The Smiley Smile Message Board

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/02/16/it-my-party-singer-lesley-gore-dies-at-68/

What sad news. "Maybe I Know" was my favourite among her songs. Rest in peace, Ms Gore. 

I was sad to hear this. I don't know much about Lesley's songs besides the hits, but I always loved "You Don't Own Me," and I know she was a bit of a social activist as well.

sh*t, this hurts.

R.I.P. you magnificent woman..! Your voice will always stay with me. "Maybe I Know", "She's A Fool", "The Old Crowd", "You Don't Own Me"..

Was shocked when I heard the news this morning. Loved "It's My Party", among other songs. May she rest in peace.  :'(

Sad news indeed and too young to go. A part of the soundtrack to my childhood just died. Too many wonderful records by her to name here. She had a terrific voice and got great material and immaculate production from Quincy Jones. She is the Queen of the 60s Girl Groups.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/16/lesley-gore-singer-of-its-my-party-dies-aged-68

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XoNF-fzYMw

My sympathies to Leslie's loved ones, family and friends.  Sorry for your loss.

So sudden.  So sad.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,19918.msg499748/topicseen.html#msg499748

Magic Colors LP - released by Rhino I think, is a great, great long lost album. 1967 - peak Sixties. "It's a Happening World"

California Nights is probably my favorite hit of hers. RIP.

Such a fantastically talented singer, we've talked about her several times on this board and just how generally great she was.  There were so many really cool vocal and harmonic moments in a lot of her songs, like the bridge to "Maybe I Know" or the awesome "Tami" show performance (Here's a link).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0y1Rr5kPII

Her voice was so cool, so dead on key all the time even live.  I believe she had the fabled "Perfect Pitch", her voice almost rings and resonates it's so dead on pitch.  So talented, we'll miss her...

Merged the two topics into this. Sad news, I posted "Maybe I Know" on my Facebook page, I think that is simply an amazing record and probably my favorite Lesley Gore record of all. The songwriting alone, the way the chords go in some very unexpected directions and surprise directions, underneath a terrific vocal performance. Brilliant record. Any songwriter who hasn't heard it should drop everything and listen immediately.

Consider too some of those classic 60's hits produced by Quincy Jones - He brought a certain sensibility to the studio that on paper wouldn't seem to fit what was still known as "teen" pop when Lesley was cutting those records, and there is that extra *something* that happened when Quincy was producing Lesley in the studio. A perfect but unlikely match: Quincy at that time perhaps best known for working with the Basie band and leading them as they backed Sinatra on albums like Sinatra At The Sands, and here he was doing teenage pop music with a young singer - And it worked, it beyond worked, it was incredible, and Lesley could deliver the goods.

RIP.

Let me just add too, one of the trademark sounds of Lesley's bigger hit records is the doubletracked lead vocal. It adds that extra weight and sonic goodness that made those mixes jump out of AM radio in the 60's. Ace songwriting, ace production, ace vocal and instrumental performances...recipe for hit records. I love those sounds.  :)

Guitar Fool what do you think about the 'perfect pitch' thing?  Basically as I understand it, most people sing in relative pitch, all their notes are the same step apart but may be slightly off vibration of the true note, people with perfect pitch don't need a starting note because they can hear if the note is dead on the correct vibration, even if the band is playing in relative pitch. 

I think she had that, it explains the 'shimmer' her vocals had.  I wonder if it could be analyzed with anything to see if she truly was dead on note. 

A great loss. All of the R & R stars of my era are slowly fading into the sunset. Come to think of it, so am I.....

"i'm sad to hear about Lesley Gore passing away today. She sang sweetly and her songs bring back such great memories. Love and Mercy, Brian"

I'm very bummed. Loved her.

100 years from now students of pop will still be getting knocked out by the sheer tunefulness of"Maybe I Know" , It's My Party", and the rest of her classic songs. Her spirit lives on. 

Damn, yeah, that TAMI Show performance is amazing. What a voice, now belonging to the ages.....

Another one I've always loved by her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmBXEZEYtg

There's never been a bus I've wanted to be on more than that one.... So happy, so uplifting.


Fuckin' cancer taking people before their time.... If there is a god, he sure enjoys watching people suffer....

I listen to her greatest hits every so often. Sad to hear this. RIP

I just found out today.  I was listening to one of her songs an hour prior to when I read about it on facebook.  R.i.p.  :'(

Such superb pop music, sparkling,  tuneful,  unique.   Yeah .  She has indeed been discussed here and on other boards where top tier pop of the day is discussed  lovingly and respectfully.   We concluded our evening of Fat Tuesday listening with a  re listen to our fav Leslie songs.   Hope she was spared too much pain in the end. 

I never got the universal love for "Maybe I Know". Even on beatles.ru* they regard it high. Is it me or sth. wrong with my sound system? Once I heard it, twice I heard - nothing. Magic didn't happen. Really tame tune.

Condolences to Lesley's fam 'n' fans. As *someone said aptly, "Now we all - collective Judy ((( it's our turn to cry (((".

Didn't know of her passing till I just checked this thread. Very sad news.  One of the all-time greats, she will be missed.

To be honest, your taste has been suspect for a long time on this forum :)  You should preface all your comments about music with "Just to be clear, I don't think Maybe I Know is a good song."

Nope, I would preface them with "I think 'It's My Party' is one of the best-ever songs". ;)

Fair point.  I'll give you your fan card back, you're worthy. 

At Lesley's Facebook fan group it was announced this week that Hal Leonard Books, a pretty significant American publisher when it comes to pop music books, is publishing You Don't Own Me: The Life And Times Of Lesley Gore by Trevor Tolliver on Sept. 8 - I think the first book ever about her. Its Amazon page is below. Tolliver is an adjunct writing professor in Rancho Cuc-amonga, California, and apparently this is his first book of any kind. He's been working on it for five years. The publisher's rep said in the FB post that Lesley "was aware" that the book was being written, though there's no indication she authorized it - she had said in interviews for years she was working on her own memoir.  But the rep says that Tolliver did get help, including research assistance, from her mother Ronny plus her official fan club, so it could be worthwhile. No indication as to how many photos it'll have but I'm hoping for some unpublished shots from the TAMI set. 

Should add that Hal Leonard Books is offering to send a free copy of it to anyone who asks for it at the Lesley Gore Fan Group on FB, so if you wanna get comped, as the rock critics of old used to say, it's at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2356366104/

http://www.amazon.com/You-Dont-Own-Me-Lesley/dp/1495024415/