The Off Topic Topic

[Ideologue]

Holy cow, that's a photo.

[CountDeMoney]

Music
Lesley Gore, Teenage Voice of Heartbreak, Dies at 68
By JON PARELES
FEB. 16, 2015
NYTIMES

Lesley Gore, who was a teenager in the 1960s when she recorded hit songs about heartbreak and resilience that went on to become feminist touchstones, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 68.

Lois Sasson, her partner of 33 years, said Ms. Gore died of lung cancer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

With songs like "It's My Party," "Judy's Turn to Cry" and the indelibly defiant 1964 single "You Don't Own Me" — all recorded before she was 18 — Ms. Gore made herself the voice of teenage girls aggrieved by fickle boyfriends, moving quickly from tearful self-pity to fierce self-assertion.

"You Don't Own Me," written by John Madara and David White, originally reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been repeatedly rerecorded and revived by performers including Dusty Springfield, Joan Jett and the cast of the 1996 movie "The First Wives Club."

"When I heard it for the first time, I thought it had an important humanist quality," Ms. Gore told The Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 2010. "As I got older, feminism became more a part of my life and more a part of our whole awareness, and I could see why people would use it as a feminist anthem. I don't care what age you are — whether you're 16 or 116 — there's nothing more wonderful than standing on the stage and shaking your finger and singing, 'Don't tell me what to do.' "

Ms. Gore was born Lesley Sue Goldstein on May 2, 1946, in Brooklyn. She grew up in Tenafly, N.J., eager to become a singer. She had just turned 16, a junior in high school, when her vocal coach had her make some piano-and-voice recordings. Those demos, with a youthful brightness in her voice, reached the producer Quincy Jones, who was then an A&R man at Mercury Records. He became her producer and mentor.

Ms. Gore recorded "It's My Party" on March 30, 1963, and when Mr. Jones discovered that Phil Spector and the Crystals were also recording the song, he rush-released it within a week. It reached No. 1 and was followed onto the charts by "Judy's Turn To Cry" — a sequel to "It's My Party" that gets the boyfriend back — and other tales of teen romance like "She's a Fool," "That's the Way Boys Are" and "Maybe I Know," as well as "You Don't Own Me."

Ms. Gore was featured — with James Brown, the Rolling Stones, the Supremes and Marvin Gaye — in the 1964 concerts at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium that were documented as the "T.A.M.I. Show." She also had moderate hits with some of the first Marvin Hamlisch songs to be recorded: "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" in 1965 and "California Nights" in 1967.

Yet at the peak of her pop career Ms. Gore was in school full time, majoring in English and American literature at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., where she graduated in 1968. She played an occasional television show or concert on weekends or during vacations.

"It would be very foolish of me to leave school to go into such an unpredictable field on a full-time basis," she told an interviewer at the time.

Ms. Gore's string of hits ended when girl-group pop gave way to psychedelia. But she kept performing — in movies, on television, on theater and club stages. She appeared in the 1960s "Batman" television series as the Pink Pussycat, one of Catwoman's sidekicks.

Ms. Gore did not write her early hits. But after she was dropped by Mercury, she worked on becoming a songwriter. She moved to California in 1970, and her 1972 album, "Someplace Else Now," was full of songs she wrote herself or with the lyricist Ellen Weston.

She reconnected with Mr. Jones for the 1975 album "Love Me by Name," also filled with her own songs and drawing on guest performers including Herbie Hancock. But it, too, was largely ignored, as was "The Canvas Can Do Miracles," an album of versions of 1970s pop hits released in 1982.

"Out Here on My Own," a song Ms. Gore wrote with her brother, Michael Gore, for the soundtrack of the movie "Fame," became a hit for Irene Cara in 1980 and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Ms. Gore lived in New York City. Besides Ms. Sasson, she is survived by her brother and her mother, Ronny Gore.

Ms. Gore returned to New York City in 1980 and continued to sing her oldies on the nostalgia circuit. She also performed in musical theater, including a stint in the Broadway production of "Smokey Joe's Cafe." She worked in television, hosting episodes of "In the Life," a PBS newsmagazine series about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. In 2005, she came out publicly as gay.

Her 2005 album, "Ever Since," was full of reflective grown-up songs in cabaret style, along with a bitterly moody remake of "You Don't Own Me." Television shows picked up some of its tracks: "Better Angels" was heard on "C.S.I.," and "Words We Don't Say" was played on "The L Word."

Ms. Gore was a headliner in 2011 at "She's Got The Power," a Lincoln Center Out of Doors concert devoted to the girl-group era. In 2012, "You Don't Own Me" returned during the presidential election, as a feminist get-out-the-vote video. As it begins, Ms. Gore appears, announcing, "I'm Lesley Gore, and I approve this message."

In recent years, Ms. Gore had been working on a memoir and a Broadway show based on her life.

[Admiral Yi]

Reading "Ike" right now.

In it the author claims, contrary to what I have read on The Straight Dope, that the origin of the expression "the whole nine yards" is that is how long the 50 cal ammo belts on B-17s were.

