Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were mainstays of
The Carol Burnett Show during the 1970s, appearing in 27 episodes. He also appeared by himself on
The Hollywood Palace, Ed Sullivan, Laugh-In, Here's Lucy, even
Sanford and Son.
When I was a kid, I disapproved of adult music as a point of pride, so I avoided him whenever possible, although I remember a gently anti-War song on
Carol Burnett: Steve is recounting the horrors of War to his son (played by a teddy bear), who doesn't understand, and keeps asking eager questions like "Did you kill anyone? Did you have any fun?" Finally he says "Daddy, bring me some war," becoming a bona fide hawk (not likely for a kid during the Viet Nam era).
And "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men":
All the sad young men, sitting in the bars
Knowing neon nights, and missing all the stars
All the sad young men, drifting through the town
Drinking up the night, trying not to drown
All the sad young men, choking on their youth
Trying to be brave, running from the truth
I didn't know what "gay" meant yet, but I interpreted the song as a critique of gay men who were too stupid or scared to resist heterosexist brainwashing: they kowtowed to Big Brother, dutifully seeking out women to date and marry, and never experiencing real, true, meaningful same-sex romance.
(I may have been a little off in that interpretation: it's the title of a book of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald.)
Steve had the looks and the voice, but he never tried to make it as a teen idol. Maybe he started a few years too early, in 1952, before the teen subculture really took off with Elvis and Ricky Nelson. Or maybe his songs were too square even for the 1950s: "The Banana Boat Song," "Autumn Leaves," "Pretty Blue Eyes." But he was on the Adult Contemporary Charts though the 1970s.
He acted in a few movies, playing a stay-at-home husband in the "women's lib" comedy
Stand Up and Be Counted (1972), and as Maury Sline, manager to
The Blues Brothers (1980).
He's 85 years old in 2021, and struggling with Alzheimer's. I haven't been able to discover if he was gay friendly earlier in his life. Men of that generation always kept silent.
The song was written for a musical- and it does sound like it's about gay men- like "Strangers in the Night" Lawrence was good looking but I don't think he was cute enough for the teen idol craze treatment- you do bring up a good point about men of his generation keeping silent about gay issues but they had no problems showering together just look at Martin and Lewis...
ReplyDeleteA few years ago a lesbian I know was walking on Madison Avenue and spotted Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme coming towards them in the other direction. When Lawrence got closer, and apparently figured out they were lesbians, he spat at them (well, onto the sidewalk in front of them, but his point was clear). Gorme gave them an “I’m so sorry—please forgive me for his being such an asshole” look as she hurriedly bundled him off. It seemed pretty extreme but if his Alzheimer’s had begun to manifest themselves it makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteI would have fucked Steve Lawrence when he was younger!
ReplyDeleteWhat was the name of that anti-war song he performed on the Carol Burnett Show??? Curious...... Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the title, just Steve Lawrence singing to a teddy bear that says "What did you do in the great war, Daddy? Did you kill anyone, did you have any fun?"
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