IT'S MY PARTY!
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IT'S MY PARTY!

Penfield, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 1985 | INDIE

Penfield, New York, United States | INDIE
Established on Jan, 1985
Band Rock Pop

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"'It's My Party' wrapped up the lakefront concerts"

It's My Party! brought their party to Geneva for the rec department's final lakefront concert for 2010. The tag line for this trio is "Bringing back the look and sound of the girl groups," and they did!
Vocalists Michelle, Shelbie, and Kylie front an eight-piece backup band and crank out all the hits and some obscure songs from the 50's and 60's, complete with costume changes. The vintage-style Shure microphones were a nice extra touch. They perform these songs as well as (often better than the original, mostly forgotten artists. How many of us actually recall that "Chapel of Love" (" ...going to the chapel and I'm gon-na get mar-ar-aried") was recorded by the Dixie Cups?
These girls and guys did a solid show of tunes that; Phil Spector would approve of the "wall of sound" their voices and the band, especially the horns, produced. The appreciative audience was more multi-age than usual, and was also awed by the full moon that seemed to rise right out of Seneca Lakes. "It's My Party! " is high on my "see again" list.
- Finger Lake Times Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010 - Chuck Agonito/Good Times


"IT'S MY PARTY!"

February 2009
by John M. Borack

R.S.V.P. by It’s My Party! (Mister Cat Records) has been out for a bit, but since it will probably be up many a Goldmine reader’s alley, it’s worth mentioning here.

R.S.V.P. is pure, unadulterated ’60s girl-group fun and games, with three teen girls (Lindsay, Katie and Daniela, don’tcha know) doing a fantastic job of approximating the sweetness and innocence of the sound (and the times). Most of the dozen tracks are originals written for the girls, sporting titles such as “When Johnny Went Away,” “I Felt Your Eyes on Me” and “Can You Rock It.”

There are also spiffy covers of Andrea Carroll’s 1963 gem “It Hurts to Be Sixteen” and Diane Renay’s “Kiss Me Sailor” that slot in nicely. R.S.V.P. is authentic-sounding, breezy fun that’ll conjure up memories of the malt shop, convertibles and old record players. Somewhere, Lesley Gore and Darlene Love are smiling.
- Goldmine Magazine


"IT'S MY PARTY! R.S.V.P."

Here's something you don't see everyday: an authentic sounding and looking '60s styled girl group! IT'S MY PARTY! are from Rochester, New York, and are fronted by three 16-ish gals, Lindsay, Katie, and Daniela, and backed by older male musicians...

Their IPO New York show... was a deft combination of skill and charm, complete with authentic in-between song banter about 'that boy I have a crush on'...

This is without a doubt the best set of girls IT'S MY PARTY! has ever had, so do yourself a favour if you're in the neighbourhood of any of their shows and go and see them... - Shindig! Vol2 Issue 2 Jan-Feb 2008


"He's a Rebel: The Gene Pitney Story Retold"

The wonderful Lisa Mychols and the always active Gary Pig Gold make sure that Gene Pitney won't be forgotten. On their compilation they gather twenty-five songs performed by twenty-five representatives of the pop underground. There is Chris von Sneidern, Ed James, Phil Angotti, and many more who create great versions of Pitney songs. Outstanding is "That Boy Belongs To Yesterday," written by Jagger/Richards and played here by the group It's My Party! And the Deviants, the only British in this collection, deliver a version of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" which is oddly far out of the pop framework. All in all a splendid set. - (Mike Korbik, "Guitars Galore")


Discography

"Can't" single (1997)
"That Boy John" single (1998)
Can I Get To Know You Better? LP (2000)

"That Boy Belongs to Yesterday "2001" Gene Pitney Tribute
R.S.V.P. LP (2007)
"Wanna Make Him Mine" EP (2012)

"You Won't Even Know Her Name" (2014)

Photos

Bio

One fine day, John Giotto walked into the Lakeshore Record Exchange in Rochester, NY. As a budding record collector, Giotto began to cultivate a friendship with then owner Ron Stein. Stein, an early rock and roll aficionado, suggested the girl groups of the 1960s to Giotto. Try this. The record was The Chiffons' Greatest Hits.

Giotto loved the innocence and sincerity of these girl groups and wondered what the chances were of recreating that sound. He was both working musician and live sound engineer and had recently added session work to his credentials as a drummer and home studio operator.

So begins, well over a dozen years ago, the saga of IT'S MY PARTY! Giotto started the first incarnation with three female singers. Originally though, the women were in their early twenties and the music, none of it original, was more a combination of the '60s sound with the Go-Gos and Bangles of the 1980s. After a couple of years, Giotto felt something was missing. Here were adult women singing about teenage topics. As good as they were, somehow it lacked the ring of authenticity.

Re-enter Stein, by now a de facto manager for the group. At the time, Irondequoit High School was running a musical, Leader of the Pack, with music by Ellie Greenwich, patron goddess of the girl group sound. Stein thought that recruiting some of the singers from the show would give the edge Giotto needed.

It worked, and the project definitely was gelling. A pilgrimage to Ms. Greenwich's home didn't hurt either, and garnered some valuable advice for the producer. Then, after a seven-song cassette and the inevitability of the aging process, the original IT'S MY PARTY! went dormant. Fast forward to 1995. Giotto wanted to try again and revived the act. Giotto is in some ways IT'S MY PARTY! in the sense that Roland Orzabal is Tears for Fears. Given the nature of the genre as producer-driven, it's not very surprising.

Visually and aurally, IT'S MY PARTY! is a real treat. Though the costumes and sound are precise, one never gets the impression that this is some Beatlemania-style pastiche. It helps too that the girls are genuinely into the music, music supplied from a wealth of obscure '60's girl group covers, and by songwriters providing material for the act in the spirit of the genre.

The first IT'S MY PARTY! single, the charming "Can't" on Giotto's own Mister Cat Records, climbed to number one on the venerable Whole Lotta Shakin' show on WITR in April of 1998. In support of that release, the group performed at several festivals (including Rochester's Lilac Festival), schools and parties, where children lined up after shows to meet the girls. Subsequent reviews were positive. Jim Santo of Demo Universe wrote; "Spectoresque girl-group pop, and you don't hear much of that nowadays, do you. This CD single -- hard panned for maximum stereo fun -- makes me want to do the mashed potato!" Martin Natchez of The Flint Journal opined, "...all the members are under the age of 15, but they sound much older and have been expertly trained in recreating the authentic girl-group sound without a hint of phoniness."

The group followed "Can't" with the December 1998 release of "That Boy John," a maxi-single including the glorious title track, an obscure Ellie Greenwich composition (reportedly one of her favorites). And finally, Can I Get to Know You Better?, the group's much anticipated full-length release in September of 2000. The group is presently regrouping in the studio for their next full-length release.

So why, in this angst-driven era of Korn, is a trio of high school girls delivering a most non-trendy batch of songs without a trace of irony? A former member of the group was quick to respond, "The music doesn't lock into a decade, it addresses teenage girl concerns to this day: boys, broken hearts, relationships. Many groups nowadays are all into depression and rarely does a song address happiness or hope. Here there's a melody that still brings a smile to your face."

Band Members