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"Stranger in Town" is a 1965 song by Del Shannon. Written by Shannon, it is the opening track on 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. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the USA [3] [2] and No. 40 on the UK's Record Retailer chart. [4] "Stranger in Town" was Shannon's last top 40 hit 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 [3]

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, [3] ahead of Shannon's bigger hits "Keep Searching" (371st in Marsh's book) [5] and "Runaway" (534th). [6]

Howard DeWitt's biography of Shannon is titled "Stranger in Town" after the song. [7]

References

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