The Shangri-Las Albums Ranked

The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966, they charted with several hits documenting teen tragedies and melodramas. They remain known for their hits “Remember (Walking in the Sand)”, “Give Him a Great Big Kiss”, and in particular, “Leader of the Pack”, which went to #1 in the US in late 1964. The group was formed at Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria Heights, a neighborhood in Queens, New York City, in 1963. They were two pairs of sisters: Mary Weiss (lead singer) (born December 28, 1948) and Elizabeth “Betty” Weiss (born November 27, 1946), and identical twins Marguerite “Marge”/”Margie” Ganser (February 4, 1948 – July 28, 1996) and Mary Ann Ganser (February 4, 1948 – March 14, 1970). Initially, the girls performed without a name; however, when they signed their first deal, they began calling themselves the Shangri-Las, after a Queens, New York restaurant. Some discographies list The Beatle-ettes and The Bon Bons, who both issued singles in 1964, as early versions of the Shangri-Las; however, they are different groups. Here are all of The Shangri-Las albums ranked.

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4. Myrmidons Of Melodrama 

“I’ve just listened to My Boyfriend’s Back by the Angels and Myrmidons of Melodrama by the Shangri-Las back to back and the contrast in quality couldn’t be greater. The Shangri-Las had such dark undercurrents both lyrically and musically. They’re much more complex than they tend to get credit for.”

3. The Best of the Shangri-Las

“Forget any and all other Shangri-La’s compilations out there (and there are many): this is the real deal, every great track from the greatest girl group ever, in remastered sound. If you think of ’em as basically a one-hit wonder, you’ll be truly surprised at how many brilliant tracks there are here, each one a little masterpiece of psychodrama. “Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)”! “Give Us Your Blessings”! “Sophisticated Boom-Boom”! “I Can Never Go Home Any More”! And above all “Past, Present and Future”, possibly the saddest song in the history of the universe — really, kids, it makes Leonard Cohen at his most morose sound like the happiest dude alive”

2. Shangri-Las – 65! 

“‘Shangri-Las ‘65’ is a fun rocking party album. It sounds like a hybrid of the Ronnettes being backed by The Chocolate Watchband. The material was written by some of the top songsters of the ‘60’s. Barry/Greenwich supplied no less than five compositions. Among them is the hit single both The New York Dolls and Blondie would pay homage to the Shangri-Las by covering, ‘Out In The Street’. Future Monkees tunesmiths Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart co-penned the simply contagious, ‘Dum Dum Ditty’.”

1. Leader Of The Pack 

“I like this so much, – just because it is so very imperfect. Leader of the Pack and Remember are great songs with a real story in less than 3 minutes and that is something rare and one of the most important points in Pop music, the other songs on side one sure are great too in their setting and the second side with its live sounds put upon it is charming and sure full of songs, at least done with an attitude. That’s what is most important here, the attitude behind the music.”