Linda Laurie was an American singer and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, best known for the novelty record "Ambrose (Part 5)", which went to #52 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

chart while she was still a high school student in 1959.

"Ambrose (Part 5)"

While attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York, Laurie wrote and recorded a number of demo records, including "Sunglasses", which Linda recorded with her friend Linda Yellin as the "Knott Sisters"; it failed to chart.

Another of Linda's songs was an odd tale of a girl walking through a dark subway

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

 tunnel with her boyfriend Ambrose, who implores her to "just keep walking". She recorded the number for Glory Records in late 1958 and took it around to radio stations, who liked the deep-throated Ambrose (which Laurie voiced herself) and bizarre non-sequiturs like "we haven't got a color telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

".

"Ambrose (Part 5)" (despite the name, there were no parts one through four) entered the Billboard charts in January 1959 and peaked at #52 in March. (The flip side, "Ooh, What A Lover", also received some airplay.) The song's notoriety was enough to get young Linda on the February 10, 1959 edition of To Tell The Truth

To Tell the Truth

To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...

; only two of the four panelists correctly identified her. A follow-up, "Forever Ambrose", in which the pair leave the subway tunnel and Ambrose even sings, failed to hit the charts.

From 1960-64, she made a number of other recordings for various small labels: “Stay with Me” (Andie 5015); “Chico” (Keetch 6001); “Lucky” (Recona 3502); “Prince Charming” (Rust 5022); and “Stay-At-Home Sue” (Rust 5042), a musical rejoinder to Dion

Dion DiMucci

Dion Francis DiMucci , better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles....

's “Runaround Sue

Runaround Sue

"Runaround Sue" is a pop song, originally a US No. 1 hit for the singer Dion during 1961. The song ranked No. 342 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".-Original recording:...

.” In 1962, Linda reconnected with Ambrose in “The Return of Ambrose” (Rust 5061).

Later years

After relocating to the West Coast, Linda Laurie wrote a number of songs for other artists, including Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...

 ("I'm Comin' Home Girl"), Sonny and Cher ("Crystal Clear, Muddy Waters"), Cher

Cher

Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...

 solo ("When You Find Out Where You're Going, Let Me Know"), Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....

 (with Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

; "Life's A Trippy Thing") and Love Unlimited

Love Unlimited

Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for American R&B/soul singer Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings. Formed in 1969, the group included Barry White’s future wife, Glodean James, her sister, Linda James, and...

 ("I Did It For Love").

However, her biggest hit as a songwriter came with Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)

Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)

"Leave Me Alone " was a Top Ten hit single for Helen Reddy in 1973-74.The song was written by Linda Laurie, a sometime recording artist best known for the 1959 novelty record "Ambrose Part 5" although she had cut mainstream Pop records up until 1964; Laurie subsequently moved into songwriting,...

", which went to #3 for Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...

 in late 1973; Laurie's own version was issued by MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

 earlier in the year. She also wrote the theme song for the 70s Saturday morning show "Land Of The Lost

Land of the Lost (1974 TV series)

Land of the Lost is a children's television series co-created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. During its original run, it was broadcast on the NBC television network....

", which was also featured in the 2009 movie featuring Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell

John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...

. The band Everclear

Everclear (band)

Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...

 also recorded the tune on their all-covers album, "The Vegas Years."

Her music was rediscovered in the 90s through various hip-hop songs; "I Did It For Love" has been sampled in such hits as Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins", Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...

's "Miss You", Shyne

Shyne

Moshe Levi Ben-David , better known by his stage name Shyne, is a Belizean rapper.-Background:...

's "The Gang", Swizz Beats' "Money In The Bank" and more.

Laurie also served as executive director for Theatre of Life for Children, designed "to provide an accessible, community-based, multi-cultural performing arts program dedicated to healing and developing the talents and passion in children."

Linda Laurie died of cancer at a hospital in Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

 on November 20, 2009, at the age of 68.

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