We lost Steve Lawrence last week at the age of 88.
Ironically, I had just ordered a brand new “Best of Steve and Eydie” CD after reading about it in The Second Disc.
Steve topped the charts in all three trade publications in 1963 with his biggest hit, “Go Away Little Girl.” Prior to that, he had also hit #1 with his version of “Party Doll” in 1957 in Music Vendor and Cash Box (a “shared” position) and had Top 10 Hits with “The Banana Boat Song” (#2, 1957), “Pretty Blue Eyes” (#5, 1960), “Footsteps” (#7, 1960) and “Portrait Of My Love” (#9, 1961.)
Although often lumped together with his wife, Eydie Gorme (who had a Top 10 Hit of her own with “Blame It On The Bossa Nova” in 1963), the duo never climbed any higher than #28 with “I Want To Stay Here” in 1963. (Their only other Top 40 Hit came later that year when “I Can’t Stop Talking About You” reached #31.) Both of these tunes came courtesy of the hit songwriting team of Goffin and King.
In addition to a successful singing career, Lawrence regularly popped up on television as well, as both a singing act and in acting roles. (Lawrence appeared in “The Blues Brothers” movie and “Two And A Half Men,” “Hot In Cleveland” and “The Nanny,” as well as starring as a regular or guest on TV Classics like “The Carol Burnett Show,” “The Judy Garland Show,” “The Flip Wilson Show,” “The Danny Kaye Show,” “The Julie Andrews Hour” and tribute programs to great composers alongside his wife, Eydie Gorme, on their own television specials.
Here is Billboard’s “Forever Number One” tribute to Steve’s 1962 chart-topper …
Didjaknow that Bobby Vee recorded “Go Away Little Girl” first? It first appeared as an album track on his “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” album, released after Bobby also hit #1 with “Take Good Care Of My Baby,” another song written by the hit songwriting team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin, as was “Go Away Little Girl.”
Vee’s version doesn’t sound anything at all like a hit record. Steve Lawrence’s arrangement with, as Billboard describes it, its “horse trotting” rhythm, is what became the record’s “hook” and helped propel it into the #1 position. (Incredibly, Donny Osmond’s remake ALSO hit #1 eight years later, setting a Billboard milestone as the first time two different artists hit #1 with their versions of the same song. (Donny's version is probably the most "age-appropriate" adaptation!) kk
From Harvey Kubernik …
Remembering Steve Lawrence
Photo by Jim Roup
Steve Lawrence, Singer and Actor Who Found His Greatest Fame as Half of Steve and Eydie, Dies at 88
Steve Lawrence, a king among easy-listening crooners who rocketed to fame in the ’50s and ’60s as half of the duo Steve and Eydie, died Thursday at age 88. Lawrence died at home in Los Angeles, and the cause of death was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to a spokesperson for the family, Susan DuBow.
Lawrence’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis had finally put an end to his touring career in 2019, after a run in the public eye that spanned six and a half decades.
Lawrence was preceded in death in 2013 by his wife, Eydie Gormé, with whom he enjoyed nearly unparalleled success as a performing couple during their heyday as touring artists and TV stars in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The couple had continued to tour together through 2009.
His colleagues began to weigh in Thursday. “Steve was one of my favorite guests on my variety show,” Carol Burnett said, “appearing 39 times. He was also my very close friend … so close that I considered him ‘family.’ He will always be in my heart.”
“My Dad was an inspiration to so many people,” his son, David Lawrence, said in a statement. “But, to me, he was just this charming, handsome, hysterically funny guy who sang a lot. Sometimes alone and sometimes with his insanely talented wife. I am so lucky to have had him as a father and so proud to be his son. My hope is that his contributions to the entertainment industry will be remembered for many years to come.”
Appreciations of Lawrence from friends and contemporaries began to roll in Thursday. “Another longtime friend has made his transition,” said Dionne Warwick. “Steve now has joined his true love, his wife Eydie, and is resting with comfort in the arms of the Heavenly Father. My heartfelt condolences go out to both of his sons and host of friends.”
