Coda
© CA/REDFERNS/GETTY
Topping the charts in the United States for a month in April 1961, Del Shannon’s debut single had two secret weapons – the singer’s occasional breaks into falsetto and the use of an unusual clavioline-based electric keyboard called the Musitron. The song was a rewrite of an earlier track, Little Runaway, performed by Shannon as part of Charlie Johnson And The Big Little Show Band back when he was plain old Charles Westover. But fresh from signing a record deal, the newly-monikered Del Shannon’s manager Ollie McLaughlin suggested the singer should revisit the old song and use it as a showcase for keyboard player Max Crook’s unusual instrument. Recorded on 21 January 1961, it was a performance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand that catapulted Runaway to glory – the track also topped in the charts in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.