While the rise of rock music killed the careers of a lot of 1950s and early 1960s crooners, a few managed to not only stay in the limelight, but continue to have some commercial success.
Fledgling singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme met when they were each hired in 1953 as regulars on Steve Allen's local New York City late night talk show (along with Andy Williams). When the show moved to NBC and became The Tonight Show the following year, the trio stayed on the show until it ended three years later. Lawrence and Gorme began dating while on the show and their romance and eventual marriage in 1957 played out in the public and perhaps that is the reason why they continued to resonate with audiences long after the music business had moved on to younger sounds. Steve and Eydie recorded both together and as a team, but they remained a team and performed as a duo until Gorme retired from the business in 2009. She passed away in 2013. Lawrence continued to tour until being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019.
The special Memories of My Mom and Dad will air on local PBS stations as a fundraiser throughout the month of December and it will be hosted by Steve and Eydie's composer-musician son David Lawrence (High School Musical). He'll be joined on the special by Carol Burnett and vocalist Michael Feinstein.
Lawrence had some success as a solo artist before joining Allen's show, having released two Top 30 singles ("Poinciana" and "How Many Stars Have To Shine"). But beginning in 1955, Lawrence had a string of successful solo singles throughout the late 1950s, including "The Banana Boat Song" (#18), "Party Doll" (#5), "Pretty Blue Eyes" (#9), "Footsteps" (#7). The hit singles mostly disappeared by the early 1960s, although the song "Go Away Little Girl" went to #1 in 1962. First released by Bobby Vee the previous year, the Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition became Lawrence's signature tune, and later the song became a hit again in 1966 when it was released by The Happenings (#16) and in 1971 when Donny Osmond took it to #1.
Gorme also had a successful solo career, including the 1954 hit "Fini" (#19), 1957's "Love Me Forever" (#27), 1958's "You Need Hands" (#11) and her biggest single release, 1963's "Blame It On The Bossa Nova (#7).
While the duo released a number of solidly selling albums under the name "Steve & Eydie" over the years, their lone hit single success came in 1963 with the releases of "I Want To Stay Here" (#28) and "I Can't Stop Talking About You" (#35).
The special contains a number of those familiar songs, as well as other highlights from their extensive number of TV variety show and talk show appearances. There will also be footage from Lawrence's Broadway performance in What Makes Sammy Run? as well as the duo's lone Broadway appearance together in Golden Rainbow.
Here is a rundown of songs that will be heard in the special:
- This Could Be the Start of Something Big - Steve and Eydie
- I've Got You Under My Skin - Steve
- The Man I Love - Eydie
- What Now My Love - Steve
- Tonight I'll Say a Prayer - Eydie
- Portrait of My Love - Steve
- Blame It on the Bossa Nova - Eydie
- Sunrise, Sunset - Steve and Eydie
- More - Steve
- Sabor a Mi - Eydie
- A Room Without Windows - Steve
- Go Away Little Girl - Steve
- A House Is Not a Home - Eydie
- Darn It Baby, That's Love - Steve and Eydie
- I've Gotta Be Me - Steve
- What Did I Have That I Don't Have - Eydie
- If He Walked Into My Life - Eydie
- Irving Berlin Medley - Steve and Eydie with Carol Burnett and Sammy Davis, Jr.
- As Time Goes By - Steve and Eydie
Memories of My Mom and Dad begins airing the weekend of December 2 on Public Television stations nationwide with preview broadcasts the weekend after Thanksgiving in various cities - please check local listings.
