Phil Spector, Re-Trial, The Futility of Damage Control and the Benefit of Listening to Wisdom

So, a few days ago, I saw part of the Ramones documentary “End Of The Century”. I came in right where they were talking about Phil Spector. I didn’t see all of the Spector stuff so, I’ll have to watch again because, that’s the part I really want to hear about. I find the premise of crazy ass, drunk Phil Spector in a working relationship with the blue collar, original punks to be fascinating. The notion of crazy ass, drunk Phil Spector stomping around and grumbling while they work on the opening chord to “Rock And Roll High School” for 14 hours or something, that’s just some funny shit.

And the thing about Phil Spector is this, most everybody you hear says some version of this; “That dude is nuts”. So, in the back of my mind, I always hope that the guy is just a little whacked; not a killer, you know? Because, he’s done some great work, I’ve sat and studied those records, picked them apart measure by measure. I’ve made it a point to research his work, read all of the interviews I could find from people that worked with him to see if I could get any clues to his techniques. By the way, a lot of people don’t know this, one guy who knew more about the “wall of sound” than anybody else who talks about it was, Sonny Bono. Sonny had the inside info.

Anyway, on one hand, I want Phil Spector to not be a murderer, I don’t want to believe it. I would prefer to just think of him as a brilliant but, crazy ass drunk.

I’m glad I’m not running damage control for the guy, I’ll tell you that. I don’t know who he has close to him, who advises him; he either ignores wisdom or doesn’t have any around him. He made the news in December when he showed up at Ike Turner’s funeral and then started talking and made it a point to bust on Tina, Oprah, Whoopi and Eric Clapton. Nothing wrong with that I guess, if you feel that way. I mean, if you feel like Ike Turner has gotten a bad rap and he needs a little image boost during a eulogy and, at the same time, would like to correct the public perception of the heretofore, beloved Tina, Oprah etc., have at it.

Except, that Phil Spector is, at this time, a couple of months out of a murder trial which ended with a deadlocked jury. See, when you are accused of murder, you don’t want a deadlocked jury. That’s better than guilty, sure. But, really what you want is a “not guilty”. A deadlocked jury just means there is going to be another trial and a new jury will have to be selected. Knowing that a new jury will be selected at some point, it would be a good idea to not further damage your own image, Phil. It’s not a good time to publicly state your fondness for Ike Turner and your disdain for Tina and Oprah, even if you really feel that way. It’s a good time to shut the hell up.

See, I’ve been in the damage control business and the problem with it is that it’s a lot harder to control damage than to avoid it. Except, for some reason, people that require damage control, usually do because they show an unwillingness to follow the wisdom given to them.

“Hey Phil, my best advice would be, don’t go to Ike’s funeral. But, if you are determined to do so, whatever you do, don’t say anything. If somebody forces you to speak say something like, ‘I’m here out of respect for Ike.’ but, for God’s sake, don’t bring up anything about Tina or Oprah.” That would be close to what I would have said, had I been on Team Spector. And, my guess is, somebody said something along those lines. Even if he’s so nuts he’s run everybody off, a lawyer, somebody told him that. All you can do now, is damage control.

Now, this week, Spector is in the news again.

Music producer Phil Spector is to go on trial for a second time in connection with the murder of b-movie actress Lana Clarkson.

Spector will return to court on September 29th after his first trial ended in a hung jury last year.

The new court date was set yesterday (May 22nd) by Judge Larry Paul Fidler, who presided over the original trial.

Spector, who is responsible for the pioneering Wall of Sound recording technique, is accused of murdering Clarkson at his home in Los Angeles in 2003.

However, his defence team argues that Clarkson killed herself as a result of her struggling acting career, reports the Associated Foreign Press.

And right next to that is this photo…

You can’t undo something like that. There is no tactic in the “Damage Control Handbook” that can make something like that go away. The only way to stop that kind of thing is nip it. Somebody has to say; “Uh….Phil, we got to do something about the hair.” And, I can not, for the life of me, imagine a scenario in which that didn’t happen. Somebody said something; I know enough to know that. I can only surmise that Spector stubbornly refuses wisdom.

Normally, when you are running damage control, the stakes are a lot more benign. You hope that the person you represent doesn’t do something stupid enough to stop the money flow. But, Spector is facing down a murder charge and now, 12 new SoCal jurors will need to be selected and, they will hold his future in their hands.

How tough is it going to be to find 12, registered voters in Southern California that haven’t seen that photo?

All of these things add up and, at some point, logic says; “Well, maybe this guy isn’t just a harmless, eccentric, crazy ass drunk, record producer. Clearly, this guy doesn’t place value on wisdom. Maybe, he believes he is beyond reproach. Maybe, he is capable of murder.”

All of it is “perception”. I’ve never met Phil Spector, all I have is a perception formed by what has been presented to me. But, this is a situation where perception is serious business.

Damage control exists only for people who require it because they don’t pay attention to wisdom. It’s also a service rendered to people who have enough money that they can usually slide by despite that character flaw.

There is the possibility that Spector is an innocent man. That he is a harmless, drunken ass. If that is the case, he would serve himself well to start listening to some wisdom because, the damage control isn’t working.

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Tags: business, damage control, Ike Turner, Lana Clarkson, Music, Phil Spector, rock and roll, Sonny Bono, Tina