THE SHANGRI-LAS

'The Shangri-Las' were a "girl group", an American pop group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with a string of often heartbreaking teen melodramas, and remain best known for "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)".

Contents

Early career

Disintegration and retirement

Influence

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

Listening

Early career

The group was formed at Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, New York in 1963. They consisted of two sets of sisters: Mary Weiss (lead singer) (born 1948) and Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss (born 1946), and identical twins Marguerite "Marge" (1947-1996) and Mary Ann Ganser (1947-1970^[1]). More often than not the girls appeared in public as a trio, because Betty Weiss rarely appeared on stage with the other group members until 1966.
They began playing school shows, talent shows and teen hops, coming to the attention of Artie Ripp, who arranged the group's first record deal with Kama Sutra. Their first recording in December 1963 was "Simon Says", later issued on the Smash label, on which Betty Weiss sang lead. They also recorded "Wishing Well" / "Hate To Say I Told You So", which became their first release in early 1964 when leased to the small Spokane label^[2].
==Success at Red Bird Records==
In April 1964, when the girls were still minors, their parents signed for them with Red Bird Records; Mary was 15, Betty was 17, and the Ganser twins were 16. Having been hired by record producer George "Shadow" Morton, they had their first success with the summer hit, "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (U.S. #5, UK #14). Billy Joel, an unknown working as a session musician at the time, played on the original demo recording of "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" ^[3].
The group's recordings for Morton featured lavish production with heavy orchestration and sound effects, and their next and biggest hit, the renowned 'death disc', "Leader of the Pack" (U.S. #1, UK #11), climaxes with the sounds of roaring motorcycles and breaking glass. UK re-issues of the single peaked at #3 in 1972 and at #7 in 1976. The song epitomised the "death disc"; other examples of the era including Ray Peterson's "Tell Laura I Love Her", Jan and Dean's "Dead Man's Curve", and Twinkle's "Terry".
By the end of 1964 the group were an established hit act. They toured with R&B artists such as The Drifters and James Brown, and ''Cashbox'' magazine listed them as best new R&B group. They also promoted Revlon cosmetics. In March 1965 they toured the UK with Dusty Springfield and The Zombies^[4].
The Shangri-Las continued to chart with a run of fairly successful U.S. hit records, specialising in adolescent themes such as alienation, loneliness, abandonment and death. Singles included "Give Him a Great Big Kiss", "Out in the Streets", "Give Us Your Blessings", the top ten hit "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", "Long Live Our Love", "He Cried" and the spoken-word cult favourite "Past, Present and Future", featuring music from Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata". Noteworthy B-sides included "The Train from Kansas City", "Dressed in Black", "Paradise" (written by Harry Nilsson) and "I'll Never Learn".
The group are generally recognised as distinctive purveyors of emotionally convincing melodrama. Among their titles that occasionally appear in music critics' all-time-favourites lists is the tragic ten-hanky drama "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", which recounts the story of a girl who leaves home for the love of a boy; her pride keeps her from returning to her mother who ''"grew so lonely in the end, the angels picked her for their friend"''. Memorable lines from "Give Him A Great Big Kiss" include the introductory ''"When I say I'm in love, you best believe I'm in love, L-U-V"'', and the much-quoted ''"Well I hear he's bad." "Hmm, he's good-bad, but he's not evil."''

Disintegration and retirement

The group toured and appeared on several major TV shows, but in 1966 two of the Shangri-Las' three releases on Red Bird failed to crack the top 50. Mary Ann Ganser left for a short while, but returned when Marge - who, as the most outspoken member, was sometimes considered the group's leader^[5] - decided to leave early in 1967. By that time, Red Bird Records had folded. The group recorded some more tracks with Morton (some of which remain unreleased) and signed with Mercury Records^[5]. However, Morton then began working with Janis Ian and Vanilla Fudge, and the Shangri-Las had no further hits. In 1968, they disbanded.
All the members of the Shangri-Las then withdrew from the spotlight. Shadow Morton said ''"the Shangri-Las vacated, they vanished"''. Lead singer Mary Weiss married and later worked as an interior designer and furniture store manager ^{[7] [8]}. Betty Weiss also married, worked for a cosmetics company in Manhattan and later started her own business in Long Island. Mary Ann Ganser died in 1970 after a series of seizures resulting from encephalitis^[9], which according to Mary Weiss was brought on by a mosquito bite. Marge Ganser married (becoming Marguerite Ganser Dorste), worked for a telephone company, and succumbed to breast cancer on July 28, 1996 at the age of forty-eight^[10].
The group occasionally performed together during the 1970s. Following the successful re-issue of "Leader of the Pack" in the UK in 1976 and renewed interest in the group, Mary and Betty Weiss and Marge Ganser reunited for a one-off performance at CBGBs in 1977. However, since the 1980s the group has had to deal with a trio calling themselves the Shangri Las, who have nothing to do with the original group. The tribute act was put together by Dick Fox, who claimed to have bought the rights to the group's name. A 1989 news report on the dispute, including interviews with Mary and Betty Weiss and Marge Ganser, is at
this site. The original group performed for the last time at a reunion show hosted by Cousin Brucie (Bruce Morrow) in East Rutherford, New Jersey on June 3, 1989.
In March 2007 Norton Records released a new solo album by Mary Weiss (backed by garage rockers, The Reigning Sound) called ''Dangerous Game''.

