Phil Spector iPod Prison Request

Legendary producer Phil Spector has requested an iPod in order to make his life in prison more bearable.

Phil Spector's name is written in the bed rock of pop music. Thanks to his 'symphonies for kids' the producer will forever be associated with early 60s America, the biggest name in pop music before The Beatles came along.

Mixing R&B rhythms with girl group harmonies, Phil Spector invented many innovative production techniques. However after Ike & Tina Turner's version of 'River Deep Mountain High' failed to become the success he hoped, the producer began to lock himself away.

Becoming increasingly erratic, Phil Spector was coaxed out of semi-retirement to work with The Beatles on 'Let It Be' before taking charge of John Lennon's 'Imagine' album. Subsequent sessions with the songwriter resulted in Phil Spector pointing a gun at Lennon's head.

Falling from grace within the industry, Phil Spector has rarely entered a recording booth in over two decades. The producer's last job was with British indie types Starsailor, who recently mused on their time with Spector.

The producer was arrested in 2003 following the death of actress Lana Clarkson at his California home. Following a mis-trial Spector was found guilty of second degree murder earlier this year.

Sentenced to nineteen years in prison, the producer has been looking for ways to make his life more comfortable. Refused permission to wear his remarkable wigs in prison, Spector's wife recently revealed that he is desperate to get hold of an iPod.

"He wants a TV and an iPod or something like that for listening to music," Rachelle Spector told the Associated Press.

Phil Spector was recently moved to the largest state prison in California, where prisoners are apparently allowed to request instruments and even form bands. However Spector's wife told Associated Press that she did not expect her husband to be requesting a new instrument any time soon.

In a recent interview Rachelle Spector blasted prison authorities. "He's locked in a five-by-nine [foot] cell, 23-and-a-half hours a day," she told the Los Angeles Times.

She added: "They treat people worse than animals. I want that known."

Phil Spector's appeal is ongoing.