Monday, February 16, 2015

Lesley Gore (1946-2015)

Lesley Gore, who sang "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me," died of lung cancer at age 68 today in New York City.








ABC News notes:

Gore had been working on a stage version of her life with playwright Mark Hampton when she died.

She officially came out to the public when she hosted several episodes of the PBS series, "In The Life," which dealt with gay and lesbian issues.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Gore turned "You Don't Own Me" into an online video public service announcement demanding reproductive rights which starred Lena Dunham and Tavi Gevinson, among others.

I cross-posted this to Metafilter, where a commenter says:
Fuck you, cancer.

(You too, Judy & Johnny.)

Another commenter says:
I always wanted her to write a song in which she and Judy both wise up, ditch that sleazebag Johnny, and get together for a happy ending.

One more Mefi comment:
For some reason, when my daughter was nine years old and I would take her to a retro Fifties diner with manually flipping playlists at each table (I hope you know what I mean), "It's My Party" was one song she always picked. The words "party" and "cry" both have extraordinary resonance with children, and to have them in the same song - in the title/climactic chorus - really got her happy…and perhaps pre-tweeny-angsty?

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