Venus (Frankie Avalon song)

"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 (see 1959 in music).

"Venus"
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)

"Venus"
Single by Frankie Avalon
Released	1976
Genre	Pop, Disco
Length	3:34
Label	De-Lite, Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Ed Marshall

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.[1]

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[2] and at number one on the Easy Listening chart.[3] Avalon was quoted stating his opinion of the remake: "It was all right, but I still prefer the original."[4]

Other versions

• In 1959, Gloria Lasso released a Spanish version. In 1992, she released a new special version.
• Sam Cooke - for his album Hits of the 50's (1960)
• Pat Boone - included in the album Ain't That a Shame (1964).[5]
• Johnny Mathis released a cover version of the song in 1968. His version reached No. 23 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart[6] "bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 111.[7]
• Jamie Redfern - released a cover verion of the song in 1973 that entered the Go-Set - Australian charts at number 27. [8]

• Barry Manilow included the song in his album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties (2006)

Charts

Chart (1959)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9]	2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10]	1
UK New Musical Express[11]	16
US Billboard Hot 100[12]	1
US Billboard Hot R&B Sides[13]	10

All-time charts

Chart (1958-2018)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100[14]	154

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1959 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1976 (U.S.)

References

1. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1959
2. "Billboard Hot 100", Billboard, March 3, 1976. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
3. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 25.
4. Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications)
5. "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
6. "Easy Listening", Billboard, June 22, 1968. p. 52. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
7. "Bubbling Under the Hot 100", Billboard, June 22, 1968. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
8. [http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1973/19730623.html Go-Set Singles]", Retrieved June 11, 2020.
9. "Ultratop.be – Frankie Avalon – Venus" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
10. "Ultratop.be – Frankie Avalon – Venus" (in French). Ultratop 50.
11. Frankie Avalon - Full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
12. "Frankie Avalon Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
13. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - Frankie Avalon Venus Chart History, Billboard.com. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
14. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics