The Shangri-Las

The Shangri-Las formed in 1963 in Queens, New York. Comprising of Sisters Betty and Mary Weiss and twins Margie and Mary-Ann Ganser, they met whilst all attended the Andrew Jackson High School.



The four girls practiced performing popular songs of the day and worked hard on their harmonies and routines. They started performing locally and were noticed by record producer Artie Ripp who signed them to Kama Sutra Productions. Their first record was recorded live at a local club and it was called 'Simon Says'. The record wasn't released at this time, but they cut a second record which comprised of an A-side called 'Wishing Well' and the B-side being 'Hate To Say I Told You So'.



Enter George "Shadow" Morton who was trying to impress Ellie on his boast of being a 'HIT' songwriter proceeded to record his first hit song. He remembered the Shangri-Las from a club date he had seen them at and contacted them to do vocals for him. On his way to the recording session and realising he didnt have a song, Shadow pulled his car over and wrote ' Remember Walking in The Sand'



In the Summer of 1964, 'Remember (Walking In The Sand)' was released reaching number 5 nationally and number 14 in the UK.



As 'Remember (Walking In The Sand)' was riding high in the charts, Ellie, Jeff and George came up with a follow-up record - it was 'Leader Of The Pack'. The recording was completed, with the initial motorbike sounds being recorded using a real bike that was wheeled into the studio, and the record was scheduled for release. It was at this point the Shangri-Las image went from good girls to good bad girls.but not evil Leader went to No1 in the U.S and entering the U.K charts on 3 seperate occasions , 1965, 1972, and 1976 peaking at No3 in 1972.



By the end of 1964 , they received a Gold Record for 'Remember (Walking In The Sand)' and another for 'Leader Of The Pack'. They then released two singles, 'Give Him A Great Big Kiss' and a version of 'Shout', they had also toured all over America and played countless TV appearances .



1965 proved to be the girl's most successful year with five records getting into the top 100. They were also picked to be the spokes-people for Revlon's line of Natural Wonder Make-Up. As they were idolised by so many teens, they were also asked to do a couple of public service announcements for dating etiquette.



Their next release was an Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry tune called 'Out In The Streets' which demonstrated their versatility. The girls were still travelling as a trio (without Betty) and they hit the road to promote this new tune. Despite the song being a hit locally, it only reached number 53 nationally. The main reason for this was that the record company didn't promote the song.



The next single 'Give Us Your Blessing' was given the full Shadow Morton and Jeff Barry treatment, pulling out all the stops on the production. They went on the road again to promote the single. The song did well and peaked at number 29 in the National Charts. - it was time to record a new LP to showcase the girls in a more diverse and polished approach than that on Leader of the Pack .



In the summer of '65 the girls, now with Betty back toured behind the release of 'Shangri-Las 65! ( Right Now and Not Later). Even though the record didn't do superbly in the US, it was doing very well in countries such as Japan, England, Spain, Canada and others.

Shadow Morton produced the next single called "I Can Never Go Home Anymore". This was released in late 1965 with the record label actually pushing the song , it reached number 6 nationally. Regionally the song went even higher and it was also a hit in England and Japan. The record stayed in the charts into 1966 and with the resultant popularity, the girl's LP 'Shangri-Las 65!', was rereleased with a differrent front sticker featuring ' I Can Never Go Home' ( this track replacing dum dum ditty on the Album).



Keeping up the momentum, Shadow again had the girls back in the studio where he produced 'Long Live Our Love'. 'He Cried' would be the girl's next release but once again, Red Bird Records failed to promote the tune and it therefore only reached number 65 nationally - though higher regionally. Ive read online accounts of Leiber and Stoller selling there shares in Red Bird for $1.00 to George Goldner, and also of gambling debts and poor management.



The final track the girls released on the Red Bird label was 'Past, Present And Future'. This wasn't one of their greatest releases.



The girls (and George) left Red Bird Records and ended up at Mercury Records who were a much bigger label. With Mercury however the girls were lost in the crowd. At this point Margie left the group and Mary-ann returned.

However, instead of releasing new material, they released a greatest hits LP. At the same time (late 1966) Shadow produced a new single with the girls called 'Sweet Sounds Of Summer' backed by 'I'll Never Learn'.



They hit the road and performed with some great acts, but upon returning home, things seemed to have changed. Mercury records seemed more interested in other acts and the Shangri-Las were just left aside.



In 1970, after an illness that made her susceptible to seizures, Mary Ann died. Understandably, her passing was a huge blow to everyone and Margie never really got over the loss of her sister.



Mary, Margie and Betty stayed in touch with each other and occasionally performed together during the 1970s. One exciting moment would have been a quiet sunday night at CBGBs in New York Jan 1978 where the girls did a spontaneous performance of 3 songs from an album they were working on (with Andy Paley in the production chair ) , they also performed Out in the Streets and a ripping version of Bonie Maronie. The Album was touted but sadly it never eventuated. One can only wonder what the album may have sounded like or what direction the girls were going to take.



Mary got married to local entertainment promoter and Betty got married to musician, but neither lasted long. Both Mary and Betty married again and in 1972, Margie married though the marriage ended after 8 years. Mary and Betty are both still happily married and Betty, the only member to have a child, is the proud mother of a daughter named Tracey.



In 1976, Leader Of The Pack was re-released in the UK and the girls popularity grew again. In the 1980's the girls went to court fighting for the right to to perform again as The Shangri-las,as they had found out someone had registered their name and had put together a band, performing their songs. They last performed together in 1989.



In 1994 Margie was diagnosed with breast cancer - she fought a brave battle but sadly passed away from this disease in 1996. As per Margie's wishes, some of her ashes were buried with her sister Mary Ann.



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