Sophisticated Boom Boom ( A Shangri-La Is Back To Lead the Pack)

"Remember Walking In The Sand" topped out at #5 on the charts for the Shangri - La's in 1964. It's a heartbreaker of a song, the singer bemoans that her babies "gone away" over a happy chorus of seagulls in the background, giving the song quIte a surreal feel. I remember as a youngun being confused - I thought to myself; "why is that lady sad, she must be at the beach (remember the seagulls?), that's not a sad place!" ... Well nothing in the Shangri-La's world was sad back in 1964. A few months later "Leader Of The Pack" shot up the charts to achieve #1 status. After that, the dual team of teenage sisters from Queens were opening for acts like The Zombies, James Brown, and later The Beatles themselves. Shadow Morton was the driving force behind The Shangri-La's, and Morton, as well as Brill Building writers Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry supplied the girls with plenty of top notch material. For some strange reason, It was hard to parlay "Leader of the Pack", with it's anticiapatory motorcycle revving intro and visual lyrics, into more hits. The girls looked super cool and sounded as tough as ever, but public interest waned with less and less exposure. The only thing that would've saved them it seems, would've been a sequel to their earlier two - wheeled #1 hit. What a shame we all weren't listening a little closer ....

So the girls, Mary Weiss, Betty Weiss, Mary Ann Ganser, and Margie Ganser decided to call it a day in 1968. They left behind classic and influential sides like "Heaven Only Knows", "Give Him A Great Big Kiss", "Out In The Street" and "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", amongst others. All their songs were mini teen operas, and being teens themselves, their authenticity was never in queston. Not many acts can claim that, new or old. Their songs have been covered by acts like Redd Kross, Johnny Thunders, Blondie, Superchunk, and Belle and Sebastian. The "first" punk single, "New Rose" (The Damned) opened with the spoken line "Is She Really Going Out With Him" just as "Leader Of The Pack" had. Even modern singers such as Amy Winehouse site The Shangri-La's influence in her songs. Not bad for a pack of seemingly normal teens from Queens! Our heroines did try again in the late 70's, and even recorded an albums worth of material for Sire. It never saw the light of day and is presumed to be "lost". The girls did play an impromptu set at CBGB's with Lenny "Nuggets" Kaye on guitar around this time. How would you have liked to been in that audience?!?!?? Even after the Sire deal, lables regularly courted them, but with "disco" overteurs. Of course they refused .... Things weren't looking good. They even had to go to court to stop a "fake" Shangri - La's who were touring under The Shangri-La's banner! And so our story of our tough but tender city girls comes to a close. Or does it?

As the 80's dawned, the girls went their seperate ways. Marriage, work, and life in general interrupted The Shangri - La's. But the legacy was intact. They left behind a number of singles and two lps worth of crucial teen angst with which to influence Gen X 'ers and X,Y, and Z'ers (and whatever else they call 'em these days). And influence they did. It's no surprise that Rhino's "Girl Group" box set would include Shangri - La's gems. The release party for that set was the unlikely meeting place for what happened next. It was either fate or providence that brought The Shangri - La's Mary Weiss, and the dynamic duo of Bully Miller and Miriam Linna together. For the unititiated, Billy and Miriam run the craziest record label (yep, mostly vinyl) in the known universe, Norton Records. And the most essential. So, next thing ya know, Mary, Billy and Miriam plan a new Mary Weiss single and album. I like to think of it as a Shangri-La, not La's release, since it's just Mary. And just Mary is more than enough from the sound of it. The album (vinyl or cd) is called "Dangerous Game", and the single "Don't Come Back" b/w "A Certain Guy" was spun off too! Fans new and old will hear all the bittersweet sounds that graced the earlier Shangri-La's records. And they'll also hear the same sincerity from one of rock and roll's most original voices. Sure it's sophisticated, but it's also big and powerful, and ...well, boom boom, y'know? Check out the videos and then click on Mary's link to hear more. Then click the Norton Link and buy both the album and single. Things like this just don't happen everyday ...... Boom boom ....