Morton was looking to break into the music business, and went to the Brill Building in New York City to see an old girlfriend, Ellie Greenwich, who had become a successful pop songwriter.

)[6] Jeff Barry was impressed and Red Bird Records picked up the song for release and signed Morton and the Shangri-Las to contracts.

[6] In order to fit the AM radio format of the time, the song had to be cut in length, but rather than edit it, Morton simply faded it out after 2:10.

In another version, Morton presented the demo to various Red Bird staffers, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Artie Butler and others.

[11] In the early 1970s, Buddah Records released a "Radio Active Gold" oldies 45 containing an undubbed version of the demo (no echo or sound effects).

Aerosmith released a rock-oriented version of the song, featuring uncredited backing vocals by Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las as a single in 1979.

Cook's version, titled "Walking in the Sand", was characterized by music critics as "optimistic" and "uplifting", with AllMusic remarking that her rendition "layers the doo wop classic with baritone brass hooks and roots reggae riddims".

In 2020, a version titled "Oh No", by rapper Kreepa, which used the instrumental of "Streets Favorite", became an internet meme on TikTok, typically being played when an accident is shown, with over 10 million videos using that sound.

[28][29] Amy Winehouse covered part of the pre-chorus when singing "Back to Black" during live shows.