The Shangri-Las were an American, pop music, girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with a string of often heartbreaking teen melodramas, and remain best known for "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)".
The group was formed at Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, New York in 1963. They consisted of two sets of sisters: Mary Weiss (lead singer) (born 1948) and Elizabeth Weiss (usually known professionally as Betty Weiss) (born 1946), and identical twins Marguerite "Marge" and Mary Ann Ganser (born 1947). Most of the time the girls appeared as a trio, despite there being four singers on most recordings. Betty Weiss would join the group for some but not all public appearances. They began playing school shows, talent shows and teen hops, coming to the attention of Artie Ripp, who arranged the group's first record deal.
Their first recording in December 1963 was "Simon Says", later issued on the Smash label, on which Betty Weiss sang lead. In April 1964, when the girls were still minors, their parents signed for them with Red Bird Records; Mary was 15, Betty was 17, and the Ganser twins were 16. Having been hired by record producer George "Shadow" Morton, they had their first success with the summer hit, "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (U.S. #5, UK #14). Their recordings for Morton featured lavish production with heavy orchestration and sound effects, and their next and biggest hit, the renowned 'death disc', "Leader of the Pack" (U.S. #1, UK #11), climaxes with the sounds of roaring motorcycles and breaking glass. UK re-issues of the single peaked at #3 in 1972 and at #7 in 1976.
They continued to chart with a run of fairly successful U.S. hit records, specialising in adolescent themes such as alienation, loneliness, abandonment and death. Singles include "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", "He Cried" and the spoken-word cult favourite "Past, Present and Future", featuring music from Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata". The group toured and appeared on several major TV shows, but in 1966 two of the Shangri-Las' three releases on Red Bird failed to crack the top 50. That same year the band left Red Bird and Morton after the label folded.
At the beginning of 1967, Marge Ganser decided to leave the group. Despite signing to Mercury Records that year, they had no further hits. In 1968, they disbanded.
Lead singer Mary Weiss later married and worked as an interior designer and furniture store manager. Betty Weiss also married. Mary Ann Ganser died in 1971; accounts vary as to the cause, with some references to a drug overdose or seizure, although Mary Weiss and others state that she succumbed to encephalitis brought on by a mosquito bite. Marge Ganser succumbed to breast cancer on July 28, 1996 at the age of forty-eight. Find out more about this New York-based girl group at: http://www.theshangri-las.com/
The group was formed at Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, New York in 1963. They consisted of two sets of sisters: Mary Weiss (lead singer) (born 1948) and Elizabeth Weiss (usually known professionally as Betty Weiss) (born 1946), and identical twins Marguerite "Marge" and Mary Ann Ganser (born 1947). Most of the time the girls appeared as a trio, despite there being four singers on most recordings. Betty Weiss would join the group for some but not all public appearances. They began playing school shows, talent shows and teen hops, coming to the attention of Artie Ripp, who arranged the group's first record deal.
Their first recording in December 1963 was "Simon Says", later issued on the Smash label, on which Betty Weiss sang lead. In April 1964, when the girls were still minors, their parents signed for them with Red Bird Records; Mary was 15, Betty was 17, and the Ganser twins were 16. Having been hired by record producer George "Shadow" Morton, they had their first success with the summer hit, "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (U.S. #5, UK #14). Their recordings for Morton featured lavish production with heavy orchestration and sound effects, and their next and biggest hit, the renowned 'death disc', "Leader of the Pack" (U.S. #1, UK #11), climaxes with the sounds of roaring motorcycles and breaking glass. UK re-issues of the single peaked at #3 in 1972 and at #7 in 1976.
They continued to chart with a run of fairly successful U.S. hit records, specialising in adolescent themes such as alienation, loneliness, abandonment and death. Singles include "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", "He Cried" and the spoken-word cult favourite "Past, Present and Future", featuring music from Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata". The group toured and appeared on several major TV shows, but in 1966 two of the Shangri-Las' three releases on Red Bird failed to crack the top 50. That same year the band left Red Bird and Morton after the label folded.
At the beginning of 1967, Marge Ganser decided to leave the group. Despite signing to Mercury Records that year, they had no further hits. In 1968, they disbanded.
Lead singer Mary Weiss later married and worked as an interior designer and furniture store manager. Betty Weiss also married. Mary Ann Ganser died in 1971; accounts vary as to the cause, with some references to a drug overdose or seizure, although Mary Weiss and others state that she succumbed to encephalitis brought on by a mosquito bite. Marge Ganser succumbed to breast cancer on July 28, 1996 at the age of forty-eight. Find out more about this New York-based girl group at: http://www.theshangri-las.com/
Research info provided by: www.wikipedia.org
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