- published: 05 Mar 2014
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Coordinates: 51°28′45″N 0°00′00″E / 51.4791°N 0.0000°E / 51.4791; 0.0000
Greenwich (UK i/ɡrɪnɪdʒ/ GRIN-ij; US /ɡrɛnɪtʃ/ GREN-ich or /ɡrɛnɪdʒ/ GREN-ij) is a district of south London, England, located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east south-east of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. The town became the site of a royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many in the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public; other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and the Trinity College of Music.
Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others. She discovered Neil Diamond and sang backing vocals on several of Diamond's hit songs.
Greenwich (pronounced "GREN-itch") was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Catholic father and a Jewish mother, who both were of Russian ancestry. At age ten, she moved with her parents and younger sister to Levittown, New York. In time she began taking lessons on the accordion. By her teens, she was composing songs; eventually she taught herself to compose on the piano rather than the accordion. In high school, Greenwich and two friends formed a singing group, The Jivettes, which took on more members and performed at local functions.
At 17, around the time she began attending Queens College, Greenwich recorded her first single for RCA Records, the self-written "Silly Isn't It", backed with "Cha-Cha Charming". The single was issued under the name "Ellie Gaye" (which she chose as a reference to Barbie Gaye, singer of the original version of "My Boy Lollipop"). The record was released in 1958 and indirectly led to her decision to transfer from Queens College to Hofstra University after one of her professors at the former institution belittled her for recording pop music.
Ellie Greenwich - Be My Baby
Be My Baby Ellie Greenwich
ELLIE GREENWICH ON THE RAINDROPS, "WHAT A GUY" and more...
Ellie Greenwich - You don't know
Ellie Greenwich - YOU DON'T KNOW (1965)
Ellie Greenwich - "Sunshine after the rain"
Ellie Greenwich - And Then He Kissed Me
Ellie Greenwich, Songwriter (1940-2009) R.I.P.
Parenthetical Girls - A Song For Ellie Greenwich
ELLIE GREENWICH-BABY
Ellie Greenwich - Baby
ELLIE GREENWICH & JEFF BARRY- Today I met The boy I'm gonna marry.
Otis Blackwell / Jeff Barry/ Ellie Greenwich Inducted R&R; Hall/Carole King/2010
ELLIE GREENWICH Tribute / Darlene Love "Why Do Lovers"