With or without Gormé, Lawrence was a Grammy winner, an Emmy winner and a Tony nominee, the later nod coming for his portrayal of Sammy Glick in a Broadway production of “What Makes Sammy Run” in 1964. He picked up a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for that same role, which extended across 504 performances of the show.
One of Lawrence’s signature songs as a TV and Las Vegas nightclub performer was “I’ve Gotta Be Me.” The song had its origins in a Broadway musical that he and Gormé starred in together, “Golden Rainbow,” in 1968.
As a solo artist, Lawrence had one song reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962, the Goffin-King composition “Go Away Little Girl” (later re-popularized in the ’70s by Donny Osmond). Altogether he had 33 songs chart between 1952-1966, five of which made Billboard’s top 10.
In an interview, Lawrence explained why he never gravitated toward rock ‘n’ roll, despite coming of age as a recording artist in the early part of the rock era. “It didn’t attract me as much,” he told the website Classicbands.com. “I grew up in a time period when music was written by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers and Lorenzt Hart and Sammy Cahn and Julie Stein. Those people, I related to what they were writing because it was much more melodic. It as an intelligent lyric that was written. By and large these people were bright, educated or extremely gifted.”
Of his many appearances with Burnett, Lawrence told Larry King he was “an irregular regular. I probably did more guest shots on that show than anybody … I knew Carol. We were friends in New York. And we always had a very good working relationship, a good personal relationship. And we had a great comic relationship. Carol and I did a take-off of just about every film that was in the ’30s, the ’40s and the ’50s. … A lot young people that come to our shows, some of them are shocked to learn that I sing. I mean, they know me from the Carol Burnett syndicated comedy shows.”
In 1984, Lawrence took on a TV hosting role for the first time since his black-and-white days, alongside Don Rickles on “Foul-Ups, Bleeps and Blunders,” which ran for two seasons on ABC.
Lawrence, the son of a cantor, was born Sidney Liebowitz in Brooklyn on July 8, 1935. His association with Steve Allen actually pre-dated that personality taking over “The Tonight Show,” as he and Gormé initially hooked up with the host when he was presiding over a local late-night show in New York City in 1953, a year before the bump up to a national platform.
The couple married in Las Vegas in 1957, and remained wed until her death 56 years later. In an appearance on the Larry King show in 2003, the two singers remembered seeing each other perform at the El Rancho Hotel in Vegas, and, according to Lawrence, “She said, ‘If you don’t marry me now, it’s over. You got two days.’ … She put it to me, you know. So finally, I said, OK, and I went down and got the blood test. We got married, and after two days, I went on my honeymoon with Steve Allen to Cuba.”
Lawrence insisted that his wife was the better singer of the two: “The burden was really on Eydie. She has the most extraordinary range. I mean, this woman is like the Yma Sumac of the Bronx…. She has three octaves. I mean, she could sing with me, with Andy Williams, Placido Domingo. She could sing with just about anybody.” But, protested Gorme, “I really, truly always thought it was the other way around. I swear to God.”
Lawrence allowed that he had some pipes, himself. “I have a bigger than normal range because I started as a choirboy,” he explained. “My dad was a cantor. And when you sing religious music… in pop music, it’s usually written in an octave and a third or an octave and a fifth. And religious music is written — you’re all over the place, so the intonation is different.”
Of his range, Lawrence additionally said, “Tony Bennett said to me, ‘I’ll give you $100 for your low notes.’ I said, ‘I’ll give it to you back for your high notes.'”
The couple found Emmys love for a trio of tribute specials produced in the 1980s, paying homage to George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin.
In the 1990s, they embarked with their old friend Frank Sinatra on one of his final tours.
Although the couple resisted rock ‘n’ roll, they did do a campy rendition of a grunge classic. “Disney came to us,” Lawrence said, “doing a ‘Loungapalooza’ type of album, and they asked us to do a song that was made popular by Soundgarden, which is a heavy metal rock group. And they sent the CD and said… ‘We want you to do it in your own way.’ We did it — ‘Black Hole Sun.'”
