"They told me he was bad,
But I knew he was sad,
That's why I fell for the Leader of the Pack..."

When one thinks of the girl groups of the 60s era, most were portrayed as sweet and innocent. Acts like The Supremes, The Shirelles and The Chiffons were considered wholesome and almost angelic. But there was one notable exception, a group decidedly rougher around the edges - that pushed aside the sugary love songs of the day for a more melodramatic angst about tragedy and lost love. And this unique approach not only made the Shangri-Las famous, but also influenced generations of female performers who walked in their footsteps.

Sisters, Mary and Betty Weiss, and Mary Ann and Marge Ganser teamed up in high school to form the Shangri-Las. They soon caught the attention of a record producer named George “Shadow” Morton, who recruited the girls to record one of his original songs, “Remember (Walking in the Sand).” The song incorporated a number of nature sounds - including crashing waves and wailing seagulls – to paint a picture of a love affair that came to a bitter end. An unknown musician named Billy Joel provided the ominous piano riffs, which helped send the song up the charts to the #5 spot in 1964. At the time, none of the singers were even 18 years old, with Mary being the youngest at 15.

Thanks to the success of this song, the group followed up the same year with another Morton-penned song that would become their biggest hit, “Leader of the Pack” a dark ballad about a girl forbidden by her parents to date a biker. The song, filled with the roar of motorcycle engines, ends with a shocking crash, complete with the sounds of shattering glass. While the song became a #1 hit in America, the BBC forbid the song to be played on British Airwaves, due to it’s subject matter (when the ban was finally removed in 1972, the result was a #3 hit on the British charts.)

With a couple of hits under their belt, the Shangri-Las were blossoming stars, performing on the same bill as The Beatles and touring with acts such as James Brown, The Drifters, The Zombies and Dusty Springfield. They also landed a deal to promote Revlon Cosmetics at the time.  And they followed up their original successes with a few more hits. In 1965, they recorded the light-hearted, “Give Him a Great Big Kiss” and another song of tragedy called “Give Us Your Blessings.” They followed up in 1966 with I Can Never Go Home Anymore,” which made it to #6 on the charts, and “Out In The Streets” which would later be successfully covered by Blondie. One of their songs, “Past, Present and Future” consisted of spoken words over Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” Over the years, it has remained a quirky cult favorite.

The group toured extensively throughout much of the sixties, but chose to disband in 1968 and, with the exception of a few shows, decided to avoid the “oldies circuit” route taken by many of their colleagues. They briefly reformed in 1977, thanks to the positive reaction to a re-issue of “Leader of the Pack” in Britain, but subsequent recording sessions were never released to the public. They did manage to reunite on stage, however, for one impromptu performance at the legendary CBGB’s nightclub in New York City.

The impact of the Shangri-Las has been felt throughout the music industry, inspiring such bands as Blondie, New York Dolls, Patty Smith and Amy Winehouse. Even legendary rock band, Aerosmith, did a cover of “Remember (Walking in the Sand).” The sorrowful tales of lost love and the tough street-savvy image of the Shangri-Las changed the image of the girl group forever and they continue to influence female artists to this day.