Romeo (Petula Clark song)

Romeo was a 1961 hit single for Petula Clark peaking at #3 on the UK chart dated 26 August. The song was a 1921 composition by Robert Stolz for which Jimmy Kennedy wrote a new lyric. The original featured a German lyric by Arthur Rebner and was known as both "Salome" and "Romeo" to accommodate singers of either gender. Rebner is sometimes credited as one of the writers of the Petula Clark song.

"Romeo" was produced by Alan Freeman and featured Big Jim Sullivan on guitar.[1]

Despite peaking lower than her #1 UK comeback hit "Sailor", "Romeo" earned Clark her first Gold record by selling 400,000 units in the UK. In Ireland "Romeo" reached #1.

Jean Broussolle who had translated Clark's precedent hit "Sailor" rendered "Romeo" as "Roméo" which became Clark's first #1 hit in France on 20 January 1962 - Clark's next two singles would also reach #1 in France where overall she'd top the charts five times. "Roméo" was also ranked at #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) and Australia (#25).

An Italian version of "Romeo" entitled "Abat-jour" was recorded by Henry Wright and reached #4 in on the Italian hit parade in September 1962 to rank as the year's #9 hit. This success prompted the decision to have Clark herself cut songs for the Italian market.