ML: Were the Red Bird sessions specifically for singles or did you try a few things and saw what clicked? MW: One song most of the time, especially the larger sessions like Remember or I Can Never Go Home Anymore. The strings on that? I love them. Those were huge sessions with the room full of musicians. BM: When rock videos started appearing, I always thought they could never capture what the Shangri-Las and Shadow Morton put into my imagination. Since I first heard Remember, I always pictured it all taking place at Long Beach on Long Island, for some reason.
MW: I did, too. Later, I pictured it in Florida. When we went to England we found, the British spent more time setting up everything as far as television goes. They're meticulous. I walk in the studio and the entire soundstage was filled with sand and a giant grandfather clock for one song. I just could not believe it. It was beautiful. Dusty was on that show. BM: Dusty Springfield? MW: Yes. Dusty is an absolutely amazing talent. The Shangri-Las were in London doing Top Of The Pops and Ready! Steady! Go! Dusty was having a very large party in her flat. It started out all civilized, nice French doors and antique desks, but she liked to start food fights. And she started one and I'm hiding under this lovely French desk with her manager and fish and food are flying by! They were actually throwing pies later in the night. So Mary Ann goes to put her boots on and they were filled with fish! Dusty was a kinky girl, but a true talent. But, Mary Ann got even with Dusty. She waited and waited and the next time we were with Dusty at the Brooklyn Fox, Mary Ann put fish in Dusty's shoes. And that's called...payback! (laughs) ML: Yeah! MW: Dusty also flung crockery at the Fox. There was this place where she bought a ton of cheap crockery. We learned the fine art of throwing plates there. Stand at one end of the corridor and fling it with all your might. It makes a loud crash and gets rid of stress. Parts of Dusty were very self destructive, but the other side of her was so much fun. I'll always think of her fondly, no matter what anybody writes about her. The world will remember her talent. I'll always remember her laughter, the fine art of crockery throwing...and her talent!
MW: Your records were pretty notorious right from the start. MW: Look at Leader. It was banned in Britain. What's there to ban? ML: In England there was a lot of trouble between the Mods and the Rockers. That's why Leader Of The Pack was probably banned. MW: I was so proud. I was a Rocker! ML: Yeah! MW: I got off the plane dressed in black leather. They definitely knew where I stood. (laughs) ML: And what did you make of the Mods? MW: The Mods were just not home. To each his own. Their lifestyle was... (laughs). I was never into fashion. ML: Which is wild because you became such a fashion icon. MW: I could never picture myself sitting at a runway show, could you? ML: No, never. But that's the great thing. You subconsciously started a whole look. MW: Who cares? ML: Cool! BM: I feel like I'm a guest on The View... ML: But you only went to England, no other countries? MW: Pretty much. There were a million things booked. I remember sitting in Los Angeles with these Japanese people and they were giving me scripts and things and making plans for us to go there. ML: But you never did. MW: Never did. It should have happened but there was just no time. ML: Did you follow the charts? MW: The charts thing is a strange position to be in. Once you have a smash hit, the record company is like, "OK, here's the next one." I feel sorry for artists today. They're here and gone and they bring on the next one. I just saw Chrissie Hynde talking about today's artists and what they face. Nobody gets behind them or develops them anymore. Bring on the next midriff section... BM: Do you see the Shangri-Las in any act today? MW: Maybe like the Donnas. I can see our attitude. ML: Who were your favorites during the Shangri-Las years? MW: I loved Dusty. The Jefferson Airplane, that might have been a little later, but I remember I first heard them on the way to the Fox Theatre. I saw Jimi Hendrix in the Village before he was famous. My jaw dropped. You know what was a great time? I went to a big party at Andy Warhol's one day. It was fascinating. He had a huge loft with a deck and umbrellas and the bathroom had a golden throne. Very cool. Ultra Violet was there. Lots of cool people.
