Del Shannon’s ‘Runaway’ 1986
All My Favorite TV Shows Get Canceled Quickly
Way back in the mid 1980s, Writer-Director-Producer Michael Mann was riding high with his slick & polished tv series, Miami Vice. I admit I was never really a fan of the show, but it had a strong run for a while and a dedicated fan base.
Mann could pretty much write his own ticket in those days, so when it came time for him to pitch a new series, he dared to try something a bit different. NBC gave him the go-ahead for a pilot movie and series for his new project, Crime Story.
Crime Story was a police drama set in the early 1960s, one of my favorite periods. The main tension was built around Chicago cop Lt. Mike Torelli (Dennis Farina) and ambitious hood Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison). The series followed law enforcement’s attention to Luca and crew’s criminal antics in Chicago and later, in my hometown of Las Vegas.
The show only lasted two years, and in that time some pretty good actors hit the scene for some appearances, most notably Kevin Spacey and Julia Roberts. The show was as inspired and stylish as anything on tv at the time, and probably much more so.
Most people remember the series for it’s opening theme, a re-recording of Del Shannon’s hit ‘Runaway.’ Well, they managed to coax Del out of semi-retirement to record an updated, brassier version of his classic song! NBC even put together a music video featuring Del singing and scenes of the tv series in order to help drum up interest in the series.
So sit back and enjoy the complete version (not the 1 minute opening credits version) of Runaway 1986!
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