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  • They Performed With James Brown And The Rolling Stones When They Were Still In High School on Random Wild Stories About Shangri-Las, High School Girls Who Inspired Punk

    (#4) They Performed With James Brown And The Rolling Stones When They Were Still In High School

    Imagine being a teenager, dealing with the frustrations of school and parents and social life. Now imagine, in the throes of all of this, you open for acts like James Brown and the Rolling Stones.

    That's just what the Shangri-Las did in the mid '60s. But they seemed to take it all in stride – even when they had an awkward first meeting with Brown. When he saw them, the famed R&B singer burst out laughing. He had assumed from their music that they were black, and had in fact hired them for an intended all-black revue.

  • They Let Off Steam By Breaking China And Setting Off Fireworks on Random Wild Stories About Shangri-Las, High School Girls Who Inspired Punk

    (#8) They Let Off Steam By Breaking China And Setting Off Fireworks

    Mary Weiss remembers going to a party at Dusty Springfield's place while the Shangri-Las were on tour promoting "Leader of the Pack." The singer had a unique way of dealing with frustration: she would go out and buy boxes of china with the sole purpose of hurling it all against a wall. Springfield showed Weiss how it was done, and soon all the Shangri-Las were breaking plates at the Brooklyn Fox Theatre:

    "They had these long corridors that echoed and we would stand at one end and throw plates to the other. We would let off a lot of steam that way... That was how I met Marvin Gaye. He was trying to get out of his dressing room. He stuck his head out and all of these plates went flying past his head."

    The girls were known to set off fireworks as well, and play pranks on their fellow musicians – like changing the sign on Marvin Gaye's dressing room door to read "Marvin's Gaye."

  • They Turned Down Would-Be Suitors From The Beach Boys And The Zombies on Random Wild Stories About Shangri-Las, High School Girls Who Inspired Punk

    (#9) They Turned Down Would-Be Suitors From The Beach Boys And The Zombies

    The members of the Shangri-Las were attractive young women, and many men were interested in spending time with them. Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider summed up their charm:

    "They were wearing leather jackets, and they looked tough, too. They didn’t look like good girls... They looked like the girls all the bad guys wanted."

    Mary Weiss says plenty of guys put the moves on them, but that they just weren't interested:

    "We went to dinner with a few of the Beach Boys and hung out with the Zombies in England and New York, but did not date any of them."

  • Thumb of They Recorded With Billy Joel And A Future Producer For The New York Dolls video

    (#3) They Recorded With Billy Joel And A Future Producer For The New York Dolls

    A few months after they signed with Red Bird in 1964, the Shangri-Las had their first hit single: "Remember (Walking in the Sand)."

    George Morton produced the record, which he claimed to have written on the fly on the way to the studio. An unknown 15-year-old named Billy Joel reportedly played piano on the demo.

    On some level, Morton must have been inspired by the girls' hard-edged personas and intense songs. He went on to be a producer for the punk rock band New York Dolls.

  • They Influenced Blondie, New York Dolls, Amy Winehouse, And Countless Other Bands And Artists on Random Wild Stories About Shangri-Las, High School Girls Who Inspired Punk

    (#13) They Influenced Blondie, New York Dolls, Amy Winehouse, And Countless Other Bands And Artists

    With their streetwise image and unabashedly dark lyrics, the Shangri-Las blazed the trail for the punk music revolution that came in their wake. "The Shangri-Las were punk before punk existed," Mary Weiss said. "People thought we were tough."

    It's hard to argue that; their influence is everywhere in early punk and later rock. Blondie and New York Dolls are frequently cited as successors to the Shangri-Las' tone and style. Aerosmith and The Go-Go's have covered their songs. Joey Ramone told Weiss how much of an impact the group had on him. Strains of the Shangri-Las can even be heard in Twisted Sister and Amy Winehouse, who directly cited them as an inspiration.

  • Mary Weiss Was Almost Arrested For Using The Wrong Bathroom on Random Wild Stories About Shangri-Las, High School Girls Who Inspired Punk

    (#10) Mary Weiss Was Almost Arrested For Using The Wrong Bathroom

    The Shangri-Las performed with James Brown in the mid-'60s. The all-white girl group stood out in the otherwise all-black lineup, and the Texas venue hosting the event was strictly segregated. That presented some unexpected problems for the girls, as Mary Weiss explained to the New York Post:

    "I was almost arrested for using a ‘colored’ bathroom... It was close to the stage, and I had no time to find the ‘White’ bathroom. [The sheriff] yelled at me, and I yelled back. He came in with his gun drawn and told me to get out."

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Shangri-La is an American pop girl group in the 1960s. There are 4 members in total, they are actually two pairs of sisters. They first started school performances and talent shows in high school, which attracted the attention of Artie Ripp. The first record was named Simon Says. Initially, the girls did not have a name when they performed. When they signed the first deal, they began to call themselves Shangri-La after a restaurant in New York.

There are many wild stories on their way to success. The random tool generated 14 wild stories about the Shangri-Las, who inspired punk. Please check more stories here.

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