Lesley Gore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lesley Gore | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lesley Sue Goldstein |
| Also known as | Lesley Gore |
| Born | May 2, 1946 |
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States |
| Genre(s) | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Voice type(s) | Alto[1] |
| Years active | 1963– present |
| Associated acts | Sue Thompson, Brenda Lee |
| Website | lesleygore.com |
Lesley Gore (born May 2, 1946 in New York City as Lesley Sue Goldstein) is an American singer-songwriter of the "girl group era". She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit, "It's My Party," which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of 1963-1967.
Contents |
[edit] Career: 1960s and 1970s
Gore was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey in a Jewish family. She was a junior at the Dwight School for Girls in nearby Englewood when "It's My Party" became a #1 hit.[2]
Her first hit was followed by many others, including "Judy's Turn to Cry" (the sequel to "It's My Party"), "She's a Fool", the proto-feminist "You Don't Own Me", "That's The Way Boys Are", "Maybe I Know", "The Look Of Love" and "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows". Her record producer was Quincy Jones, who would later become one of the most famous producers in American music.
Instead of accepting the television and movie contracts that came her way, Gore chose to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York. This limited her public career to weekends and summer vacations, and undoubtedly hurt her career. Nevertheless, throughout the mid-1960s, Gore continued to be one of the most popular female singers in the United States and Canada.
Gore was given first shot at recording "A Groovy Kind of Love", but her then-producer Shelby Singleton refused to let her record a song with the word "groovy" in it; The Mindbenders went on to record the song, and it went to #2 on the Billboard charts.[3] Gore also released "Wedding Bell Blues" as a single in 1969, but her version flopped, while the Fifth Dimension's spent three weeks at #1.
By the late 1960s, her popularity had decreased with the advent of harder-edged psychedelic music. Her last major hit was the Bob Crewe-produced "California Nights", which she performed on the January 19, 1967, episode of the Batman TV series, in which she guest-starred as Pink Pussycat, one of Catwoman's minions, lip-synching to "Maybe Now" and "California Nights"[3] Afterwards, she maintained a lower profile in the music industry, performing at concerts and in cabarets. She also kept busy writing songs, including composing songs for the soundtrack of the 1980 film, Fame, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for "Out Here on My Own," written with her brother Michael.[4] The song was a Top 20 hit for Irene Cara.[citation needed]
[edit] Return to recording in 2005
Gore played concerts and appeared on television throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 2005, she recorded her first album of new material since 1976 (Love Me By Name) — Ever Since — with producer/songwriter Blake Morgan for Engine Company Records (a small independent label). In addition to extensive national radio coverage and critical acclaim from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard Magazine, and other national press, three songs from Ever Since have been used in television shows and a film: "Better Angels", in CSI: Miami's fourth season premiere episode, "Words We Don't Say", in an episode of The L Word, and "It's Gone", in the Jeff Lipsky-directed film Flannel Pajamas.
[edit] Sexual orientation
Gore announced in 2005 that she is a lesbian.[5] She stated further that she did not know her own orientation until she was in her twenties, and after she discovered that she was a lesbian, she never gave much thought to exposing it publicly, but at the same time she took no great lengths to hide it.
Some commentators consider the lyric content of some albums, notably Someplace Else Now, to contain implicit references to Gore's sexuality. Her altering of known song lyrics was also thought to have implied her orientation as in her album The Canvas Can Do Miracles. On that album she covered the Grease song "You're the One That I Want", altering the line "cause I need a man" to "cause I need a friend".
Gore provided musical aid for the 1996 film Grace of My Heart, which featured a character (played by Bridget Fonda) whose struggles over her sexual orientation were similar to Gore's. Beginning in 2004, Gore could be seen hosting the PBS television series, In the Life, which focused on LGBT issues. Gore currently lives with her partner of more than 23 years.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | US Pop Singles | Album |
| 1963 | "It's My Party" | 1 | I'll Cry if I Want To |
| 1963 | "Judy's Turn to Cry" | 5 | I'll Cry if I Want To |
| 1963 | "She's a Fool" | 5 | Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts |
| 1964 | "You Don't Own Me" | 2 | Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts |
| 1964 | "That's the Way Boys Are" | 12 | Boys, Boys, Boys |
| 1964 | "I Don't Wanna Be a Loser" | 37 | Boys, Boys, Boys |
| 1964 | "It‘s Gotta Be You" | 37 | Boys, Boys, Boys |
