Mary Weiss, the lead singer of the Shangri-Las, achieved fame at 15 with the hit song "Leader of the Pack." Her personal life wasn't easy, though, and she put a lot of her own emotions into the song.

The Shangri-Las had their very first hit in 1964 with "Remember (Walking in the Sand)." Weiss was 14 at the time. By 1968, the group had disbanded amid legal disputes.

The photo of Weiss accompanying this episode was cropped from a group publicity shot taken in 1964 and distributed by Red Bird Records. It's available on Wikipedia.

If you want to hear "Leader of the Pack," you can find a version on YouTube.

Sheldon Zoldan's tribute to Weiss is one of 40 stories that the longtime journalist has written about the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written these life stories for other years, as well. You can listen to the 2023 tributes on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

David Soul was known for his role as Hutch in the TV series "Starsky and Hutch," although his first love was singing. He had his first hit song, "Don't Give Up on Us," at the peak of his acting fame. It was a Billboard number 1 hit in the U.S. He was even more popular in England, where he later lived. He had four top 10 hits there, including "Silver Lady," which reached number 1.

The photo accompanying this episode is a 1975 ABC Television publicity shot of Soul as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson in "Starsky & Hutch." It's available on Wikipedia.

"Good Morning America" aired a segment on "Remembering David Soul" shortly after the singer-actor's passing. You can find it on YouTube. The segment references "Don't Give Up on Us." To hear the entire song, go to the YouTube video.

Sheldon Zoldan's tribute to Soul is the first of 40 stories that the longtime journalist has written about the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written these life stories for other years, as well. You can listen to the 2023 tributes on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

For 2025, I'm offering a version of The Lord's Prayer that I learned a long time ago and also wishing you a wonderful new year.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.