http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2469&rws=%2Fdel-shannon%2Fmusic-videos.rssBorn Charles Westover in Coopersville, Michigan, Del Shannon is known today for his dramatic, atypical 1961 single "Runaway," as well as a handful of songs that charted into the 1980s. Throughout his career, Westover leaned toward darker material with often unusual instrumentation, setting him apart from the rest of the pre-British Invasion crowd. In 1968, he released the overlooked, semi- psychedelic gem <i>The Further Adventures of Charles Westover</i>, a truly strange album coming from a former teen idol. With its somber tempos and mournful orchestration, the album seems like a poppier, less unhinged mirror image of Skip Spence's <i>Oar</i>. Westover was, however, doomed to fall into similar circumstances as Spence, mental health-wise. His career stopped in the '70s while he battled alcoholism, finally making a comeback in 1983 with the Tom Petty produced <i>Drop Down And Get Me</i>, which yielded a minor hit in "Sea of Love." In February of 1990, Westover took his own life with a .22 caliber rifle. - Mike McGuirk'60s Oldiesen720Thu, 7 Jan 2010 18:11:51 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.2469&rws=%2Fdel-shannon%2Fmusic-videos.rss Born Charles Westover in Coopersville, Michigan, Del Shannon is known today for his dramatic, atypical 1961 single "Runaway," as well as a handful of songs that charted into the 1980s. Throughout his career, Westover leaned toward darker material with often unusual instrumentation, setting him apart from the rest of the pre-British Invasion crowd. In 1968, he released the overlooked, semi- psychedelic gem <i>The Further Adventures of Charles Westover</i>, a truly strange album coming from a former teen idol. With its somber tempos and mournful orchestration, the album seems like a poppier, less unhinged mirror image of Skip Spence's <i>Oar</i>. Westover was, however, doomed to fall into similar circumstances as Spence, mental health-wise. His career stopped in the '70s while he battled alcoholism, finally making a comeback in 1983 with the Tom Petty produced <i>Drop Down And Get Me</i>, which yielded a minor hit in "Sea of Love." In February of 1990, Westover took his own life with a .22 caliber rifle. - Mike McGuirk