Venus-frankie avalon

[arr&bee]

Just a shout out to a cool song from back in the day.

[Jerry Oz]

You are killing me. I popped into and out of this thread like this:
https://media.giphy.com/media/xvc0f1Wj0mJi0/giphy.gif

[marv2]

It is a cool song when I think about it. It sounds like summer.

[arr&bee]

you are killing me. I popped into and out of this thread like this:
https://media.giphy.com/media/xvc0f1wj0mji0/giphy.gifhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

[Jerry Oz]

It is a cool song when I think about it. It sounds like summer.It has a great melody, I'll admit. But it is as soulless a song as I can imagine. It needs some drums, some thumping bass, and a killer guitar lick to bring it to life. Great googly moogly! This post should be on a Pat Boone forum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mA1k-b9UNw

[arr&bee]

it has a great melody, i'll admit. But it is as soulless a song as i can imagine. It needs some drums, some thumping bass, and a killer guitar lick to bring it to life. Great googly moogly! This post should be on a pat boone forum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ma1k-b9unwhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...jerry i know but it's a kinda nice little thing from a more innocent time,nobody will ever confuse frankie with smokey,hehehehe!!!

[StuBass1]

LOL...These songs by artists, or actors turned artists by their PR departments, were just ways to capitalize on some of these 50's kid actors and "teen idols" fame...some of these songs better than others. Other actors turned recording "artist"...James Darren, Fabian Forte, Shelly Fabray, Annette Funacello, Tab Hunter, Ricky Nelson, Paul Peterson, Tommy Sands, Johnny Crawford, Bobby Rydell was even an actor turned singer...Those are some that come to mind...

[Jerry Oz]

LOL...These songs by artists, or actors turned artists by their PR departments, were just ways to capitalize on some of these 50's kid actors and "teen idols" fame...some of these songs better than others. Other actors turned recording "artist"...James Darren, Fabian Forte, Shelly Fabray, Annette Funacello, Tab Hunter, Ricky Nelson, Paul Peterson, Tommy Sands, Johnny Crawford, Bobby Rydell was even an actor turned singer...Those are some that come to mind... And the funny thing is that they tried to capitalize on youth attraction to rock music while avoiding what attracted young people to rock: energy, no limits, rebellion against the previous generation. Frankie and Annette were always on the beach but Annette never even got her hair wet. I suppose she would be smoking hot all slicked down with her wet hair on her shoulders. But that's my point. Society was shifting but you still had a group of squeaky clean teenagers who didn't smoke, do drugs, curse, or get laid. It was a last ditch effort to keep the White kids in control.

BTW: I bet the stories of how those kids behaved behind the scenes compared to their on-screen characters would make a great movie.

[robb_k]

12198
Arr & Bee is talking about "Venus" being a "cool song". He never stated that Frankie Avalon's singing was good. I get his point. That song is a well-written song. It has a nice melody, and nice chorus and bridge. It is well-constructed, and a soulful version of it would sound great to me.

Imagine Van McCoy, Jerry Ragovoy, Jerry Wexler, Bert Berns or the like producing, and arranging it, or Teacho Wilshire, Teddy Randazzo, or the like.

Imagine Freddie Scott singing it, with Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick and Cissy Houston on backgrounds, the song's tempo sped up to fast mid-tempo, King Curtis with a nice sax solo in the bridge, it would be fabulous. I tried to imagine Ray Pollard singing it. But, his great talent would have been wasted on it, as it has no long-held notes.

A well-written song travel across the entire spectrum of music genres. Think about the great differences between Judy Garland's, The Checkers', The Del-Vikings' "Over The Rainbow", and the instrumental version in the film. Think of how different Vera Lynn's, The Checkers', and The Robins' "White Cliffs of Dover" are. What about R&B, Soul and Jazz versions of "Can't Help Lovin' That Man[[Girl) of Mine"? It was a show Tune, but The Hide-A-Ways 1954 R&B/DooWop version is fantastic.

Don't compare this to Wilson Pickett singing "Sugar Sugar", because THAT song is garbage. But "Venus" is not.

I've always loved that song [[not the Frankie Avalon version), and was always disappointed there was never a Soul version recorded, nor even a "Pop/Soul" version. Johnny Mathis would have carried it off well.

[Jerry Oz]

Robb_k, I'd love to hear what John Coltrane could do with the melody. He and Miles Davis could have delved deep into that song and created something special.

[arr&bee]

Thanks robb,actually johnny mathis did record it and very well too of course.

[roger]

Wasn't "Venus" supposed to be the musical inspiration for this Miracles tune?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eZQsldK2Ss

Roger

[arr&bee]

No roger,according to legend smokey wrote that classic while at a baseball game with his father.