By Denise Penn
It's still Her Party:An Interview with
Sixties LegendLesley uore
M More than four decades have passedsince sixteen-year-old
Lesley Gorewowed legendary producer QuincyJones and recorded the
song, "It'sMy Party" which became thenumber one hit in the nation
within
two months, catapulting her to overnight stardom.Those were the
days when all teenage girls thoughtabout was boys, boys, boys. Gore
became their voiceand sang their anthems.
The same year, 1963, she followed up with"Judy's Turn To Cry"
which was written for her andit too became a hit, followed by
"She's A Fool." In1964 she recorded "You Don't Own Me," which
mayhave foreshadowed her blossoming feminism andindependent spirit.
Gore recorded a total of elevenTop 40 hits before her 21st
birthday. She appearedon the legendary T.A.M.I. Show, the Ed
SullivanShow, Hullabaloo, the Donna Reed Show and theLate Night
Show Starring Johnny Carson. She alsoplayed "Pussycat," an
accomplice to Batwoman inthe Batman Television series.
Last year she hosted two episodes of "In theLife," an LGBT
newsmagazine produced for PBS,which is carried hy public
broadcasting stationsthroughout the country. Though most people
whoknew her were aware of her sexual orientation, it wasa public
acknowledgement of her commitment tohelping others in the
community. She is committedto helping women take charge of their
own lives andhopes that her matter-of-fact self-acceptance and
self-confidence will make a difference to others.
At sixty, she is vibrant, sharp and enthusiasticabout her latest
recording, her upcoming tour, andher family. Lesbian News
Contributor Denise Penncaught up with her between rehearsals to
chat abouther history, her career, her plans and her dreams forthe
future.
Denise: Tell me about the process of coming tounderstand your
sexual orientation and what that waslike for you.
Lesley; It has been a very long, a very tedious and avery soul
searching experience. It's not somethingthat I decided one day.
It's been a process that's takenmany years. I turned sixty years
old recently andthere's a lot that goes into just putting in alt
that time.1 felt that after 25 years in a relationship which
hasclearly not been a hidden relationship - 1 am secureabout who I
am. I never really tried to hide it. I justlived my life naturally
and did what I wanted to dobut I didn't put it in anybody's
face.
Denise: I understand that your involvement with thePBS program,
"In the Life" really was a positivevehicle for coming out to many.
Can you elaborate?
Lesley: I began working with the "In the Life" peopleand hosted
for them. And I am in touch with a lot of
young people in the Midwest when I am travelingin that area and
so many young gay people comeup to me and tell me that "In the
Life" is virtuallytheir only connection to another gay human
being.I saw the importance of the show and after being ahost on the
show a couple of times, I began to feelcomfortable about just
coming out and revealingmyself - not in a huge way with trumpets
andeverything else - just in a matter of fact way: HereI am; this
is where I am and this is what I have beendoing and - oh, by the
way....
Denise: Tell me what the significance of the PBSseries, "In the
Life" is and what you see as theimportance of public
television.
Lesley: It is such a wonderful program; what I seeis that being
gay now for young people is not asdifficult as it was for me back
in high school and incollege years. I think programs like "In the
Life" helpgreatly and I am sure that The Lesbian News does thesame.
Funding has been cancelled everywhere andit is really up to us to
keep all of the public TV andradio going and it's a travesty that
they need help butthey do.
Denise: So you have been in a relationship for 25years. To what
do you attribute the longevity of yourrelationship?
Lesley: Deep down, there is a tremendous amount oflove. But I
feel as though I look at life as a challengeeveryday. I live in New
York, so physically; I wakeup ready to conquer the world every
moming becausethat's sort of the way you need to face New York.And
1 feel as though I have a partner in that; it is likeLois and
myself against the world. I feel as though Ihave a connection with
another human being whomI can call on a daily basis as often as
twelve timesduring the day and say" You are not going to
believethis last phone call." And she will call me and tellme when
something outrageous has happened andthat's just nice to go through
life with that kind ofcompanionship.
Denise: How did you and Lois meet?
Lesley: She's a jewelry designer and I came backfrom Australia
many many many years ago - backin the late sixties. I came back
with a huge opal anda friend of mine brought me to her so that she
coulddesign a ring for me. We had a brief affair then andthen I
moved out to Los Angeles. In the summer of1979 I came back to New
York to work on "Fame"(the film) with my brother. That's when Lois
and Igot together again, for good.
Denise: So Lois is a jewelry designer - do you haverings?
