In the beginning was the Shangs... My brother bought the Golden Hits album for me at a street market in Cambridge and gave it me for my birthday...
*Obviously* I knew Leader Of The Pack - it has been a big hit in the UK second time around in the early 70's and was a staple -if not the staple - girl group record - endlessly anthologised - I must have it 20 times if I have it once but the killer track is Heaven Only Knows. This is where it all starts for me...
The basic Shang's sound is still what most people think of as Girl Group - call and response - spoken intros ("Is she really going out with him?", "I don't know lets, ask her..." and "How does he dance?", "Close, real close", What colour are his eyes?", "I don't know he's always wearing shades", etc, etc). Your common or garden anthologiser lazily reaches out for Leader Of The Pack, Remember (Walking In The Sand) or Past, Present And Future - great songs all -but the best of the Shangs is in other corners of the catalog. My favourites (apart from Heaven Only Knows, natch!) are The Train From Kansas City for its great storyline and the greatest screamer record ever, of all time, Never Again which is just rage, rage, rage... But there are other lesser known gems, Bull Dog has a simple charm.
Cos I know there are completeness nuts out there here is a rare live version of Leader Of The Pack from the Murray The K Christmas album (its awful - you cannae say you wernie telt!) and their first recordings Wishing Well which is still a great record and Hate To Say I Told You So (play it once you realise how duff the live LOTP is...)
