The Shangri-Las are GREAT!!!

There is never even a hair out of place. The lyrics are overblown yet totally spot on for teen angst and unrequited/requited gone bad love. The delivery is perfect - not even a trace of irony, just pure emotion with gorgeously unnoticable technique. And the arrangements and production... aaaahhh! Motorcycles in the studio, I'd like to see Stock, Aiken and Whateverman do some of that.

If he'd never opened his WOO! mouth and stuck to playing, could have been the greatest living virtuoso at his instrument.

(and i don't think a band had more death-discs than the Shangri-la's)

classic..

best shangri la's line ever: "dirty fingernails - oooooh what a prize!"

But has anyone heard "Nitemare" by the Whyte Boots? It's the best Shangri La's ripoff ever... The narrator gets in a fight with a girl who has been making eyes at her man (Backup vocals, excited: "Get her! Get her! Push Her Down!") and accidentally kills her (Backup vocals, mournful: "She didn't wanna fight! She didn't wanna fight")... hysteria, sirens, oh no no no no...

YES!!! I have Nightmare on one of my Girls in the Garage comps, and it is aceness incarnate! Oh, the sirens, the blubbing of the girl as the oooo-oooo-ooohs swell along with the sirens... It's like a camp, out of control John Waters version of the Shangri-Las.

fugazi would dissaprove

I know! That song should make me bust a gut--it's so over the top--but I always find it really disturbing by the end. Sort of like "Once You Understand" by Think, the anti-drug, pro-parent/teen communication song. That dad's sobs are way too real to me. I'm such a sap.

Yes, the Shangri-Las are GREAT, Kate, I agree completely!!!

I'm 99% sure this is The Crystals, not the Shangri-Las at all.

That fact aside, that song has always fascinated me. It's sick and it's wrong, but it's also intensely compelling, because it really makes you see the emotional logic behind staying with an abusive lover. I hadn't heard it for years, then having got OUT OF an abusive relationship, I went back and listened to it again, and it sent shivers down my spine for how OTM it was in so many ways.

thats the only song of their's i know though,what else is good?

Also, not that this should be something to be proud of, but I do believe Shadow Morton invented trip-hop on "He Cried."

Shangri-Las = everything.

I like the Shangri-Las better than any Motown or Phil Spector group, which is saying an awful lot. RPM released an amazing Shangri-Las comp awhile back, "Myrmidons of Melodrama," that includes almost everything they ever did - even radio commercials!

Is it coincidence that the Shangri-Las - who are possibly the girl group best loved by the Indie Contingent - were probably the most (only?) successful white group in a genre that was otherwise overwhelmingly black - eg, the Crystals, Ronettes, Supremes, Chiffons, etc. I'd argue that the Ronettes were more aesthetically worthy in terms of sheer musical ability, or that the Supremes were obviously more commercially successful. Yet it is the Shangri-Las who are name-checked again and again by the indie RAWK giants (from the New York Dolls to Primal Scream) when they want to hark back to the girl group era.

Farbeit for me to cry racism when I'm trying to decry sexism, but it's something that has only just struck me, and it's something I'm puzzled by.

(not sure what I was on about in some parts)

ps - just read tom's essay on Past, Present & Future. that's wonderful. although Remember (Walking In The Sand) does impact me, oh dear i must love false moves :-(

not sure what you mean, though, about the story not turning out the way you expected. it always seemed kind of straightforward to me.

xp seemingly not.

https://www.spectropop.com/Shangri-Las/

also per some random hoffman thread: "NOPE.And everyone involved that's been approached claims the tapes are 'LOST'.Right.NOBODY had an acetate or reference cassette............."

Of course when they played at CBGBs in 1977, Mary Weiss was younger than a lot (most?) of the musicians more associated with CBGBs in 1977.

https://andypaleywebsite.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/l-1.jpg

some really remarkable photos here: https://www.gettyimages.in/photos/shangri-las

NY Times obit quoting from Emerson book :

Ellie Greenwich, who wrote “Leader of the Pack” with Jeff Barry and Mr. Morton as well as two other Shangri-Las singles with Mr. Barry, told Mr. Emerson: “The Shangri-Las were tough girls and I was somewhat afraid of them. They had an attitude before they made it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/arts/music/mary-weiss-dead.html

X-post - yep , those photos trace part of her life from age 16 on well

That’s like one of my favorite books ever.

“I’m kind of a shy person, but I felt that the recording studio was the place that you could really release what you’re feeling without everybody looking at you,” Ms. Weiss was quoted as saying in “Always Magic in the Air,” Ken Emerson’s 2005 book about notable songwriting teams of early rock ’n’ roll.

Also note the use of “notable songwriting teams.”

Oh, Gavin E wrote that.

Wow, the ABC Evening News tonight ended with a little story about Mary & the group, featuring vintage footage and even some audio from a NPR interview.

Here’s another obit ( that makes use of other ones well)

https://timnapalmstegall.substack.com/p/in-memoriam-mary-weiss-of-the-shangri?r=ltcc6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwAR2oGYGuvUOIFZWuJ7ozjDNERNdyq5vciUfC026nZGIRKrBmiwFgBsQklUo_aem_AYtsdZCgBwgrGgwfncOh_-BCqKb_WzBFQCWHsJO9k0RsyhNKMZTtTD_jG1zktADGyFc

Tim Stegall!

this is cool

The Shangs & Robert Goulet on I've Got A Secret

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9WA5I2t26w

lol Betsy Palmer is killing it

wow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQB8mYd-ozo

I posted that upthread, but this also allows me to correct this:

Yeah, the Gansers Marge & Betty both seem ready to audition for supporting roles on The Sopranos.

