Mary Weiss (born December 28, 1948) is an American

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

vocalist, best known as the lead singer of

the Shangri-Las The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", "Give Him a Gre ...

in the 1960s. She then vanished from the music scene for decades, returning in 2007 to record her first solo album with

Norton Records Norton Records, is an independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller in 1986. The label concentrates on rock, rockabilly, primitive music, punk, garage rock and early rhythm and blues.Cambria Heights Cambria Heights is a residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the west, the Elmont, Nassau County border on the east, Qu ...

. She sang in school plays and church choirs. Additionally, she listened to her brother and his friends perform popular songs of the day; George being an

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

fan. Mary appreciated such performers as

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

and the

Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

; she attended her first

concert in 1963 at

Freedomland U.S.A. Freedomland U.S.A. (usually called Freedomland) was a theme park dedicated to American history in the Baychester section of the northeastern Bronx in New York City. Operating from 1960 to 1964, Freedomland was built on marshland owned by the W ...

at the age of 14.

Early recordings

After Weiss and her sister Betty became good friends with twins Mary Ann and Margie Ganser in grammar school, the four of them sang at local dances and hops. That brought them to the attention of local producer

Artie Ripp Arthur Marcus "Artie" Ripp (born 1940) is an American music industry executive and record producer. Career Early career Ripp began his career as a singer, initially informally harmonizing rock and roll songs with friends from high school. In ...

, who later signed them on to Kama Sutra Productions. After recording demos and making it to the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

in 1964 (and signing with

Red Bird Records Red Bird Records was a record label founded by American pop music songwriters Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and George Goldner in 1964. Though often thought of as a "girl-group" label, female-led acts made up only 40% of the artist roster on Red ...

), they recorded songs: "

Remember (Walking in the Sand) "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", also known as "Remember", is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton. It was originally recorded by the girl group the Shangri-Las, who had a top five hit with it in 1964. A remake by Aerosmith in 1979 was ...

", which was their first hit, and "

Leader of the Pack "Leader of the Pack" is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich. It was a number one pop hit in 1964 for the American girl group the Shangri-Las. The single is one of the group's best known songs as well as a ...

", which went to #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts in 1964. With their growing popularity, the Shangri-Las became a leading girl group in the 1960s. After several years of the grind, they split in 1968 and went their separate ways. Weiss went to San Francisco to try a different lifestyle. She later came back to New York and occasionally gave shows with the Shangri-Las during the 1970s which led to a comeback attempt with

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

in 1977. In 1989, the Shangri-Las reunited one last time for Cousin Brucie's Palisades Park Reunion show at The Meadowlands in New Jersey.

New career

Weiss took a job as purchasing agent in New York City in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

; as she recalled, "I went to work for an architectural firm, and I was seriously into it. Then I got into commercial interiors, huge projects, buildings." She later moved up to be the chief purchasing agent and ran the commercial furniture dealership. In the late 1980s, she managed a furniture store and was an interior designer. By 2001, she was a furniture consultant to New York businesses.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

In 2019, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honored the Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack" song, on which Weiss sang lead, with the Hall's Singles category.

Going solo

In 2005, Weiss left her job in commercial interiors to get back to music. In March 2007, Norton Records released ''Dangerous Game'', a critically acclaimed solo album, on which she was backed by

The Reigning Sound Reigning Sound was an American rock and roll band originally based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States As of 2019, along with fronting Reigning Sound, Cartwright also reformed his past band Greg Oblivian and the Tip Tops. In 2020, he also refor ...

. She has been performing elsewhere in the United States, and in Spain and France.

References

External links

Mary Weiss official site

Mary Weiss Biography by Mark Deming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Mary 1948 births Living people American businesspeople in retailing American child singers American consulting businesspeople American women singers American women interior designers Businesspeople from New York City Child pop musicians Norton Records artists People from Cambria Heights, Queens Singers from New York City