Mary Weiss Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss Marguerite "Marge" Ganser Mary Ann Ganser
The Shangri-Las were an American girl group of the 1960s, consisting of Mary Weiss, her sister Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss and twin sisters 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 (Walking in the Sand)", "Give Him a Great Big Kiss", and in particular, "Leader of the Pack" which went to number 1 in the United States in late 1964. Following the death of Mary Weiss in 2024, her sister Betty is the only living member of the group.
They began playing school shows, talent shows, and teen hops; Artie Ripp heard about them and arranged the group's first record deal with Kama Sutra.[3] 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, Washington label.[3]
Initially, the girls performed without a name for their group; however when they signed their first deal, they began to call themselves the Shangri-Las, after a restaurant in Queens.[2] Some discographies list the Beatle-ettes and the Bon Bons, who both issued singles in 1964, as early versions of the Shangri-Las; however, they are different groups.[2][4]
Mary Weiss was the main lead singer; Betty, however, took lead on "Maybe" (the LP version), "Shout", "Twist and Shout", "Wishing Well", and a number of B-sides and album tracks.[2] Mary Ann Ganser took lead on most of "I'm Blue",[5] which is a cover of the Ikettes' biggest hit at the time, and was included on their 1965 album Shangri-Las-65!
In April 1964, while the girls were minors, their parents signed the quartet with Red Bird Records; Mary was 15, Betty was 17, and the Ganser twins were 16. Having been hired by record producerGeorge "Shadow" Morton, they had their first success with the summer hit "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (US #5, UK #14).[6][7]Billy Joel, a then-unknown working as a session musician, played on the demo of "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)".[8] The demo was nearly seven minutes long, too long for Top 40 radio. Morton had hired the group to perform on the demo, but Red Bird released a re-recorded version. Morton faded the new version out around 2:16.
The recordings for Morton featured lavish production with heavy orchestration and sound effects, and their next and biggest hit, "Leader of the Pack" (U.S. #1, UK #11),[9][7] climaxes with roaring motorcycles and breaking glass. UK re-issues peaked at #3 in 1972 and #7 in 1976. The song epitomized the "death disc"; songs with lyrics focusing on suicide, murders and fatal crashes, which were popular from the late 1950s until the mid-1960s.[10]
After the sudden success of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", The Shangri Las were called upon to make personal appearances, which required them to leave high school. Mary, however, stayed on for classes at a high school for young professionals in Manhattan.[2]
The group as a trio in 1964
By the end of 1964, the group was an established act. They performed with the Beatles, a Fall 1964 tour with the Rolling Stones, and R&B artists such as the Drifters and James Brown (who according to Mary Weiss was surprised to discover the girls were white).[11][12]Cashbox magazine listed them as best new R&B group of 1964.[13] The group was also a fixture on the Murray the K shows at the Brooklyn Fox from 1964 to 1966. They also promoted Revlon cosmetics.[11][14]
Cash Box name the Shangri-Las as best new vocal R&B group for 1964
The Shangri-Las appeared as a quartet to promote "Remember", starting with their stint on the 1964 Labor Day Murray the K show.[15] In October 1964, Betty Weiss dropped out temporarily, leaving the group as a trio. She is still featured on the recording for "Leader of the Pack", which was recorded prior to the release of "Remember". The trio that remained went on to tour the US and also appeared on many TV shows, including Hullabaloo, Shindig!, Hollywood a Go Go, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show.[11] During October 1964, Mary and the Gansers did a short TV and Radio tour of the UK (their only UK appearances). Betty then rejoined the group in mid-1965 (her first return appearance with the Shangri-las was listed as a June 1965 Go Go episode hosted by Cousin Brucie in New York City), and the group appeared as a quartet once again until the start of 1966, when they permanently became a trio (Mary Ann and Marge left at different times, replacing each other until the demise of the group).
The Shangri-Las continued to chart with fairly successful U.S. hit records, specializing in adolescent themes such as alienation, loneliness, abandonment, and premature 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" (a rare example of a song dedicated to the men at the time fighting overseas in Vietnam), "He Cried" and the spoken-word "Past, Present, and Future", featuring a musical backdrop inspired by Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata". Noteworthy B-sides included "Heaven Only Knows", "The Train from Kansas City", "Dressed in Black" and "Paradise" (written by Harry Nilsson).
Popular songs include "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", the story of a girl who leaves home for 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". Lines from "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" include "When I say I'm in love, you best believe I'm in love, L-U-V", and "Well I hear he's bad." "Hmm, he's good-bad, but he's not evil." "Past, Present, and Future" has been said to be about rape, something Weiss disagrees with. She has said it is about "teenage angst," heartbreak, and "being hurt and angsty and not wanting anyone near you."[5][17]
Public image
The Shangri-Las on the cover of Cash Box, February 13, 1965
The Shangri-Las' "tough girl" persona set them apart from other girl groups. From a blue collar area of Queens, they were less demure than their contemporaries. Rumors about supposed escapades have since become legend; for example, the story that Mary Weiss attracted the attention of the FBI for transporting a firearm across state lines. In her defense, she said someone tried to break into her hotel room one night and for protection she bought a pistol.[18] Whatever truth the stories may have, they were believed by fans in the 1960s, and they helped cement the group's bad-girl reputation. According to Weiss, that persona helped fend off advances from musicians on tours.
