One night at his home, he held the punk band, Ramones, at gunpoint and he forced the band to perform.
Produced records for Gene Pitney, Ike Turner and Tina Turner, Ben E. King, The Beatles, The Righteous Brothers, The Checkmates, The Crystals, The Ronettes, Ramones and Yoko Ono, among others.
Spector and Brian Wilson collaborated on one backing track for a single, which was never completed; the music bed they recorded was used later for a public-service announcement featuring Jay and the Americans.
Spector served an "apprenticeship" under Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in New York, learning from them while they were producing The Drifters; Spector plays the guitar solo at the end of "On Broadway".
The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) is based loosely on stories about Spector.
Was of Russian descent and grew up in The Bronx until the age of fourteen.
While producing Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the mid-1960s, Spector actually worked only with Tina; Ike was reportedly paid $10,000 not to attend the sessions.