I don’t much like the increasingly salacious nature of media, and try to take a different path here on PSW, but I’d be remiss in not reporting that legendary music producer Phil Spector has just been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Spector was charged with murdering actress Lana Clarkson at his Los Angeles-area mansion in 2003. He was originally tried in 2007, but the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict, which resulted in a mistrial and subsequent retrial.
Reports are that the jury for the retrial spent more than 30 hours in deliberation before coming to their decision earlier today, so it doesn’t seem to be a rush to justice. Spector could receive a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
Phil Spector has been a major shaping force in popular music for more than 50 years, beginning with his penning the (Billboard) number 1 song “To Know Him Is to Love Him” in the late 1950s.
He went on to huge successes, such as being the originator of the “Wall of Sound” production technique, and working with a who’s who of top artists. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
My favorite Spector project is “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”, which he produced and co-wrote with the The Righteous Brothers. I’m not surprised in reading this Wikipedia entry that BMI lists the song as getting the most U.S. air play in the 20th century.
Sky News offers this report with more details.