THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

187-Del Shannon-Runaway

1961-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.10.’It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down. I had the radio on, I was drivin’, the trees went by, me and Del were singin’ little runaway.’

Del Shannon was born Charles Weedon Westover on December 30th, 1934, in Coopersville, Michigan, United States, he committed suicide by shooting himself with a 22 calibre rifle at his home in Santa Clarita, California, on February 8th, 1990, at the age of 55. Shannon had been suffering from depression for several years leading up to his death. Del Shannon first met this songs co-writer Max Crook (1936-2020) in 1959 when Crook joined Shannon in his then band the ‘Big Little Show Band’. At that time Shannon was performing using the stage name ‘Charlie Johnson,’ but when the pair signed with ‘Bigtop Records,’ Westover was re-named Del Shannon, combining Mark Shannon, a wrestling pseudonym used by a regular at the Hi-Lo Club, where Westover played, with Del, derived from the Cadillac Coupe de Ville, his favourite car. In total there are 18 official Albums recorded by Del Shannon available, he also issued 43 singles between 1961-1989, of which nine reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles chart, while in the UK, he has achieved 14 top 40 hits.

‘Runaway’ was co-written by Del Shannon, and Max Crook, and appears on Del Shannon’s debut studio Album ‘Runaway with Del Shannon’ from 1961, ‘Runaway’ is often cited as one of the songs that bridges the gap between Rock ‘N Roll,’ and the start of the 1960’s. The unusual sound that forms the songs bridge at 1 minute and 10 seconds in to track was written by Max Crook on an instrument that he invented which he called the ‘Musitron,’ which is an adapted version of the 1947 ‘Clavioline,’ an electronic keyboard that gave space-age sound effects to ‘Pop Music,’ decades before the arrival of the synthesizer.

‘Runaway’ would become Del Shannon’s signature tune, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Australia. The song is about a girl who leaves the songs narrator, and he is left to contemplate what went wrong. Del Shannon said that he wrote the lyrics to ‘Runaway’ about himself because he was forever running away from relationships. Shannon has also said the this songs original ‘B’ side which is called ‘Jody,’ was his favourite ever recording. In 1986 Shannon re-recorded ‘Runaway’ as the theme for the ‘NBC’ television series ‘Crime Story,’ which was written with slightly altered lyrics, in order to better reflect the show’s subject matter.

‘As I walk alone I wonder what went wrong with our love, a love that was so strong. And as I still walk on I think of the things we’ve done together while our hearts were young.’