Influence

The tough street-wise image of The Shangri-Las - which was initially set up as a promotional device for "Leader of the Pack"^[4] - contrasted with many other "girl groups" of the 1960s, and they were cited as an influence by later bands and artistes, particularly 70s punk rock-era acts such as the New York Dolls and Blondie, who twice covered "Out in the Streets," and Aerosmith, who covered "Remember (Walking in the Sand)." Interestingly, Debbie Harry of Blondie is older than any of the Shangri-Las.
The line from "Give Him A Great Big Kiss" - ''"When I say I'm in love, you best believe I'm in love, L-U-V"'' - was used by the New York Dolls on their 1973 recording "Looking For A Kiss". The New York Dolls' guitarist Johnny Thunders included a cover of "..Great Big Kiss" on his first solo album "So Alone". More recently, Ryan Adams (and the Cardinals) paid homage to that line in their song "Beautiful Sorta" off the album ''Cold Roses'', but they changed it to ''"When I say L-U-V, you better believe me L-U-V. Give me a beer!"''
The opening line from "Leader of the Pack" - ''"Is she really going out with him ?"'' - was recycled both as the opening line of 1976's "New Rose" by the Damned - the first British punk rock single; and as the title of the 1979 hit song by Joe Jackson.
The Shangri-Las' "Past, Present and Future" was covered in 2004 by ex ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog on her album, ''My Colouring Book''.
British singer Amy Winehouse also has cited the Shangri-Las as an influence in several interviews.

Discography

Studio albums

★ 1964: ''Leader of the Pack'' (U.S. #109)

★ 1965: ''Shangri-Las-65!''

Compilation albums

★ 1966: ''Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las''

★ 1975: ''The Shangri-Las Sing''

★ 1994: ''Myrmidons of Melodrama''

★ 1996: ''The Best of the Shangri-Las''

Singles

''All released on Red Bird label except where stated.''

★ 1964: "Wishing Well"/"Hate To Say I Told You So" ''(Spokane label, later reissued on Scepter)''

★ 1964: "Remember (Walking in the Sand)"/"It's Easier To Cry" (U.S. #5, UK #14)

★ 1964: "Leader of the Pack"/"What Is Love?" (U.S. #1, UK #11 (1965), UK #3 (1972), UK #7 (1976))

★ 1965: "Simon Says"/"Simon Speaks" ''(recorded in 1963/64, issued on Smash label)''

★ 1965: "Give Him a Great Big Kiss"/"Twist And Shout" (U.S. #18)

★ 1965: "Maybe"/"Shout" (U.S. #91)

★ 1965: "Out in the Streets"/"The Boy" (U.S. #53)

★ 1965: "Give Us Your Blessings"/"Heaven Only Knows" (U.S. #29)

★ 1965: "Right Now and Not Later"/"The Train From Kansas City" (U.S. #99)

★ 1965: "I Can Never Go Home Anymore"/"Bull Dog" (U.S. #6)

★ 1966: "Long Live Our Love"/"Sophisticated Boom Boom" (U.S. #33)

★ 1966: "He Cried"/"Dressed In Black" (U.S. #65)

★ 1966: "Past, Present and Future"/"Paradise" (U.S. #59)

★ 1966: "The Sweet Sounds of Summer"/"I'll Never Learn" (U.S. #123) ''(Mercury label)''

★ 1967: "Take the Time"/"Footsteps On The Roof" ''(Mercury label)''

References

1. See and http://www.redbirdent.com/slas4.htm for evidence of 1970 rather than 1971 date of death.
2. http://www.redbirdent.com/slas1.htm
3. http://www.limusichalloffame.org/lirock/shadow04.html]
4. http://www.redbirdent.com/slas2.htm
5. http://www.redbirdent.com/slas4.htm
6. http://www.redbirdent.com/slas4.htm
7. http://www.nortonrecords.com/
8. [http://www.loti.com/sixties_music/The_Shangri-Las.htm
9. http://http://www.redbirdent.com/slas4.htm
10. http://groups.google.com/group/alt.obituaries/browse_thread/thread/49fb7bb6adf83b0b/3401b7f3a24451de?lnk=st&q=mary+ann+ganser&rnum=1#3401b7f3a24451de
11. http://www.redbirdent.com/slas2.htm


★ "Shangri-Las 77!", footnote 4, by Phil X Milstein, Spectropop

External links

★ The Shangri-Las.com

★ Out In The Streets, The Story of The Shangri-Las, an extensive article by John J. Grecco]

★ "Songs of The Stonewall Club" featuring Mary Weiss & The Shangri-Las

★ Article by David Galassie

★ Norton Records Mary Weiss' new label. Site includes extensive 2006 interview with Mary, and discography]

★ Mary Weiss official web site

★ Mary Weiss' page on MySpace

★ Mary Weiss Guest List at Discollective

★ Leader of the pack, and back

Listening

★ Interview with Mary Weiss from ''Fresh Air'' radio program, NPR Podcast, March 6, 2007