Singer/songwriter Laurie Styvers emerged as an American-born, British-based talent whose folk and AM pop carried a lyrically bewitching quality. An original member of the psych-pop outfit Justine, she issued only two solo albums—Spilt Milk in 1972 and The Colorado Kid in 1973—before slipping into obscurity and dying young in the late 1990s.
Born Laurette “Laurie” Styvers in Texas in 1951, she passed much of her early years in England while her father served as a pipeline engineer in the oil business. Still a teenager at the American School of London, she helped form the psychedelic folk band Justine alongside John McBurnie, Keith Trowsdale, Bethlyn Bates, and Valerie Cope. The group’s self-titled 1970 album, produced by Hugh Murphy, appeared after Styvers had already returned to the States for college. She made a brief trip back to London to rejoin the lineup that year, yet Justine disbanded shortly afterward.
Following the split, Styvers launched a solo path by signing with Hush Productions, the company owned by Murphy and Shel Talmy. Her first album, Spilt Milk, surfaced in 1972 on Warner Bros. in the United States; Murphy handled production and shared some songwriting duties while Tom Parker supplied the arrangements. She played at least one show in support, sharing a bill with Emitt Rhodes at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, before shifting focus back to her studies at the University of Colorado.
In the U.K., Chrysalis issued the same debut, and the single “Beat the Reaper” earned notable radio exposure. The response prompted Styvers to return to England, where she performed and started work on her next record. The Colorado Kid appeared in 1973, revealing a stronger AM pop direction reminiscent of Harry Nilsson and Carpenters and featuring arrangements by David Whitaker. Although it found favor in England, the album never reached American shores. Styvers eventually resettled in Colorado, where she combined her musical interests with a passion for animals by operating a kennel and sanctuary alongside her father. By the time she succumbed to hepatitis in 1998 at age 46, her recordings remained largely unknown. In 2023 High Moon Records gathered both albums plus previously unreleased tracks for the anthology Gemini Girl: The Complete Hush Recordings.
