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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Venus” | |
|---|---|
| 1959 US single | |
| Single by Frankie Avalon | |
| B-side | “I’m Broke” |
| Released | February 1959 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 2:20 |
| Label | Chancellor |
| Songwriter(s) | Ed Marshall |
| Frankie Avalon singles chronology | |
| “What Little Girl” / “I’ll Wait for You“ (1958)”Venus“ (1959)”Bobby Sox to Stockings” / “A Boy Without a Girl“ (1959) |
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By De-Lite Records – Public Domain, Link
| “Venus” | |
|---|---|
| US single of Avalon’s 1976 re-recording | |
| Single by Frankie Avalon | |
| Released | 1976 |
| Genre | Pop, disco |
| Length | 3:34 |
| Label | De-Lite, Polydor |
| Songwriter(s) | Ed Marshall |
“Venus” is a song written by Ed Marshall. The most successful and best-known recording of the track was done by Frankie Avalon and released in 1959, where it reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Background
“Venus” became Avalon’s first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it spent five weeks atop the survey. The song also reached number ten on the R&B chart. The song’s lyrics detail a man’s plea to Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, to send him a girl to love and one who will love him as well. Billboard ranked it as the No. 4 song for 1959.
The song was covered in the United Kingdom by Dickie Valentine who spent a week at number 20 in the Singles Chart in May 1959, the week before Frankie Avalon reached the Top 20 with his original version.
In 1976, Avalon released a new disco version of “Venus”. This helped revive the singer’s career, as his success had been waning prior to its release and was Avalon’s last Billboard Hot 100 hit. The re-recording of “Venus” peaking at number forty-six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at number one on the Easy Listening chart. Avalon was quoted stating his opinion of the remake: “It was all right, but I still prefer the original.”
Other charting versions
- Pat Boone – included in the album Ain’t That a Shame (1964).
- Johnny Mathis released a cover version of the song in 1968. His version reached No. 23 on Billboard‘s Easy Listening chart “bubbled under” the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 111.
- Jamie Redfern – released a cover version of the song in 1973 that entered the Go-Set – Australian charts at number 27.
- In Italy, in 1982, Peppino di Capri publishes the album Juke – Box (Splash, SPL 718) which contains the cover of Venus.
- Barry Manilow released a cover version of the song for his album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties in 2005.
Venus – Instrumental cover by Dave Monk
Santo & Johnny – Venus
Venus – Guitar instrumental
Rigo Tovar – Venus
In popular culture
Avalon’s recording of the song was used multiple times in the Showtime series Dexter, as the favourite song of Arthur Mitchell‘s sister Vera.
Charts
| Chart (1959) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) | 2 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) | 1 |
| UK New Musical Express | 16 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B Sides | 10 |
All-time charts
| Chart (1958-2018) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 154 |
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