Playlist 25.01.10

I saw Ronnie Spector at the Olympia in Dublin in 1996. She was beautiful and mythical and a bit sad. Therefore we cheered her on as she delivered those imperial songs about bad boys and unquenchable love. By rights, she should have left a heroic trail of records over the decades, but an ugly marriage to Phil Spector had wiped out so many possibilities, and her most recent years were full of business frustrations.

But Ronnie won our hearts at the Olympia. She gave us all of the passion that she had in her. She didn't cheapen the songs she had made with The Ronettes. On the contrary there was a new kind of gravitas in the lyrics. 'Baby I Love You' was later revived by The Ramones, but to hear Ronnie utter those plain words - adding lustre and truth - was a masterclass to any aspiring diva.

I was at the show with a pal from California. She was working in Dublin but her youth had been spent on the west coast, where she had collected all the Ronnie tunes on the legendary Phillies label. As she moved around Ireland and the UK, she had momentarily left those records at the home of a very famous Irish guitarist. Unfortunately, collecting records wasn't in the family culture and so his mother had donated this priceless cache to the church jumble sale.

And so the Ronnie Spector gig was full of mixed emotions. We were hearing some of the most luminous pop music ever, but the moment was piqued by the thought of some grinning oik at the village fete, buying up gems for pennies.

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Dexys Midnight Runners - Let's Get This Straight (EMI)

Frightened Rabbit - Just Like You (Fat Cat)

Duke Special - Apple Jack (Reel To Reel)

Kowalski - Get Back (white)

Kowalski - Phil Kansus (white)

Dr Robert - The Coming Of Grace (Permanent)

Beach House - Walk In The Park (Bella Union)

Mumford And Sons - The Cave (Island)

Kate And Anna McGarrigle - Talk To Me Of Mendocino (Ryko)

Groove Armada - Paper Romance (Ministry Of Pies)

Second hour Co-Presented by Tim Wheeler

Beach Boys - This Whole World (Capital)

Nirvana - Drain You (Geffen)

Thin Lizzy- Cowboy Song (Live And Dangerous) (Vertigo)

Thin Lizzy- The Boys Are Back In Town (Live And Dangerous) (Vertigo)

The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand (Parlophone)

The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back (Motown)

The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog (Elektra)

The Ramones - Baby, I Love You (Sire)

Teenage Fanclub - The Concept (Creation)

The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) (Rough Trade)

Ash - Space Shot (Atomic Heart)

Pixies - Gigantic (4AD)

David Bowie - Star (EMI)