ML: Now what about the night club scene? MW: (whispers) I shouldn't have even been in there. I was fifteen. We'd go in them to hang out, but we were more geared to the teen clubs. But we played the Whisky A Go Go. ML: Did the Shangri-Las work with one booking agency? MW: Different ones. William Morris and others. But, you'd set limitations on them or they'd beat you to death, you'd never be off. You'd have to rehearse and record and do television, too. BM: The Shangri-Las made so many TV appearances like Shindig and Hullabaloo. Here in New York, I never missed The Clay Cole Show. You seemed to be on it all the time... MW: All the time. We sure were. BM: It was almost like, time for Clay Cole, let's see what's new with the Shangri-Las. MW: Clay had us on a lot. That was great! I'd walk in the studio, I knew all the guards by name, they were all nice, reputable people. I really felt at home there. BM: And The Soupy Sales Show you were on that, too. MW: I loved Soupy Sales! White Fang and Black Tooth. I loved it! BM: And Philo Kvetch and Onions Oregano! MW: Onions Oregano - yeah, yeah! They had to have a gazillion White Fangs' arms because the man doing White Fang kept burning it with his cigar! White Fang rules! I'd love to see the old Soupy tape again. ML: What was it like dealing with mobs of fans? MW: A lot of times it was very frightening. One time at an aquarium there was no security and I just about had my clothes ripped off. And the fans with pens almost poking your eye out. There was no security then. We were just winging it. When there's a lot of them and one of you, it gets scary. I was in the Village one time and there were like thirty bikers and they recognized me. Luckily, they were fans and nothing happened. BM: When Red Bird went out of business in 1966 and you signed to Mercury, how different was it from Red Bird? Did you notice a change? MW: Definitely. There really wasn't much support. BM: Mercury issued two singles and the greatest hits album. The last Shangri-Las single Take The Time from 1967 is weird, a pro-Vietnam record. MW: I never wanted to record that song. I was completely against the Vietnam War and I protested accordingly. Still, the Shangri-Las supported our servicemen and women and I've done many shows for them. ML: The tough appearance of the Shangri-Las, that wasn't just an image thing, you really were tough. MW: In certain ways I am. When you're a kid and you're on the road and nobody's got your back, you better be tough. You better act as tough as you can because they'll devour you. We scared lots of people away, made lots of bands behave and back down. What else are you going to do? ML: That wasn't just you? That was your sister and the twins, too? MW: Absolutely. It was us against the world, really. Miriam, you would have done the same thing. You would. It was better when we had our own band traveling with us. It was more like a family. ML: One thing that makes the Shangri-Las different than a lot of female acts of the day, was most of them seemed overprotected. And it virtually was always a family member calling the shots. MW: Can you imagine? Mommy is there to wipe your nose? ML: You wouldn't have had the chance to be tough. It's what makes you who you are. MW: Absolutely not. And I'd have been a different person if my father hadn't died. They're all life experiences. Some good, some bad. It's the same thing when everybody's your best friend and then they suddenly go away. That is a very hard lesson in life. Who are your friends? That is tough stuff. I guess in a way I am tough. I'm a survivor. BM: Was there a defining moment when the Shangri-Las split up? MW: Everybody around us was suing each other. Basically to me, the litigation just got so insane and it wasn't about music anymore. ML: Did you go back home? MW: I moved out on my eighteenth birthday. I moved into a hotel in Manhattan, then Gramercy Park and then I moved to San Francisco for a while. It was hard to get into the music business and it was even harder to get out. I couldn't go near another record company for ten years. ML: For the next ten years you couldn't record?! MW: No. It was absolutely insane. And that was also how long I was still recognized on the street, which made it even more difficult. People don't realize how comfortable it is being Joe Blow, private citizen. Everybody wants to be a star. I never quite got that, honestly. ML: But singing was what you wanted to do, and when that was no longer an option, it must have been horrifying. MW: It was. I lost my way. ML: Ten year sentence, that's rough. MW: It was real rough. ML: It seems like you had a positive feeling and then to have it come crashing down... MW: Yes and no. I could have pursued it further but how much deeper do you want to get into legal nonsense? At some point you just have to cut it off. I always thought that someday I'd go back to music, I just didn't know when. ML: Were you being pigeon holed or typecast? Did you want to do other types of music? MW: Afterwards? Absolutely. I could have sung lots of stuff. I was always the one who pursued things here and there and I went up to a publisher, but disco was popular and they wanted me to put gardenias in my hair and...(dances) BM: At least you don't have bad disco albums coming back to haunt you. If you had to pick one song, a post Shangri-Las song by somebody else, to tackle, what would it be? MW: I love Patti Smith. I always wish I had recorded Because The Night. What a great freakin' song.
BM: The Shangri-Las got back together in 1977 and recorded for Seymour Stein at Sire Records. Seymour worked with the Shangri-Las in the sixties, right? MW: Seymour was our road manager for a short period of time. Margie was a complete prankster and I don't think Seymour got it. Kids will be kids. I think the fireworks didn't set well with him. When we were touring and we were in states that sold fireworks, we always bought them and set them off. BM: Teenage girls with explosives, what's not to like? ML: But nothing you recorded at Sire was ever released. Why was that? MW: I was very grateful to Seymour years later for giving us a shot with Sire, but it wasn't there, material-wise. I don't want anything released that I don't believe in. It just wasn't there. I wish (Richard) Gottehrer had been brought in. It just wasn't right. I welcomed the opportunity from Seymour Stein, but it just didn't work out. We recorded a few things, but it wasn't happening. BM: Did Liz and Margie feel the same way? MW: Yes, we all did. BM: But the Shangri-Las did one unannounced show at CBGB at that time. MW: That was cool! It was impromptu. We just walked in and had fun. BM: Why didn't you do more shows like that? MW: I didn't want to do old stuff. I could have done that for thirty years.
ML: The Shangri-Las accomplished a lot. MW: I come from an extremely poor family. The Gansers were relatively poor. Nobody had any money. No money for attorneys. So considering where the four of us came from, with no support, no guidance and nothing behind us, we didn't have proper outfits onstage. I mean nothing. It's a miracle in itself to come from those circumstances and have hit records, so I'm very grateful. ML: So where have you been? MW: I went to work for an architectural firm and I was seriously into it. Then I got into commercial interiors, huge projects, buildings. Then we hit a point in our lives where you go, "What am I doing?" I know where I feel at home and I've never felt more at home than with music. Either I'm gonna do it or not. ML: Cool! Welcome back. MW: Thanks, it's been way too long. I look forward to recording and to my future in music. Long live rock n' roll!
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