Mary Weiss, singer of the 1960s group Shangri-Las whose hits included Leader of the Pack, has died. She was 75 years old.
Miriam Linna, founder of Weiss’ record label, Norton Records, confirmed the death, stating that the artist died on Friday – January 19 – in Palm Springs, California. The cause of death was not disclosed.
The Shangri-Las, which formed in the Queens borough of New York City, were made up of two pairs of sisters: Weiss and her sister Elizabeth “Betty” Weiss, and twins Marguerite “Marge” Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser. . They met at school, and when they were teenagers they began singing at school dances and teen gatherings where they danced.
Success of the singer in the music industry
After producer Artie Ripp signed them to the Kama Sutra Productions label, the Shangri-Las were hugely successful as an all-female group with a tough, working-class image, and with drama-filled songs about teenage dreams and broken hearts. , which predominated on radio in the mid-1960s. Their name was chosen from a restaurant in Queens.
Her first success, Remember (Walking in the Sand), reached number five on the Billboard chart in 1964 for Red Bird Records. Weiss was just 15 years old when it premiered. The song, which Aerosmith would cover years later, was written by George “Shadow” Morton, a songwriter and pop producer from the Brill Building, where some of America’s most popular songs have been written.
Morton was a key architect of the Shangri-Las’ success, developing a sound that fused Ronettes-style R&B with big teenage thrills. Leader of the Packco-written by Morton, ranked No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart in 1965.
The Shangri-Las did not last long: they broke up in 1968 amid legal problems. But they remained a pioneering group made up entirely of women.
Source: AP
