Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "THE RONETTES - SLEIGH RIDE"

Starting point is 00:00:03 On March 12, 2007, the Ronnettes finally claimed their rightful place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But then, you know what I'm saying? I was like Tim. Inducted by former touring mate and dear friend Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Ronnie, Estelle, and Nidra stood on stage together for the first time. in over 40 years. You guys. So with that being said, safe to say, we're going to go down memory lane

Starting point is 00:00:41 because, of course, Slay Ride, currently in the big year of 2025, is the 20th most played track in the world. And that is the only track charting from the Ronnet. So as far as going down memory lane, I wanted to start off with that,

Starting point is 00:00:55 but also let you know, hey, guess what? It's Christmas season. So with that being said, Is it okay, I got my dope on me? Safe to say if you make a particular track and in the year of 2025 is still making your estate millions of dollars, millions of dollars, safe to say that it was definitely dope to a plethora of generations. So with that being said, the main thing I was going to get into, especially with it being Christmas season,

Starting point is 00:01:24 is continuing my coverage of just Christmas classics. So of course, Slay Ride is one of those classics by the Ronnest. that's currently the 20th most play track in the world because of course a lot of different Christmas tracks are percolating on the charts because it's being put in radio rotation which still is a signal and basically exemplifies that radio is still important in the big age of 2025 when everybody seemingly has the own platform as far as getting across their musical opinions when it comes to radio they are very important as far as what starts to bubble up on the charts as far as what people think is high quality so with that being said the main thing i wanted to get to especially as a

Starting point is 00:02:11 hall of fame pocket watch yes shepherd no i got to do it because even though this track came out in the 60s even though this group formed in 1959 in the year of 2025 i still have to see and i have to know where that fetichini came from and then i found out you guys see that's the problem this is the epitome of what people talk about when they say their artists was getting screwed over in their deals as ladies and gentlemen this is what i wanted to start with as there was a whole legal saga with phil specter and what was it about why i'm glad you asked when it comes to the ownership i mean full ownership being granted to Phil Spector of the Ronnets recording guess how much their advance was for him to get full ownership just a mere 15,000 you guys see that's the problem have you saying to yourself i know that's not the

Starting point is 00:03:12 ron nets being popular for a plethora of tracks i mean be my baby was the second most played track on billboard hot 100 at one point right they opened up for the Beatles in 1966 And when it came to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because they did disband in 1967, but when it was inducted in a Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2007, safe to say that they was giving their kudos, but it didn't stop there, as this was a very long elongated battle with Phil Sector, as they received a mere $15,000 advance and 3%, 3% ladies and gentlemen, of 90% retail sales royalties.

Starting point is 00:03:54 And payments out of that were largely withheld post-1964. Remind you, they, well, reminder, they disbanded in 1967. So safe to say, I think the financial obstacles really got to them. So then after that, safe to say, after 15 years of litigation starting in 1987, imagine making music since the 60s and only in. until the 80s, you start to have an inkling of a win as far as in the courtroom. As a New York Supreme Court ruled and awarded $2.6 million back in royalties for unauthorized licensing, for example, films, as, etc. But a 2002 appeals court reversal limited the

Starting point is 00:04:49 artist's royalties while upholding Spector's master rights. this battle gets even more interesting as the 2006 settlement yes 2006 I'm gonna keep reminding y'all if you're making music in the 60s and don't see actual compensation for those mammoth of a hit until like the 2000s i think you would be upset too but in 2006 the settlement was finalized each member of the Ronnettes Ronnie Spector Estelle Bennett and Nidra Talley received one million plus a lump sum as far as past royalties plus interest. And there's ongoing semi-annual mechanical royalties from sales and streams. So safe to say, we finally got a happy ending to something that was one of the worst contracts I've seen in my history of the podcast, notorious massive effect of covering different musical contracts.

Starting point is 00:05:53 I mean, that's insane, but at least they got a happy ending. As when you look at it in totality, each, well, Neidra Talley is still alive. And as far as Ronnie Specter, she did pass away in 2022. So safe to say she was able to benefit a little bit from the actual justice that she received from her man for, from the groups, popular hits. And Estelle Bennett, she passed away in 2008. the nine so she had a little bit of time to actually um receive and and basically enjoy the fruits of her labor as when you look at this in totality it's just a sad case of a lot of musicians being

Starting point is 00:06:37 taking an advantage of and back then the internet wasn't even thought of i mean forget the internet it was it was a lot of other bare bones advancements and inventions that needed to be had before the internet was even thought of so when you look at the lack of information The absence of information was way easier for major labels to screw over artists in their deals. I mean, 3% of 90%, not even just 3%. You get 3% of 90%. Where's the other 10% just because I feel like it? Like, they was really getting screwed over in the utmost way that I've ever seen.

Starting point is 00:07:10 So as far as Ronnie Estelle and Nidra, you're probably wondering where the proceeds of the track like Slay Ride, which is currently the 20th most played track in the world, probably wondering where those payments go to. as far as Ronnie it gets paid to her estate because it was direct payments to Ronnie until after death 2022 and now it's to her estate primarily her husband Jonathan Greenfield and sons Austin and Jason so when it comes to that her net worth is still around 5 million at death including our royalties so when it comes to Estelle when she passed away in 2009 pre-death payments were had posts to her estate and errors but when it comes to her errors they're not like public details but when it comes to how much money she received it was around one million

Starting point is 00:07:58 at 2006 and then needra who's the last remaining member of the ronets continues to receive semi-annual shares and resides well i'm not going to sell that but basically she receives a lot of revenue from these tracks and me semi-annual shares is pretty solid especially when you already have tracks that it continuously percolates on the charts every single December because of Slay Rob being one of the most iconic Christmas anthems of all time. So now when you look at Spector, getting back in the field Spector, right? He lost the artist royalties, but his estate retains publishing and masters, which is a whopping $45 million in value. You guys. See, that's the problem. Now, of course, you're probably saying, how do you call that a

Starting point is 00:08:50 happy ending well I do believe certain major labels do deserve a certain percentage of the pie but when it comes to how much percentage the rhinis was getting I mean 3% of 90% I don't think we even thought that there was egregious deals like that that even existed so they've received more of a portion of the entire pie but when it comes to the overall structure of the contract it was still bad it was just it was just less bad when they received a settlement in 2006 so that being said i just wanted to take you down memory lane and you know who's going to do it like notorious mass effect as far as letting y'all know the tracks that are notoriously affected the masses that came out in the 60s so that being said um let me know your favorite

Starting point is 00:09:37 christmas tracks because of course in the year of just celebrating the holiday season i would like to know what y'all would want me to cover as far as specific christmas tracks and of course it doesn't have to be on the charts it just if it's your personal favorite if you want me to cover just let me know because i do want to start mixing in a lot of these christmas iconic anthems so um with that being said click my link to show in my bio let me know on one of my social medias what do you think about the ronets in general have you ever heard about them have you ever listen to one of their tracks and if you have it will you be checking them out and to wrap it up pun intended um what is your favorite christmas anthem of all time

Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "THE RONETTES - SLEIGH RIDE"

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.