After working together for a bit, Mary Weiss ended up singing lead. In April of 1964, since the girls were still minors, their parents signed for them with Red Bird Records, with their name coming from the title of a mythical place of wonder. Mary was 15, Betty was 17, and the Ganser twins were 16. That same year, they had their first hit with "Remember (Walking in the Sand)". The song, a U.S. #5 and a U.K. #14, was created after producer George "Shadow" Morton hired the band.
Their songs with "Shadow" Morton featured lavish production with heavy orchestration and sound effects. Their biggest hit, the renowned death disc "Leader of the Pack", climaxes with the sounds of roaring motorcycles and breaking glass. A U.S. #1 and U.K. #11 hit, the tune still gets serious airplay to this day.
According to a Biography episode on various 60s 'Brill Building' songwriters, including retrospective interviews with Greenwich, Barry and Morton among others, Barry said that at the time he was suspicious of Morton's overt attention to Greenwich. Disbelieving Morton was really the songwriter he claimed to be, Barry challenged Morton to prove his legitimacy and bring in samples of his recent work (expecting never to hear again from an embarrassed Morton). Morton stated in his interview that, with an empty song portfolio at the time, he felt sufficiently challenged by Barry, whereupon he left the Brill Building and drove his automobile to a Long Island Beach.
Full of both inspiration and desperation, Morton spent the evening writing his first song, while sitting in the dark in his parked car. Entitled "Remember (Walking In The Sand)", Morton then 'rolled the dice' and recorded a demo of his song with a long-shot, unknown girl-group local club act that he admired, The Shangri-Las (according to Morton, with the then-unknown Billy Joel on piano in the demo recording), and offered the demo recording to Jerry Leiber, who was then setting up Red Bird Records. The recording "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" by the Shangri-Las reached #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. Considering the scope of this accomplishment, Morton was transformed overnight from a credential-less industry 'wannabe' into a teen recording songwriter and recording producer. According to Steve Kurutz at Allmusic, "Morton's production work, which included brilliant sound effects and inventive percussion, carried the Shangri-Las to girl-group history."
The band continued to have a string of American hit records, mainly on depressing themes such as death, loneliness, and abandonment. Songs included "Past, Present and Future", "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" and "Long Live Our Love".
In 1966, the Shangri-Las' subsequent two releases on Red Bird failed to make the top 50. That same year the band left Red Bird and Morton after the label folded. At the beginning of 1967, Marge decided to leave the group. Despite signing to Mercury Records that year, the group had no further hits. In 1968, they disbanded.
Mary Ann died of a drug overdose in 1970. Marge succumbed to breast cancer on July 28, 1996 at age 48.
The group experienced a small revival in the UK when "Leader Of The Pack" was re-issued twice, reaching #3 in 1972 and #7 in 1976.
The Shangri-La's 1966 hit "Past, Present & Future" was effectively covered in 2004 by ex ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog on her 2004 album, "My Colouring Book".
Since the 1980's, the group has had to deal with a group calling themselves The Shangri Las, but having nothing to do with the original group. The group was put together by Dick Fox.
Discography
Standard albums
* 1964: Leader of the Pack (US #109)
* 1965: Shangri-Las-65!
Compilations
* 1966: Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las
* 1975: The Shangri-Las Sing
* 1996: The Best of the Shangri-Las
Singles
* 1964: "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (US #5, UK #14)
* 1964: "Leader of the Pack" (US #1, UK #11)
* 1965: "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" (US #18)
* 1965: "Give Us Your Blessings" (US #29)
* 1965: "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" (US #6)
* 1965: "Maybe" (US #91)
* 1965: "Out in the Streets" (US #53)
* 1965: "Right Now and Not Later" (US #99)
* 1966: "He Cried" (US #65)
* 1966: "Long Live Our Love" (US #33)
* 1966: "Past, Present and Future" (US #59)
* 1966: "Take the Time"
* 1967: "Sweet Sounds of Summer"
References
* "Shangri-Las 77!", footnote 4, by Phil X Milstein, Spectropop
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shangri-Las
Love You More Than Yesterday
The Shangri-Las Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you lied to me about
The way that you feel
How could I know your heart?