Disintegration and retirement
The group appeared on several TV shows and continued to tour the US, but in 1966, two of three releases on Red Bird Records failed to crack the U.S. top 50, though the group remained popular in England and Japan. Mary Ann Ganser left, but returned early in 1967 when Marge – the most outspoken member, sometimes considered the leader[19] – left. Red Bird Records had folded. The group recorded more tracks with Shadow Morton producing (some of which remain unreleased) and signed with Mercury Records.[19] However, Morton had begun working with Janis Ian and Vanilla Fudge, and Mercury had little enthusiasm for the group. During their Mercury stint, the Shangri-Las had no further hits; in 1968, they disbanded, amid litigation.[17]
All the Shangri-Las withdrew from the spotlight. Morton said, "The Shangri-Las vacated, they vanished". Reportedly they were angry that they had received few royalties despite the millions of records they had sold.[18]
Mary Weiss moved to New York's Greenwich Village and then to San Francisco. Returning to Manhattan a few years later and prevented from recording because of lawsuits, she worked as a secretary while taking college classes. She then went into the architectural industry, working in the accounting department of a New York architectural firm.[17] Weiss moved up to be the chief purchasing agent and later ran a commercial furniture dealership. In the late 1980s she managed a furniture store and was an interior designer. By 2001, she was a furniture consultant to New York businesses.[20] She married in 1974, but the marriage ended in 1988; she married again several years later, and her second husband managed her music career until their divorce. In March 2007, Norton Records released a solo album by Mary Weiss (backed by garage rockersthe Reigning Sound) titled Dangerous Game. She performed in the United States, Spain, and France. Mary Weiss died in Palm Springs, California on January 19, 2024, at age 75 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is survived by her third husband.[21]
Mary Ann Ganser began to have problems with drug and alcohol addiction in 1968. She died in Queens on March 16, 1970, aged 22,[22] of a drug overdose. (This may have been a heroin overdose as mentioned in a contemporary newspaper report[23] and on her death certificate,[24] or a barbiturate overdose as related later by her mother to a journalist.[25][26]) Her death has been incorrectly reported as having been caused by encephalitis,[27] or by a seizure disorder.[19]
Marge Ganser reportedly returned to school in the late 1960s. By the early 1970s, she married (changing her name to Marguerite Ganser Dorste), worked for NYNEX in Valley Stream, New York, and died of breast cancer on July 28, 1996, at age 48.[28]
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). Betty Weiss also married and held several jobs and now[when?] lives and works on Long Island.
The group declined offers to perform throughout the 1970s, although they did have a few live performances. Following the successful re-issue of "Leader of the Pack" in the UK in 1976, which renewed interest in the group, Mary and Betty Weiss and Marge Ganser reunited. Contacting Seymour Stein of Sire Records, they spent summer 1977 in New York with producer Andy Paley. Paley said the sessions went well, but they weren't satisfied with all the material, and declined to release the record.[14] The tapes are now[when?] owned by the Warner Music Group. They did, however, give a live performance at CBGB; Paley put together a band, including Lenny Kaye, and after two hours of rehearsal, the Shangri-Las returned to the stage for the first time in a decade. Although the Sire sessions came to naught, the group toyed with signing to another label; however, they were put off by the insistence of record executives that they be a disco vocal group, the musical trend of the day. Mary said she envisioned the Shangri-Las like punk singer Patti Smith. Eventually, the Shangri-Las split up again.
Since the 1980s, a trio has been performing under the name the Shangri-Las, although unconnected with the original group. The copycat act was put together by Dick Fox, who claimed to have bought the rights to the name, and resulted in legal action from both sides, largely due to a video tape of the new Shangri-Las claiming in public to be the original group.[29] 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.[30]
Influence
The streetwise image of the Shangri-Las – initially a promotional device for "Leader of the Pack"[11] – contrasted with other "girl groups" of the 1960s, and they were cited as an influence by 1970s punk rock-era acts such as the New York Dolls, Ramones and Blondie;[31] the latter covered "Out in the Streets" twice.[32] British punk band The Damned released their debut single, "New Rose", in 1976. It was the first ever single released by a British punk band and the intro to the song featured a deadpan quote by singer Dave Vanian of the line "Is she really going out with him?" from "Leader of the Pack".[33]
Aerosmith released a rock style version of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" featuring uncredited backing vocals by Mary Weiss[12] on their 1979 album, Night in the Ruts. The song was released as a single and charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 67. It was also featured on their 1980 Greatest Hits album.
The Shangri-las were referenced by Paul McCartney in a McCartney II sessions track, "Mr H Atom"/"You Know I'll Get You Baby", recorded in 1979, but not released until 2011.
