Return of the Leader of the Pack

While the road is littered with comeback albums by long-absent music legend divas (think Dusty Springfield's Pet Shop Boys' produced "Reputation" or Ronnie Spector's "Unfinished Business"), I can't remember one ever being more anticipated than that of former Shangri-Las leader Mary Weiss ("Dangerous Games" -- out March 20).

Even in their heyday the Shangri-Las were a bit of an enigma. ("Out in the Streets" is one of my all-time favorite songs, btw.) Sometimes there were four members, sometimes there were three. Sometimes the girls in the photographs clearly weren't any of the actual members of the band. One minute they were recording perfect confectioneries like "Give Him a Great Big Kiss," the next they were releasing the doom-and-gloom spoken-word(!) single "Past, Present and Future." (No wonder the Go-Go's still perform "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand") and dedicate it to the "coolest chicks there ever were" every time they play live.)

Forty years between albums has only added to the mystery, but both New York magazine and The New York Times tracked down the reclusive New Yorker recently and although she's still not revealing much, Weiss seems as excited about returning to the music scene as her fans are about hearing from her.

The new album is available to pre-order on Amazon here.

In the meantime, you can check out two new tunes on Mary's MySpace here.