Was just a whim looking for fun
And you'd make me cry?
But now I'm dyin' inside, knowin' I
But less than tomorrow
Our love grows stronger
By the minute, by the hour, day by day
But now you've gone away
You said your love was mine
So I gave you everything I had to give
You used me like a toy
Played a game, you won my love
Then you walked away
But now I'm dying inside, knowing I
Love you more than yesterday
But less than tomorrow
Our love grows stronger
By the minute, by the hour, day by day
But now you've gone away
Look at me, I'm on my knees
Praying you'll come back to me
Knowing I love you
Love you more than yesterday
But less than tomorrow
Our love grows stronger
By the minute, by the hour, day by day
But now you've gone away
But now you've gone away
But now you've gone away
The Shangri-Las’ song Love You More Than Yesterday is a poignant love ballad that talks about the pain of losing someone who you love more than anything else in this world. The singer is heartbroken that the person she loved has walked away from her, leaving her to suffer alone. She is unable to understand why he lied to her about his feelings and played with her emotions, breaking her heart in the process. She laments about how she gave everything she had to him, only to be used like a toy and discarded when he was done.
Despite the pain and the heartbreak, the singer's love for the person is as strong as ever. She sings about how her love continues to grow stronger with each passing minute, hour, and day. She is willing to do anything to get him back, even if it means begging him on her knees. The lyrics of the song touch upon the universal themes of love, loss, and heartbreak, which have resonated with listeners for generations.
Line by Line Meaning
I cant think straight knowing
I cannot think straight anymore because of what you did
That you lied to me about
You lied to me about how you felt towards me
The way that you feel
Your true feelings towards me
How could I know your heart?
How could I have known what was truly in your heart?
Was just a whim looking for fun
Your feelings for me were just a fleeting desire for fun
And you'd make me cry?
You hurt me to the point of tears
But now I'm dyin' inside, knowin' I
Now I am slowly dying inside because I know
Love you more than yesterday
My love for you grows stronger every day
But less than tomorrow
But I know it will never be as much as tomorrow
Our love grows stronger
Our love was growing stronger with each passing moment
By the minute, by the hour, day by day
Our love was growing with each passing minute and every day
But now you've gone away
But now you have left me
You said your love was mine
You told me that your love belonged to me
So I gave you everything I had to give
I gave you everything I had to offer
You used me like a toy
You treated me like a toy to be played with and discarded
Played a game, you won my love
You played a game with me and came out victorious with my love
Then you walked away
Then you left me behind
Look at me, I'm on my knees
I am on my knees begging for you to come back to me
Praying you'll come back to me
I am praying every day that you will return to me
Knowing I love you
And you should know that despite everything, I still love you
But now you've gone away
But now you have left me
But now you've gone away
But now you have left me
But now you've gone away
But now you have left me
Contributed by Oliver W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@briteness
We love you, Shangri-Las!
@normanbommarito6029
A great group of girls singing great songs
@anitashelby
Love This One!!! Thankyou.sunsets..Anita =)
@andrewjwheelerjr3414
Same here ms. Anita sweetness .
@barbarabain4303
Their sound defined the sixtys angst...
@andrewjwheelerjr3414
Love these groove girl groups such as the shan gri las the angels the luv'd ones just to name a few because they are all so very groovy to dance and sing a long to well peace everyone.
@ynot723
My father wrote this song
@tonysantiago255
Great pop song. So cool that your dad wrote it. I just discovered the Shangri-Las. They were Amazing! Luv,luv,luv, them!
@BobbyDelRiv
Was this a flip side? Should have been an A side if so.
@ynot723
@brabon1 My Dad is Tony-sorry it was so long to post this, I didn't see the comment.