Of their relationship, Lawrence said, “I’m very thankful that Eydie and I, not only do we have a great love, (but) a great friendship. I think a relationship either works or doesn’t… I think, also, you have to work at it, if you both feel that there’s something of value there… We’re married people, you know? We fight, and one of the best shows we ever had was on the heels of an argument in the dressing room.”
Their son, David, an Emmy-nominated composer in his own right, had recently produced a documentary about his parents, “Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme: Memories of My Mom & Dad,” which premiered in December on PBS.
Besides David, Lawrence is survived by his daughter-in-law Faye, granddaughter Mabel, and brother Bernie. Another son, Michael, died at age 23 in 1986.
The funeral will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to an Alzheimer’s organization here.
As a couple, Steve and Eydie had fewer chart successes, landing only four charting songs, none of them major hits — yet their chart stats give little indication of just how ubiquitous the pair became as television personalities.
The duo’s joint success began with their first appearances on “The Tonight Show” when it was fronted by Steve Allen in 1954. The pair also had their own summer replacement series, “The Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé Show,” on NBC in 1958.
The solidity of their professional and personal lives notwithstanding, Lawrence regularly worked without Gormé, as an actor as well as a singer. His film roles included parts in “The Blues Brothers,” its sequel “Blues Brothers 2000,” and “Stand Up and Be Counted.” On TV in his later decades, he appeared as the father of Fran Drescher in the final season of “The Nanny,” as well as making guest appearances on “Two and a Half Men” and “Hardcastle and McCormick.” Other, earlier roles included parts on “Police Story,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Night Gallery.”
Lawrence enjoyed the irony of sometimes earning greater fame among certain demographics for his bit parts than his singing. “Eydie and I were booked, doing some concerts in Japan — they didn’t know us by face. They go, ‘Oh, “Blues Brothers”!… Maury Sline. That was my name.”
But at least among older generations in the U.S., Lawrence and Gormé were best known for their appearances — apart or together — as themselves, from the variety series hosted by Carol Burnett, Ed Sullivan, Judy Garland and Flip Wilson to prime-time game shows like “What’s My Line?”
From Joe Marchese of The Second Disc …
https://theseconddisc.com/2024/03/08/in-memoriam-steve-lawrence-1935-2024/
>>>Women better know their place or risk losing their man to his seductive secretary back at the office. It was still very much a "Mad Men" sort of existence back in 1964. (kk)
1964 had nothing on 1949 when this song went to #2 on WAIT in Chicago.
Ed Erxleben
Incredibly, this #2 Chicagoland hit never even made Billboard’s chart in 1949! Jo Stafford’s version, however, reached #11 on Billboard’s Disc Jockey Chart that year … but never made their Best Sellers Chart either. (kk)
Kent,
Reading that article about the misunderstood meaning of the song Cherish reminds me of another misunderstood song --
Every Breath You Take by the Police.
Many people assume it is a tender love song, but in reality, according to Sting (the songwriter), the song is not a LOVE song, but rather a song about the end of a relationship, and it shows that the singer is stalking and looking for evidence leading to end their relationship.
It shows that a nice melody (or song title) can obscure the actual meaning of a song, when it is not closely listened to.
Keep up the great work,
Joe Cantello
Marietta, Ga
P.S. I consider forgotten hits to be required weekly reading. 😁
From Tom Cuddy …
Kelly Clarkson Covers 'I Think We're Alone Now' By Tiffany | Kellyoke
Proof again how well Tommy James’ music holds up today! Great version! (Although I will NEVER consider this to be a Tiffany song!!!) kk
Tom also sent us this update regarding the new Michael Jackson biopic ...
Michael Jackson Biopic “Aggressively" Tries to Makes the Singer “Look Innocent"
So they're "white-washing" Michael's legacy, eh???
Can't say as I'm surprised ...