...because I got it backwards on which sister member of the band had already died.

Just learned this about why Betty originally left the group:

Betty Weiss had a daughter in 1964, necessitating her absence from the group during this period. She was the only member of the group to have a child (who was raised with the help of Betty's brother George Weiss, who died in 1998).

Spiritual daughters the Go-Go's do "Remember..." live in '81:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiNmzel65go

I didn't know that about Betty (kind of throws a different light on the "Betty, is your boyfriend out there?" teasing in that Studio Chatter video)

Come to think of it, it’s funny that Mary is addressed as “Betty” in the “Leader of the Pack” intro. I guess she’s playing a character called Betty.

Yeah I've thought the same thing. As a side note, Wikipedia says the following in the "Lead vocalist, per song" section, which is interesting if true:

"Leader of the Pack" — Mary and Betty in tandem (i.e., singing the same notes and words), with Mary mixed slightly louder

(regardless, it's obv Mary who pantomimes the question/answer part in the TV lipsync clips, etc.)

Interesting. Maybe the original intention was for Betty to be the lead, or the louder lead.

Not to stir up a nest of bees, but the Shangs did two pro-Vietnam War songs, didn’t they. “Long Live Our Love” implicitly, and “Take the Time” explicitly. “Long Live Our Love” is the only track I skip on my copy of Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las, the same record Betty is holding in that Entertainment Tonight clip.

They addressed it later IIRC, saying something like, “The Shangri-Las didn’t support the war, but we supported the troops.” It’s probably in the liner notes of one of the Myrmidons comps, I can check later (I skip those tracks too, fwiw…).

If you wanna get real… what’s yr fave Revlon Good Taste Tip?

“It is correct to pause and let him know you expect him to act like a gentleman”

Don’t barge on ahead like a baby elephant, bro

Here's that ABC Evening News clip mentioned upthread:
https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/remembering-shangri-las-singer-mary-weiss-106584152

Great & Expansive 2006 interview w/Mary from KICKS:

https://kicksvilleusa.com/blog

BM: Dusty Springfield?

MW: Yes. Dusty is an absolutely amazing talent. The Shangri-Las were in London doing Top Of The Pops and Ready! Steady! Go! Dusty was having a very large party in her flat. It started out all civilized, nice French doors and antique desks. And she started a food fight and I'm hiding under this lovely French desk with her manager and fish and food are flying by! They were actually throwing pies later in the night. So Mary Ann goes to put her boots on and they were filled with fish! But, Mary Ann got even with Dusty. She waited and waited and the next time we were with Dusty at the Brooklyn Fox, Mary Ann put fish in Dusty's shoes. And that's called…payback! (laughs)

This thread is making me (even) sadder about Mary’s passing

Wow, she says “Wishing Well” was a demo that the label cleaned up and released.

MW: I was with George at some arena show when he met Phil Spector.

BM: Wow! What was that like?

MW: Oil and water! That's all I can say. I was not happy to be there.

We were so busy. It was very different then. Now these singers say how rough they have it. They don't have a clue. Not a clue. Ride in a bus every night. Sleep every other night. See how that feels. People don't realize how hard it was back then. There were no monitors at the time. Sometimes you were screaming just to hear yourself singing.

Ah, here we go, this is the quote I was talking about earlier:

BM: The last Shangri-Las single Take The Time from 1967 is weird, a pro-Vietnam record.

MW: I never wanted to record that song. I was completely against the Vietnam War and I protested accordingly. Still, the Shangri-Las supported our servicemen and women and I've done many shows for them.

ML: How did Monti Rock end up doing your hair?

MW: He did our hair on that album cover nobody likes on Mercury, where we look Mod. Monti, wherever you are, what were you thinking?

ML: But you look so sultry there, like Veronica Lake.

MW: I look stupid. I didn't like it at all.

https://i.discogs.com/1htZxyz2M7_BGIMm9sgXfgNdcuZIcXGdxI1BYqKDipo/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:564/w:598/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE5NTAw/NjUtMTM4ODIzMjQy/NS0yMjE0LmpwZWc.jpeg

MW: I come from an extremely poor family. The Gansers were relatively poor. Nobody had any money. No money for attorneys. So considering where the four of us came from, with no support, no guidance and nothing behind us, we didn't have proper outfits onstage. I mean nothing. It's a miracle in itself to come from those circumstances and have hit records, so I'm very grateful.

That was a great interview, thanks for sharing it...

I always liked that Golden Hits album cover despite the fact it doesn't capture Mary's moodiness. And Betty's hair was usually darker than that I think? I don't care, I love it, it was the first Shangri-Las album I bought - circa 1991 for $4.95 (price tag is still on it!). Their original 45s went for about $3 each back then and I bought many of them too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pUOWKeBIxM

When Mary Weiss died I was shy about relating this anecdote, but I will do so now. When she released her solo album in the oughts I met her on the sidewalk in Brooklyn where she was performing in support of her record. We had this exchange:

Me: I used to play one of your songs with a band

Mary: Which one?

Me: “Sophisticated Boom Boom”

Mary: Ehh, I never really liked that song

lol

ha amazing <3

love! <3

Was that The Cosmopolitans?

No, it was about a decade later than them

Kid Congo's band Knoxville Girls also used to play it, later still