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Lesley Gore is on her second run o
Ever Since By M ichael Giltz
pparently, it was worth the wait. Lesley Gore was a
teen sensation, hitting number 1 with her very firsl
single (the thunderous "It's My Party') and scoring
with other hits like the protofeminist anthem'You
Don't Own Me." She's also been nominated for an
Oscar afber cowriting (with her brother Michael) the classic stan-
dard "Out Here on My Own" for 1980's Fame.
But Gore hadn't recorded a new album for 30 years. Now she
is out with.Euer Since (available exclusively at her Web site), and
the reviews have been ecstatic. The New York Times calls this
collection of intimate acoustic pop "mature
and wistful," The Washington Posl says it is
"welcome and enjoyable," and AllMusic.com
deems her CD "subtle and brilliant."
Gore's gay fans are just as thrilled to see
that her being out-something obvious to
those who saw Gore ably serve as a guest
host on the TV series In the Life-is now acknowledged by the
mainstream media.
One of her mentors-Bella Abzug----encouraged her to be more
public, and Gore took it to heart, saying yes when the PBS show
approached her. (Another clue? The times she would open her act
in San Francisco by making a play on an Elton John hit by say-
ing "Don't let your son go down on me.") 'When I do get to parts
of the Midwest, people did come up to me and say, 'Thanks for
doing that [show],'" says the 59-year-old singer-songwriter.
"They just want to be validated and know that they're human be-
ings. So it's been a nice thing and I'm happy I did it."
Still, while she's OK with being pubiic, Gore isn't ready to bepersonal-don't expect
coming-out stories or even
how she met her partner, a
jewelry designer. Core is
more comfortable talking
about "Better Angels"-a
track from Euer Since-
being featured prominent-
ly in the season premiere
of CSI: Miami. "It was
utilized beautifully," she
beams. But she's
pleased to acknowledge
what she's been open
about with family and
foiends since the'70s.
'TVe're talking about this,
but I've been with the same
partner for 24 years," says
Gore. "This is just an oppor-
its highest, even Gore's Jew-
ishness was off-limits. She
didn't realize she was gay )tunityforme to kindor.ut.r' Ot 24yeafs,...
un.wi,th myself I'm not,cam- lrm a mUSiCalpargnlng. rm a musrcar per-
When her stardom was at
want my li e to
January L7, 2OO6 www advocate com TH E ADVOCATE
MUSIC
until she was ensconced at Sarah
Lawrence College, where it was "easier
to be Joan Baez than Lesley Gore."
As time passed, Gore came to be-
lieve no label would spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars to get her
back into the studio. But the digital
revolution meant that when artist and
Engine Company Records founder
Blake Morgan approached Gore, she
knew they could record an album and
even make a few bucks. Of course, it
helped that she'd known Morgan (who
produced, arranged, and wrote or
cowrote several of the songs) since he
was 9 years old.
"I remember when Blake sat at the
piano and couldn't reach the pedals,
which is the problem I still have," the
petite Gore says with a laugh.
The result is easily the best album
of her career, with new tunes like the
witty 'Not the First" ("You're not the
frst to think you'Il be the last") sitting
comfortably alongside more mellow
tracks and reimaginings of 'You Don't
Own Me" and "Out Here on My Own."
Gore could have been out more
prominently in the mid '90s in connec-
tion with the movie Gra.ce of My Heart,
which included a subplot about a Gore-like teen idol (played by Bridgr
Fonda) who was gay. Gore worked c
the character's song-"My Secre
Love"-until she was comfortable ha
ing her name on it as a cowriter. Br
she felt wary that she'd been brougl
in too late for a real collaboration, an
when she wasn't even invited to th
premiere, Gore was convinced the filrr
makers had used her primarily fo
publicity. "It turned into the opposite r
what I would have wanted," she says.
So they don't own her either. Nor
Gore is looking forward to perhaps ,
live album next year and anothe
album oforiginals after that. (She say
she's already in the midst, or finished
with seven or eight songs.) A one
woman show d la Elaine Stritch is r
long-held dream, and there might ever
be a book down the road. But everl
day-just as it's been for most of her
Iife-the one constant is music.