[Syt]

Reading "Ike" right now.

In it the author claims, contrary to what I have read on The Straight Dope, that the origin of the expression "the whole nine yards" is that is how long the 50 cal ammo belts on B-17s were.

Unlikely, since the earliest known printed quotation, according to Wiki, is from 1907.

And origin unknown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards

There is still no consensus on the origin, though many early published quotations are now available for study. A vast number of explanations for this phrase have been suggested;[28][29] many of these are no longer viable in light of what is now known about the phrase's history.

- Perhaps the most commonly offered explanation is that World War II (1939–1945) aircraft machine gun belts were nine yards long. There are many versions of this explanation with variations regarding type of plane, nationality of gunner, and geographic area. This theory is no longer considered viable, since the phrase predates World War II. However an alternative weapon is the ammunition belt for the British Vickers machine gun, invented and adopted by the British Army before the first World War (1914–1918)[11]

- Another common explanation is that "nine yards" is a cubic measure and refers to the volume of a concrete mixer.[30] This theory, too, is inconsistent with the phrase's history.[11]

- Many of the popular candidates relate to the length of pieces of fabric, or various garments; including Indian saris, Scottish Kilts, burial shrouds, or bolts of cloth. No single source verifies that any one of those suggestions was the actual origin. However, an article published in Comments on Etymology demonstrates that fabric was routinely sold in standard lengths of nine yards (and other multiples of three yards) during the 1800s and early 1900s.[31] This may explain why so many different types of cloth or garments have been said to have been nine yards long.[32]

- Other proposed sources include the volume of graves;[33] the length of bridal veils, kilts,[34] burial shrouds, bolts of cloth,[35] or saris; a very long list; ritual disembowelment; shipyards; and American football. Little documentary evidence has surfaced to support any of these explanations.[36]

- One proposed origin involves the world of full-rigged sailing ships, in which yard is used not as a measure of length or size, but as the name of each horizontal spar on which a sail is hung. All square-rigged sails unfurled, with 3 yards on each of 3 masts, could then be described as "the whole nine yards," [37] but again no actual documentation has been uncovered to support this explanation.[38]

- Bonnie Taylor-Blake, noting that several early examples are in the form "give" or "tell" the whole nine (or six) yards, has suggested that the idiom likely relied on "yards" as "lengthy or thorough presentation [of news, anecdotes, play-by-play, etc.]"[39]

- Jesse Sheidlower, editor-at-large for the Oxford English Dictionary, and Fred R. Shapiro have argued that the phrase does not have a concrete meaning, pointing to the variance between six and nine yards and comparing it to "the whole shebang."

[Malthus]

I can't recall seeing a more offensive T-shirt

http://i.imgur.com/2o2K2Ln.png

Have you never browsed t-shirt hell?

My favorite is the "Daddy shoulda asked for a BJ" baby onesie.

[Syt]

I can't recall seeing a more offensive T-shirt

http://i.imgur.com/2o2K2Ln.png

Have you never browsed t-shirt hell?

My favorite is the "Daddy shoulda asked for a BJ" baby onesie.

Would be worse if it was pregnancy gear reading, "Daddy shoulda asked me for a BJ"

[Malthus]

I can't recall seeing a more offensive T-shirt

http://i.imgur.com/2o2K2Ln.png

Have you never browsed t-shirt hell?

My favorite is the "Daddy shoulda asked for a BJ" baby onesie.

Would be worse if it was pregnancy gear reading, "Daddy shoulda asked me for a BJ"

You would make an awesome maternity wear designer.

[Syt]

"Meet my little brother"/"sister"

[11B4V]

The amazon echo will end up being thrown in the yard.

[The Brain]

Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow-wow.

[Liep]

Just bought more Icebreaker cloth. I think I'm addicted. :O

[MadImmortalMan]

A fight breaking out in Turkey's parliament.

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

[Jacob]

Apparently the most popular Playmobil character is Martin Luther, of the 95 Theses fame.

This guy here:



... I wouldn't have guessed that.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/61724/martin-luther-most-popular-playmobil-figurine-ever

[Neil]

I decided to give up my concrete tower and buy a house.

You picked an inopportune time to do that, right where house prices look to be crashing.

It'll be cheaper than paying my rent, short-term fluctuations in housing prices are irrelevant if you're planning on living there long term...

Generally yes, but when those short term housing prices become very predictable it doesn't make much sense to pick an inopportune time to enter the market.

Honestly, I think I did pretty well.  I was able to strike a pretty hard bargain with a laid-off oilfield worker.

[Syt]

Apparently the most popular Playmobil character is Martin Luther, of the 95 Theses fame.

This guy here:



... I wouldn't have guessed that.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/61724/martin-luther-most-popular-playmobil-figurine-ever

His translation of the Bible into German had an immense effect on creating a unified version of German, especially in Lutheran North Germany, where "High German" went on to replace "Low German" which is now a dying dialect/language.


... which is probably not a reason why it's popular.