I like Lesley Gore. If you didn't grow up with her in the early 60's you probably only know her from her smash, "It's My Party", which is too bad, because she had a few other gems after that. Perhaps my favorite song by Lesley is "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" which may be the happiest song on the planet. If you can't smile when that song is on, you have no soul.
"Off and Running" is a swinging little number from a later album with a fairly aggressive orchestration for a pop song. The verse kicks off with a series of staccato hits by the band which dovetails into a nice go-go beat, propelling the song along at a breakneck pace. Lesley's vocals have the right mix of pop melody with just a touch of rock swagger that really makes this a fantastic end-of-relationship kiss-off piece of bubblegum. The energy never stops, even for a moment.
The version I have came from a vinyl copy of her 1967 album, California Nights, lovingly posted about a year ago on the always incredible Iron Leg blog. You can also find it on the Mercury Anthology box set, which is no longer in print, but can be found used.[You can listen to Lesley Gore's "Off and Running" by navigating to the post "Song076" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]
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