Stranger in Town (Del Shannon song)

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"Stranger in Town" is a 1965 song by Del Shannon. Written by Shannon, it is the opening track on the album 1,661 Seconds with Del Shannon . [1] It was released as a single, a follow-up (both chronologically and thematically) to Shannon's top-ten hit "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)", [2] but was not as successful, reaching No. 4 in Canada, No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the USA, and No. 40 on the UK's Record Retailer chart. [3] [4] [2] [5] "Stranger in Town" was Shannon's last top 40 hit in the US of the 1960s. [2]

"Stranger in Town"... it's one long bleat of terror, the singer and his lover pursued by some unnameable person for reasons just beyond the fringe of rational understanding.

— Dave Marsh, The Heart of Rock & Soul [4]

Dave Marsh, in his 1989 book The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, ranked "Stranger in Town"' as the 327th best rock or soul single to that date, [4] ahead of Shannon's bigger hits "Keep Searching" (371st in Marsh's book) [6] and "Runaway" (534th). [7]

Howard DeWitt's biography of Shannon is titled "Stranger in Town" after the song. [8]

References

  1. ↑ Elder, Bruce. One Thousand Six-Hundred Sixty-One Seconds of Del Shannon at AllMusic. Retrieved April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Unterberger, RIchie. Stranger in Town at AllMusic. Retrieved April 2015.
  3. ↑ "RPM Top 40&5 - March 29, 1965" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 3 Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul. Plume. p. 229. ISBN   978-0452263055 . Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  5. ↑ Del Shannon - Full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company. Accessed July 31, 2016.
  6. ↑ Marsh 1989, p. 255.
  7. ↑ Marsh 1989, p. 353.
  8. ↑ DeWitt, Howard; DeWitt, Dennis (2001). Stranger in Town: The Musical Life of Del Shannon. Kendall Hunt. ISBN   978-0787288549.
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