SHA NA NA--Sha Na Na is more than a group; it's our heritage. They preserve for us, alive and well, the music that nurtured our older sisters and brothers through adolescence. The flash, the underlying reservoir of violence, the macho-tenderness, the urban toughness--for better or worse, these are part of what we are. The miracle is that Sha Na Na transforms its music into a part of the present; any Sunday school choir would blush to hear the meticulous harmonizing they contribute to classics of the fifties and early sixties. Teen angels and leaders of the pack, Sha Na Na plays the best hardcore rock 'n roll around.

GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS--Gladys Knight's voice can be driving, caressing, pained, or good-humored. She's one of the finest soul singers to be heard, and her group has been around a long, long time. I'd pay the price of admission to hear "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" sung ten times. I've never seen a Pips concert, but Ms. Knight's superb recording style is probably intoxicating in person.

THE WAILERS--One of Jamaica's hottest reggae groups, the Wailers have remained faithful to the early, sparsely arranged, stoned-out reggae sound. With just their bass, lead guitar, electric organ, and a steady, understated drum beat, they create an eerily hypnotic musical style. The force behind the group's unrelenting swaying rhythms builds up like the lava emerging from a volcano. Bob Marley's lyrics combine Rastafarlan spirituality with an uncompromising insistence on political freedom; the Wailers create an atmosphere of a revolutionary cadre holding a ganja party in a Kingston ghetto. Unfortunately, Paul's Mall, which offers no dance floor, is probably one of the worst places to sit and become engaged in such a driving rhythmic force. But the chance to hear "Cath a Fire" and "Get Up, Stand Up" is worth the frustration. The Wailers are playing for one night only.

BRIEFLY...Peter Johnson, dean of the folk music lovers of Cambridge, has invited Frankie Armstrong, a woman folk singer from England, to sing at St. Paul's School Sat. Nov. 3...The Folk Song Society of Greater Boston is sponsoring a concert by Utah Phillips Sunday night at Kirkland House...George Carlin, TV comic-turned-countercultural hero, will talk about the evils of bourgeois American life Sunday night at the Orpheum Theater. He is usually hilarious.

SHA NA NA--Fri. Nov. 2 at Boston Music Hall, $4.50-$6.50.

GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS--Fri. Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., Orpheum Theater.

THE WAILERS--Sun. Nov. 4 at Paul's Mall. Call 267-1300 for information.

FRANKIE ARMSTRONG--Sat. Nov. 3 at 8 p.m., St. Paul's Church, $2.

UTAH PHILLIPS--Sun. Nov. 4 at 8 p.m., Kirkland House, $2.50

GEORGE CARLIN--Sun. Nov. 4 at the Orpheum Theater, $4.50-$6.50.