He/Him
#48
The Shangri-Las – Remember (Walking In The Sand)
Average Score: 6.396
Highest Score: 10 x 3 (@ohnostalgia, @kermit_the_frog, @Ironheade)
Lowest Score: 0 x 1 (@Filippa)
So it seems we are at the part of the rate where we are actually losing some of the most decorated songs, starting sadly with a 1960s one! Remember (Walking In The Sand) by the Shangri-Las placed #395 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time and BILLBOARD named it 26th Greatest Girl Group Song Of All Time. Very high accolades indeed! Let’s discuss the song!
Remember has quite an unusual sound compared to the rest of its contemporaries (and even song from newer decades). In fact, it is hard to describe whether it is an uptempo or downtempo track, bits of it causing you to feel you would need to hold your partner tightly to dance and sway softly, whereas the more spoken bits give a sense of tapping your feet along with the beat. At the beginning of the song, with the very dramatic instrumental (piano chords by a not yet famous Billy Joel) and more lingering vocal delivery – I was bracing myself for a wonderful ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ sounding record. What I got was this strangely endearing experimental and edgy mixture of sounds, stretching what could be achieved by members conversing on the track and the instrumental trading drama and beat in the most unusual way! That makes me appreciate the track a lot, even though I cannot say I love it to the same extent as my 10s from the 60s list.
The story behind how the song came to be was also an interesting read! Shadow Morton (who at the point had never written a song before) had an appointment to present a demo to Jeff Barry. He hired teenage girl band The Shangri-Las to sing and he wrote the song on the way there. Several rumours exist for how it was written but my favourite may be that Morton stopped his car next to the ocean beach and wrote the song there, and as he produced the demo himself, he incorporated the recurring seagulls and surf sound effects! Iconic stuff!
Now the Shangri-Las themselves were active mostly in the mid-sixties and were known for their ‘teen melodrama’ songs most famous being the all time great Leader Of The Pack. They had a bit of a hard time within the music industry including getting paid dust for their millions of record sales and going to litigation to try to sort this out. Something always seemed to prevent them from reuniting and giving it another crack (record executives wanting them to go the disco route when they were more interested in going for a punk sound, death of band members, legal action preventing them from recording at one point, another band using the same name etc) so it was not to be. As it is, we have these magical sixties numbers to enjoy and their ‘bad girl’ legacy and influence which can still be seen today in many a pop act’s brand!
What did you all have to say about this one?
DJHazey (7) loves a good teen drama as per the rate he is currently hosting - The 'dream sequence' portion when the song slows down honestly slays the rest of it, but it's still solid. "Leader of the Pack" would've been in contention for my 11. Unnameable (9) is another fan of the drama - What kind of kitschy nonsense is this? Gloriously over the top. Ufint (6.5) stans another stan - I’ve heard this in a couple of Back to Black performances when Amy integrated this into the bridge. That in itself deserves a point or two extra.
Iheartpoptarts (2) does not have much to say about the song, so compliments the look - This is a bit of a dirge, but I’m impressed they had leather leggings back then. Or something. DominoDancing (9) really getting in touch with his drama self - Perhaps the most dramatic sounding song in this rate. Love it! Londonrain (1) is trying to summon the demon version of @Petty Mayonnaise in a suicide attempt - This builds to... not very much. The sixties equivalent of Look What You Made Me Do.
Empty Shoebox (7) reveals more of what he likes - Minor chords on a piano! My one true weakness! Nah, who am I trying to fool, I have hundreds of weaknesses. The seagulls are a bit too much. Makes the song sound like some skiffle artist's novelty hit. Apart from that, solid to good, good to firm. Trouble In Paradise (6.5) will be troubled at another 60s song exiting - I really enjoy the chorus/ “remember!” parts but the verses are way too maudlin for my tastes. Filippa (0) is not here for experimental nonsense - I like “The Leader of the Pack”. But this song I can’t really identify as one song, it’s mishmash of two songs?