Michael did quite a bit of his OWN white-washing as his solo career grew ...
And had a few nose jobs along the way, too! (kk)
More rumors about another Spice Girls reunion (with all FIVE members this time) in honor of their 30th Anniversary. (Seriously, HOW can that be?!?!) More to come … but Mel B spilled the beans the other day during an interview, saying that she, Mel C, Geri, Emma and even Victoria will be onboard.) kk
More Micky …
BEST CLASSIC BANDS – CELEBRATING THE ARTISTS, MUSIC AND POP CULTURE OF THE CLASSIC ROCK ERA
FEATURES: INTERVIEWS: Micky Dolenz on The Monkees’ Early Days: The ‘Lost’ Interview by Harvey Kubernik
Back in 2008 and 2014, this author, who has a long history with the sole surviving member of the Monkees, interviewed Mickey Dolenz, born March 8, 1945. Those conversations were never before published until Best Classic Bands did so in 2022.
Here are highlights from both sessions…
Read the entire Harvey and Mickey interview at
This is a GREAT interview! (kk)
Harvey tells us about the new Bruce Springsteen Greatest Hits collection, too ...
And shares his memories of catching The Boss in concert back in the '70's ...
https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-best-of-bruce-springsteen-tour-new-memoir/
Tickets go on sale next week for a new summer tour pairing Daryl Hall and Elvis Costello.
While that might seem an unlikely pair, Daryl Hall actually appeared on Elvis’ 1984 album “Goodbye Cruel World.” In fact, he not only sang harmony / back-up on the track “The Only Flame In Town” (a minor #56 hit), but he even appeared in the video for the song.
Costello recalled the experience this way in the liner notes for the LP:
"Daryl made the rest of us look as if we had just crawled out of a hedge. My humor wasn't helped by the record company representative shrieking at the makeup girl: 'Make him look handsome' as I was about to go under the pancake. Ah! The '80s."
Announced dates include:
June 2nd - Troutdale, OR - McMenamins Edgefield
June 4th - Airway Heights, WA - BECU Live at Northern Quest
June 6th - Seattle, WA - Remlinger Farms
June 8th - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater
June 10th - Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery
June 12th - Lincoln, CA - Thunder Valley Casino
June 14th - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
June 16th - San Diego, CA - Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU
June 18th - Los Angeles, CA - The Greek Theatre
June 21st - Rancho Mirage, CA - Agua Caliente Casino
June 23rd - Las Vegas, NV - Fontainebleau Las Vegas
July 4th - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
July 6th - Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Festival
July 8th - Detroit, MI - Masonic Temple Theatre
July 10th - Philadelphia, PA - TD Pavilion at the Mann
July 12th - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
July 14th - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway
July 16th - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
July 18th - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
July 20th - Bethel, NY - Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
July 22nd - Gilford, NH - BankNH Pavilion
July 25th - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap Filene Center
From Tom Cuddy ...
Eagles take it to the limit and beyond with greatest hits aplenty in United Center show
https://chicago.suntimes.com/music/2024/03/09/eagles-and-steely-dan-review-united-center-chicago
You'll find OUR concert review posted here tomorrow morning! (kk)
And finally, this closer, from daughter Nicki ...
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
3/10/64 - Simon and Garfunkel record their first version of "The Sound of Silence" at Columbia Studios in New York City. It would make absolutely no impact until drums and other instrumentation was added to the mix 18 months later. When this new mix was released as a single in November of 1965, it would go on to top the charts across America.
Also on 3/10, Prince Edward is born
Also on 3/10, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. wins the Republican Primary in New Hampshire. (Incredibly, his name is not even on the ballot … Lodge earns 33,000 write-in votes to Barry Goldwater’s 20,000 and 19,000 for Nelson Rockefeller.) Richard Nixon, ALSO not on the ballot, received 15,000 write-in votes. On this same date, New Hampshire is granted the license to become the first state to hold a legal state lottery in the 20th Century. The first New Hampshire Sweepstakes ticket will go on sale two days later.
