Teenage tragedy song
Examples

Teenage tragedy song

Section Title: Examples
Table Section Text: None

Title	Original artist	Year	Songwriter(s)	Notes

"Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots"	The Cheers	1955	Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller	U.S. #6. Protagonist disappears, presumed dead but never found.

"Endless Sleep"	Jody Reynolds	1958	Jody Reynolds, Dolores Nance	U.S. #5, precursor of the genre.

"Running Bear"	Johnny Preston	1959	J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper)	U.S. #1

"Teen Angel"	Mark Dinning	1959	Jean Dinning, Red Surrey	U.S. #1

"Tell Laura I Love Her"	Ray Peterson	1960	Jeff Barry, Ben Raleigh	U.S. #7, cover by Ricky Valance was #1 in the UK. Protagonist dies in an automobile racing accident.

"Ebony Eyes"	The Everly Brothers	1961	John D. Loudermilk	U.S. #8, UK #1, Can. #2

"Johnny Remember Me"	John Leyton	1961	Geoff Goddard	UK #1, produced by Joe Meek; later covered by psychobilly band The Meteors

"Moody River"	Pat Boone	1961	Gary D. Bruce	U.S. #1. Singer's girlfriend commits suicide by drowning.

"The Water Was Red"	Johnny Cymbal	1961	Stanley Wagner

"The Prom"	Del Shannon	1961	Del Shannon

"Leah"	Roy Orbison	1962	Roy Orbison	U.S. #25, Can. #7

"Call Me Lonesome"	Arthur Alexander	1962	Arthur Alexander	Unreleased until 1987; early version of "Lonely Just Like Me"

"Patches"	Dickey Lee	1962	Barry Mann, Larry Kolber	U.S. #6

"Echo"	The Emotions	1962	The Emotions, Henry Boye

"Chapel Bells Ringing"	Gene Summers	1962	M. Torver

"Last Kiss"	Wayne Cochran & the C.C. Riders	1962	Wayne Cochran	Cover by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers was a 1964 U.S.

"A Young Man Is Gone"	The Beach Boys	1963	Bobby Troup, Mike Love

"B.J. the D.J."	Stonewall Jackson	1963	Hugh X. Lewis	U.S. Country #1

"Dead Man's Curve"	Jan and Dean	1964	Jan Berry, Roger Christian, Brian Wilson, Artie Kornfeld	U.S. #8. The protagonist survives but is severely injured; his racing opponent is killed.

"Terry"	Twinkle	1964	Lynn Ripley (Twinkle)	UK #4

"Leader of the Pack"	The Shangri-Las	1964	George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich	U.S. #1, Can. #3

"The Hero"	Bernadette Carroll	1964	B. Nosal, P. Maheu	a regional airplay hit in North Carolina (#1), Florida, West Virginia and elsewhere

"Laurie (Strange Things Happen)"	Dickey Lee	1965	Milton Addington, Cathie Harmon	U.S. #14, Can. #6

"Give Us Your Blessings"	The Shangri-Las	1965	Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich	U.S. #29, Can. #11

"I Can Never Go Home Anymore"	The Shangri-Las	1965	George "Shadow" Morton	U.S. #6, Can. #2

"A Young Girl of Sixteen"	Noel Harrison	1965	Charles Aznavour, Oscar Brown Jr., Robert Chauvigny	U.S. #51, Can. #5. From a French song also recorded by Aznavour in 1959 and by Edith Piaf in 1951

"Nightmare"	Lori Burton/ The Whyte Boots	1966	Pam Sawyer, Lori Burton	"The Whyte Boots" were a fabricated girl group; Burton sang lead and the track is on her 1967 LP Breakout

"Ode to Billie Joe"	Bobbie Gentry	1967	Bobbie Gentry	U.S. #1, Can. #1

"Condition Red"	The Goodees	1968	Don Davis, Freddie Briggs	U.S. #46, Can. #14

"Emma"	Hot Chocolate	1974	Errol Brown, Tony Wilson	U.S. #8, U.K. #3

"Seasons in the Sun"	Terry Jacks	1974	Jacques Brel, Rod McKuen	An English-language adaptation of Brel's song "Le Moribond" US #1, UK #1

"Run Joey Run"	David Geddes	1975	Paul Vance & Jack Perricone	US Billboard #4, Cash Box #1; Canada #12

"Hello, This Is Joanie"	Paul Evans	1978	Paul Evans, Fred Tobias	UK #6

Sentence(s)

Teenage tragedy song examples include "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning (1959), "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson (1960), "Ebony Eyes" by the Everly Brothers (1961), "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean (1964), and "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las (1964).

final_sentence: Teenage tragedy song examples include "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning (1959), "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson (1960), "Ebony Eyes" by the Everly Brothers (1961), "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean (1964), and "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las (1964).