At age 68 from cancer. I feel very old. Talk about songs from my youth! So young, really.
Oh wow. She grew up in my town.
That’s very sad. Way too young. I always liked her singing.
I’m sure many of us know all,the words to Its My Party. A classic.
Loved those women singers!
Sad news, and yes, too young.
Judy’s Turn to Cry! I loved all those songs. I listen to the 60s (and 50s) stations on satellite radio on my way to and from work, so I still hear those songs.
California Nights
That’s sad–really liked her music. My favorite was–“You Don’t Own Me.” Also liked–“It’s my Party”
Just saw it online. Yes, this makes me feel old and sad. Another piece of my youth gone.
Oh, I’m sorry to hear this. Her songs bring back memories of 8th grade. I had all of her 45s.
Kind of weird. That song played in my aerobics class this morning, and I’m sure it wasn’t planned because our teacher knew she had died - none of us did at that point and the teacher puts together playlists the day before class. But when I came out of class, it was on the news.
“And don’t tell me what to do
And don’t tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don’t put me on display, 'cause
You don’t own me, don’t try to change me in any way
You don’t own me, don’t tie me down 'cause i’d never stay”
Pretty darn progressive for its time.
RIP Lesley.
In 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected, the local Ann Arbor radio station played “It’s My Party” for 24 hours straight. Always makes me smile (ruefully) when I hear it.
And, there’s this great scene from The First Wives Club (embedded in the story):
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lesley-gores-you-dont-own-774017
I was totally thrown off balance by this news. Not having seen a current photo of Lesley Gore in many decades, she was still the teenage phenom in my mind. And then reading her obituary, I saw the mention of her female partner of over 30 years and realized that while I knew her music very well, I knew little about her. So that sent me to her Wikipedia article, where I found this line that tickled me no end: “Gore was given first shot at recording “A Groovy Kind of Love” by songwriters Carole Bayer and Toni Wine, but Shelby Singleton, a producer for Smash Records, a Mercury subsidiary, refused to let her record a song with the word “groovy” in it.” Bwah!
I was about five when she had hits but my older siblings were her peer group. What I remember is that a young Quincey Jones was her producer. She had hits when she was 16 but put her singing career on hold to attend Sarah Lawrence. “You Don’t Own Me” was a girl punk rock song before its time. RIP.
RIP.
I really enjoyed her music. I still do.
God, I feel old.
I was nine or so, when this came out. It was one of my favorites.
I spent recess walking around the playground with my transistor radio held up to my ear.
http://youtu.be/0XoNF-fzYMw
ek, I just took a look at that video. Boy, videos have changed. Consider JLo’s “Booty” video. Quite a change in what’s displayed . . . . not to mention the music itself.
She had some great tunes. I also especially liked “You don’t own me”.