Lesley: You bet I do. (laughs) I've got rings, andI've got
watches... I've got everything. She is veryesthetic. It's kind of
an interesting combinationbecause I'm very auditory: I do most of
my thingswith my ears. And she is very visual, so it's a
nicecombination.
Denise: Have you had a commitment ceremony ofanything like
that?
Lesley: No, we haven't. Right now President Bush isactually
spending time going against gay marriage. Ithink it is the most
ridiculous thing I have ever heardbut so typical of his strategy
and his thinking. Butpersonally, for me, it isn't important to be
able to getmarried. But I do understand that it is for others and
Iwould fight for that right for anybody.
Denise: That was a question I had - about marriage.You were
brought up in an era where young peoplescrutinized and challenged
the institution of marriagein this country, in general. Did that
influence you?
Lesley: Well, they were beginning to challenge it.You have to
remember what was on television: itwas "Ozzie and Harriet" and "The
Donna ReedShow" and Lucy and Desi were sleeping in separatebeds
even though they were married. That's whatcommunities were supposed
to look like then. I grewup in a little town called Tenafiy, New
Jersey and thatis exactly what it was - "Ozzie and Harriet."
Denise: In 25 years, you and Lois must have hadproblems just as
any other couple does. How do youmake it work?
Lesley: Because I sometimes live in a dream world,one of the
things that Lois has made me do is actuallyface the problems.
That's half the battle right there;if you face a problem, or
acknowledge it, then youmust do something about it. So she is a
little bitmore pragmatic than I am. We are both Taums's sosometimes
we have face-offs but she does keep megrounded. It can get rowdy
but it certainly isn't dull.
Denise: So are you saying that communication is thekey? You
don't just go into the comer and clam upabout an issue?
Lesley: Well, to tell you the truth, I have a tendencyto do
that. So Lois is good for me because she likesto talk everything
through from the color of the toiletpaper to the kind of soap we
use. It's good for me tohave that balance in my life because I can
easily gooff and not be communicative.
Lesbian News July 2006
Denise: But even though marriage may not be in yourfuture, you
expect to be together forever?
Lesley: That's right.
Denise: How does religion affect your decisionsabout your life?
Do you consider yourself religious?
Lesley: I would say I am spiritual. I was broughtup in the
Jewish religion and I do observe certainholidays when I can. There
are times when I amworking and I don't let my work interfere with
areligious occasion. But I think of myself more as aspiritual
person. I believe that I have a higher powerand that the higher
power is in myself I believe thatif you do good in this world, that
comes back to you.
Denise: Tell me about your family - are theysupportive?
Lesley: Yes. My brother and I are very close. He is aproducer
and has a terrific career in films, televisionand recording. We
speak to each other once a day andstill do a fair amount of writing
together. My momis still alive, God bless her; she is in her
eighties andshe lives down in Florida but comes up to the NewYork
area for the summer so I get a chance to spendsome time with her. I
lost my dad eight years ago andI miss him but my mom has another
boyfriend, soshe's rocking, God bless her.
Denise: You were so young - a teenager - when youstarted your
career. Did you know that you were gaywhen you were a teenager?
Lesley: Not really. I didn't really know I was gayuntil I was in
my twenties. I just experimented withboys and girls and had reason
to adore them both. Ithink my first really serious relationship was
a gayone so that began to tell me things about myself
Denise: Were you encouraged by managers andpublicists to date
men for appearances in the samemanner that film stars were when you
were a youngrecording artist?
Lesley: Well, I would go out to L.A. and I wasvery friendly with
some of my PR people and theywould, in fact, fix me up with a date
for an opening.That was very, very common. I don't think that itwas
necessarily to cover up anything. There werecases where that
happened with others, but that wasnot true in my case. But there
were many occasionswhere I was fixed up with an actor or a director
togo off to some occasion and some of them weredelightful
encounters and some weren't -just likereal life.
Denise: But was it designed to set up a certain image?
Lesley: Well, for some I suppose but not for me. IfRogers and
Cowan were doing a film opening outin Palm Springs, they would get
a hundred of theirclients to come out and be a part of the opening.
Sothey flew everybody out and they put you up for aweekend and it
became the way that everybody gotpublicity. But for me, it didn't
have anything to dowith image making.
Denise: Do you think the entertairunent and musicindustry has
become more tolerant than it wasbefore? Can you comment about
that?
Lesley: I think it is probably more accepting thanit used to be.
