The Shangri-Las

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.

Early career

The group was formed at Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria Heights, a neighborhood in Queens, New York City, in 1963. The group consisted of two pairs of sisters: Mary Weiss (lead singer) and Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss, and identical twins Marguerite "Marge"/"Margie" Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser.

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. 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 it was leased to the small Spokane, Washington label.

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. 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.

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. Mary Ann Ganser took lead on most of "I'm Blue", which is a cover of the Ikettes' biggest hit at the time, and was included on their 1965 album Shangri-Las-65!

Success at Red Bird Records

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 producer George "Shadow" Morton, they had their first success with the summer hit "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (US number 5, UK number 14). Billy Joel, a then-unknown working as a session musician, played on the demo of "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)". 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. number 1, UK number 11), climaxes with roaring motorcycles and breaking glass. UK re-issues peaked at number 3 in 1972 and number 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. Jeff Barry described their songs as "audio operas" which "makes you use your imagination".

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.

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). Cashbox magazine listed them as best new R&B group of 1964. 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.

The Shangri-Las appeared as a quartet to promote "Remember", starting with their stint on the 1964 Labor Day Murray the K show. 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. 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).