Fact #106505
When:
Short story:
The Shangri-Las release the single Leader Of The Pack in the USA. Piano player on the session is said to be a fifteen-year-old Billy Joel.
Full article:
Ellie Greenwich (songwriter) : At that time, everyone in the business who made it bought a motor cycle. It just had to be pink, or the loudest colour you could get. And you had to have a leather jacket to complete the outfit. Jeff (Barry) and madcap producer Shadow Morton were no exception.
Mary Weiss (The Shangri-Las) : "I don't think I would be able to put feeling into the song unless I had really thought about the lyrics. I put a lot of my own pain into that song. I don't think teenage years are all that rosy for a lot of people-they certainly weren't for me. They are the most confusing time of people's lives and there is a tremendous dark side to the record, which I think teenagers related to. The studio was a great place to let the pain out.
(Source - Telegraph magazine interview, April 14, 2007)
Ellie Greenwich : Seeing as how we always dealt with boy-meets-girl relationships, and were tearing around new York on motor cycles ourselves, it was a natural thing to do. The girl has to get herself involved with the leader of a motorcycle gang and, of course, the whole damn thing has to end up in a mess.
The Shangri-Las were just perfect for this kind of record. They had the looks and, most of all, that nasal twang. They were also pretty dumb and thought we were crazy. See, we'd sit around in the studio, messing with a motor cycle effects take and shouting, 'LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!' Then there'd be the era-splitting sound of a crash, and plenty of broken glass. Most of the time we'd be laying on the studio floor, laughing fit to cry, and we'd have to be physically carted out at the end of the session. But we knew we had a hit.
(Source : not known)
Billy Joel : I know I played piano on a session. The girls themselves weren't at the session, but that kinda happens all the time, the singers come in later. I played note for note what is on the record, but I wasn't in the musician's union
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Mary Weiss (The Shangri-Las) : "I don't think I would be able to put feeling into the song unless I had really thought about the lyrics. I put a lot of my own pain into that song. I don't think teenage years are all that rosy for a lot of people-they certainly weren't for me. They are the most confusing time of people's lives and there is a tremendous dark side to the record, which I think teenagers related to. The studio was a great place to let the pain out.
(Source - Telegraph magazine interview, April 14, 2007)
Ellie Greenwich : Seeing as how we always dealt with boy-meets-girl relationships, and were tearing around new York on motor cycles ourselves, it was a natural thing to do. The girl has to get herself involved with the leader of a motorcycle gang and, of course, the whole damn thing has to end up in a mess.
The Shangri-Las were just perfect for this kind of record. They had the looks and, most of all, that nasal twang. They were also pretty dumb and thought we were crazy. See, we'd sit around in the studio, messing with a motor cycle effects take and shouting, 'LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!' Then there'd be the era-splitting sound of a crash, and plenty of broken glass. Most of the time we'd be laying on the studio floor, laughing fit to cry, and we'd have to be physically carted out at the end of the session. But we knew we had a hit.
(Source : not known)
Billy Joel : I know I played piano on a session. The girls themselves weren't at the session, but that kinda happens all the time, the singers come in later. I played note for note what is on the record, but I wasn't in the musician's union