A Tenuous Ronettes Story

This week Ronnie Spector, singer in 60’s girl group The Ronettes and ex-wife of producer / murderer Phil Spector, died aged 78. 

A story tenuously connecting to The Ronettes: back in 2006 I was working for local radio station Key 103, as a promoter. In December, we’d hired out one of the wooden huts in Albert Square, right in the middle of the Christmas Markets. One of the presenters, Justin Moorhouse if I recall, had rewritten the lyrics to The Ronettes’ Christmas hit Sleigh Ride from 1963. (Mitchell Parrish had actually sang the original in 1950.) 

Moorhouse’s new lyrics all tied into the city of Manchester. If memory serves, they were:  

Just hear those tram bells ringing, ting ting tingling down 

You know it’s lovely weather for a tram ride together to town 

Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy and cosy you know 

You will find Santa Claus by the wooden stalls, yo-ho! 

Nice one, sorted, don’t be mard, here’s a Chris-ta-mas card 

I wrote it all by myself today 

Man U, City, Deansgate Locks, Our Christmas rocks! 

Then back to our place with a happy face, open a selection box! 

That’s a little inaccurate but it was 14 years ago, so whatever. 

It was our job, as Street Team members, to man the stall, which was equipped with sound recording gear, and encourage the public to blast out their own karaoke rendition of Moorhouse’s new lyrics. 

We’d hear this same track played repeatedly, covered by one Mancunian after another, who was usually drunk on mulled wine from a nearby stall. The stallholders on one side of us, selling giant wooden toadstools, were a couple in their 40s or 50s. The man was local, but the woman was from perhaps Germany, from the accent. They were telling me they were singing the song in their sleep by the end of the first week. 

One night, I’d been out Christmas shopping. I was walking the streets with a full-length kitchen knife in my bag (Mum’s present. Not out to ‘murk your man’ or anything). I decided to swing by the stalls and see who was on. 

Two guys from the street team were manning the stall. I figured I’d get up and have a go on the mic. Due to my terminal zaniness, I felt compelled to sing the whole thing in a Brian Blessed voice, and ended the song on a high note for the sake of it. 

A day or so later another Street Team member told me it had been played on air, and was introduced by the presenter saying, ‘and who’s THIS guy?’