Del Shannon: Runaway and the 13 Best Songs

Del Shannon was one of the few American rock and roll artists of the 1960s who survived the devastating wave of the British invasion. Other “survivors” included Elvis, Dion, and Roy Orbison. Dedicated to the 90th anniversary of his birth.

Del Shannon was born Charles Whedon Westover on December 30, 1934 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His parents’ names were Bert and Leone, and the family lived in Coopersville, a small rural farming community. There he learned to play the ukulele from his mother and grew up the eldest of three children.

“I was an outcast growing up among Christians,” Shannon recalled. “My father, a trucker, didn’t go to church, and it wasn’t good if you lived right in the center.” At school, he discovered his talent: “I realized that I could rhyme words. It just occurred to me.” At the age of 13, he taught himself how to play an old acoustic guitar, stringing a wire instead of strings, although it was so far from the neck that his fingers bled later.

He performed at school concerts, and after two years of military service, he began playing in clubs in Michigan. Charles “Chuck” wanted to perform so much that he could drive 200 miles in winter just to get to the club.

He performed at HiLo, a club where people “drank a lot, dreamed and fantasized a lot about who they would become.” In August 1960, Chuck worked as a carpet salesman in Battle Creek during the day and sang at HiLo at night. In a carpet store, a 25-year-old guy wrote the lyrics for a song that would make him Del Shannon, and so rich that he would later be able to buy a store and a club several times. And that night, he and the band started rehearsing their new song right there, driving it around in circles.

Keyboard player Max Crook gave a demo tape to disc jockey Ollie McLaughlin from Ann Arbor, who heard Chuck singing. McLaughlin arranged an audition for him in Detroit. Westover later flew to New York to make an appointment. He was worried: “I’m there, and there are violinists at my first session. I said, “What is this? Violins?” I mean, it was just scary.”

13. Handy Man

A skilled guy who fixes hearts. The musitron goes off at a hoarse whistle. All the signature techniques of the Business are here – falsetto, classical doo-wop harmony I-VI-IV-V.

12. I Go to Pieces

The year is 1965, and here you realize that the guy is writing crystal clear pop rock. Here is an almost direct quote from the Hank Cochran song “I Fall To Pieces”, performed by Patsy Cline. “I’m torn apart / in a whirlwind of unbridled passion”? No, it’s not about that at all.

11. Sea Of Love

“Sea Of Love” is a modern version of Phil Phillips’ single hit, where Del demonstrates the power of his vocals. The 1981 version was recorded and performed even more expertly than all his early hits.

10. That’s The Way Love Is

The song shows that by February 1964, Del was growing further as an author and as a performer. There are goosebumps, of course, and Shannon’s voice shifts from the manner of an insinuating, gentle crooner to an aggressive growl. Love is a serious and dangerous test that can break hearts. The girls’ backs echo the warning. The song was played in the end credits of the movie Dead Beat and is one of the best examples of the ending.

9. She Was Mine

An exemplary pop song from 1966, with atypical harmony and synthesizer beats, which were probably later used by Mamas & Papas for their main hit. But for the song to become a hit, there are too many regrets “She was mine / I let her walk away / Lost my mind / It gets worse everyday”

8. Cry Myself to Sleep

This blue-eyed doo-wop is a song about a disconsolate guy at an unsuccessful party organized by him, he is now only ready to cry until he falls asleep, because the girl he likes came here just to dance with all the guys except him and hurt him: “‘Cause every time I see her I have to weep / I’m gonna cry myself to sleep”. This sad cry of the Case was released in June 1962, and became popular in the UK in September. In 1963, the French version of “Je pleure aussi” (“I’m crying too”) was released. performed by Les Pirates avec Tony Morgan. Later, Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” would be written, undoubtedly influenced by “Cry Myself To Sleep”.

7. So Long Baby

The success of Del Shannon’s first hits was a kind of burden that weighed down and required the release of new ones. He tried to do it again with the song “So Long Baby”, which only reached number 28 in the US chart, but entered the top ten in the UK.

It was one of those true-to-life songs by Shannon, in which vindictiveness, jealousy, and revenge became the companions of a broken heart. In the song, the author shrugs off gossip that his girlfriend is cheating on him: “Because I have news for you.” / I was dishonest too.”

6. Thinkin’ It Over

Don’t confuse the song with Buddy Holly’s hit song with a similar name! When Shannon’s collaboration with Andrew Meadow Oldham, which resulted in Beach Boys-style songs, was postponed after the singles flop in 1967, it didn’t stop him.

He gathered his strength for the equally psychedelic “The Further Adventures of Charles Westover”, which featured the magnificent “Thinkin’ It Over” as the opening track, which conveyed the folk-rock-psychedelic sound that was relevant at the time.

Fans and critics warmly received the song and album, but the public was not interested, and soon after, Del changed his label from Liberty Records to United Artists.