ComeOnGloria (6.8) is channelling @Mina – Boring. Kermit_The_Frog (10) comments on our bad girls - Such bad-asses - while The Ronettes were bad-girls who boys would be terrified of approaching (too pretty, too aloof), The Shangri-Las were the bad-girls drunk out of their heads, hanging off the back of a motorcycle with a cigarette in their mouth. Life goals. Zar-Unity (6) is as shady as that person who gave Skyscraper (or something) a 3 and called it Demi’s best song - Definitely a standout song from that time period! Tech: 4 Taste: 2 = 6 points
Remember has quite an unusual sound compared to the rest of its contemporaries (and even song from newer decades). In fact, it is hard to describe whether it is an uptempo or downtempo track, bits of it causing you to feel you would need to hold your partner tightly to dance and sway softly, whereas the more spoken bits give a sense of tapping your feet along with the beat. At the beginning of the song, with the very dramatic instrumental (piano chords by a not yet famous Billy Joel) and more lingering vocal delivery – I was bracing myself for a wonderful ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ sounding record. What I got was this strangely endearing experimental and edgy mixture of sounds, stretching what could be achieved by members conversing on the track and the instrumental trading drama and beat in the most unusual way! That makes me appreciate the track a lot, even though I cannot say I love it to the same extent as my 10s from the 60s list.
The story behind how the song came to be was also an interesting read! Shadow Morton (who at the point had never written a song before) had an appointment to present a demo to Jeff Barry. He hired teenage girl band The Shangri-Las to sing and he wrote the song on the way there. Several rumours exist for how it was written but my favourite may be that Morton stopped his car next to the ocean beach and wrote the song there, and as he produced the demo himself, he incorporated the recurring seagulls and surf sound effects! Iconic stuff!
Now the Shangri-Las themselves were active mostly in the mid-sixties and were known for their ‘teen melodrama’ songs most famous being the all time great Leader Of The Pack. They had a bit of a hard time within the music industry including getting paid dust for their millions of record sales and going to litigation to try to sort this out. Something always seemed to prevent them from reuniting and giving it another crack (record executives wanting them to go the disco route when they were more interested in going for a punk sound, death of band members, legal action preventing them from recording at one point, another band using the same name etc) so it was not to be. As it is, we have these magical sixties numbers to enjoy and their ‘bad girl’ legacy and influence which can still be seen today in many a pop act’s brand!
What did you all have to say about this one?
DJHazey (7) loves a good teen drama as per the rate he is currently hosting - The 'dream sequence' portion when the song slows down honestly slays the rest of it, but it's still solid. "Leader of the Pack" would've been in contention for my 11. Unnameable (9) is another fan of the drama - What kind of kitschy nonsense is this? Gloriously over the top. Ufint (6.5) stans another stan - I’ve heard this in a couple of Back to Black performances when Amy integrated this into the bridge. That in itself deserves a point or two extra.
Iheartpoptarts (2) does not have much to say about the song, so compliments the look - This is a bit of a dirge, but I’m impressed they had leather leggings back then. Or something. DominoDancing (9) really getting in touch with his drama self - Perhaps the most dramatic sounding song in this rate. Love it! Londonrain (1) is trying to summon the demon version of @Petty Mayonnaise in a suicide attempt - This builds to... not very much. The sixties equivalent of Look What You Made Me Do.
Empty Shoebox (7) reveals more of what he likes - Minor chords on a piano! My one true weakness! Nah, who am I trying to fool, I have hundreds of weaknesses. The seagulls are a bit too much. Makes the song sound like some skiffle artist's novelty hit. Apart from that, solid to good, good to firm. Trouble In Paradise (6.5) will be troubled at another 60s song exiting - I really enjoy the chorus/ “remember!” parts but the verses are way too maudlin for my tastes. Filippa (0) is not here for experimental nonsense - I like “The Leader of the Pack”. But this song I can’t really identify as one song, it’s mishmash of two songs?
ComeOnGloria (6.8) is channelling @Mina – Boring. Kermit_The_Frog (10) comments on our bad girls - Such bad-asses - while The Ronettes were bad-girls who boys would be terrified of approaching (too pretty, too aloof), The Shangri-Las were the bad-girls drunk out of their heads, hanging off the back of a motorcycle with a cigarette in their mouth. Life goals. Zar-Unity (6) is as shady as that person who gave Skyscraper (or something) a 3 and called it Demi’s best song - Definitely a standout song from that time period! Tech: 4 Taste: 2 = 6 points
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