Remember (Walking in the Sand)

Although "Leader of the Pack" is the song everyone associates with the Shangri-Las first, it was not their first hit. It was preceded by "Remember (Walking in the Sand)," which made number five in the fall of 1964 and was in its own right just as memorable and eccentric a production as "Leader in the Pack." Like "Leader in the Pack," it was co-produced by George "Shadow" Morton, perhaps the most enigmatic figure to be involved in the whole Brill Building scene. Morton also wrote the song, which he claimed, most likely fancifully, to have completed in a mere 20 minutes on the way to the session. Even in the crowded mid-'60s Brill Building/girl group cluster of singles, "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" stood out immediately for its eerie, unique atmosphere. The track started out with two doom-struck descending notes that sounded as if they were being played on a piano that had cobwebs growing over it. The melody, carried by that piano, was more like a morbid classical sonata than a rock tune. The sadness was amplified by a lead vocal that sounded as if it was choking back tears and swelling, tense background harmonies. Yet after the verse faded away to a dead stop, the chorus was totally different, like a flashback to the happy times of the romance -- a summer one, from the sounds of it. The background Shangri-Las take up a hand-clapping rhythm and chant "remember" as the lead gently reminisces over tender moments before cranking the angst meter on the final line to lead back into the piano-dominated verse. Sound effects of seagull cries on the chorus, which is repeated at the end and fades out, add to the you-are-there ambience of an unforgettably melodramatic hit.