Five Good Covers: “It’s My Party” (Lesley Gore)

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  3 Responses »
Apr 302021
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

Lesley Gore

Lesley Gore wasn’t the first to record “It’s My Party” (that would be Helen Shapiro), but she definitely made the greatest impact with it. The tale of Judy and Johnny having to go and spoil everything sounded not like it once happened to Gore, but like she was a high school junior (which she was) going through it in the moment, a moment that was extended in her answer song “Judy’s Turn to Cry.” The song has maintained its hold on the cultural landscape; to this day, if someone says “It’s my party,” someone else is sure to respond “and I’ll cry if I want to.”

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Is T-Pain’s “P.Y.T.” the Worst Cover Song of 2010?

 Posted by at 5:00 pm  6 Responses »
Nov 022010
 

November is upon us. The temperature is dropping; the holidays are approaching; year’s end is visible on the horizon. Pretty soon we’ll have to start thinking about our Best Cover Songs of 2010 list (read 2009’s here). There are lots of contenders. If we did a Worst Cover Songs list though – well, I think we already have a winner!

Ironically, it’s from the same Quincy Jones tribute album that generated this morning’s terrific Amy Winehouse tune. Consider this the counter-balance. It’s T-Pain and Robin Thicke attempting Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).” One word: AutoTune. Lots of it. The non-computerized Thicke improves things marginally upon his appearance, but that isn’t a high bar. Listen below (if you dare).

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Amy Winehouse Is Back with “It’s My Party”

 Posted by at 12:00 pm  7 Responses »
Nov 022010
 

It’s been a while since we’ve heard new music from Amy Winehouse. Like, try four years. She claims to be hard at work on a follow-up to Back in Black, but we’ve seen this act before. Well, she’s back (for now at least). This new track suggests maybe she’s been in the studio after all! It’s Winehouse singing Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” for the upcoming album Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, a tribute to producing legend Quincy Jones, who initially discovered Gore.

Needless to say, it’s very different from the stripped-down version we debuted Friday. Or, for that matter, the other stripped-down version we named Best Cover Song of 2009. With old partner-in-crime Mark Ronson in the producer’s seat, this song fits her old-school soul sound perfectly. She even drops a girl-power monologue in the middle. The woman hasn’t lost a step! Check it out. Continue reading »