Venus (Frankie Avalon song)

Infobox Single
Name = Venus


Artist = Frankie Avalon
from Album =
B-side = "I'm Broke"
Released = 1959
Format = 7" (45 rpm)
Recorded =
Genre =
Length = 2:20
Label = Chancellor
Writer = Ed Marshall
Producer =
Certification =
Chart position =

#1 (U.S. Pop)

#16 (UK)

Last single = "I'll Wait for You"
(1958)
This single = "Venus"
(1959)
Next single = "Bobby Sox to Stockings"
(1959)

"Venus" is the name of a song written by Ed Marshall. The most successful and well-known recording of it was done by Frankie Avalon and released in 1959 (see 1959 in music). It 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 #10 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.

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. The re-recording of "Venus" was Avalon's last Hot 100 hit, peaking at #46. It did, however, reach #1 on the adult contemporary chart. Avalon was quoted describing the remake: "It was all right, but I still prefer the original." [Hyatt, Wesley (1999). "The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits" (Billboard Publications)]

Barry Manilow covered the song in 2006 on his album "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties". Johnny Mathis also released a cover version of the song, although it failed to reach the Hot 100, "bubbling under" the chart at #111 in 1968.

References