One of my favorite (top 10) oldies of all time has to be Runaway by Del Shannon. One of the biggest hits of the decade of the 60's Runaway climbed to #1 in April of 1961. It was released in February of that year.
Born Charles Weedon Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Dec. 30th 1934 Del Shannon learned to play guitar while growing up in Coopersville a small town near Grand Rapids. When drafted into the army in 1954 he played in a band called the Cool Flames in Germany.
Once he came back to the States, Charles Weedon Westover became Del Shannon. By combining a friend's assumed surname with his favorite car the Cadillac Coupe de Ville they came up with Del Shannon. I don't get how they did that exactly but Del Shannon is certainly more commercially feasible then Charles Weedon Westover.
With the name squared away Shannon's string of music hits began. Runaway hit the charts in 61. That was followed by "Hats Off to Larry" which rose to #5 on Billboard and #2 in a magazine called "Cashbox" which was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA.
He released "So Long Baby" next but that didn't do as well though it did hit #10 in the UK. "Hey Little Girl" was a song that went all the way to #2 in the UK but only rose to #38 in the U.S.. Shannon later came out with "Little Town Flirt" which did hit #12 in the U.S. and #4 in England. As big as his hits were in the U.S. he was having more success chart-wise in the UK.
His next biggie was "Keep Searchin" which hit #9 in the U.S. in November of 1964. Once again though the song was more popular in the UK where it hit #3.
Later in his career when the hits dried up Del Shannon would write, arrange and produce songs such as "Baby It's You" and "Gypsy Woman" which was sung by Brian Hyland (Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini).
Unfortunately Shannon wound up having a bout with alcoholism in the 70's while his career slowed down considerably. He wound up making an album "Drop Down and Get Me" in which he had a single called "Sea of Love" which hit #33 in the U.S in early 1982.
Later in the 80's the TV show "Crime Story" used his re-recorded Runaway with new lyrics to bring back some memories of Shannon and that great hit.
In 1990 however while suffering from depression Del Shannon committed suicide with a 22 caliber rifle at his home in Santa Clara, California. He was 55. Another one gone way too soon though this was at his own hand.
He wound up being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 while his monster hit Runaway wound up being voted the #1 "Legendary Michigan Song".
It would be hard for anyone to top a great song like Runaway and Del Shannon never did but he still wound up with a heck of a career with some fine hits. If you would like to find out more about him check out his website at
delshannon.com
Finally here is that awesome hit Runaway. One of my top ten favorites of the oldies music era! This video was posted on YouTube by "folkman123". Enjoy!
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