''Dangerous Game'' is an album by Mary Weiss, released by

Norton Records Norton Records is an American independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller in 1986. The label concentrates on releasing rock, rockabilly, primitive music, punk, garage rock, and early rhythm and blues. Most of i ...

in 2007. A positively received album, Weiss was backed by

the Reigning Sound Reigning Sound was an American rock and roll band originally based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2019, along with fronting Reigning Sound, Greg Cartwright also reformed his past band Greg Oblivian and the Tip Tops. In 2020, he al ...

Background

Mary Weiss was the lead singer of the 1960s girl group

the Shangri-Las The Shangri-Las were an American girl group of the 1960s, consisting of Mary Weiss, her sister Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss and twin sisters Marguerite "Marge" Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit pop songs of theirs docu ...

, that released a number of hit pop songs between 1964 and 1966. After their split in 1968, Weiss gave up singing, and worked for an architectural firm and as a commercial interior designer. In 2005, Weiss left her job to return to music. She was persuaded to record a solo album, despite having not sung in almost 20 years. She recalled that she did not even sing along to the car radio.

Production

Billy Miller, manager at

met Weiss at a party in 2005 for

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

' box set ''One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found''. In 2007 she contacted him, and suggested that she might be up for recording again. Miller proposed the Memphis garage rock band the Reigning Sound as collaborators, and Weiss after download the band's catalog, gave her approval. Reigning Sound leader

Greg Cartwright Gregory Johnathon Cartwright, also known by his stage name Greg Oblivian (born March 18, 1972), is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. From 2001 to 2022 he fronted Reigning Sound which was signed to Merge Reco ...

wrote most of the songs and a co-produced the album with Miller.

Critical reception

The reception of the album was generally positive. ''

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'' critic Jess Harvell praised the album, summarizing that "from Cartwright's reverent licks to Weiss' surprisingly sturdy vocals, Dangerous Game is a small, self-contained triumph, an understated comeback", and that "the sunny throwback simplicity of the music is what makes Dangerous Game great." Will Harris, writing for '' Q'', described it as "a collection of songs which took the classic Shangri-Las sound and melded them with garage-rock sensibilities", and noted that "the end result was critically acclaimed, and ..helped reestablish her reputation as one of the most memorable female vocalists to emerge during the 1960s." Justin Moyer writing for the ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial ...

'' gave a negative review, stating that "''Dangerous Game'' shoves a pop icon into the spotlight but fails to show why she's still relevant". Dan Forte, at '' Vintage Guitar'', praised Weiss's voice ("Weiss sounds as good as ever"), and considered that "the album is true to Weiss' style but sounds absolutely up-to-date".

Track listing

The streaming version of the album has the song "A Certain Guy" as bonus track.

Notes

References

External links

*
The leader of the comeback
at

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Mary Weiss Comes Back for a 'Dangerous Game'
interview at

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{{Authority control 2007 albums Reigning Sound albums