Thursday October 28, 2021 “Runaway Girl” Dion
You know that Dion must be a star, he only has one name.
Today’s tune, “Runaway Girl” was the ‘B’ side of Dion’s number one 1961 hit “Runaround Sue” and although we have had songs in the past where DJs flipped the record and the ‘B’ side became the hit, that unfortunately never happened with “Runaway Girl”.
Still a lovely song which might have been a big hit had it gotten radio airplay.
Although perhaps best remembered for his early doo-wop hits with the Belmonts, Dion is an accomplished guitarist and also responsible for having written a number of his later solo hits. After experiencing little commercial success in the mid 60s Dion recorded a song that was written by Dick Holler, the same gentleman who gave us “Snoopy versus the Red Baron”.
This tune was about as far removed from ‘Snoopy’ as it could possibly be and Dion’s version of “Abraham, Martin & John” delivered him yet another number one hit and a very topical song. Dion has continued to record in a variety of genres including Christian music and the blues which was his original connection to music as a teenager.
Respected by so many other artists, in 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends, a collection of original blues songs performed as duets with such superstar pals as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top).
He has had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer and has sold more than 200 million records worldwide.
Stay safe and well...and don’t be hesitant to flip over those records, should you still possess any of them, as you may find a gem like today’s song waiting for you on the other side.