"When I wake up in the morning
and I go to the piano and there's u
blanl< sheet ofpaper in front ofme, b1
the end ofthe day that could be a gold
mine," says Gore. "You really do need
to wake up and expect that the world
is your oyster, because it very well
may be." I
I
#&.- i
sif
di
lilr
J
li
terown
Lesley Gore is on her second run o
Ever Since By M ichael Giltz
pparently, it was worth the wait. Lesley Gore was a
teen sensation, hitting number 1 with her very firsl
single (the thunderous "It's My Party') and scoring
with other hits like the protofeminist anthem'You
Don't Own Me." She's also been nominated for an
Oscar afber cowriting (with her brother Michael) the classic stan-
dard "Out Here on My Own" for 1980's Fame.
But Gore hadn't recorded a new album for 30 years. Now she
is out with.Euer Since (available exclusively at her Web site), and
the reviews have been ecstatic. The New York Times calls this
collection of intimate acoustic pop "mature
and wistful," The Washington Posl says it is
"welcome and enjoyable," and AllMusic.com
deems her CD "subtle and brilliant."
Gore's gay fans are just as thrilled to see
that her being out-something obvious to
those who saw Gore ably serve as a guest
host on the TV series In the Life-is now acknowledged by the
mainstream media.
One of her mentors-Bella Abzug----encouraged her to be more
public, and Gore took it to heart, saying yes when the PBS show
approached her. (Another clue? The times she would open her act
in San Francisco by making a play on an Elton John hit by say-
ing "Don't let your son go down on me.") 'When I do get to parts
of the Midwest, people did come up to me and say, 'Thanks for
doing that [show],'" says the 59-year-old singer-songwriter.
"They just want to be validated and know that they're human be-
ings. So it's been a nice thing and I'm happy I did it."
Still, while she's OK with being pubiic, Gore isn't ready to bepersonal-don't expect
coming-out stories or even
how she met her partner, a
jewelry designer. Core is
more comfortable talking
about "Better Angels"-a
track from Euer Since-
being featured prominent-
ly in the season premiere
of CSI: Miami. "It was
utilized beautifully," she
beams. But she's
pleased to acknowledge
what she's been open
about with family and
foiends since the'70s.
'TVe're talking about this,
but I've been with the same
partner for 24 years," says
Gore. "This is just an oppor-
its highest, even Gore's Jew-
ishness was off-limits. She
didn't realize she was gay )tunityforme to kindor.ut.r' Ot 24yeafs,...
un.wi,th myself I'm not,cam- lrm a mUSiCalpargnlng. rm a musrcar per-
When her stardom was at
want my li e to
January L7, 2OO6 www advocate com TH E ADVOCATE
MUSIC
until she was ensconced at Sarah
Lawrence College, where it was "easier
to be Joan Baez than Lesley Gore."
As time passed, Gore came to be-
lieve no label would spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars to get her
back into the studio. But the digital
revolution meant that when artist and
Engine Company Records founder
Blake Morgan approached Gore, she
knew they could record an album and
even make a few bucks. Of course, it
helped that she'd known Morgan (who
produced, arranged, and wrote or
cowrote several of the songs) since he
was 9 years old.
"I remember when Blake sat at the
piano and couldn't reach the pedals,
which is the problem I still have," the
petite Gore says with a laugh.
The result is easily the best album
of her career, with new tunes like the
witty 'Not the First" ("You're not the
frst to think you'Il be the last") sitting
comfortably alongside more mellow
tracks and reimaginings of 'You Don't
Own Me" and "Out Here on My Own."
Gore could have been out more
prominently in the mid '90s in connec-
tion with the movie Gra.ce of My Heart,
which included a subplot about a Gore-like teen idol (played by Bridgr
Fonda) who was gay. Gore worked c
the character's song-"My Secre
Love"-until she was comfortable ha
ing her name on it as a cowriter. Br
she felt wary that she'd been brougl
in too late for a real collaboration, an
when she wasn't even invited to th
premiere, Gore was convinced the filrr
makers had used her primarily fo
publicity. "It turned into the opposite r
what I would have wanted," she says.
So they don't own her either. Nor
Gore is looking forward to perhaps ,
live album next year and anothe
album oforiginals after that. (She say
she's already in the midst, or finished
with seven or eight songs.) A one
woman show d la Elaine Stritch is r
long-held dream, and there might ever
be a book down the road. But everl
day-just as it's been for most of her
Iife-the one constant is music.
"When I wake up in the morning
and I go to the piano and there's u
blanl< sheet ofpaper in front ofme, b1
the end ofthe day that could be a gold
mine," says Gore. "You really do need
to wake up and expect that the world
is your oyster, because it very well
may be." I