"Remember (Walking in the Sand)" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by the Shangri-Las | ||||
from the album Leader of the Pack | ||||
B-side | "It's Easier to Cry" | |||
Released | August 1964 [1] | |||
Recorded | July 1964 [2] | |||
Studio | Mira Sound, New York City [2] | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:17 | |||
Label | Red Bird | |||
Songwriter(s) | George Morton | |||
Producer(s) | Artie Ripp, Jeff Barry | |||
The Shangri-Las singles chronology | ||||
|
"Remember (Walking in the Sand)", also known as "Remember", is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton. It originally was recorded by the girl group the Shangri-Las, who had a top five hit with it in 1964. A remake by Aerosmith in 1979 was a minor hit. There have been many other versions of the song as well.
Morton was looking to break into the music business, and went to the Brill Building in New York City to see an old girlfriend, Ellie Greenwich, who had become a successful pop songwriter. Morton and Greenwich's writing partner Jeff Barry took a dislike to one another. Asked what he did for a living, Morton replied "I write songs", although he had never written one. When Barry asked him what kind, Morton retorted, "Hit songs!" Barry said he would love to hear one of Morton's tunes, and invited him to come back the following week with something.
Morton hired the Shangri-Las, a teenage group from Queens, New York to sing. Realizing that he did not have a song yet, he immediately wrote "Remember (Walking in the Sand)". There are several stories as to how it was written. One is that immediately upon his realization of not having a song, he parked next to a beach on Long Island and there wrote the song.[ citation needed ] The song contains recurring seagulls-and-surf sound effects. [3] He used the Shangri-Las on the demo, which he produced. (A not-yet-famous Billy Joel is said by Morton to have played the piano chords that open the song.) Jeff Barry was impressed and Red Bird Records picked up the song for release and signed Morton and the Shangri-Las to contracts. According to some accounts, the original version was nearly seven minutes long. In order to fit the AM radio format of the time, the song had to be cut in length, but rather than edit it, Morton simply faded it out after 2:10. In another version Morton presents the demo to various Red Bird staffers, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Artie Butler [4] and others and they and some session musicians took the demo into the studio where it became, "a whole other record." [5]
The song was released as the third single by the Shangri-Las, their first on Red Bird Records, and became a number five hit on the Billboard Hot 100, [6] and number nine on the Cashbox R&B chart. [7] It hit number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and became more successful in the UK when reissued on several occasions in the 1970s.
Cash Box described it as "a hauntingly plaintive pop-r&b romancer with an off-beat rapidly-changing, hard-shufflin' beat." [8]
The Shangri-Las' recording placed #395 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2004. Billboard named the song #26 on its list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. [9]
In the early 1970s, Buddah Records released a "Radio Active Gold" oldies 45 containing an undubbed version of the demo (no echo or sound effects). This version is timed at 2:17, and the intro is the "Remember..." chorus without Mary Weiss' lead vocal. This version (the technical term for it is an underdub) first appeared on a 1969 Buddah compilation album titled Incense and Oldies, along with an alternate version of "Give Him a Great Big Kiss".
According to musicologist Albin J. Zak: [2]
The Shangri-Las
Additional musicians and production
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
"Remember (Walking in the Sand)" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Aerosmith | ||||
from the album Night in the Ruts | ||||
B-side | "Bone to Bone" | |||
Released | December 11, 1979 | |||
Recorded | 1979 | |||
Genre | Blues rock, hard rock | |||
Length | 4:04 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | George Morton | |||
Producer(s) | Aerosmith, Gary Lyons | |||
Aerosmithsingles chronology | ||||
|
Aerosmith released a rock-oriented version of the song, featuring uncredited backing vocals by Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las as a single in 1979. Released on Columbia Records it was taken from the group's sixth studio album Night in the Ruts and was also included on their Greatest Hits album. Aerosmith's cover was co-produced by Gary Lyons. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 67. It also peaked at number 29 on the Canadian RPM singles chart in March 1980. [18]
In 1979, Louise Goffin released a remake of the song on her debut album Kid Blue. That version reached #43 on the Billboard Hot 100. [19]
The bridge of The Beatles' 1995 single "Free as a Bird", with its similar lyric "Whatever happened to the life we once knew?", pays homage to the song. [20]
In 2005, American rapper Capone sampled the song and pitched it up 5 semitones for "Streets Favorite" (often mislabeled with the song title "Oh No"), a track from his 2005 album Pain, Time, & Glory. In 2020, a version titled "Oh No", by rapper Kreepa, which used the instrumental of "Streets Favorite", became an Internet meme on TikTok, typically being played when an accident is shown, with over 10 million videos using that sound. [21] [22]
Amy Winehouse covered part of the pre-chorus when singing "Back to Black" during live shows. [23]
The Shangri-Las were an American girl group of the 1960s, consisting of Mary Weiss, Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss, Marguerite "Marge" Ganser, and Mary Ann Ganser. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit pop songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember ", "Give Him a Great Big Kiss", and in particular, "Leader of the Pack" which went to #1 in the United States in late 1964.
