Top 40 Music on CD Forum : Frankie Avalon "Venus"

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : EdisonLite wrote:<However,...

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:24:04 +0000

Author: Steve Carras
Subject: 8593
Posted: 12 July 2016 at 5:24pm

EdisonLite wrote:

Gregg, don't get me wrong. I bought this Frankie Avalon for the kitsch factor. Same with buying Andy Williams "Theme from Love Story" '76, and Paul Mauriat's "Love Is Still Blue" (1976 disco version).

Yikes! There's even a "Love is Blue" [a song KI LOVE] remake/:)

BTW Right the year he died, Percy Faith did a
"Summer Place" disco remake...nothing like taking your biggest hit and dping a disco version. I know of the "Venus" remake,too.

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : <However, in the end, I'm...

Mon, 11 Jul 2016 12:42:43 +0000

Author: EdisonLite
Subject: 8593
Posted: 11 July 2016 at 12:42pm

Gregg, don't get me wrong. I bought this Frankie Avalon for the kitsch factor. Same with buying Andy Williams "Theme from Love Story" '76, and Paul Mauriat's "Love Is Still Blue" (1976 disco version). Those, however, are about the only 3 disco songs I bought for kitsch factor. (And I have a friend who bought the '1979 Ethel Merman disco LP, but I couldn't go that far.)

All others I've bought is because I really like the disco songs in question - e.g. "Copacabana", "Take Me Home", and I even somewhat like the Leif Garrett ones you mention :)

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : musicmanatl wrote:I'm...

Sun, 10 Jul 2016 00:12:13 +0000

Author: 80smusicfreak
Subject: 8593
Posted: 10 July 2016 at 12:12am

musicmanatl wrote:

I'm glad to see someone else hating on "Chattanooga Choo Choo"...[it's] simply awful in every way - so formulaic and by the numbers.

Disco for the "over 70" crowd, lol. Hey, if you thought "Disco Duck" was bad, just imagine if they'd used "Chattanooga Choo Choo" instead during the old-folks scene in "Saturday Night Fever", and included it on the iconic soundtrack, sandwiched in between "Stayin' Alive" and "How Deep is Your Love". :-) Don't forget, even (then) 71-year-old Ethel Merman released a disco album on a major label (A&M) in '79...

sriv94 wrote:

80smusicfreak wrote:

But there was also plenty of BAD disco that still makes me cringe to this day, inc. songs like "Copacabana (At the Copa)"

Why, sir, do you hate America? :)

See response to "Chattanooga Choo Choo" above... :-)

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : 80smusicfreak wrote:But there...

Sat, 09 Jul 2016 20:53:51 +0000

Author: sriv94
Subject: 8593
Posted: 09 July 2016 at 8:53pm

80smusicfreak wrote:

But there was also plenty of BAD disco that still makes me cringe to this day, inc. songs like "Copacabana (At the Copa)"

Why, sir, do you hate America? :)

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : I'm glad to see someone else...

Sat, 09 Jul 2016 11:12:03 +0000

Author: musicmanatl
Subject: 8593
Posted: 09 July 2016 at 11:12am

I'm glad to see someone else hating on "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie"! I'm still stupefied that "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" hit #1 in the UK! It sounds some hack disco producer found two random women in a club to sing lead vocals and they have no idea what they are saying. And "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is simply awful in every way - so formulaic and by the numbers. However, I do like "Take Me Home" a lot! :) In a random coincidence, British dance singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor did covers of both "Take Me Home" and "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" and managed to salvage even the second one.

Edited by musicmanatl

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : EdisonLite wrote:Gregg, do...

Sat, 09 Jul 2016 03:00:47 +0000

Author: 80smusicfreak
Subject: 8593
Posted: 09 July 2016 at 3:00am

EdisonLite wrote:

Gregg, do you know if the 3:30 disco single version can be edited from either of the longer versions?

Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't help you there, EdisonLite - although my hunch would be yes. I know I've got the '76 version of "Venus" on a disco compilation or two on cassette, but am pretty sure I don't (yet) have it on CD, in any form. I checked, and both the 45 & 12" versions of the '76 hit on De-Lite are currently posted on YouTube, so for your comparison, here are the links (although I couldn't seem to find the 4:50 LP version):

FRANKIE AVALON - "Venus '76" (45 version) (3:30)
FRANKIE AVALON - "Venus '76" (12" version) (6:08)

However, in the end, I'm afraid we're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. :-) After listening to both of the above versions of the '76 re-make on YouTube as a refresher, IMO, this version of "Venus" epitomizes the WORST of disco music! Don't get me wrong - I grew up on disco, and like any other genre of music, I think there was great disco, inc. almost anything by Donna Summer (saw her in concert back in 2008 on the Crayons tour, less than four years before she passed - RIP), Chic, the Bee Gees, and ABBA, as well as classics like "Get Up and Boogie (That's Right)", "Boogie Oogie Oogie", "Get Off", "Disco Inferno", "Let's All Chant", "Dance Across the Floor", "Ring My Bell", etc., etc...

But there was also plenty of BAD disco that still makes me cringe to this day, inc. songs like "Copacabana (At the Copa)", "Take Me Home", and most of the disco-fied cover versions of earlier hits, such as Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps.'s "Baby Face", Tuxedo Junction's version of "Chattanooga Choo Choo", not to mention Leif Garrett's covers ("Surfin' USA", "Runaround Sue", etc.), all of which represented much of the genre's excesses, IMO - and yes, that includes FA's updated version of "Venus", w/ its very generic beats. (Two notable exceptions in the latter category for me would definitely be Santa Esmeralda's cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", as well as Amii Stewart's version of "Knock on Wood" - now those were done WELL!) Oh, and although it didn't chart here in the U.S., another disco hit I can't stand is Baccara's "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" (1977), which seems to turn up on almost every disco or '70s compilation I've picked up from the U.K. - I'll bet cftp knows what I'm talking about there. (Ugh!) :-(

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : I really enjoyed the special Bicentennial...

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 03:16:12 +0000

Author: musicmanatl
Subject: 8593
Posted: 05 July 2016 at 3:16am

I really enjoyed the special Bicentennial music on '70s on 7 this past weekend too! It was so fun to hear the songs you mentioned. I didn't hear the disco version of "Venus", though. I wish they'd do more theme weekends like this, so liven things up from time to time.

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : Well, sure enough, Sirius XM played...

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 18:34:49 +0000

Author: EdisonLite
Subject: 8593
Posted: 04 July 2016 at 6:34pm

Well, sure enough, Sirius XM played "Venus" again and it was definitely the 3:30 version - nothing they edited from CD, as I could hear the "overplayed" vinyl sound. Gregg, do you know if the 3:30 disco single version can be edited from either of the longer versions?

Edited by EdisonLite

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : Thanks Gregg, I ordered the CD...

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 15:55:56 +0000

Author: EdisonLite
Subject: 8593
Posted: 04 July 2016 at 3:55pm

Thanks Gregg, I ordered the CD from that ebay seller. Not sure if Sirius XM played the 45 or LP version (it didn't seem long enough to be the 12" version) but they're playing lots of repeats today as it's still all '76 programming, so maybe I'll find out.

Thanks, Mark, for your info, too.

Frankie Avalon "Venus" : Out of curiosity I checked the...

Sun, 03 Jul 2016 20:04:54 +0000

Author: MMathews
Subject: 8593
Posted: 03 July 2016 at 8:04pm

Out of curiosity I checked the version on "Frankie
Avalon...Live!" on Google Play. The last 2 tracks are not
live.
Last track labeled "Venus (Disco)" is indeed the 1976
disco version but with the first :15 of the intro chopped
off and it's faded early. It's taken from vinyl with lots
of noise reduction. Sounds like it's from a De-Lite 45.
They were pressed on bad vinyl, lots of distortion.