Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of The Shangri-Las, Dead at 75

Yahoo ^ | 1/19/24 | Alex Young

[DallasBiff]

Hailing from Queens, New York, The Shangri-Las was composed of two pairs of sisters: Mary and Betty Weiss and Marge and Mary Ann Gangser. As teenagers (Mary was just 15 years old), the quartet signed a record deal Red Bird Records and were teamed with producer George “Shadow” Morton. They experienced almost immediate success, achieving a pair of hit singles in quick succession. Released in August 1964, “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” hit No. 5 in the US and No. 14 in the UK. (Billy Joel, then an unknown session musician, played on an early demo version of the song.) The following month saw The Shangri-Las climb all the way to No. 1 with “Leader of the Pack.”

By the end of 1964, The Shangri-Las’ popularity had skyrocketed and the group found themselves sharing concert bills with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and James Brown.

[Fiji Hill]

Actually, the line is "he's good-bad, but he's not evil" from Give Him a Great Big Kiss (1965).

[Fiji Hill]

The Shangri-Las were one of the few Top 40 groups to record a pro-Vietnam War song.

Take the Time (1967)

[Fiji Hill]

Here's a weird one by the Shangri-Las

Past, Present & Future (1966)

[Fiji Hill]

Don’t forget “leader of the laundromat” by the Detergents...

I still have a 45 rpm copy of that one.

[dfwgator]

A much simpler time and great music

Yep, right before everything started to change, and not for the better.