| 1964 | "Maybe I Know" | 14 | Girl Talk |
| 1964 | "Hey Now" | 76 | Girl Talk |
| 1964 | "Sometimes I Wish I Were a Boy" | 86 | Girl Talk |
| 1965 | "Look of Love" | 27 | Girl Talk |
| 1965 | "All Of My Life" | 71 | The Golden Hits of Lesley Gore |
| 1965 | "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" | 13 | The Golden Hits of Lesley Gore |
| 1965 | "My Town, My Guy & Me" | 32 | My Town, My Guy & Me |
| 1965 | "I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry)" | 80 | Lesley Gore Sings All About Love |
| 1966 | "We Know We're In Love" | 76 | Lesley Gore Sings All About Love |
| 1966 | "Young Love" | 50 | Lesley Gore Sings All About Love |
| 1967 | "Off and Running" | 98 | California Nights |
| 1967 | "California Nights" | 16 | California Nights |
| 1967 | "Summer and Sandy" | 65 | Golden Hits Vol. 2 |
| 1967 | "Brink of Disaster" | 82 | Magic Colors |
| 1967 | "Magic Colors" | n/a | Magic Colors |
| 1968 | "Small Talk" | 124 | Single Only |
| 1968 | "He Gives me Love (La La La)" | 91 | Golden Hits Vol. 2 |
| 1968 | "I Can‘t Make It Without You" | 124 | Golden Hits Vol. 2 |
| 1968 | "I‘ll Be Standing By" | n/a | Single Only |
| 1969 | "Take Good Care (of My Heart)" | n/a | Single Only |
| 1969 | "98.6-Lazy Day" | 36 | Single Only |
| 1969 | "Wedding Bell Blues" | n/a | Single Only |
| 1970 | "Why Doesn‘t Love Make Me Happy?" | 39 | Single Only |
| 1970 | "Come Softly to Me" | n/a | Single Only |
| 1970 | "When Yesterday Was Tomorrow" | n/a | Single Only |
| 1971 | "Back Together" | n/a | Single Only |
| 1972 | "She Said That“ | n/a | Someplace Else Now |
| 1975 | "Immortality" | n/a | Love Me By Name |
| 1970 | "Sometimes“ | n/a | Love Me By Name |
[edit] Selected albums
| Year | Album | US Peak |
| 1963 | I'll Cry If I Want To | 24 |
| 1963 | Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts | 125 |
| 1964 | Boys, Boys, Boys | 127 |
| 1964 | Girl Talk | 146 |
| 1965 | My Town, My Guy & Me | 120 |
| 1965 | The Golden Hits of Lesley Gore | 95 |
| 1966 | Lesley Gore Sings All About Love | Did not chart |
| 1967 | California Nights | 169 |
| 1968 | Magic Colors (cancelled) | n/a |
| 1968 | Golden Hits Volume 2 | Did not chart |
| 1972 | Someplace Else Now | Did not chart |
| 1975 | Love Me By Name | Did not chart |
| 1982 | The Canvas Can Do Miracles | Did not chart |
| 2005 | Ever Since | Did not chart |
[edit] Television appearances
- Ed Sullivan Show (Four appearances)
- American Bandstand
- The Mike Douglas Show
- The Andy Williams Show
- Merv Griffin Show
- The Donna Reed Show (appeared as herself in the final episode of the series on 3/19/66, performing "It's My Party" and "We Know We're In Love")
- Batman (starring as "Pink Pussycat") - her hit "California Nights" was introduced on this show, in the episode "That Darn Catwoman."[3]
- Club 1270, a teen-oriented dance-party television show on WXYZ-TV in Detroit ("1270" was a reference to the frequency of WXYZ-AM radio, a leading Top 40 station in the Detroit area at the time, now WXYT.)
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
- Shindig!
- Hullabaloo
- What's My Line?
- Days of Our Lives
- Murphy Brown
- Hollywood Squares
- Dinah Shore
- The Midnight Special
- In The Life (PBS)
- A Capitol Fourth
- Gay USA
[edit] References
- ^ "LESLEY GORE Ever Since ...", The Washington Post, September 16, 2005. Accessed December 22, 2007. "Instead, Ever Since is a cozy pop cabaret album, an intimate showcase for Gore's now hazy alto and contemplative delivery."
- ^ Retro, Ricky. "It's her party, and it's Spector's turn to cry", The Star-Ledger, May 24, 2004. "ONE DAY IN 1963, 16-year-old Lesley Gore was driving home from the Dwight School For Girls in Englewood when she heard a song on the car radio that knocked her out."
- ^ a b c Hoekstra, Dave. "Our favorite Lesley Gore moments", Chicago Sun-Times, March 11, 2007. Accessed May 31, 2007. "Who says debuting a new single on a TV show is such a new idea? Gore did it on -- gulp -- "Batman" in January 1967. And not only did she appear on the show to sing "California Nights," she did so in character -- as one of Catwoman's minions: Pink Pussycat. The episode was titled "That Darn Catwoman," and Gore reprised her role that same season in another episode, "Scat! Darn Catwoman."... Some amusing trivia: Gore was offered the song "A Groovy Kind of Love," but her producer wouldn't allow her to record a song with the word "groovy" in it."
- ^ Jones, Chad. "It's still her party, and Lesley Gore's not crying", Oakland Tribune, April 21, 2006. Accessed May 31, 2007. "The disc includes her stripped-down, almost Marianne Faithful- like version of You Don't Own Me as well as Out Here On My Own, the Academy Award-nominated song she wrote with her brother, Michael Gore, from the movie Fame."
- ^ AfterEllen.com - Interview with Lesley Gore
[edit] External links
- Lesley Gore Official Site
- International Fan Club site
- Lesley Gore's career on A&M Records with gallery, international discography
- 2005 interview
- EVER SINCE 2005 CD
- Lesley's Artistlaunch Page
- "The Work of Claus Ogerman" - Lesley Gore's work during 1963-1965 with hit arranger/conductor Claus Ogerman is documented here in a pictorial discography of original albums, compilations, and singles - many with original album liner note scans.
