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For the "Married... with Children" episode, see Earth Angel (Married... with Children episode).

"Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)" is an American pop song, originally released by The Penguins in 1954, as the B-side to "Hey Señorita". It quickly outstripped the A-side in popularity and reached #8 on the Billboard chart. Covered many times since, the love song would prove to be the only Top 40 hit from the group.

"Earth Angel" ranked 151^st on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Who wrote the song is up for debate. It is officially credited to the Penguins singers Jesse Belvin and Curtis Williams along with Gaynell Hodge, a member of The Turks.

[edit] Cover versions

• The song became a major hit for The Crew-Cuts in 1955. Number 70529 on the Mercury Records catalog, it reached the Billboard charts on January 29, 1955. It peaked at #3 on the Disk Jockey chart, #8 on the Best Seller and #8 on the Juke Box chart. The flip side, "Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)," also charted.
• At the same time, Gloria Mann's version reaching #18.
• Johnny Tillotson's 1960 version reached #57.
• The Vogues recorded a version that reached #42 in 1969.
• New Edition reached #21 with a 1986 version.
• Bella Morte released a cover of Earth Angel on their newest album Bleed The Grey Sky Black (released October 10, 2006 under Metropolis Records), as well as a video for the song featuring dancing zombies.

[edit] Cultural references

• In Back to the Future, Marvin Berry and the Starlighters played the song during the "Enchantment Under the Sea" high-school dance. Due to the time-travelling plot of the films, it was also featured in Back to the Future Part II.
• Death Cab for Cutie recorded the song for the soundtrack to the video game, Stubbs the Zombie in "Rebel Without a Pulse".
• In the musical, "Jersey Boys", it was sung by the character playing Frankie Valli.
• In Superman III, the song was played in the high-school reunion that Clark Kent and Lana Lang dance to.
• In the mini-series The Temptations, the fictional Distants sang this song.

[edit] Trivia

• The UK edition of "Earth Angel" (on London Records) sold very few copies, and hence enjoys legendary status among record collectors as an extremely rare and valuable record.