The Shangri-Las were a girl group active in the early 1960s. With their cheerful pop songs about teenage tragedies, they took the nation by storm and secured a few solid hits.
The girls, which began as a quartet but wound up a trio, were discovered by Red Bird Records when they were still in high school; Mary was 15, Betty was 17, and the Ganser twins 16.
In this unearthed performance from 1964, the three gals from Queens, NY perform their biggest hit, "Leader of the Pack," on the game show I've Got A Secret.
The single rocketed to number one on November 28, 1964 on the Billboard 100, and Rolling Stone listed it as one the greatest songs of all time due to its evergreen quality. No matter what decade you're in, it's hard to hear "Leader of the Pack" without it getting stuck in your head!
In this performance the trio perform a small skit introducing the "plot" of the song. Betty meets a nice boy at the candy store only to discover he's actually the leader of a gang. Her parents disapprove and after she breaks up with him, he dies in a motorcycle accident.
It's hard to imagine that such an innocent premise could have occurred while Nancy Sinatra was recording the racy, "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'."
At 0:40, the girls are joined by Robert Goulet, the broadway star who famously worked with Julie Andrews and Richard Burton.
SHARE if you're a fan of this era of music and wish you could go to a teen hop today!
