Remembering Quincy Jones and His First No. 1: Lesley Gore's 'It's My Party'
Remembering Quincy Jones and His First No. 1: Lesley Gore's 'It's My Party'
'200 Greatest 60s Rock Songs' Book Excerpt
Music giant Quincy Jones produced Michael Jackson’s Thriller, oversaw the recording of “We Are the World,” and worked with hundreds of artists that included Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles. Jones, 91, died Nov. 3, 2024, leaving behind a musical legacy that spanned six decades. In this excerpt from 200 Greatest 60s Rock Songs, we look back at the first song Jones produced that topped the charts: Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party.”
In 2010, Amy Winehouse released the single "It's My Party," one of a collection of songs on super-producer Quincy Jones' album Q: Soul Bossa Nostra. While all the tunes on the album are associated in some way with Jones, "It's My Party" is special in that it was the producer's first No. 1 hit. Ironically, singer Lesley Gore, who was 16 when she recorded the song in 1963, could not be more different than the wild-living Winehouse.
Lesley Gore was singing with her cousin's band when she was discovered by Irving Green, president of Mercury Records. Green turned the teen over to Mercury A&R man Quincy Jones, who brought 200 demo records of different songs to the Gore home in Tenafly, NJ. Gore told Ace Records what happened.
"He was carrying these big boxes in and we set them in the den, and he puts on 'It's My Party,'" said Gore. "It's the first time I've ever done this, so I said to him, 'That's not half bad. I like it. Good melody. Let's put it on the 'maybe' pile. Then we went through the entire 200 and it was the only one we liked."
Written in 1962 by John Gluck, Wally Gold, and Herb Weiner, the song was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York a few weeks later on March 30, 1963 with Jones producing. Gore told AfterEllen that she was not optimistic about its chances.
"When we left the studio, everyone was pleased, but even the president of the company, a wonderful father-like figure, Irving Green said, 'Now, sweetheart, if this never gets released, I don't want you to be disappointed.' And I said, 'It's okay, this has been a great experience. I enjoyed it and I thank you for that, and it's okay if you never release it.' I never thought it would see the light of day.
"I was 16 years old—what did I know? I went into a studio, that was an amazing experience, the whole band was there. Ellie Greenwich and 12 singers were there—I mean, it doesn't get any better than that. So if it was going to be released, I couldn't even envision that. That was too far away to even think about."
Jones did not realize at the time that producer Phil Spector had heard the same demo of "It's My Party" that Jones had played in Gore's living room and thought it was terrific. Spector recorded a slower version on the West Coast with the Crystals.
Jones recalled in a BBC interview how he found out about Spector's version. "We recorded 'It's My Party' at about three o'clock in the afternoon one Saturday. That evening I went to see Charles Aznavour at Carnegie Hall. I was about to do an album in English with him.
"Pulling up outside Carnegie Hall comes this limousine and out gets this dude with the black cape on. It was Phil Spector. The guy with him told me that Phil had just cut this smash record called 'It's My Party' with the Crystals. I couldn't believe it."
When Quincy Jones learned that Spector had produced the track, he was determined not to be beaten out. Jones skipped the Aznavour concert and retrieved the master tape from Bell Sound.
Within days, Jones had 100 acetate copies of "It's My Party" pressed and sent to the top radio programmers in the country. A few weeks later, Mercury Records released "It's My Party."
"Then I had to go Japan, to do some acting, believe it or not," said Jones. "Three weeks later they called me in Japan and told me that the record was No. 1." Spector's version by the Crystals was never released.
Frank Mastropolo is the author of the 200 Greatest Rock Songs series and Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever.