Singer; songwriter. Born May 2, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York, Lesley Gore grew up in nearby Tenafly, New Jersey. She was only 16 years old when she was discovered by legendary music producer, Quincy Jones. Though several versions of the story of their auspicious meeting exist—one source says they met at a party while another claims that Jones saw Gore singing in a hotel—Gore herself remembers that it happened through a string of lucky connections: "The short story and the truth is that I was taking vocal lessons here in New York… One day, instead of my lesson, the piano player and I went into a studio… and we put down some demos,… Those demos got to Quincy Jones through an agent… He listened to them, he called me, and we started to record."
"One song that stood out from the rest, however, was "You Don't Own Me," an unapologetic declaration that women are not objects that men can possess and control. Perhaps ironically, the song was actually written by male songwriting duo John Madera and Dave White, but Gore's powerful vocals and passion for the lyrics inspired teenage girls to not let boys push them around. The song held steady at No. 2 for weeks, surpassed only by The Beatles world-changing smash, "I Want to Hold Your Hand." As Gore explained the record: "When I first heard that song at the age of 16 or 17, feminism wasn't quite a going proposition yet. Some people talked about it, but it wasn't in any kind of state at the time. My take on that song was: I'm 17, what a wonderful thing, to be able to stand up on a stage and shake your finger at people and sing you don't own me."
(Hafiz?)
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