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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZLAWRENCE, Steve(b Steven Leibowitz, 8 July 1935, Brooklyn, NY; d 7 March 2024) Singer. He first heard Frank Sinatra when he was a teenager and knew that's what he wanted to do; he was not seduced by rock'n'roll because he loved melody. On Steve Allen's Tonight show on TV from '54; met Eydie Gormé there (married '57); they became and remained a popular club act. He also wrote songs, 'Two On The Aisle' his best-known; he appeared on Broadway in What Makes Sammy Run? '64. He did not do badly battling the rockers in the charts: 21 Hot 100 entries '57-64 included pop covers on Coral (version of Buddy Knox's 'Party Doll' made no. 5), top ten hits '59-61: 'Pretty Blue Eyes' and 'Footsteps' on ABC, 'Portrait Of My Love' on UA, 'Go Away Little Girl' was no. 1 for two weeks '62. His chart LPs included cleverly conceived Academy Award Losers '64 (great songs that didn't win) with Billy May, Everybody Knows and The Steve Lawrence Show '67, all on Columbia. Steve and Eydie had TV show '59, he had his own show '65. Steve and Eydie's live shows on the West Coast in 1989 grossed almost as much as the pop group Bon Jovi with its huge hit albums, but they didn't bother to make records any more because shops wouldn't stock them and radio wouldn't play them. For their duo work see Eydie's entry. |