme of which you dream
You must always join the team

For some great "myth-busting" stories about many rock stars (including Spector),
check out "Urban Legends of Rock & Roll: You Never Can Tell" by Dale Sherman
from Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc. Available at major bookstore chains, you
can also order at:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1896522785/qid=1047266877/sr=1-5/ref=s