In 1960, he heard a country band led by Charles Westover, known at the time as Charlie Johnson, and recorded the band's demos, which he sent to Harry Balk and Irving Micahnik of Talent Artists in Detroit, Michigan. As a result, Westover was signed by Bigtop Records, and agreed to change his name to Del Shannon. McLaughlin had Shannon re-record one of his songs in New York City, using band member Max Crook's Musitron as lead instrument, and the resulting single, "Runaway", reached No. 1 in the Billboard chart in April 1961. McLaughlin also produced several of Shannon's later hits, including "Hats Off to Larry"."Shannon's Back-It's On The Record", Los Angeles Times, 20 December 1981, Page M92.
