It's My Party

Album: Q: Soul Bossa Nostra (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, an album by American producer Quincy Jones. Recorded as a tribute to Jones by various artists, it features re-interpretations of songs associated with him. The record is Jones' first original album for 15 years, his previous release being 1995's Q's Jook Joint.
  • This song features the vocals of Amy Winehouse and is the British songstress's first new recording in four years. The song was produced by Mark Ronson, the man who helmed Winehouse's 2006 multi-Grammy winning album, Back to Black.
  • The song was originally a US #1 hit for Lesley Gore in 1963. Quincy Jones produced the track, which was his first real chart success.
  • Jones originally commissioned Winehouse to cover Gore's "You Don't Own Me." But after tiring of waiting for the singer to record the tune, Jones rescinded his offer to include her on the compilation. However, Winehouse eventually came up with the goods with this cover. Jones recalled to Billboard magazine: "We were doing a concert for Mandela's 90th birthday two years ago in London," Jones recalls of the genesis of the collaboration on the new version. "I was backstage and a man came over and said, 'would you mind meeting my daughter?' No problem. I had no idea who it was. She got on her knees and she kissed my hand and she says, 'I've known your music ever since you were my age, 24 years old, when you did The Swingin' Miss "D" with Dinah Washington.' I was absolutely shocked. It was Amy Winehouse!

    I had no idea that she was that astute; she was amazing. Reminded me of Naomi a little bit, my baby. Sweet as she could be. I told her, 'why are you treating your life like this?' I've got six daughters so I can't help but being Poppy. We bonded. Everybody back here said, 'there's no way you'll get Amy Winehouse on this record.' And we just let it go. Amy did it herself. At first she was going to do 'You Don't Own Me.' Then she changed her mind and wanted to do 'It's My Party,' which I did with Leslie Gore in 1963. That was a long time ago. Stuff just happened and I'm glad it happened to me. [laughs] It touched me very much."
  • The album title refers to Jones' 1962 song, Soul Bossa Nova.
  • Quincy Jones disavowed the Soul Bossa Nostra album in a 2018 interview with Vulture, saying, "I was not in favor of doing it, but the rappers wanted to record something as a tribute to me, where they'd do versions of songs that I'd done over my career. I said to them, 'Look, you got to make the music better than we did on the originals.' That didn't happen."

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