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, ...

A simple minor chord strummed on the guitar sets the mood for the 1961 smash hit “Runaway.” The tinkling piano, upright bass, drums, and baritone saxophone back the simple figure. Del Shannon would go ...

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 ...

Del Shannon was a famous singer known for his 1961 hit “Runaway,” which became a chart-topper in the U.S. and the U.K. He stood out for his falsetto voice and emotional lyrics. Shannon had a string of ...

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 ...

Del Shannon was a great storyteller of musical material and he truly was a genius well ahead of his time. Baby boomers know his hits, unless you were living on another planet, It seemed timely to ...

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 ...