when i say i'm in love, you best believe i'm in love, L-U-V

ladies & gentlemen, let me introduce... the angels of death, the myrmidons of melodrama, the killer shangs*..

..the shangri-las!

alright. all i really wanted to say was that 'i can never go home anymore' is my favorite song ever. but i love these girls so much, i thought i ought to make something special out of it and just you know, spread the love. :)

the shangri-las / i can never go home anymore

i got to know the shangri-las through amy winehouse. well, sure, i'd heard of them before but i never took the time to listen. amy was talking about recording 'back to black' and how she'd spend hours at home, listening to various girl groups and then go back to the studio with this in mind and say, ok, that's how i want it to sound. she mentioned the shangri-las and 'i can never go home anymore' and i thought, ok, i'll check them out, sounds interesting.

the shangri-las / out in the streets

the shangri-las / remember (walkin' in the sand)

they sound different. they look different. they talk different. the shangri-las live in a world where 'always' and 'forever' mean everything. they're not just singing about love and growing up, they're showing you teenage soap opera like you've never seen it before - think romeo & juliet meet the ramones. talk about melodrama.

that song, 'i can never go home anymore', is about a young girl running away from home with her boyfriend. that doesn't quite work out, she's alone, thinking about home but pride keeps her from going back. i love that it slowly builds up and you know something is bound to happen.. the part from 1:45 to 2:20, see, here it is, i can't get over it - so damn perfect.

the shangri-las / the leader of the pack

the shangri-las / give us your blessings

the shangri-las / train from kansas city

it's not just "girl meets boy, girl falls in love, they get married and live happily ever after" (mind you, i've got nothing against the crystals, they're great) forget it - the shangri-las got attitude. they were bad. well, as bad as you can get when you're 15 and singing about everlasting love. but never mind that and listen. they're telling the best stories. it's like a tarantino movie : might not be your thing but you know it's gonna be entertaining. it's colourful, over the top and hilarious.

the shangri-las / give him a great big kiss

the shangri-las / what is love?

the shangri-las / wishing well

the shangri-las were mary and betty weiss, and twins mary ann and marge ganser - often pictured as a trio because betty and then mary ann didn't always travel with the band. mary sang lead most of the time** and being the youngest of the 4 (she was 15 when 'wishing well' was recorded) she was still able to convince the audience she was genuine; songwriters jeff barry and shadow morton often pointing out her remarkable acting skills. throw highly quotable lyrics into the mix and there's no stopping them!

the shangri-las / shout (the isley brothers)

the shangri-las / twist & shout (the top notes)***

and because i'm really really nice, i've got a few goodies for you. a few covers first:

the shop assistants / train from kansas city

johnny thunders / great big kiss

blondie / out in the streets

neko case / train from kansas city

and a couple of songs that you probably already know about.. spot the influence. :)

amy winehouse / back to black (@bbc sessions)

bat for lashes / what's a girl to do?

sonic youth / little trouble girl

*

[the shangs]

[mary weiss]

*yeah, i made that one up. :D
**marge is singing lead on 'what is love?'
***first band to record that song, obviously the isley brothers and then the beatles took it to another level

and my heart stood still

ellie greenwich / you don't know

ellie greenwich / baby

*

the ronettes / be my baby (live @ sha na na show)*

*

blondie / out in the streets (the shangri-las)

spend a bit of time listening to 60's pop music, especially the girl groups from the early years, and you will come across a few names : phil spector, carole king, gerry goffin, jeff barry, ellie greenwich all worked together to shape the decade and open the door to the british invasion. i don't know about you but when i'm learning about something new, i'm always trying to focus on a few particular points and grow from that. start with the basics, right?
my journey was something like : i loved the supremes, then i got into the shangri-las, from there got a copy of the One Kiss Lead To Another compilation and started obsessing - which tends to happen a lot when i come across cool music like that anyway. i ended up getting a bit of a musical crush on jeff barry & ellie greenwich - they made the coolest tunes with the coolest bands, as simple as that.
later in the 70's and after her divorce to barry, ellie greenwich went on to record 2 albums, also singing background vocals for dusty springfield, bobby darin and frank sinatra while writing songs for blondie and cyndi lauper.
to make a long story short, ellie greenwich is one of the most gifted songwriters you will ever come across and because she passed away a couple of months ago, i thought she deserved a shout out. i'm so grateful and this is a bit of a thank you, i guess - thank you for the music and thank you for the dreams. :)

i was young, it was exciting, and i cried when i heard my songs on the radio. but i don't think it was until many years later, when i saw how the songs have lived on, that i really understood. when i hear 'be my baby' now, when i hear that boom! ch-chik! boom! intro, i get goosebumps. i really do.

great interviews here and here.

*this is a very late recording (probably around 1980) and it's actually Ronnie Spector & the Ronettes, ie not the original line up. Video can be found here. Ronnie Spector looking mighty good!