Universal Music 20th Century Masters (series)

The Best of The Shangri-Las

Product Description:

The Shangri-Las: Marguerite Ganser, Maryann Ganser, Elizabeth Weiss, Mary Weiss.

Producers: Shadow Morton, Ronald Mosley, Robert Bateman.

Compilation producer: Bill Levenson.

Recorded between 1964 and 1966. Includes liner notes by Dave Thompson.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

This is part of MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series.

A solid 12-track compilation at a budget price, this BEST OF THE SHANGRI-LAS is teenage angst at its angstiest. Guided by George "Shadow" Morton, who gave both Phil Spector and Joe Meek a run for their money in the eccentric Svengali sweepstakes, the Shangri-Las specialized in hyper-dramatic study-hall morality tales. Thanks, in large part, to Mary Weiss's unforgettably bratty street-kid vocals and wounded persona, songs like "Leader of the Pack," "I Can Never Go Home Anymore," and "Give Us Your Blessings" flirt with camp, except for the dead-serious tone of her haunted vocals. (The brilliant non-hit "Past, Present and Future" is absolutely frightening.) The too-often-ignored flipside of all this drama-queenery is the trio's string of flirty rockers, particularly "Out in the Streets," "Remember (Walking in the Sand)," and the gloriously giddy "Give Him a Great Big Kiss," the sexiest single of the whole hormone-charged 1960s girl-group era.