5. Hey! Little Girl

One of Shannon’s early hits in 1961, the song “Hey! Little Girl” entered only the American Top 40, but reached number 2 in the UK. It begins with grief and suffering (“through the shadows I saw many tears”), but ends with the hope of new love and happiness (“I will make all your dreams come true!”)

4. Little Town Flirt

The title track of the second American album “Little Town Flirt” reached number 12 in the United States and rose even higher in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada.

The song anticipates heartache, and Shannon, as the narrator, warns of an inevitably doomed relationship (“Yeah, I know she’s gonna treat you wrong / So your heart just better be strong”).

Another enduring classic by Shannon, it was covered by Smokie, Altered Images and Electric Light Orchestra.

3. Keep Searchin’

On November 21, 1964, a new song, one of the kindest, but at the same time gloomy, “Keep Searchin’ (We’ll Follow The Sun)” entered the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his last top ten hit in the United States. Like many of his previous successful works, it was written by himself.

It tells the story of a guy who runs away with his lover, who is mistreated by others: “she is in so much pain, they treat her meanly and cruelly.”

2. Hats Off To Larry

Many of Del Shannon’s songs were about suffering and heartbreak, but some of them were also laced with delicious malice. The most striking example is “Hats Off To Larry”, which followed the first hit and entered the top five.

The song tells the story of another breakup, but this time it’s not about the loneliness of Shannon’s lyrical character and the girl who dumped him, but about being dumped in return (“Hats off to Larry / He broke your heart. / Just like you broke mine. / When she said that we should break up”). From the category of such evil songs, only Dylan’s “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat” comes to mind.

1. Runaway

The song Del wrote at work at the store was called “Runaway,” and when it was released in 1961, it made him a global celebrity. Before the release of “Runaway,” Charles Westover became Del Shannon. Although he officially kept his real name, he changed it for the stage. “It wasn’t rock and roll,” he said. “It was too English, too correct.”

“Runaway” soared to No. 1 in England and America just a few weeks after being released on Big Top Records. Shannon appeared on television in “American Bandstand” and played to full houses in England, Australia and Japan. He performed with the Beatles at the Albert Hall, and was voted the most popular singer in England in several polls in 1962 and 1963. A few weeks after the release of the Beatles’ “From Me To You,” Del recorded his version, which actually became the Lennon-McCartney duo’s first hit in the United States six months before the release of the breakthrough “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”

After releasing several successful songs, Shannon moved to Van Nuys, California in 1965 and became an independent producer. In 1970, he produced the hit “Gypsy Woman” for his friend Brian Hyland, who had previously released “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” in 1960. But Shannon himself missed the opportunity to return to show business and resumed touring only in 1972.

But in those years and up to 1978, he had problems with alcohol.

“In those days, if you weren’t taking drugs, you were drinking, and I was drinking a lot. I hated the taste of booze, but I loved where it took me—into oblivion.”

Crime Story version of Runaway

In 1986, Shannon received a call from television producer Michael Mann asking him to watch a recording of the planned NBC series “Crime Story.” The show was about Chicago police officers fighting organized crime. Mann wanted to use “Runaway” as the title song of the series. Shannon found the series cruel, but told himself: “It’s none of my business. My job is to sell.”

“I was deeply moved by this song when it first came out when I was a kid,” Mann said. “I think she’s very romantic.”

At Mann’s request, Shannon rewrote the song so that it referred to two detectives rather than two lovers. Shannon spent 12 hours recording the song at Cherokee Recording Studio in Los Angeles. Mann arrived at midnight. He liked the new version. The classical solo on the Musitron was entrusted to the guitar.

The series had good enough ratings to be renewed for a second season, and Shannon’s career took off again. However, his depression due to events in his personal life (his wife Shirley, with whom he had lived for 27 years, left him: “She said she had to find out who she was”) persisted until he finished the show in Las Vegas with Fabian and Lou Christie. Actor Dennis Farina, the lead actor in Crime Story, and other actors came backstage, and everyone was thrilled that the series had been renewed. And Del is like, “I said to myself: I’ve been here, and it’s great. That’s how I want to be — enthusiastic!”

At first, he refused to do nostalgic rock and roll shows with other 60s singers, but later changed his mind. “The only person I rely on in show business is Sinatra,” Del said. “He sings his old recordings, and I think it’s wonderful.”

“I’m doing my own thing, and I’m my hits. I’m here to satisfy people,” Shannon declared, not showing disappointment at having to perform his biggest hit for the hundredth time.

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“Del Shannon was many years ahead of his time,” critics wrote after his death. “He never imitated anyone and never sounded like anyone other than the Shannon Case.”

More than six decades after “Runaway” topped the charts worldwide, it remains one of the most recognizable songs on the planet. Among other awards, the recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and Rolling Stone named it one of the greatest songs of all time. In 1999, Del Shannon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his contributions to music.

Chuck Westover has no grave-he was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Nevada Desert. Del Shannon has gained immortality. He and his music are still with us.