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Lesley Gore (born May 2, 1946 in New York City as Lesley Sue Goldstein) is an American singer and songwriter, one of the best known performers of the girl group era.
Career
Raised in Tenafly, New Jersey to Jewish parents, Gore was discovered as a teenager. Her first single at age 16 was the #1 hit "It's My Party," still perhaps her best known recording, which also made #9 in Britain. It was followed by 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," and "Maybe I Know." 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 Bronxville, 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 the one of the most popular female singers in the United States and Canada.
By the late 1960s, though, her fame lessened as popular tastes evolved towards a harder-edged, psychedelic sound. Her last major hit was "California Nights" which she performed on the January 19, 1967, episode of the Batman TV series in which she guest-starred as one of Catwoman's minions. Afterwards, she continued to stay busy in the music industry, performed at concerts and in cabarets and achieved noted success as a professional songwriter, including composing songs for the soundtrack of the 1980 film, Fame. She received an Academy Award nomination for "Out Here on My Own," written with her brother Michael and a Top 20 hit for Irene Cara.
Gore continues to be busy, playing concerts, appearing on television, and recently (2005) recording a self-produced and critically-acclaimed CD, "Ever Since." She is also known for tackling a variety of musical genres, including a credible take on AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."
Sexual orientation, 2005 "coming out"
Although Gore did not officially come out until 2005 [1], her lesbianism was not exactly a secret, and she stated herself that inside entertainment circles her sexual orientation was well known. She stated further that she did not know her own orientation until she was in her twenties, and after she discovered that she was lesbian, she never gave much thought to exposing it publicly, but at the same time she took no great lengths to hide it.
Gore provided musical aid for the 1996 film Grace of My Heart, which featured a character (played by Bridget Fonda) whose industry struggles over her sexual orientation were similar to Gore's. Beginning in 2004 Gore could be seen hosting the PBS series In the Life, which focused on GLBT issues. Gore currently lives with her partner of over twenty-three years, as well as a few pets.
Discography
Standard albums'
- 1963: I'll Cry if I Want To (US #24)
- 1963: Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts (US #125)
- 1964: Boys, Boys, Boys (US #127)
- 1964: Girl Talk (US #146)
- 1965: My Town, My Guy & Me (US #120)
- 1966: Lesley Gore Sings All About Love
- 1967: California Nights (US #169)
- 1968: Magic Colors (Unreleased)
- 1972: Someplace Else Now
- 1975: Love Me By Name
- 2005: Ever Since
Compilations
- 1965: The Golden Hits of Lesley Gore (US #95)
- 1968: Golden Hits Volume 2
Singles
- 1963: "It's My Party" (US #1, UK #9)
- 1963: "Judy's Turn to Cry" (US #5)
- 1963: "She's a Fool" (US #5)
- 1964: "You Don't Own Me" (US #2)
- 1964: "That's the Way Boys Are" (US #12)
- 1964: "I Don't Wanna Be a Loser" (US #37)
- 1964: "Maybe I Know" (US #14)
- 1964: "Hey Now" (US #76)
- 1964: "Sometimes I Wish I Were a Boy" (US #86)
- 1965: "Look of Love" (US #27)
- 1965: "All Of My Life" (US #71)
- 1965: "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" (US #13)
- 1965: "My Town, My Guy and Me" (US #32)
- 1965: "I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry)" (US #80)
- 1966: "We Know We're in Love" (US #76)
- 1966: "Young Love" (US #50)
- 1966: "Off And Running" (US #108)
- 1966: "Treat Me Like A Lady" (US #115)
- 1967: "California Nights" (US #16)
- 1967: "Summer and Sandy" (US #65)
- 1967: "Brink of Disaster" (US #82)
- 1968: "Small Talk" (US #124)
- 1968: "He Gives Me Love (La La La)" (US #119)
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 song, by the Mindbenders, rocketed to #2 on the Billboard charts. 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.
Television Appearances
- Ed Sullivan Show
- American Bandstand
- The Mike Douglas Show
- Merv Griffin Show
- The Donna Reed Show (She appeared in the final episode of the series on 3/19/66)
- Batman (starring as the "Pink Pussycat") - her hit "California Nights" was introduced on this show.
- 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
- Days of Our Lives
- Murphy Brown
- Hollywood Squares
- Dinah Shore
- The Midnight Special
- In The Life (PBS)
- A Capitol Fourth
External links
de:Lesley Gore
nl:Lesley Gore
no:Lesley Gore
sv:Lesley Gore
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