CLASSIC girl groups, that is.

(mary weiss recently released a punk-inspired new cd - haven't heard it because i don't want to be dissapointed)

texile wrote on May 14^th, 2008 at 2:52pm:



Don't be scared - it's a really good record.

It's not really all that "punk inspired".  It's actually pretty easy on the ears.  Most of the songs were written by a Memphis musician named Greg Cartwright, whose band the Reigning Sound backed her up on the whole thing.  The Reigning Sound have more of a rock 'n' roll vibe than they do a punk vibe.   GC is a huge record collector who knows girl group song structure inside and out, and the songwriting is steeped in the kind of melancholy that made the Shangri-La's so great without being cheesey or too retro.  Her voice isn't quite the same anymore, but, unlike, say, that last Ronnie Spector album, the fit between modern "garage" and her sensibility is pretty natural.  




I think I love the Rhino ONE KISS CAN LEAD TO ANOTHER girl group box set more than I do the Nuggets sets.



thanks nasty.....
i just bought the shangs' myradons of melodrama -
and you can see how weiss' voice matured in the later shang recordings - (dressed in black in fantastic...)

you point out that weiss' adoption of the 'garage' thing was more 'natural' than ronnie spector's...
that's true.
while the ronettes had more wider, mainstream appeal (They fit that 'sexy' mode more than the shangs),
the shangri-las were more of a prototype for bands like blondie, the runaways, patti smith, new york dolls and now amy winehouse etc...
they were more genuinely 'rock and roll' to me than the ronettes.....
when they toured, they always chose the local garage band to back them up - like the sonics....
i love the ronettes, but song-for-song, the shangs, with shadow morton, put a more hauntin, original stamp on things....