Day 293: The Shangri-Las - Leader of the Pack

Reader, today I have been worse for wear. The festival was fun but one day was more than enough, I can’t believe I used to do three straight days of that. I needed a nice, easy album to listen to, the audio equivalent of a gentle pat on the head to help me feel better. I chose a classic ‘60s girl group, the Shangri-Las.

Album cover courtesy of Red Bird Records

The Shangri-Las were formed in 1963 by a group of girls from Queens. They consisted of a pair of sisters, Mary and Betty Weiss, and a pair of identical twins called Marge and Mary Ann Ganser. They met at high school and started off singing at school events, getting successful enough to get signed less than a year into their musical careers. By 1964, they were big enough to tour with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Leader of the Pack was released in 1965 as the group’s first album after switching to a new record label. The single “Leader of the Pack” was a big hit and it went to number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, propelling the girls to worldwide fame.

I definitely made the right choice today. There’s something about 1960s vocal groups  that soothes the soul. Maybe it’s the sugary sweetness of the love songs or the vocal harmonies, but something about it just feels good. But the Shangri-Las do have a bit of grit to them, contrary to the squeaky-clean image of most similar groups, and their relative New York street-smart bad girl image later inspired bands like the New York Dolls and the Ramones.

The titular track is suitably a little bit grittier than expected, and it was even banned by the BBC to protect the nation’s morals from such violent filth. It’s a melodramatic story about teenage rebellion and death, and it’s an example of a trend that was big in the ‘60s called death discs, or splatter platters, which were dramatic teenage stories that usually end in death by either crashing a car or a motorcycle, as happens in “Leader of the Pack”.

It’s just a strong all-rounder. Something about how it was made sounds intimate, like you’re there in a room with them. And the soul-soothing quality worked, I don’t know how you could listen to something like “The Sweet Sounds of Summer” and not have a better day. The Shangri-Las represent the peak of girl groups. Also, I think it’s really cool that they inspired so many punk bands, it’s just not what you’d expect. 9/10.