We're all about the history of rock & roll at BoomtownAmerica.com!

Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” a deep dive into the hidden history of rock & roll, the stories behind the artists and songs that changed the world. Join host, “Boomtown Bill” Cross each Wednesday at 7 pm (Eastern) with an encore broadcast on Saturday at noon (Eastern).

Join us this Saturday as we cover the real-life soap opera that was "The True Story of Fleetwod Mac - Part 1!"

With all of the CSI-style forensic cop shows on TV, it may be hard to remember that network television was once ruled by cowboys and two-fisted private eyes.

One of the first of the shamuses was Richard Diamond, Private Detective.

The show was one of the first on TV because it had been a long-running, successful radio series. The radio show was created by Blake Edwards, who was later to create TV detective Peter Gunn as well as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther film fame.

 Diamond had been played on radio by Dick Powell, but when it made the jump to CBS television, Powell stepped behind the camera as Executive Producer. In his place a young David Janssen was cast, beginning what was a very long career as a television star (The Fugitive, O’Hara, U.S. Treasury, Harry O, etc.). 

One of the best remembered elements of the show was Diamond’s answering service. The woman who took his messages was only identified as “Sam” and we only saw close-ups of her mouth and most often, shots of her very attractive legs.

Supplying the voice and the gams was none other than Mary Tyler Moore who was just billing herself as Mary Moore in those days.

The first two seasons saw Diamond as a hard-boiled Manhattan detective in the Dashiell Hammett/Mickey Spillane tradition. However, for the 3^rd season (perhaps reflecting the sudden success of a new private eye series 77 Sunset Strip) Diamond moved out to Los Angeles and traded his shabby N.Y. office for an elegant bachelor pad in the Hollywood Hills.

For its fourth and final season, the show jumped to NBC and the Hollywood glamour elements were toned down.

While the show was initially very successful in syndication, the fact that all four seasons were shot in black and white eventually led to its disappearance from the Vast Wasteland.

Two of the shows 77 episodes have since slipped into public domain. They can be found on many “dollar bin” collections of old TV shows, but the rest of the series has never been officially released on home video.

The True Story of the Shangri-Las

The early sixties saw the rise of what are now called “the girl groups.” These were usually trios or quartets of female singers, typically working in an R&B vein. The Shirelles are perhaps the prototype, but they were joined by groups like the Blossoms, the Crystals and the Ronettes.

But there was one girl group whose public image was a little more dangerous. They were the Shangri-Las.

The girls were all students at Andrew Jackson High School in Queens when they started performing together at school dances and other functions. The act consisted of two pairs of sisters: Mary & Betty Weiss and Margie & Mary Ann Ganser (who were identical twins).

The girls caught the attention of recording entrepreneur Artie Ripp who signed them to the fledgling Kama Sutra label. It was only after being signed that the girls decided to name themselves the Shangri-Las (reportedly after their favorite Queens restaurant). Their first few recording sessions produced nothing memorable and their first attempt at a single was a flop.

At this point, a gentleman named Shadow Morton enters the picture. Morton had once been the boyfriend of Ellie Greenwich, who by 1964, had become a hit songwriter with her new boyfriend, Jeff Barry. When Morton dropped by Barry & Greenwich’s office one day, a rivalry between Barry and Morton was created in an instant. Morton told Barry that he, too, was a songwriter. Barry called his bluff and asked him to come back in a week with a song. 

Morton had never written a song in his life. But he went right to work and soon had come up with a tune he liked. Somehow, he convinced the Shangri-Las to record a demo version of the song with Morton himself serving as producer. A then-unknown Billy Joel was also recruited to play piano on that demo. When Morton played the demo for Barry, the rivalry was forgotten. Barry liked the song and agreed to put it out on his Red Bird record label. But Morton would have to re-record it with a better group of studio musicians. Morton agreed and soon “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” was rocketing up the charts in both America and the UK.

The follow-up, “Leader of the Pack” was an even bigger smash, going all the way to #1.

At this point, one of the Shangri-Las, Betty Weiss, dropped out of the group temporarily to raise her daughter. So, the other 3 continued to record and tour. They went on the road with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Drifters and James Brown (who was surprised to find out that the girls were white). It is from these tours and the many photographs of the group taken at this time that the Shangri-Las are primarily remembered as a trio.

The girls followed up their first two hits with several other records that were also successful – like “Give Him a Great Big Kiss,” “Give Us Your Blessing,” “Out in the Streets” and “I Can Never Go Home Anymore.”

While Betty Weiss eventually returned to the group, by 1966, they were a permanent trio as the twins, Margie and Mary Ann took turns replacing each other in the group’s line-up.

The girls’ thick New York accents as well as the themes of many of their songs got them labeled as “bad girls.” The fact that they had grown up in a very tough neighborhood in Queens had made them a little harder than some of their feminine contemporaries. The girls have credited their reputation with helping them avoid come-ons from over-eager male fans and the musicians they traveled with.

Most likely because so many of their singles dealt with maudlin subjects and teenage death, the hits stopped coming when music shifted in 1967 to the more complex psychedelic style.

The Shangri-Las disbanded in 1968.

Sadly, Mary Ann Ganser died of a heroin overdose just two years later.

The surviving members reunited on a few occasions for oldies concerts and last performed together in 1989. The group’s lead vocalist, Mary Weiss continues to record and perform as a solo act to this day.

Face it. From time to time, each of us has experienced anxiety. Some of us experience it for prolonged periods of timer. Before going on expensive and serious prescription medication, you may want to try these simple, drug-free methods to reduce your feelings of stress:

1.) Breathe or Even Sing When we’re anxious, our breathing becomes more erratic. By consciously focusing on taking slow measured beaths, you can actually calm yourself down. If you have trouble doing that, try singing or humming. Believe it or not, it has been proven to reduce stress within the body.

2.) Consider Over-the-Counter Supplements B vitamins, Omega-3 can reduce anxiety. One study showed an Omega-3 dose of 2,000 mg daily was the most effective. However, consult with your physician before starting to ensure these will not conflict with any medications you’re already taking.

3.) One Solution That’s Surprising A study by a Harvard researcher had people subjected to a series of stressful tasks. One group was told to say, “I am anxious” before starting the task. A second group was told to say, “I am excited” aloud before beginning. A third group was told to say nothing before they began. Believe it or not, the group that simply said, “I am excited” experienced notably lower levels of stress than the other two groups. 

Try these solutions and see if you don’t get excited about beating anxiety!