Lesley Gore’s fame swelled like a bubblegum bubble in 1963 with her first single, “It’s My Party.” The song floated to the top of the charts within two weeks of its release, and the 16-year-old was an instant sensation.

In her interview with AfterEllen.com, Gore said that the first time she heard herself on the radio was while driving to school one morning, just seven days after recording the soon-to-be smash hit with legendary producer Quincy Jones. It had been rushed out to radio stations when Mercury Records learned that a rival producer, Phil Spector, was planning on recording a version of the song with the Crystals. Spector was the mastermind of the era’s orchestrally rich Wall of Sound arrangements, and maybe his version would have been more full-bodied. But Jones’ rendition hit the airwaves first.

It was sung by a perky-voiced teenager and set in the crisp, bright style popular at the time. And popular it was. Overnight the “sweetie pie from Tenafly” had people camping outside her house, eager to catch a glimpse of the Jersey girl who made it big. It was nothing she had imagined the day she went to her regular voice lesson and instead recorded demos with the piano player.

The song was included later that year on an album with a gimmick: all of its songs reference crying. “It’s My Party,” the album’s title track, features the word “cry” four times in a single round of its chorus. It’s a narrative of teen jealousy: ”Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone / but Judy left the same time / Why was he holding her hand / when he's supposed to be mine?” The album also contains a tear-soaked answer song, “Judy’s Turn to Cry.” Other tracks include “Misty,” “Just Let Me Cry,” “Cry Me a River,” “Cry and You Cry Alone,” and the dubious “No More Tears Left to Cry.”

Beneath the sobs and the wounded persona was a bold emerging star. Born in Brooklyn, Gore enjoyed a modest upbringing in Tenafly. At the time of her breakout success, she sported a bouffant and was still baby-faced. But the material she, with Jones’ counsel, chose to record was outspoken for its time. Gore chalked her boldness up to more than the brattiness some critics accused her of, telling People Online Magazine that the early material she chose reflected a teenager’s search for independence: “Probably the little middle class white rebel in me was trying desperately to get out.”

The teenager proved to be plucky, not bratty. In 1964 she recorded “You Don’t Own Me,” a song with ample chutzpah: “Just let me be myself / That’s all I ask of you… / You don’t own me / Don’t try to change me in any way / I'm free and I love to be free / To live my life the way I want / To say and do whatever I please.” The lyrics resonated with her even though she was just 17.

Gore first heard the song performed by its two male composers at a hotel in the Catskills. She instantly knew she had to record it, and within days she had done just that. Through the years “You Don’t Own Me” has become a feminist anthem, and it’s a longtime favorite at gay pride celebrations. It held the second place on the pop charts, the number one spot being held for seven weeks by the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

There was always more to this quintessential star of sixties girl-pop.