There Were Moments When

[The Shangri-Las, "Past, Present and Future" (Fan Video)]

"I used to sing..."

The Shangri-Las weren't an amazing singing group, technically.  Today their voices would probably get tweaked up and rounded out in the studio, which is a shame because you shouldn't fuck with perfection.  When I saw Mary Weiss perform last year, she sounded fuller and more exact than she had on either the old ‘Las recordings or on her new disc; Weiss mentioned that having monitors on the stage was a luxury she wasn't used to.

Your voice sounds different in your own head, buried in a pillow, behind a door you've just slammed shut.

What made the Queens quartet click was their acting ability.  Working at a label owned by Lieber & Stoller, guided by writer-producer George "Shadow" Morton, they had a great sound and great scripts from which to work.  Their catalog goes much, much deeper than the A's everyone knows - "Leader of the Pack," "(Remember) Walkin' in the Sand," "Out in the Streets."  "Train from Kansas City" was an Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry-penned B-side!  (Surely you own the compilation Myrmidons of Melodrama.  You don't?  You must.)

The Goodies - Sophisticated Boom Boom (mp3) (buy)

The Shangri-Las - Sophisticated Boom Boom (mp3) (buy)

This secondhand B is one of the greatest songs ever smacked on wax and if you don't think so then hmmmmph.  According to the book that comes with One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found, Lon Guyland gal gang The Goodies were Morton's first choice for "Leader of the Pack" because he wanted to get in lead singer Maureen Reilling's pants; "Boom" and its A-side ("The Dum Dum Ditty," which Weiss & Co. would also cover) were a consolation offering.

If you're not paying attention, sure, square, those're exactly the same.  (The re-deaux has a bass strung slack and that weird nose trumpet (?) solo.  Whatever.)  Same director, same direction.  But the ‘Las version is one thousand times better, and not just ‘cause I say so.  This is why casting matters.  Exhibit A is substandard sorority house talent show-level play-acting - those might as well be The Pipettes.  Reilling can't go anywhere but through the motions, and you're gonna follow her lead?  When Weiss enters the room she brings her bad girl starpower - which gives the hilarious mock-belle accent context - but she also brings hips and swagger.  Of course the band's at attention!  It has nothing to do with hitting the right notes, and everything to do with hitting the right notes.  Dig?  Boom, boom.

That's not very sophisticated!  And it's a lot lighter than the usual ‘Las fare.  Perhaps this offers a more eloquent compare/contrast:

Shadow Morton - Dressed in Black (demo)(mp3) (buy)

The Shangri-Las - Dressed in Black (mp3) (buy)

The Nu-Luvs - So Soft, So Warm (mp3) (buy)

The Pussycats - Dressed in Black (mp3) (buy)

(The Morton demo is an (circle one) interesting/embarrassing curiosity - like watching Scorsese go "You talkin' to me?" in front of a mirror.)

The three official versions of this record, as far as I can tell, were all released in 1966.  Someone loved this song and wasn't willing to let it go.  Its cryptic post-romance petulance, the way the narrator shrouds her man in mystical terms - break-up as death - makes it  perfect Shangs fodder and they moaned it first, as a B-side to "He Cried."  Morton quickly turned it around, flipped it over for The Nu-Luvs, rechristening their A-side "So Soft, So Warm."  The Pussycats version stayed in the family*, on top of the record.

You just heard Weiss acting out in "Sophisticated," so it's clear she's underplaying her "Black" monologues.  It creates a bigger contrast between the sulky exposition, the choral affirmation, the comfort of the memory.  Their version - and the "but now he's gones" are totally flat! - is best, brilliant.  Two very rich particulars:  The way Mary monotones "This girl's love is getting stronger with each passing day" is totally unconvincing.  It's a pledge, it's self-delusion.  Her parents were right!  She keeps mumbling as the chorus swells.  Then, though Weiss booms the first chorus on her own, in this second one she comes in late, joining and soaring over the group on "I live on just a memory..."  This is our stubborn dissociative conclusion.  As her back-ups' vocals go sour, it's clear our girl will go on resenting reality, existing in the what-will-never.

The subsequent singles are sung better, don't work as well.  The Nu-Luvs come in as a group from the start, which seems like a bad idea (especially on lines like "we're so much in love"); it forces the narrator to establish herself at the first monologue, robs her of her initial solitude.  Theirs has a sweeter center, more obviousness, like that outré "No no no no..." flourish.  The Pussycats have a sharper, full-chested, traditional sound.

But these things live and die with the monologues, the best actress makes the best choice.  Look on each ending as a matter of taste.  The Pussycats' narrator sobs over "no one can hear me cry," the Nu-Luvs' goes catatonic and repetitive.  Do you prefer a narrator who can't control herself?  Or one like Weiss, who matter-of-factly shuts you out?

Every moment has meaning in these songs.  You cannot possibly over-analyze them.  We're living in the heightened hormonal reality of a teenager, and Morton and the Shangri-Las realized it better than any amped emo anthem or lo-fi blow-out ever could.

(And yeah, that echoey wood block knocking drives me nuts.)

Which brings us to the fan video at the top, which I find captivating.  "Past, Present and Future" - this was a charting single! - is this genius, bizarre, picked scab of a... song?  Is it a song?  It's a monologue over the Moonlight Sonata, it's all talk and background music.  It's a soap opera and a perfume commercial and a LiveJournal entry. 

Critics clue in on the song's post-traumatic vibe and its strongest lines ("But don't try to touch me.  Don't try to touch me.  Because that will never happen again.") and figure the narrator to be the survivor of a sexual assault.  Weiss says that never occurred to her; in this universe, every broken date is a fatality, so "touching" the narrator might simply involve rousing her from an emotional coma.

People weren't rushing to reproduce this one - the only cover AllMusicGuide lists came in 2004, from ABBA's Agneta Fältskog (it's neither pop nor Bergman) - and I don't think I'd ever ever ever want to see this in concert.  But "Past" is perfect for the Internet, even though its wounded restraint seems antithetical to the divulgey oversharers online.  The narrator is approachable yet distant, present but locked in her own skull.  She will dance with you as long as there is never any contact.

[Mary Weiss (myspace) - no longer a teenager, and therefore free to enjoy herself - will be doing a free show at the South Street Seaport on Friday, July 18th with Nouvellas (ex-Dansettes, myspace) and The Lost Crusaders (myspace).]

* If you want technical stuff from the labels:  The song was written by Morton, V. Gorman, and Tony Michaels.  The Las' Redbird 45, a "Kama-Sutra Production," credits Morton as producer and Artie Butler as arranger.  The N-L's Mercury 45, a "Phantom Product," credits Morton and Michaels as co-producers and arrangers.  The ‘cats Columbia 45, again "Kama-Sutra," has Michaels as sole producer and Butler as arranger and conductor.

*

Speaking of free stuff, crews have been setting up the stage for tonight's Met Opera perf in Prospect Park for half a week, now.  Much bigger rig than years past, with video screens and whatnot; apparently they're busing folks in for this one.

The other night, when testing the speakers, the crew was playing AC/DC.

*

Man Man Man:  "We need Matt Damon in this band. I think it's going to save us."

tags: mary weiss  shangrilas  

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