THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

331-The Shangri-Las-Leader of the Pack.

1965-Number 11 single. It was reissued in 1972, this time reaching Number 3, and again in 1976 making Number 7.

Best Bit-At 0.01. The song is perhaps the most famous ‘Teenage tragedy song,’ which are also known as ‘Tear Jerkers,’ ‘Death Discs,’ and ‘Splatter Platters.’ Other examples of successful songs with a similar lyrical theme from the late 1950’s to the mid 1960’s include ‘Teen Angel’ by Mark Dining, from 1959, ‘Johnny Remember Me’ by John Leyton, from 1961, and ‘Dead Man’s Curve’ from Jan and Dean, recorded in 1964.

The Shangri-Las were formed in 1963, in New York City, United States, by two pairs of sisters who had first met at Andrew Jackson High School, in Queens, New York City. They were Mary Weiss, (1948-2024) and her sister Betty, and the identical twins Marge Ganser, (1948-1996) and Mary Anne Ganser (1948-1970.) They began performing at school shows, and talent contests, which brought them to the attention of the American record producer Artie Ripp, who signed them to their first record deal with ‘Kama Sutra’ records, this was when they began calling themselves ‘The Shangri-Las,’ taking their name from a restaurant in Queens, New York. In April 1964 while the girls were still minors their parents signed them to ‘Red Bird Records,’ which had been co-founded by the legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber, (1933-2011) and Mike Stoller, (see also best songs 954-804-124 and 86) that was when they first started working with this songs co-writer and producer George ‘Shadow’ Morton. The Shangri-Las remained active until 1968, but did reform to tour in 1977, and then again in 1989. The girls streetwise image was initially a promotional device for this song, and it set them apart from many of the other girl groups of the 1960’s, with many of their songs dealing with taboo subjects of the time. Many artists have cited them as an influence, including Blondie, (see best songs 402) New York Dolls, and The Jesus and Mary Chain (see also best songs 878 and 336.)

The discography of The Shangri-Las includes two studio Albums, ‘Leader of the Pack,’ released in 1965, and ‘Shangri-Las-65!’ issued seven months later, there have also been 18 singles released between 1963-1976, as well as nine official compilation Albums. In America both of their studio Albums failed to reach the Billboard 200 Album chart, but six of their singles did make the Billboard Hot 100 top 40, with ‘Leader of the Pack’ going all the way to Number 1, while in the UK, as well as ‘Leader of the Pack’ charting on three separate occasions, they have also reached the top 40 with ‘Remember (Walking in the Sand,’) which made Number 14 in 1964.

‘Leader of the Pack’ was the second of four singles released from The Shangri-Las debut studio Album of the same name from February 1965, the song was written by George ‘Shadow’ Morton, and the legendary songwriting team of Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, (1940-2009) (see also best songs 820-262 and 192) though Morton claimed to have only added Barry and Greenwich to the songwriting credits for business reasons, Greenwich has questioned Morton’s recollection. George ‘Shadow’ Morton, was born George Francis Morton, on September 3rd, 1941, in Richmond, Virginia, United States, he died on February 14th, 2013, from cancer, at the age of 71. George ‘Shadow’ Morton had first met Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich when they were working at the ‘Brill Building’ (see also best songs 397) in Manhattan, New York City. Barry was sceptical that Morton wasn’t quite the songwriter he claimed to be, so Barry challenged him to write a song, and he came up with ‘Remember (Walking in the Sand,’) which would become The Shangri-Las first hit in 1964, reaching Number 5 on Billboard. Morton who earned his nickname ‘Shadow’ from George Goldner, (1918-1970) the co-owner of ‘Red Bird Records,’ because his whereabouts could never be pinned down, is remembered for his innovative production work with sound effects and percussion. After leaving ‘Red Bird Records’ he went on to work with many artists including Janis Ian, (see also best songs 353) Vanilla Fudge, and New York Dolls.

‘Leader of the Pack’ is the tale of tragic young love. The girl falls in love at first sight with the leader of a motorbike gang, to which her parents strongly disapprove of. The girls father tells her in no uncertain terms that they must split, when she tells her love that it is over he drives away in to the night, but skids on a rainy road and is killed. In 2007 the lead singer of The Shangri-Las, Mary Weiss said, ‘I don’t think I would be able to put feeling into the song unless I had really thought about the lyrics. I put a lot of my own pain into that song. I don’t think teenage years are all that rosy for a lot of people, they certainly weren’t for me. They are the most confusing time of people’s lives and there is a tremendous dark side to the record, which I think teenagers related to. The studio was a great place to let the pain out.’ She has also commented, ‘I thought it was amusing when they (British radio and TV stations) banned ‘Leader’ because of the ‘Mod’ and ‘Rocker’ stuff. When I got off the plane in my leather jacket everyone knew which side I was on.’

The British ‘Punk Rock’ group The Damned paid tribute to ‘Leader of the Pack’ when the groups lead singer David Vanian spoke the songs opening line, ‘Is she really going out with him?,’ at the start of the debut single by The Damned, ‘New Rose,’ (see also best songs 273) which is recognised as the very first ever single released by a British Punk Rock band.

‘He sort of smiled and kissed me goodbye, the tears were beginning to show. As he drove away on that rainy night I begged him to go slow, but whether he heard I’ll never know.’