Scottish alternative rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain cited the Shangri-Las as an early influence. In 1985, the band's guitarist William Reid stated: "We all love the Shangri-Las, and one day we're going to make Shangri-Las records."[35]
Singer/Songwriter Jim Steinman spoke on the influence The Shangri-Las had on him creating the all girl group Pandora's Box during his video promotion for the 1989 album Original Sin.
In 1992, The Beach Boys recorded a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" on their poorly received album, Summer in Paradise.
In Revolution in the Head, music critic Ian MacDonald suggests the bridge of the Beatles' 1995 single "Free as a Bird" borrows from the verse of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)"; the lyric "Whatever happened to/ the boy that I once knew" becoming "Whatever happened to/ the life that we once knew".[36]
Kathleen Hanna of the electropunk group Le Tigre has mentioned that the "one girl calling another" motif and the opening sound of seagulls on the 1999 track "What's Yr Take on Cassavetes?" were inspired by the Shangri-Las.[37]
In the 2015 documentary Wider Horizons, David Gilmour, guitarist for Pink Floyd, cited the Shangri-Las as an influence, saying their music "painted aural pictures".
While recording her 2017 album Lust for Life, American singer Lana Del Rey was heavily influenced by the Shangri-Las.[39]
Rose Mary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There", "This Ole House", and "Sway". She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly because of problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002.
The Crystals are an American vocal group that originated in New York City. Considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s, their 1961–1964 chart hits – including "There's No Other ", "Uptown", "He's Sure the Boy I Love", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me"– featured three different female lead singers and were all produced by Phil Spector. The latter three songs were originally ranked number 263, number 114, and number 493, respectively, on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. However, two songs were omitted from the magazine's 2010 update, leaving only "He's a Rebel" at number 267. In the 2021 update, "Da Doo Ron Ron" was added back to the list at number 366.
Sleater-Kinney is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, following the departure of longtime member Janet Weiss in 2019. Sleater-Kinney originated as part of the riot grrrl movement and has become a key part of the American indie rock scene. The band is also known for its feminist and progressive politics.
Mary Louise Weiss was an American singer and interior designer, best known as the lead singer of the Shangri-Las in the 1960s. Their single "Leader of the Pack" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 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.
"Shout" is a popular song, written and originally recorded by American vocal group the Isley Brothers in 1959. Later versions include a UK Top 10 hit in 1964 by Scottish singer Lulu.
Reparata and the Delrons were an American girl group. They are best known for their 1965 recordings "Whenever a Teenager Cries" and "Tommy", for the 1968 European hit "Captain of Your Ship" and for Reparata's 1975 solo hit "Shoes".
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.
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are "Tell Laura I Love Her", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Then He Kissed Me", "Be My Baby", "Chapel of Love", and "River Deep - Mountain High" ; "Leader of the Pack" ; "Sugar, Sugar" ; "Without Us", and "I Honestly Love You".
Janet Lee Weiss is an American rock drummer, a member of Quasi and former member of Sleater-Kinney. She was the drummer for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, leaving after the album Mirror Traffic, and contributed to the Shins' fourth studio album, Port of Morrow (2012). She was also the drummer for the supergroup Wild Flag.
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.
Eleanor Louise Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", "Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Christmas ", "Hanky Panky", "Chapel of Love", "Leader of the Pack", and "River Deep – Mountain High", among others.
"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'.
"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.
"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.
Ganser is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Best of the Girl Groups is a 2-volume compilation series released by Rhino Records in 1990. The collection, compiling 36 of the better known tracks by girl groups of the 1960s, is listed at #421 in Rolling Stone's list of "Greatest Albums of All Time". Music journalist Robert Christgau includes the compilation in his "core collection" for an essential rock library of music preceding 1980. Entertainment Weekly described the first volume as "a veritable catalog of the era's romantic attitudes". The New York Times recommends both volumes, in conjunction with Rhino's Girl Group Greats, for listeners seeking "the biggest girl-group hits".
Leader of the Pack is the 1965 debut album by girl group the Shangri-Las. The album was produced to capitalize on the group's breakthrough hits "Remember " and "Leader of the Pack", the latter of which had been co-written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich in addition to George "Shadow" Morton. After the album's focal track went to number one, the Shangri-Las' style and image had evolved into something tougher and earthier.
"Give Him a Great Big Kiss" is a song written by Shadow Morton and performed by the Shangri-Las. It debuted at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late December 1964, and peaked at number 18 for two weeks in late January and early February 1965. It was featured on their 1965 album Leader of the Pack. The single was produced by Shadow Morton.
Shangri-Las-65! is the second album by the Shangri-Las. Released in September 1965, it serves as the follow-up album to Leader of the Pack, which was released earlier in the year.
Dangerous Game is an album by Mary Weiss, released by Norton Records in 2007. A positively received album, Weiss was backed by the Reigning Sound.
1 2 Miller, Billy; Linna, Miriam (March 28, 2006). "Mary Weiss Interview". Norton Records. p.5. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
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