100 Songs That Have Moved Me | Song #023: "Leader of the Pack" (1964)

[luxken27]

Title: "Leader of the Pack"
Artist: The Shangri-Las
Composers: George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich
Producer: George "Shadow" Morton
Release Date: September 1967
Peak Chart Position: #1 (Hot 100)
Album: Leader of the Pack (1964)

"" (Watch on YouTube)

Rolling Stone metadata:

Rank: #454

Blurb: Morton found the inspiration for this song at a diner in Hicksville, New York. "Bikers, hot rodders, gum-smacking ladies," he said, "not careful at all about their language." He brought a bike into the studio for the motorcycle sounds. (Source)

Words from the artist:

According to Morton, he wrote the song for the Goodies (also known as the Bunnies), but instead it was needed as a follow-up to the Shangri-Las hit "Remember (Walking in the Sand)." He said he did not know that he was supposed to have a second idea ready to follow up "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" until Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (Red Bird Records co-owners with George Goldner) asked him, "Hey, what do you want to do for the second record?" Morton said he "got a bottle of champagne, two cigars" and "went into the shower, sat down, drank the champagne, smoked the cigars, and wrote the song on a shirt cardboard with my kids crayons." Morton claimed he credited Barry and Greenwich as co-writers for business reasons; his recollection has been questioned by Ellie Greenwich.

In July 1964, Morton recorded the vocals for the song with the Shangri-Las at the Ultrasonic Sound studio on the second floor of a Manhattan hotel. These vocals were dubbed over the instrumental parts, which had been previously recorded at the Ultrasonic Recording Studios in Hempstead, New York. The piano part was played by Roger Rossi, a staff musician for Ultrasonic Recording Studios at the time. Rossi said, "I remember the date like it was yesterday, there were no written charts, so unfortunately, some musicians kept making mistakes. As I recall, it took 63 recording takes before Shadow Morton was satisfied." Rossi added, "By the end of the session, in take 62, I also messed up and Morton laughingly yelled out, 'Ohhhh, noooo. Not you, too!'"

According to legend, to add the authentic sound of a motorcycle engine, one was driven through the lobby of the hotel and up to the floor of the recording studio. No one was arrested, but a ticket was issued. However, in an interview four decades later, Shangri-Las lead singer Mary Weiss said the motorcycle sound was taken from an effects record. The Zombies' drummer Hugh Grundy recalls revving up a motorcycle backstage when the Shangri-Las performed on a U.S. tour. (Source)

How this song moves me:

A curious fad in popular music in the late 50s/early 60s was the "teen tragedy song," of which this is an interesting example. Sung in sometimes morbid detail, these songs recounted senseless teen deaths, mostly from self-induced car crashes. The genre seems to have disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, and makes for a lurid footnote in music history.

This particular song by the "bad girls" of pop, the Shangri-Las, is very catchy, from its spoken word entrance to the motorcycle effects and crashing glass at the climax of the sub-three-minute tune. I particularly like the 'response' of the back-up singers, the tempo and timbre as well as the importance of the lyrics - they carry the stoyrline as much as the lead singer's line. The overdubbing of the voices over the instrumental is also rather unique, given the available technology at the time of the original recording. It makes for a very smooth record, and doesn't downplay the lyrics in favor of the novel effects.

Stirring and catchy, it's the perfect sort of song for drumming up that unique type of teen angst that most of us mature out of as we grow up :)