From the depths of my external hard drive: Lesley Gore

June 20, 2010

By Eliza K.

“She wasn’t the most soulful girl group singer by a long shot, but she projected an archetype of female adolescent yearning. Her best songs survive as classics, particularly the irresistibly melodic “Maybe I Know” and “Look of Love” (both written by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) and “You Don’t Own Me,” an anthem of independence with a feminist theme that was considerably advanced for early 1964.“

Richie Unterberger

“I felt a greater connection to the lyric than anything else I had recorded before. So, yeah, I would have to say from my point of view, I felt it was a better song. You take a song like “It’s My Party” or “Judy’s Turn To Cry”…things almost become dated over the years. “You Don’t Own Me” has stood the test of time.“

Lesley Gore

Just look at the flame in that girl’s eyes. Look at that attitude. There just had to be a band who wrote a song about that performance:

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Lesley Gore on the T.A.M.I. Show

I finally wrote you the letter with all the things I’ve been meaning to say
but I was walking to your apartment & the letter fell out of my pocket on the way
Seven pages on 16th street; I lost my words under tires & feet
And you’ll probably never have a clue ’cause I’ll probably never say a thing to you
-
I’ve been watching out the window of the bus every time it passes by
just to see if you were outside, smoking cigarettes & passing time
I think of things that I wanted to say when I ride by almost every day
But you’ll probably never have a clue ’cause I’ll probably never say these things to you

Lesley’s popularity led to some notorious (and well-advertised) stalking incidents, so I think it safe to assume that the lyrics refer to that.

“Fans of feminist Jewish pop song will not want to miss Lesley Gore [...] Gore was at once independent, self-assured, and linguistically gifted, as evidenced by her recordings of the same hit in French and Italian. Gore expressed dissatisfaction with social conventions of her day, expressing open scorn for insensitive machismo. She even sang about her overt desire to be male, so some fans were not astonished in 2005, when Gore officially came out as a lesbian.“

Benjamin Ivry

Lesley Gore – It’s My Party

It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.

Los Campesinos – We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives

It’s your party but I’ll die if I want to.

(From Digital Interviews: discussing her Oscar nomination for composing “Out Here on My Own”, soundtrack for the film Fame)

I: Had you come full circle?

Lesley: In a funny way, yeah I think so – because so much of my earlier career I hadn’t been taken very seriously. I was a girl group- you know, fun songs, bubblegummy or party.

So here’s the deal, beloved readers: Whether you think Lesley Gore was a typical “bubblegummy” 60s singer confined within the limitations of the girl-group sound, or something of a proto-feminist who quickly broke away from that mould, LHNA’s pronouncement is that it’s pretty much impossible not to like her. We leave you then with a last special treat – Kings of Convenience covering the lovely miss Gore. Enjoy!

Tags: 60s, casiotone for the painfully alone, lesley gore, leslie gore, los campesinos, oldies, pop

This entry was posted on June 20, 2010 at 14:40 and is filed under Features, From the Depths, La Loupe, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.