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In the liner notes of Dion's box set King Of The New York Streets, he wrote: "It came about by partying in a schoolyard. We were jamming, hitting tops of boxes. I gave everyone parts like the horn parts we'd hear in the Apollo Theater and it became a jam that we kept up for 45 minutes. I came up with all kinds of stuff. But when I actually wrote the song and brought it into the studio to record it, well, her name wasn't actually Sue. It was about, you know, some girl who loved to be worshiped but as soon as you want a commitment and express your love for her, she's gone. So the song was a reaction to that kind of woman."

No Belmonts here - The Del Satins ("In the Still of the Nite," "To the Aisle") backed up Dion instead. (thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL)

In a 2009 interview with Blueswax, Dion revealed that his wife tells people this song is about her, even though she knows it isn't. Said Dion: "She goes around telling everybody, 'Yeah, I'm Runaround Sue.' I said, 'Why do you tell people that?' She says, 'They remember me.' She said, 'If I don't tell them that, they won't remember me.'"

Leif Garrett, who was a teen idol in the '70s, recorded a version of this that went to #13 in the US.

Comments:

Status Quo do a rockin' cover on Famous In The Last Century. Well worth a listen.
- Dan, Brisbane, Australia

One of my favorite oldies! I love Runaround Sue, A QVC guy sung it on Kareoke and he was great!
- Jennifer Harris, Grand Blanc, MI

And the great Mr Dimucci is still out there doing original stuff in 2008 . He visited his Blues roots with "Son of Skip James" last year but has returned to Rock n Roll with "Rock N Roll Guitar Heros " (inc Cliff Gallup James Burton etc ) If you cats dont know who Cliff Gallup is buy Gene Vincent,s first two LPs and Listen... as Dion says these guys are held in reverence in Europe by not USA
- David, Inverness, United Kingdom

dion and the belmonts paved the road in the late 50's and early 60's for the doo-wop era. even though dion was 19 years old at the time they sky rocketed..the early years of beating on trash can lids paid off. "the wanderer" is still to this day one of the most respected songs in doo-wop.
- jakob, watauga texas, TX

Actually, the Del-Satins (like Dion and the Belmonts, the Regents, the Chiffons, the Chantels) hail from the Bronx. Not Long Island.
- Patience, Jamaica , NY

This came out when I was in High School - and went to the prom with a girl named Sue. However - back then - it was a well-kept secret - but - Dion did have a heroin problem. This was kept from the public then as it would have been anethema at that time - now - nobody cares that much.
- Michael, Chicago, IL

Great song, but I prefer Dion's THE WANDERER", written by Ernie Maresca.
- Pierre, Chelsea, Quebec, Canada

This was used in Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers song "Thats what I like" in 1989 and topped the UK charts (www.Everyhit.com)
- Vishal, Delhi, India, India

The lyrics are great, but the doo-wop stuff in the background is what makes this music. With his latalatalata whoa-ohs soaring over the hape, hape, hum de hatey hatey hapes...nobody was cooler than Dion.
- Frank, Westminster, SC

The Del-Satins are NOT The Five Satins who recorded "In The Still Of The Night" and "To The Isle". The Del-Satins were a quartet from Long Island, N.Y., who later hooked up with Johnny Maestro and other musicians to from The Brooklyn Bridge (they recorded "The Worst That Could Happen" in 1968).
- Jeff, Boston, MA