 The song was released as the third single by The Shangri-Las, their first on Red Bird Records, and became a number five hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and number nine on the "Cashbox" R&B chart.It also hit number fourteen on the UK Singles Chart, and became more successful in the UK when reissued on several occasions in the 1970s.As noted above, Billy Joel, an unknown working as a session musician at the time, played piano on the original demo recording of the song and has playfully claimed that Morton failed to pay him his $67 union scale fee for the performance.