Oh, the crazy b*stard. Phil Spector was today sentenced to 19 years in prison. He won't be eligible for parole until he is 88-years-old. That's a long time to go without one's wig collection. 
Not that I condone (at all) what he was found guilty of doing, but he was a great, innovative, and massively influential record producer. The world would not have had a Pet Sounds (1966) without him, for example. His "Wall of Sound" is legendary, and unfortunately, could not protect him from this terrible fate. One of my favorite things he did was John Lennon's third single as a solo artist, "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" (1970). Other than "#9 Dream," it may be my favorite post-Beatles Lennon tune. The slapback echo on Lennon's voice is (as usual) awesome. George (Harrison) and Billy Preston play on this, with Mal Evans doing chimes and hand claps (on the original, studio recording, not the video in this post). This video is the TV performance John and the Plastic Ono Band did on Top of the Pops where Yoko sits, blindfolded, on a stool the entire time, so it's got that going for it too...