Mary Louise Weiss was an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Shangri-Las in the 1960s. Their single "Leader of the Pack" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1964. She had little involvement in the music scene for decades, returning in 2007 to record her first and only solo album with Norton Records.
"I Can't Get Next to You" is a 1969 No. 1 single recorded by the Temptations and written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Gordy (Motown) label. The song was a No. 1 single on the Billboard Top Pop Singles chart for two weeks in 1969, from October 18 to October 25, replacing "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies and replaced by "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley. The single was also a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Top R&B Singles for five weeks, from October 4 to November 1, replacing "Oh, What a Night" by the Dells, and replaced by another Motown song, "Baby I'm For Real" by the Originals.
George Francis "Shadow" Morton was an American record producer and songwriter best known for his influential work in the 1960s. In particular, he was noted for writing and producing "Remember ", "Leader of the Pack", and other hits for girl group the Shangri-Las.
"Baby, I Love You" is a song originally recorded by the Ronettes in 1963 and released on their debut album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes (1964). The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, and produced by Spector.
The Detergents were an American music group consisting of Ronnie (Ron) Dante, Danny Jordan, and Tommy Wynn. The group's specialty was parody songs, as with their first and best-known single, "Leader of the Laundromat". A spoof of the then-current hit song "Leader of the Pack", "Leader of the Laundromat" became a hit in its own right, reaching the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1965.
"Crying in the Chapel" is a song written by Artie Glenn and recorded by his son Darrell Glenn. The song was released in 1953 and reached number six on the Billboard chart.
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is the debut single by Edison Lighthouse. The song reached the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks. It also became the first number one single of the 1970s (not counting Rolf Harris's "Two Little Boys" which was a holdover from 1969).
"Wild One" is a dance single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Written and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. The song was another Top 40 triumph for the group as it reached #34 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and #11 on the Hot R&B singles chart. The backing track for 'Wild one' was an alternative version of the backing track to 'Dancing in the Street'.
"Stay" is a doo-wop song written by Maurice Williams and first recorded in 1960 by Williams with his group the Zodiacs. Commercially successful versions were later also issued by the Hollies, the Four Seasons and Jackson Browne.
"Leader of the Pack" is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich. It was a number one pop hit in 1964 for the American girl group the Shangri-Las. The single is one of the group's best known songs as well as a popular cultural example of a "teenage tragedy song". The song was covered in 1985 by the heavy metal band Twisted Sister, who had a more modest hit with their version.
"Heartbreaker" is a song performed by American singer Dionne Warwick. It was written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees for her 1982 studio album of the same name, while production was helmed by Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson under their production moniker Gibb-Galuten-Richardson. Barry Gibb's backing vocal is heard on the chorus.
"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written by American songwriting duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" first charted for Lou Johnson, whose version reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-1964. Sandie Shaw took the song to No. 1 in the UK that same year, while the duo Naked Eyes had a No. 8 hit with the song in the US two decades later in 1983.
"I'll Take You There" is a song written by Al Bell, and originally performed by soul/gospel family band the Staple Singers. The Staple Singers version, produced by Bell, was released on Stax Records in February 1972, and spent a total of 15 weeks on the charts and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. By December 1972, it had sold 2 million units and is ranked as the 19th biggest American hit of 1972. It remains one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time.
"Turn Around, Look at Me" is a song written by Jerry Capehart and Glen Campbell, though Campbell is not officially credited.
"Let's Hang On!" is a song composed by Bob Crewe, Sandy Linzer, and Denny Randell that was popularized by the Four Seasons in 1965.
"Cherry, Cherry" is a 1966 song written, composed, and recorded by American musician Neil Diamond.
"Tik Tok" is the debut single by American singer Kesha, who co-wrote the song with its producers Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco. It was released on August 7, 2009, as the lead single from her debut studio album, Animal (2010). The opening line of the song came from an experience where Kesha woke up surrounded by beautiful women, to which she imagined P. Diddy being in a similar scenario. The experience prompted the writing of the song which she later brought to her producer, Dr. Luke, who was then contacted by P. Diddy in hopes of a collaboration; he came to the studio the same day and recorded his lines, and the song was completed. The official remix features American rapper Pitbull. Durning Coachella 2024, she performs Tik Tok. Kesha shades P. Diddy by changing the lyrics durning the performance of the song due to allegations coming out that P. Diddy was involved in sexual harassment and various inappropriate things.
"I'm Blue " is a song written by Ike Turner and recorded by Ike & Tina Turner's backing trio The Ikettes in 1961. In 2017, Billboard ranked the song No. 63 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
"It Hurts to Be in Love" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller which was a Top Ten hit in 1964 for Gene Pitney. It was one in a long line of successful "Brill Building Sound" hits created by composers and arrangers working in New York City's Brill Building at 1619 Broadway.