"Hats Off to Larry" is a song written and sung by Del Shannon, which he released as a single in 1961. The song spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 5, while reaching No. 1 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade, No. 2 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade", No. 2 in Australia, No. 6 on the UK's Record Retailer chart, and No. 8 in South Africa.
"Hats Off to Larry" - Del Shannon, #5, 6-61; #9 U.K., 9-61. No weepy sayonaras for Del Shannon locked into a never-before-attempted new lyrical concept - you pat the romantic rival on the back, because you're glad your annoying ex is gone. Shannon leads off with the Am-G-F-E7 run again. He shifts to the Key of 'A' major when the lines are complete, running down a modified streetcorner pattern on "Hats off the Larry" who broke her heart. He pumps the IV chord minor to torque up the drama, and ratchets the falsetto flourish. Del's twisty lyrical actually congratulates rival Larry for breaking her heart after she'd hurt Del. Del's third hit in a row takes it a step farther, perhaps launching the mixed-bag genre of Revenge Rock [ Maury Dean - Rock and Roll: Gold Rush]
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The seventies were hard on Del. He drank heavily and rarely recorded. When he did record, he would get favorable reviews, but his albums were not commercially successful. The 1980s saw a brief resurgence. He rewrote the lyrics to his signature song, “Runaway,” for the television show Crime Story, which ran from 1986 to 1988. When Roy Orbison died, there were rumors around that Del would replace him in the Traveling Wilburys. Del had been produced by Tom Petty and had been recently working with Jeff Lynne, so the idea didn’t seem all that far-fetched. However, it was not to be. Drinking more and suffering from depression, on February 8, 1990, Del took his own life with a single bullet.
ReplyDeleteDel Shannon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and was also inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2005.
Del Shannon was fifty-six years old on the day the music died. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in an unknown location.