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It is reported that Steve Lawrence has passed away. He had 20+ chart singles, did a great bit in his role in the "Blues Brothers" movie and was a frequent guest on the Carol Burnette TV show. His marriage to Eyde Gorme was a shining example of how it should be. In fact, one of my all time personal favorite records was their duet on "I Can't Stop Talking About You". Thank you Steve for lots of good music, memories and solid performances!
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I've done some searching, but haven't found anything at this time about his passing. According to Wikipedia, "In June 2019, following public speculation about his health, Lawrence announced that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and that treatment to slow its progression had so far been successful." He turned 88 on July 8.
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Yeah, if Steve Lawrence's passing isn't listed on Wikipedia, he's not even seen a doctor. They usually post deaths within hours. (;>))))))
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Little Rich wrote:
Yeah, if Steve Lawrence's passing isn't listed on Wikipedia, he's not even seen a doctor. They usually post deaths within hours. (;>))))))
Yes, I've noticed how quick they usually are to show passings as well. However, I should have also explained my post a bit better. What happened was that the most recent news items I was finding about Steve Lawrence were about him having Alzheimer's, and then I went to Wikipedia to see what info was there and thought that the announcement they had from 2019 was worth sharing. From a quick search that I did of this site for any postings related to Lawrence, I didn't see any indication that his Alzheimer's diagnosis had been mentioned here before.
What I've also now done is edit the subject line for this topic to simply be "Steve Lawrence". I think that it is certainly good to have a thread devoted to one of the oldest popular singers who is still with us, over 70 years since the beginning of his very impressive career.
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I agree, Lorne. Too often we don't acknowledge their achievements until they pass on.
Lawrence had many songs that made the charts, but that window of 1959 - 1962, where he had 4 top tens (Pretty Blue Eyes, Footsteps, Portrait of my Love, Go Away Little Girl) was particularly impressive. No doubt the writers on some of those songs (Jeff Barry, Goffin/King, Teddy Pendergrass) heiped contribute to their success.
A couple of other comments:
I always preferred The Tokens' version of Portrait of My Love.
Two of my other favorite Steve Lawrence songs are Come Back Silly Girl and Don't Be Afraid Little Darlin.
Steve and Eydie had several charted songs together. My favorites were I Just Want To Stay Here and I Can't Stop Talking About You.