{{Infobox song | name = Runaway Boys | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = Stray Cats | album = Stray Cats/Built for Speed | B-side = My One Desire | released = November 21, 1980 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = * Rockabilly<ref name="AllMusic Mawer">{{AllMusic |class=album|id=mw0000230858|title= Stray Cats - ''Stray Cats'' (1981) Review|last= Mawer|first= Sharon|access-date= December 30, 2024}}</ref> * rock and roll<ref name="AllMusic Mawer"/> | length = 2:57 | label = Arista | writer = Brian Setzer, Slim Jim Phantom | producer = Dave Edmunds | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Rock This Town | next_year = 1981 }}
"'''Runaway Boys'''" is the debut single by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released November 21, 1980, by Arista Records in the UK, where it peaked at No. 9 on the Singles Chart.<ref name="ukchartposition">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/stray%20cats/|title=STRAY CATS|publisher=The Official Charts Company|accessdate=9 May 2013}}</ref> Its biggest success was in Finland, where it reached number one. The song was later included on the band's 1981 self-titled debut album.
Its first US release, by EMI America, was on the June 1982 album ''Built for Speed''.
==Cover versions== "Runaway Boys" was later covered by Drake Bell on his 2014 album ''Ready, Steady, Go!'', which was produced by Brian Setzer.
==Charts== ===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- !Chart (1980–81) !Peak<br/>position |- !scope="row"|Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=297}}</ref> |15 |- {{singlechart|Flanders|3|artist=Stray Cats|song=Runaway Boys|rowheader=true}} |- !scope="row"|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Timo|date=13 August 2015|title=Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit STEP - SUE|url=http://suomenlistalevyt.blogspot.com/2015/08/step-sue.html|access-date=2020-10-29|website=Sisältää hitin}}</ref> |1 |- {{singlechart|Ireland2|20|song=Runaway Boys|rowheader=true}} |- {{singlechart|Dutch40|3|artist=Stray Cats|song=Runaway Boys|rowheader=true}} |- {{singlechart|Dutch100|4|artist=Stray Cats|song=Runaway Boys|rowheader=true}} |- {{singlechart|UKsinglesbyname|9|artist=Stray Cats|rowheader=true}} |}
===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+Year-end chart performance for "Runaway Boys" ! Chart (1981) ! Position |- ! scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name="aus81">{{cite web|title= National Top 100 Singles for 1981 |publisher= Kent Music Report |issue= 393 |page= 7 |via= Imgur |date= 4 January 1982 |access-date= January 11, 2022 |url= https://i.imgur.com/RgsDOOc.jpg}}</ref> | 91 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Stray Cats}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1980 songs Category:1980 debut singles Category:1981 singles Category:Stray Cats songs Category:Number-one singles in Finland Category:Songs written by Brian Setzer Category:Arista Records singles Category:Ariola Records singles