Remembering Del Shannon
I remember how sad I was to hear about Del Shannon’s suicide, which Dustbury reminds us was fifteen years ago.
The memorial post is rich with details I never knew. Mostly I just loved Little Runaway, and yet based on the one song, the manner of his passing didn’t surprise me.
My brother, his ex-wife’s brother, who was also one of my best friends, and my sister’s husband had a band for a while. One reason Del Shannon’s big hit is etched so firmly in my mind is that they covered it fairly well.
Not as well as they covered the song by studio group Steam, (Na Na, Hey Hey) Kiss Him Good-bye. Their cover was arguably as good or better than the original, and if recorded could have gone somewhere, as covers sometimes do. Oh well.
I never had any idea that Bryan Hyland’s Gypsy Woman was a cover, or that Del had anything to do with it. But I always thought it was well emoted, which can really make a song.
Dustbury does the topic far better justice than I can.
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