The Shangri-Las are GREAT!!!

The Crystals of "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" are ultra romantic, fairy tale-level almost (cf. Goodfellas); I can much more imagine the Shangri-Las involved in that kind of awful relationship. (He's good-bad, and he's evil.)

I'm treating the Shangri-Las and the Crystals like they're a person...you know what I mean.

Supposedly it was Little Eva's abusive boyfriend who inspired "He Hit Me..."

Alison Anders spun that story from abuse to teen pregnancy for the 'banned song' plotline in Grace of My Heart.

That song would sully any group's discography – but beyond that, if the "bad boy" of Shangri-Las songs were actually bad (and not just misunderstood), it would ruin the whole point.

Anyway, it was released before the group formed; they never sang a Goffin-King song; and (thank god) never worked with Spector.

Yeah the blurb claims Morton had the hots for the lead singer of the other group (“The Goodies”*), and wanted to give them “Leader of the Pack,” but Leiber & Stoller (Red Bird) said no…

*not to be confused with The Goodees, from Memphis, who are totally awesome

Oh no...RIP Mary. I love this performance (not lip-synched)...all the little gestures and facial expressions (the scrunching during "dirty fingernails", etc.) are too adorable. And the "MWAH!" makes me laugh uncontrollably every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0O6tabbjjk

^^ yes that is the best

Ed Wynn hosted Shindig!? That's surreal.

TIL that (not-great) album track “You Cheated, You Lied” was written by Levon Helm.

Prob no revelations to any of yall, but this 2007 interview's succinct, action-packed backstory had some news for me:https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/mary-weiss-girl-group-icon-1234950550/

But with a new album, Dangerous Game (out March 6), Weiss has picked up music again. Backed by Memphis garage rockers the Reigning Sound, Weiss tackles a dozen new songs offering a raw, near-punk take on the girl-group sound. The best of the bunch is the rueful “Cry About the Radio,” which begins with the declaration “Kids don’t know shit.”

I never heard that album but I saw two of her gigs in support of it, which included enough Shangri-Las hits to keep them interesting. After one of those gigs, which was at a street fair in Brooklyn, I met her on the sidewalk and we had a nice brief conversation. She was exactly as I had imagined she would be.

Well, what colour were her eyes?

lol

Running all the Shangri-Las lyrics through my head to come up with a good answer to hat question but drawing a blank

And that’s called sad

And now I'm seeing her eyes being blue.

I was disappointed in that solo record, seemed a little too polished for a Norton release, although it also felt like the material would've come off well live. However I'll also say that when I bought it, it was one of several albums I bought that day, so I might not have given it sufficient attention.

She promoted it on Conan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9nnb4DIc4o

That Shindig performance is great, but I'm always amused by the randomness of staging on shows of that era - like "let's make sure the anonymous drummer's kit is out in front of the singing group".

The beat is such a focus in that song (almost a “hook”), that I can kind of see why they did it. Love the outfits…

Wow, YouTube just threw this Entertainment Tonight report from '89 about a fake Shangs hitting the Oldies circuit and the surviving originals reuniting to sue them.

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

Ah, click the "watch on" button, it's totally worth it to see the dickhead impresario behind the new group lie through his teeth.

Marge goes OFF in that clip, ha ha... love her attitude

Yeah, that producer dude is such a cartoonish sleezebag

I wonder if the material they recorded w/Andy Paley in 1977 (for Sire) has ever leaked/surfaced...

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

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.)