Pack leader
The Shangri-Las’ streetwise singer Mary Weiss has left us age 75.
Drama queens: The Shangri-Las (from left) Mary Ann Ganser, Mary Weiss and CMarge Ganser in 1965.
CRYING SEAGULLS, revving engines and a powerful young female singer whose voice could tear your heart out. In 1964 when the Shangri-Las songs Remember (Walking In The Sand) and Leader Of The Pack first appeared, there was no other group quite like them.
Weiss, who fronted the group, was born in Queens, New York and raised, she said, in poverty. Her father died when she was small and her mother found it hard holding things together. Weiss learned to fend for herself. Since she loved to sing, she formed an a cappella girl group when she was 13 with her big sister Betty and twin schoolfriends Mary Ann and Marge Ganser. They sang on street corners, progressing to sock hops and school dances and made a little cash. Word spread and a local music businessman, Artie Ripp of Kama Sutra, signed them.