Voices: I've long considered the vastly underrated (and to many, unknown) Beverly Bivens to be my second-favourite (to Aretha Franklin) female vocalist. But right up there is the late Lesley Gore, whose smash hit "It's My Party" topped the charts on this date, 61 years ago. Born four days apart on separate coasts, Bivens (with We Five and the last surviving member) and Gore delighted me with their singing talents. It wasn't until much later that I grew to appreciate Bivens, as she turned her back on stardom to raise a family. Gore followed "It's My Party" with a string of hits, including the sequel, "Judy's Turn to Cry", and "You Don't Own Me", the early feminist anthem she rightfully tabbed as her signature song (only The Beatles kept it from being a number-one hit). But "It's My Party", done in A major, was my favourite of her hits. I've long been a fan of the incredible talents of Quincy Jones, and his fingerprints are all over this. From the strong drums, to the opening hook, to the incredible use of horns (audible in the initial chorus off the top, silent in chorus two and three, and audible again in the fourth and final chorus), Jones produced a masterpiece. All these years later, I never get tired of hearing it. And I find it almost impossible to believe that Lesley Gore has been gone more than nine years, a victim of lung cancer. Her music lives on.