LABELS AND TEXT PANELS - National Museum of Women in the Arts

Gift of Les Zakarin
“Somewhere Out There” was the theme from the animated film An American Tail. It won two Grammy Awards in
1988.
"Johnny Loves Me" Sheet Music, 1962
Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Recorded by Shelley Fabares
Gift of Les Zakarin
“Johnny Loves Me” was the follow up to Shelley Fabares’ Number One hit “Johnny Angel.” Fabares spun off a
music career from her role as Mary Stone on the television sitcom The Donna Reed Show. Fabares would go on to
co-star in three Elvis Presley films and in the television sitcom Coach.
“Kicks” Sheet Music, 1966
Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Recorded by Paul Revere and the Raiders
Gift of Les Zakarin
“Kicks” was originally written for the Animals, but lead singer Eric Burdon declined to record it. Paul Revere and
the Raiders’ version reached Number Four. “Kicks” was also recorded by the Monkees, the Nazz, Everclear and Del
Shannon.
“Uptown” Sheet Music, 1962
Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Recorded by the Crystals
Gift of Les Zakarin
“Uptown” was quite groundbreaking for its day. The song’s lyrics squarely confronted the strivings of poor
minorities, a subject seldom addressed by pop music in the early 1960s. The song reached Number 13.
THE SHANGRI-LAS
The Shangri-Las formed in 1963 in the borough of Queens in New York City. The group was composed of
sisters Betty and Mary Weiss and twin sisters Margie and Mary Ann Ganser. The four girls (who performed live as a
trio, as Betty didn’t tour) worked up a repertoire of popular songs of the day, started performing locally and were
noticed by record producer George “Shadow” Morton. On Morton’s way to the Shangri-Las’ first recording session,
he realized he didn’t have a song. He pulled his car to the side of the road and quickly wrote “Remember (Walking
in the Sand).” The song became the Shangri-Las’ first hit, reaching Number Five in 1964. The group’s biggest hit,
“Leader of the Pack,” followed later in 1964 and reached Number One. Ellie Greenwich, who wrote “Leader of the
Pack” for the Shangri-Las, remembers being afraid of “those scary girls from a rough neighborhood in Queens. I
thought they had razors in their hair.” Despite the group’s carefully crafted street-tough image, the girls’ look and
appeal was accessible and marketable enough for them to appear in television commercials and print ads for
Revlon makeup and public-service announcements for dating etiquette. The Shangri-Las continued to record and
hit Number Six with “I Can Never Go Home Anymore” in 1965. Mary Ann Ganser died in 1970, her twin Margie
died in 1996. Mary Weiss recalled, “I came from an extremely poor family. The Gansers were relatively poor.
Nobody had any money…so considering where the four of us came from…it’s a miracle in itself to have come from
those circumstances and have hit records, so I’m very grateful.”
Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las, 1966
The Shangri-Las
Collection of Cheese Borger
I Can Never Go Home Any More, 1965
The Shangri-Las
Collection of Cheese Borger
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