Enchanted by Del Shannon's "Runaway" as a boy, Tom Petty later paid the ultimate tribute to this No. 1 single and its singer: He saluted the tune in his own 1989 hit song, "Runnin' Down a Dream." ...

Rock ‘n’ roll was music for teenagers. That’s what was magic about it. The best of those ’50s and early ’60s singles are the ones that treat teenage concerns — life-altering crushes, soul-obliterating ...

COOPERSVILLE – Del Shannon had an inkling "Runaway" might be a special rock song, so he played it again and again long before it was released in 1961 and shot to the top of the charts. His wife, ...

The album may or may not be obsolete, but the fact remains: Listeners have long obsessed over individual songs. The Single File is The A.V. Club’s look at the deep cuts, detours, experiments, and ...

Charles Westover was a military veteran making ends meet as a carpet salesman in Battle Creek while moonlighting as a musician at the city's Hi-Lo Club at the Gilbert Hotel. It was 1960, and Westover ...

Charles Westover might have been from Grand Rapids. But Del Shannon, the rock and roll legend, was "born" in Battle Creek. Del Shannon, Westover's stage name, came to be when he wrote and performed ...

Jim Clash: You once called Del Shannon’s “Runaway” tune an opera. You toured with Del. What are your memories, and did you ever think he would take his own life? Dion DiMucci: Never, never. In fact I ...

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen to The Zutons in the studio putting their own spin on 'Runaway' by Del Shannon for triple j's ...

In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. Rock ‘n’ roll ...