let us now praise a famous woman

mary weiss died yesterday, 1/19/24, at the relatively early age of 75.  she was the lead singer of the 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las.  the ladies were from working-class homes in Queens, NY.  unlike many of the girl groups of the time The Shangri-Las had a reputation of tuff chicks from the hood that would stab ya as much as look at ya.  myth, of course.  take for example mary was 15 when the group formed.  hell, all the members were teens when they signed their first record deal in 1964. mary's sister betty was 17, & the ganser twins, marge & mary ann, were 16.  but their image belied their youth even as their tunes were about teen lust, tragedy & death.  mary had a great voice & fantastic charisma.  i fucking love this group & their mini-operas of teenage passion & disaster.  i raise my glass to her memory, her voice, her being.  damn she was sui generis.