By Jim Fusco:

Okay, picture this- a website with nothing but great songs that feature…the kazoo!  Now picture the name of the site: KazooTube!  It’s perfect- I’ll go trademark it.

Tonight, I bring you yet another song with a kazoo solo (featuring the hand of one Chris Moore).  This tune is none other than Del Shannon’s classic hit, “Runaway”.  Even if you’ve been living under a rock for the past 50 years and don’t know this song, you may yet have heard of it.  Remember the Tom Petty classic song “Runnin’ Down A Dream”?  Well, a line in that song is, “Me and Del were singin’ Little Runaway, I was drivin’.”  I guess Del and Petty were friends during the last few years of Shannon’s life.

I was just reading about Del Shannon- what a sad story!  His biggest hit song was “Runaway” and that went all the way to Number One in 1961.  It was his first single!  Then, he had a few more years of mediocrity before falling off the charts completely.  After that, he produced, etc.  Then, in 1990, after a long battle with alcoholism and prescription drugs, he shot himself.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw it!  I mean, I knew he died relatively young (age 55), but I thought it was from an illness.

So, this video turns into a tribute of sorts.  Even though he died 18 years ago, I just found out about it now, so it feels like a loss.

I don’t know what made me think of doing this song- I haven’t heard it in ages.  But, it’s really a great one for me to do.  It’s from an artist we haven’t done yet, it’s a great song, it allowed me to play a fairly dead-on solo, it’s got a great beat, and it’s got that oh-so catchy falsetto part that I love so dear.  Any chance I get to sing in that register without being embarassed is a chance I want to take!

I hope you enjoy tonight’s video as I pinch-hit for an under-the-weather Jeff.  I’ll be back tomorrow night, and then you won’t see me until next Thursday, as Jeff makes up for lost time.  Tomorrow night, I think I’ll be back on the Christmas song train, as I’ll be recording another video when I get home from work.  I hope to have Chris help me out on the song and his level of consciousness tomorrow night will determine whether you’ll be watching a solo performance or a duet.  Until then, have a great Friday and see you in the evening for another great Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video!