However, I still believe the recordindustry is the most homophobic,
as well as theindustry where they have the least number of womenin
positions of power. I say this just after reading ahuge article in
the New York Times about how manywomen are now in high positions in
Hollywood andthe film industry and I cannot say that the same
is
true of the record industry.Denise: So the record industry is
plagued with sexism
and homophobia?
Lesley: You bet: the double whammy.
Denise: Tell me about your new alhumLesley: I like to say this:
Remember the songs weused to listen and dance to in the sixties?
Well thisis an album you can listen to and dance to in yoursixties.
It's very organic. It is me with a rhythmsection and background
singers. The songs arevery personal and very intimate. It is as
calm andwithdrawn and inside as "It's My Party" and "Judy'sTurn to
Cry." We are pop and out and fun. The songsare a natural outgrowth
of who I am as a performer.
Denise: Are you going on the road with the newmusic?
Lesley: We have been out doing some short tours in
COmCCT LYRICS BY PERMISSION OF COPYRICHT OWNERS
bursts. We were out on the west coast in April and wehit
Seattle, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Sacramentoand Los Angeles. We
will be in the New Englandarea for part of this summer and then
down into theNorth Carolina and Delaware area in September. Sowe
have these mini-tours set up as opposed to goingout for months at a
time. I go out for a week or two;come home and revamp and then go
out for anotherweek or so.
Denise: Does Lois go with you?
Lesley: No. She's got her own work and what I dois not much fun;
certainly not fun for her. When I'mworking I have to have dinner at
4 o'clock and mywhole day is about being onstage because my
firstpriority is getting the show on. I can't run aroundand go
shopping, going antiquing and having funand that's what she
deserves to do if we go away:not following me around from one dark
nightclub toanother.
Denise: Do you talk everyday when you are on theroad?
Lesley: Absolutely, every day dozens of times. It'sthe glue that
keeps us together.Denise: Do you have any plans for
retirement?Lesley: I don't have the money to retire yet. I
haven't
really taken care of myself financially and that's oneof the
things that I regret most. That's one of thethings I am trying to
deal with now.
Denise: Is that one of the messages you thitik thatyoung women
need to hear?
Lesley: Oh boy, is it ever. I've told a number ofpeople now that
I am going to sit down and write mymemoirs. That would be one of
the big messages inmy book: to take care of yourself first. I got a
lot ofmixed messages when I was a kid and I didn't alwaysfeel that
great about myself.
Denise; Aside from your work with "In the Life," Iknow you are
committed to helping others in someother arenas. Can you
elaborate?
Lesley: I've lost so many wonderful dear friendsand I had dinner
with a couple friends last nightand we talked about all the people
we missed. It'sbeen a devastating pandemic. It's great that
BillClinton is getting behind the issue. When Lois andI decide
where we need to spend our time and ourenergy and give our
contributions, it's really allabout children and women. So we are
very involvedin those organizations. We are working now withFay
Waddleton on a benefit for her Center forGender which is all about
information on womenand disseminating it properly so that they get
theright care and the right information to take care
ofthemselves.
Denise: Because you are an open lesbian, do youthink you are a
role model for young women who arelistening to your music and do
you think you are in aposition to encourage tolerance?
Lesley: If someone loved my music as a teenager andnow finds out
that I'm gay and it helps him or herin some way, then that's great.
It is a double-edgedsword, though. God only knows what the old
fansthink. I'm not really sure. Most of the new musicI am putting
out now is only available online, so itinvolves a younger audience.
They are very acceptingand very open and they do seem to be
supporting thenew album. Some of the older fans aren't
computer-sawy. It's not even something they want to get into,so I'm
not really sure what the balance is there.
Years ago there was an advertising campaign ontelevision that
used the phrase "Black is Beautiful."They showed accomplished black
people doing whatthey do in their life, helping people and helping
eachother and making other human being's lives betterand it was a
campaign that lasted over considerabletime. That worked back then
and it is what we neednow. I guess what I am saying is once you get
toknow one of us, it's really hard to dislike us. We needto get
that word out.
Recently we found Lesley singing "It's My Party"at the Rainbow
Vision Santa Fe ribbon cuttingceremony. This event was held to
celebratethe opening of the first LGBT Rainbow VisionRetirement
Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. IN
Lesley Gore's Hit Records:1963-h's My Party-1963-Judy's Turn To
Cry1963-She's A Fool-1964 - You Don't Own Me -1964 - That's The Way
Boys Are -1964-1 Don't Want To Be A Loser -1964 - Maybe I Know
-1965-Look Of Love-1965 - Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows1965 - My
Town, My Guy and Me1967-California Nights
Lesbian News July 2006 25