Romeo (Petula Clark song)

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"Romeo" is a 1961 pop song recorded by Petula Clark.

Contents

History

Produced by Alan A. Freeman and featuring Big Jim Sullivan on guitar, "Romeo" was Clark's recording of a 1919 composition by Robert Stolz entitled "Salome" which had featured a German-language lyric by Arthur Rebner (de). The lyric for Clark's "Romeo" was newly written by Jimmy Kennedy: Arthur Rebner is sometimes afforded a songwriting credit for "Romeo". [1]

The song peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart dated 26 August 1961. [2] Despite peaking lower than her No. 1 UK comeback hit "Sailor", "Romeo" earned Clark her first Gold record by selling 400,000 units in the UK. In Ireland "Romeo" reached No. 2. Jean Broussolle who had translated Clark's precedent hit "Sailor" rendered "Romeo" as "Roméo" which became Clark's first No. 1 hit in France on 20 January 1962 – Clark's next two singles would also reach No. 1 in France where overall she'd top the charts five times. [3] "Roméo" was also ranked at No. 1 on the chart for the Wallonia region of Belgium while the original English version had been a hit (#2) in Belgium's Flemish region.

"Romeo" also achieved hit status in Denmark (#3), the Netherlands (#10), Norway (#7) [4] and Australia (#25). [5]

Cover versions

"Romeo"
"Salome"

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References

  1. "The Originals by Arnold Rypens". Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. "Chart For Week Up To 26 August 1961" . Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  3. "National Chart – France" . Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  4. "National Charts – European" . Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  5. "National Charts – Australia" . Retrieved 20 February 2009.