BM: There was a Shangri-Las Day at the New York World's Fair. MW: How did you know that?! BM: Because I remember being pissed that I didn't get to go. We were always at the World's Fair. MW: Me, too. I thought it was cool. They had a Monorail with our name on it and we performed. BM: Mary, even being a star by then, that had to be a big thrill - hometown girls make good... MW: Oh sure, I loved it. We all did. BM: The Shangri-Las played at the New York Paramount with the Beatles. Did you meet them? MW: No, they were on one floor and everybody else was on another. At the Paramount, Margie waved out the window high up so that everyone thought it was the Beatles waving. The crowd went nuts! BM: When you gals... MW: You gals?! At least you didn't say Girl Groups. BM: Sorry Mary. No, I know better than to mention Girl Groups. MW: Oh, kill me now! Thank you. How do you take an entire sex and dump them into one category? Girl Groups, I mean, please! What if we all had penises? BM: Uh, that would have seriously affected the crush I had on you as a kid. ML: People tend to categorize... MW: Count me out. If Girl Groups were products, what were Boy Groups? (looking at photo) Ow! You know who did this to my hair? Monti Rock III.
ML: How did Monti Rock end up doing your hair? MW: He did our hair on that album cover nobody likes on Mercury, where we look Mod. Monti, wherever you are, what were you thinking? ML: But you look so sultry there, like Veronica Lake. MW: I look stupid. I didn't like it at all. ML: And those boots... MW: Are you kidding? I'll tell you what boots I really liked. They buttoned up and they were kid leather. They were like old fashioned 1890's boots with cool heels. I got those at Saks. ML: Boots became your signature. MW: Yes, that's why I like those outfits on the LEADER album. That was my thing. ML: Whose suggestion was that? MW: Nobody's. That was us. It's funny because it created such a hoopla, like we were tough, whatever and all it is, is a white shirt, a vest and a pair of black pants. ML: But the black slacks, slacks at all, you really did something different there. It really defined the Shangri-Las. MW: Jeans don't fit on everyone. BM: Yeah, when you'd see the Supremes on Ed Sullivan, they'd have evening gowns on, old people's clothes. MW: I used to get my slacks on Eighth Street in the Village in a Men's Store. People would look at me like I was gay because I like low rise pants. I don't get it, quite frankly. ML: These outfits were something else. (holds up I CAN NEVER GO HOME ANYMORE album) MW: Yes, that's what everyone was wearing ten years later, like Spandex. ML: Now you couldn't have bought those in a store. You had to have those made. MW: Absolutely. ML: Who designed them? MW: We did. We just sat and did them ourselves. ML: You don't still have your boots, do you? MW: Do you still have your boots from 1966? BM: She might... ML: The Shangri-Las got a lot of magazine coverage, too. MW: We did a lot of interviews back then. "What do you do in your spare time?" What spare time? BM: I have a record where the Shangri-Las are being interviewed and you get asked things like, "Do guys on the street really give you a great big kiss?" MW: (laughs) "Ew, get away from me!" BM: You hear so many stories about how bad you were... MW: WHAT ABOUT IT?! (laughs) ML: There's stories about you tying up a guy and kidnapping him. MW: You know, I don't remember that, but if I did, he deserved it! BM: And that you had guns... MW: I did purchase a gun once, a little Derringer. I bought a gun after somebody tried to break into my hotel room. There were these glass panels on the side of the door and all of a sudden I see this arm coming through. Not only was I scared to death, but there were large amounts of money in the room. You're on the road with no protection. But, I was a little kid. I didn't know. Back then, you could walk in anywhere and buy a gun. But the FBI came to my mother's house and said, "Will you please tell your daughter she'll be arrested if she gets off the plane with her gun?" We just finished a tour in Florida and I turned it in at the police station down there. BM: Did they get a chaperone for the group at any point? MW: If you can call an eighteen year old a proper chaperone. Maybe nineteen, but that's as grown up as it got. We had a road manager, Fat Frankie, for a while, then he managed NRBQ following that. That wasn't much supervision. One of our other road managers was a black belt in karate. Once, there was a car full of drunken guys weaving all over a bridge, waving beer bottles and stuff and it was getting very dangerous. They kept swerving into our car and it was very scary. I was so petrified, my heart was in my throat. It was as if they thought they had the right to do this. They could have killed us all. Louie stopped the car and took them all on. They were flying everywhere, all over the bridge. You had no choice in the matter. It was a dark road with nowhere to go, there were no cell phones then. I'm glad he was there. I could see the headlines now, JIMMY KILLS MARY ON BRIDGE. It was much different than now. It's very hard to explain. Nothing was organized. It was "Here's a list of shows, get on the road." I was only fifteen. [ Tell Me More, Tell Me More! ] No reproduction of these pages in part or whole may occur without written permission of Norton Records  |
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