Phil Spector is one of the most famous and eccentric music producers of all time having worked with the likes of The Beatles, Tina Turner, The Righteous Brothers and The Ramones. He was the originator of the “Wall of Sound” production technique, and was responsible for over 25 Top 40 hits between 1960 and 1965, including the Top Gun classic, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling (listed by BMI as the song with the most U.S. air play in the 20th century.)

Phil Spector
With his Barack Obama Rocks badge

In later years, Spector has become increasingly known for his eccentricity, reclusive temperament and obsessive behavior. Everything reached a head of course and just a few hours ago, Phil Sector was found guilty in a Los Angeles Superior Court of murder.

This, from the Telegraph:

Phil Spector guilty of murdering actress Lana Clarkson

Phil Spector, one of the most illustrious names in pop music history, faces a minimum of 15 years in prison after he was found guilty last night of murdering Lana Clarkson, a struggling actress he met in a bar.

Jurors at the Los Angeles Superior Court delivered their second degree murder verdict following a five-month retrial, which was ordered after Spector’s first trial ended indecisively in 2007 when ten jurors found him guilty and two not guilty.

The court found that Spector, 69, murdered Miss Clarkson in the foyer of his mansion in the early hours of February 3, 2003 with a single shot to the mouth. He had invited her back only hours earlier after meeting her at the Hollywood nightclub where she worked.

The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for 30 hours before reaching their verdict. Spector remained quiet as it was read out.

He looked frail and yawned as he entered the courtroom to learn of his fate, wearing a black suit and a red tie with a red silk handkerchief in the pocket. He was wearing a trademark long jacket bearing a lapel badge reading “Barack Obama Rocks!” and another pin of the Stars and Stripes. [awesome!]

Defence lawyers claimed Clarkson, 40, the B-movie actress best-known for her role in the 1985 cult classic The Barbarian Queen had killed herself in an “accidental suicide”.

The prosecution maintained that the music producer, who had a fascination with guns, had been close to killing before and shot his victim when she threatened to leave his home – a 33-room mansion called Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra.

In his closing arguments, prosecutor Truc Do told the jury that Miss Clarkson’s shooting was “a death waiting to happen in his (Spector’s) world”.

“When he’s ignited, he always does the same thing – he grabs a gun,” the prosecutor said. “In every single one of these incidents, Mr Spector demonstrates conscious disregard for human life.”

Five female acquaintances testified that Spector had threatened them at gunpoint in incidents dating back to the 1970s.

Spector’s life and career have been blighted by drink, alcohol and depression. Two months before Miss Clarkson’s death, he said he had bipolar disorder and that he considered himself “relatively insane”.

His chauffeur, Adriano de Souza, produced one of the most damaging pieces of evidence, testifying that Spector appeared in the doorway of his home clutching a pistol moments after Miss Clarkson was shot, and stated: “I think I just killed somebody.”

[more here]

So there you go, Phil Spector is guilty and faces the rest of his life in jail. Awesome. Pretty hectique. I must say, it’s always surprising when someone with such an innocent calm looking face turns out to be a murderer. Hey, don’t you think?

I’m just kidding – Jesus, he is PERFECT for the role of a psycho eccentric murderer. He actually looks pretty much identitcal to the psycho stalker guy from the Houston/Costner movie, The Bodyguard don’t you think?

Anyway, we’re going to end off on a high note (get it? music theme – high note! Whaah!) – with the bar scene from Top Gun where Maverick sings You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.

Enjoy it:

The black guy with the mirror shades that comes in after Maverick, pretty much does it for me.