Clear skies without any snow, temps in the low forties, and the sun went down at 5:28pm. There’s a waxing gibbous moon and omicron everywhere.

Ronnie Spector died today. Sometimes I find myself listening for answers beneath the crashing waves of an old Ronettes single: big heartbeat drums and an even bigger voice, so reverberated and haunted, carrying the fever-dream sound of American history. Ronnie and her seminal beehive, singing “Keep on Dancing” back in ’64, a song so perfect that Phil Spector refused to release it for years. Several years ago, I’d jotted down a quote from her that reads like a religious vision: “Everything was quiet, then all of a sudden I heard a low rumble, like there was thunder coming from every corner of the room.”

The Ronettes – Keep on Dancing

Philles Records | Recorded 1964, released 1978 | More