(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer to the "Poor Little Fool" post.)
Lesley Gore - "It's My Party"
Hit Number 1: June 1, 1963
Stay at Number 1: 2 Weeks
It takes something special to make a song take off. The song "It's My Party" had several takers on it, but no one could help make it a hit. The Chiffons (who were just in this blog with the smash hit "He's So Fine) were the first ones to record it, but their version became only a minor hit (if you could even call it a hit at all) and it faded in the background of "He's So Fine" and "One Fine Day", the Chiffons' biggest hits. Helen Shapiro also had a version of the song, and she thought her version was going to be a huge hit, saying "Right from the first time we heard the song on the rough demo back in London, we thought we were going to sock them between the eyes with that one". Her version was not chosen as an advance single, and her album that included the song wasn't released until October 1963. That was 4 months after Gore's version hit #1, and Shapiro's version was thought of as a cover of 16 year old Lesley Gore's song.
So, why was Gore's version the one that took off? If I had to guess, it was probably because Gore sounded very appropriate for the song, and she gave the song a great deal of justice. While the Chiffons and Shapiro were very young at the time as well, Gore sounded more like the narrator, a girl likely in her early teenage years who is crying over a boy she likes coming with another girl to her party. But while the song is very sad lyrically, it's not that way by sound. In fact, it's very exciting and fun instead. This was the right approach. That right there is why "It's My Party" put Gore on the map, and why the song is an ultimate oldies staple. Even though it isn't a somber sounding song, it still manages to capture the feeling of sadness that the narrator is likely feeling. It's one of the best aging songs from the 60s, and is one that is very easy to pick out today. In fact, the song's chorus goes "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to. You would cry too if it happened to you", and that's become a popular saying for anyone who is supposed to have a happy celebration, but something ruins it. If you've heard someone say that and you wondered where it came from, now you know.
Gore recalled later in life that "It's My Party" was one of about 200 demos that was brought to her by producer Quincy Jones, and he arrived at her family home for her to review. On "It's My Party" she remembered saying something along the lines of "That's not half bad. I like it. Good melody. Let's put it on the maybe pile". The song was the only one of the massive load of demos Jones brought that the two actually agreed upon. Gore recorded it in March 1963, and just three months later, it was the most popular song in the country. Things just have their own way of working themselves out.
Gore went on to have a successful singing career, and even had a sequel to "It's My Party". Her song "Judy's Turn to Cry" is a song about Johnny (the boy she liked in "It's My Party") coming back to her, and ditching the girl he was with in the song, Judy. Her and Jones tried to recreate the magic they had on "It's My Party" and they did get to #5 with it, but that song isn't as good as "It's My Party". (It's a 5) She continued to record some other bubble gummy, yet fun and innocent songs like "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows", which was a U.S. Top 40 hit. That song is pretty dumb and crazy, but it's also fun and is prone to get stuck in your head. (It's a 7) Then Gore would turn to more powerful and significant songs such as "You Don't Own Me", a song about a girl who is in love with a guy, but tells him to not put her "on display" and let her be free and herself. (That song made it to #2 behind "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. It's a 9, though at any other time, it would probably be #1, and have its own entry in this blog. It was very tough to top the Beatles at that time). Though she had other good songs, "It's My Party" proved to be her only #1 hit. Hey, it could have been worse. Some people probably consider "It's My Party" to be her signature song.
GRADE: 8/10
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