Leader of the Pack

Song infobox
Name = Leader of the Pack


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Artist = The Shangri-Las
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Released = 1964
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Genre = Pop, Teenage Tragedy
Length = 2:49
Writer = George "Shadow" Morton
Jeff Barry
Ellie Greenwich
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Label = Red Bird
Producer = George "Shadow" Morton
Chart position = US Billboard Hot 100 Singles # 1
UK Singles # 11 (1965), # 3 (1972)
Australia singles # 1
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Misc = "Leader of the Pack" is a 1964 pop song recorded by girl group The Shangri-Las. It became number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 28, 1964.

Original Shangri-Las recording

The tune was credited to producer George "Shadow" Morton with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. According to Morton [ [http://www.limusichalloffame.org/lirock/shadow06.html Shadow Morton-6 ] ] , he wrote the song for the Goodies (also known as the Bunnies [ [http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Frontrow/2301/bunnies.html Girl Group Chronicles: The Bunnies/Goodies ] ] ), but instead it was needed as a follow-up to the Shangri-Las hit "Remember (Walking in the Sand)". Morton claimed he credited Barry and Greenwich as co-writers for business reasons; his recollection has been questioned by Ellie Greenwich.

In July 1964, Morton recorded the song with the Shangri-Las at the Ultrasonic Sound studio on the second floor of a Manhattan hotel. Billy Joel, then a young session musician, claimed he played piano on "Leader of the Pack", but this has been denied by Greenwich.

According to legend, to add the authentic sound of a motorcycle engine, one was driven through the lobby of the hotel and up to the floor of the recording studio. No one was arrested, but a ticket was issued [ [http://www.redbirdent.com/slas2.htm The Shangri-Las! ] ] . However, in an interview four decades later, Shangri-Las lead singer Mary Weiss said the motorcycle sound was taken from an effects record. The Zombies' drummer Hugh Grundy recalls revving up a motorcycle backstage when the Shangri-Las performed on a U.S. tour.

In the United Kingdom, the song was refused airplay by the BBC, probably due to its death theme, [ [http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/banned.html Banned List ] ] although some have speculated that it was considered likely to encourage violence between mods and rockers. [ [http://www.nortonrecords.com/maryweiss/05.html Norton Records ] ] It still charted four times in the UK between 1965 and 1976, peaking at number 3 in 1972 [ [http://www.tsimon.com/shangri.htm The Shangri-Las Page ] ] (by which time the BBC ban had been lifted). The record also reached number 1 in Australia. In 1990, it featured in the soundtrack of the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas.

In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked the song among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, at #447.

Plot

The song is about a girl named Betty, asked by friends to confirm that she is dating Jimmy, the leader of a motorcycle gang. After singing of love at first sight ("I met him at the candy store/He turned around and smiled at me/You get the picture?/That's when I fell for the Leader of the Pack"), Betty's heart turns to despair as she bemoans her parents' disapproval. The parents claim Jimmy hails from "the wrong side of the tracks" and will be a bad influence on her. They ask Betty to tell Jimmy goodbye and find someone new.

Betty does as she is asked, and an upset Jimmy — after putting up his bravado — speeds off on his motorcycle. Moments later, Jimmy crashes on a rain-slickened surface and dies; Betty's pleas for Jimmy to slow down were in vain. In the end, Betty is left to deal with heartbreak but vows never to forget her fling with Jimmy, the "Leader of the Pack."

Cover versions, tributes and parodies

*Later in 1965, a parody, "Leader of the Laundromat," written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, was released by The Detergents. This resulted in Morton, Barry and Greenwich filing a lawsuit for plagiarism.
*The Downliners Sect also released a parody on their 1965 "Sect Sing Sick Songs" EP called "Leader Of The Sect."
*Bob Rivers also did a parody of "Leader of the Pack" which is called 'Leader of Iraq'. The song was centred around the execution of former president of Iraq Saddam Hussein.
*On her album "The Divine Miss M" Bette Midler did a version which started in the regular tempo, sped up in the second verse, and was so fast by the end that it's difficult to understand the lyric.
*The opening line from "Leader of the Pack" - "Is she really going out with him ?" - was recycled both as the opening line of "New Rose" by the Damned - usually considered the first British punk rock record, in 1976 - and as the title of the 1979 hit song by Joe Jackson. It is also paraphrased in the opening line of The Boomtown Rats song "I never loved Eva Braun" where the question is changed to "Are you really going out with Adolf?"
*In 1984, a Broadway musical, "Leader of the Pack," opened, based on the songs of Ellie Greenwich.
*In 1985 the hard rockers Twisted Sister gave the song a short revival by putting a cover version (from the eponymous Leader's perspective) on their album "Come Out and Play" and publishing a video for the song.
*The comedian Julian Clary recorded a cover version of the song in 1988.
*The song was also used in the 2006 movie Happy Feet sung by the character Néstor, with a sad rhythm quite different from the original.
*The tune was used by the political satire group The Capitol Steps for their song "A Leader Like Barack", about Barack Obama.
*The song was performed by Hilary Duff on the since-cancelled primetime television show American Dreams.
*Jim Steinman has stated on several occasions that the title song of the debut Meat Loaf album, "Bat out of Hell", was inspired by "Leader of the Pack".
*There is a live recording of Belle & Sebastian performing the song.
*Flowgo.com did a parody of the song, called "The Chick with a Big Rack", which can be found [http://www.madblast.com/funny/1744_girl-with-big-rack.html here]
*Alvin and the Chipmunks also did a cover version of Leader of the Pack, but changed Jimmy to Alvin. and on the album chipmunk rock the chipmunks are protrayed as the girls
* The name of this song is another way of describing the starting quarterback of the NFL's Green Bay Packers.

References

* [http://www.redbirdent.com/slas2.htm History of the Shangri-Las]