OMG! WTF Were They Thinking?!

Phil Spector

It would take an entire issue to explain everything wrong about the renowned music producer. Spector is currently locked away in a federal prison on a life sentence for the murder of his former girlfriend, but considering his track record, it's not too hard to believe he would commit such an act. Prior to his incarceration in 2009 he was known as one of the greatest music producers in music history. His credits on albums and tracks by The Beatles, The Ronettes and The Ramones made him famous for his use of what many called the Spector "Wall of Sound," a plethora of musicians creating a wall of music on record.

But Spector's infamous nature and behavior in both his private and public life has made him the stuff of legends, muddling the line between myth and fact. For those who worked under Spector's musical guidance, his erratic behavior resulted in artists being threatened while at work in the studio. Various biographies report he threatened both John Lennon and punk stalwarts The Ramones with loaded guns — or, in the case of singer Leonard Cohen — if they tried to leave the studio.

On his personal side, Ronnie Spector of the famed girl group The Ronnettes will tell you Phil was not an ideal husband. According to her biography, in the on-again off-again relationship they shared during the '60s and '70s, Phil was very abusive to both herself and their adopted children. In the most infamous of the stories, Spector purchased a gold casket with a glass cover on it, à la Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and proceeded to tell Ronnie that this where she would end up if she tried to leave him. She eventually did walk out on him in an elaborate escape from his mansion after breaking through a window in the back of his home. If this wasn't a flag in Spector's recent murder trial, then I don't know what is.

Bizarre Acceptance Speeches

Needless to say, Spector has had his fair share of bizarre acceptance speeches, and many in recent memory have taken the viewing world by surprise. In the past year alone there have been a slew of stage crashers that kept people like Perez Hilton on the edge of their gossiping seats. From Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards to the most recent on-stage shenanigans at the Oscars, the award show circuit hasn't been short on controversy.

At just four months into the new year, there have already been several noted acceptance mishaps. In January, a clearly intoxicated Mariah Carey took to the stage at the Palm Springs International Film Festival to accept an award for her involvement in the movie Precious. She was fully aware of her intoxication in great gusto, but later blamed on her entourage for giving her too much champagne.

But this piece is dedicated to Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of the Swedish indie-electronica duo The Knife and also known by her alter ego, Fever Ray, who may have had the most bizarre acceptance speech in recent memory. Fever Ray won an award for "Best Dance Artist" in January at the P3 Gold Awards in Gothenburg, Sweden. As she entered the stage area to receive her award, she took the audience by surprise. Ray came on stage decked out in a crimson red dress very similar to the one Lady Gaga wore at the Video Music Awards complete with a veil covering her face — but it was what was hiding underneath that stunned everyone.

She lifted her veil, revealing to a televised audience her face that looked like it was melting off, and to many in attendance, it was too realistic. If this wasn't creepy enough, she gave her acceptance speech through a series of moans and mumbles which, upon completion, was greeted with what seemed as the slowest clap in award show history. Sorry Sally Field, we like you, we really like you, but we like Fever Ray even more.

Those Albums We Wish They Never Made

Let's face it. It's hard to get actors to stay away from singing regardless of their wealth or talent. True, back in the '50s and '60s, actors could sing and dance as well as act their butts off, but today it comes off as an elaborate attempt to be in the spotlight all the time. Some actually succeed, as seen by the critical success of Zooey Deschanel's folk duo She & Him and Jared Leto's platinum selling alt-rock act 30 Seconds to Mars.

Then there are some, of course, that make us laugh, like Eddie Murphy's short-lived music career with the hilarious hit "Party All the Time" and William Shatner's eerie rendition of Britpop band Pulp's song "Common People." But there are some that make us laugh and cry when we probably shouldn't be doing either.

Heidi Montag's ill-fated debut album springs to mind rather quickly as an exercise in poor public relations and disjointed musical taste. The Hills star apparently felt her life as told on television was so compelling to her audience that she best express it further in the most egotistical and repulsive pop music possible. What made matters worse was a series of camcorder-produced music videos made by Montag's equally useless hubbie, Spencer Pratt, assuming his sex tape-worthy cam work could make him eligible to be the next Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry. Thankfully, this concoction failed and her album sold a little more than 1,000 copies upon release. I guess some people should probably just stick to what they are good at, although it's still unknown what Heidi Montag is good at.

SIDEBAR

While current tabloids are reveling in the recent feud between M.I.A. and Lady Gaga, one has to wonder about the feuds that never were, or at least never went anywhere. Here are a few feuds that got through Round 1 and then fizzled before they threw in the towel:

Elton John vs. Lily Allen

Both Elton John and Lily Allen are not known for being tactful in the spotlight. The flamboyant Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and the U.K. pop star are both noted tabloid hogs, and at the 2008 GQ Men of the Year Awards, their ego-centric personalities clashed. A visibly drunk Allen was co-presenting the evening's festivities with John and as Allen announced "a very special point in the evening," to which John quipped back, "What, you're going to have another drink?" Allen proceeded to curse out the Rocket Man in front of a live audience. While the feud has not continued since then, the differences between the new and old generation couldn't have been any more obvious that night.