Robbie van Leeuwen was as well bandmember in The Motions another great band from The Hague and the Ricochets who opened for The Stones in Scheveningen in 1964.

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corriecas
Mariska veres was one sexy girl. Shocking blue was a dutch, famous band. Good music !
jeroen

She sure was, but at the time being young in the USA, all you heard was the song on AM radio or on a 45 record. What a shock to discover that voice was a she. I had to check to make sure it wasn't a parody or something else, you never know on YouTube.

After hearing "Venus" for decades, didn't know it was a she until a friend clued me in a couple of years ago. Opposite thing happened with the song "Jackie Blue" - always thought it was a female singing, when it was actually a guy!

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marcovandereijk

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The Sicilian
Interesting, nobody received credit for the keyboard work in the song yet it was a big part of the sound.

I think Cees Schrama plays the organ on Venus. He played a lot of studio sessions in
The Hague at the time.
Here's Cees with his own (short lived) band Casey and the Pressure Group:

That's a cool song, how can this guy not get any credit for Venus? That must of been terrible for this musician, especially with the record going to number 1. That keyboard was not some filler instrument in the song.

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Jah Paul
After hearing "Venus" for decades, didn't know it was a she until a friend clued me in a couple of years ago. Opposite thing happened with the song "Jackie Blue" - always thought it was a female singing, when it was actually a guy!

"Jackie Blue" stills pops in my head from time to time. As soon as meet some girl named Jackie the song starts to play. A few years back we had a girl named Jackie working for us and I would always call her Jackie Blue. Man was she hot.

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Silver Dagger
Hey The Sicilan - even better than Venus is this great rocker from Shocking Blue.

Love it Silver Dagger. Some parts remind me of Grace and the Airplane (guitar sounds a bit like Jorma Kaukonen). Amazing how much music can be missed in ones life time...

I'd been listening to At Home for a while. At first, I thought it was a greatest hits album, given that it was the expanded version and had some additional singles and B-sides. Then I started collecting all their albums.

Shocking Blue started out with a male lead singer for their first album. At Home is actually their second album. Mariska Veres became such a signature part of their sound and identity that they named their fourth album "3rd Album", because it was the third album on which she sang.
The Bird Of Paradise from 3rd Album: [www.youtube.com]

I really like the album Atilla, which has these three distinctive tracks:
Never Release The One You Love: [www.youtube.com]
A Waste Of Time: [www.youtube.com]
Wait: [www.youtube.com]

They made an album in 1974 without Robbie van Leeuwen. It had a good opening song, but overall it was so-so. He was the reason for the quality of their output, though it wouldn't have been nearly as successful without Mariska Veres. As pointed out above, the music is Airplane inspired, and I believe Mariska was chosen to sing with them because her sound reminded them of Grace Slick. No doubt that style appealed to them -- there's even a song on At Home called California Here I Come.

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Jah Paul
After hearing "Venus" for decades, didn't know it was a she until a friend clued me in a couple of years ago. Opposite thing happened with the song "Jackie Blue" - always thought it was a female singing, when it was actually a guy!

I always knew about Venus being a female voice but did not know about Jackie Blue being male until last year.

Check out their vedio "send me a postcard" definitely has an Jefferson Airplane sound and reminds me a little of Rock me Baby by SteppenWolf

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virgil

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Jah Paul
After hearing "Venus" for decades, didn't know it was a she until a friend clued me in a couple of years ago. Opposite thing happened with the song "Jackie Blue" - always thought it was a female singing, when it was actually a guy!

I always knew about Venus being a female voice but did not know about Jackie Blue being male until last year.

I didn't know about Jackie Blue until just now

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Elmo Lewis
Later covered by Bananarama

And Kate Pierson (B-52s).

Shocking Blue - Hot Sand, the B-Side of Venus! Very good song.

video: [www.youtube.com]

Never heard this Shocking Blue song until today - it should have been a worldwide hit!

From 1969: California Here I Come




Thanks for starting this thread Sicilian - looking forward to discovering some other long lost hidden gems from them!

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

A standout track from Scorpio's Dance, the second album with Mariska Veres as lead singer, is Daemon Lover: [www.youtube.com]




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-11 02:39 by stonehearted.

Mighty Joe, a non-album single, the follow-up to Venus, was an international European hit in 1969 (#1 Netherlands; #6 Germany; #8 France): [www.youtube.com]

Found a Stones/Shocking Blue connection...singer Mariska Veres covering Paint it Black.

Mariska Veres- Paint it Black




Recorded in 2001 as part of a compilation cd for a cancer clinic in Rotterdam, and is not on any official albums.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Wouldn't Shocking Pink have been a better name?

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Elmo Lewis
Wouldn't Shocking Pink have been a better name?

Haha It's too late

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Elmo Lewis
Wouldn't Shocking Pink have been a better name?

Already a Pink as in Frijid Pink : from 1970, House Of The Rising Sun:[www.youtube.com]

Anyone remember this?

Folks, why aren't the youtube videos showing up? The links do, but on the original post and several others no videos?

Nirvana's Shocking Blue cover, Love Buzz ... such a great cover, it doesn't get much more kick-ass than this!

Nirvana, Love Buzz

For newbie the best introduction to Shocking Blue (both in terms of song selection and sound wise) would be old Japanese CD The Best Of Shocking Blue (Japan, Victor VDP-5049)

video: [youtu.be]

Fantastic clip of Robbie van Leeuwen playing an acoustic guitar version (very short) of VENUS.

At the end he says: "Nou... Mag ik nauw naar huis" = Can I go HOME now?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-11 23:25 by RipThisBone.

video: [youtu.be]

Interview with original drummer and Mariska Veres 1988 from Dutch TV.

Hij heeft wel een punt met de Beatles invloed ....ik denk aan de guitar lick altijd aan Get Back..................

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Not long time ago my brother in law spoke with Robby van Leeuwen............he ask him what he earned with Venus well it made him a millionaire.

Funny thing is that they didn't reach at number one in the Netherlands..............

Not to forget they where very popular in Japan.............

"Venus" is a 1969 song written by Robbie van Leeuwen. In 1970, the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue took the song to number one in nine countries. In 1981 it was sampled[citation needed] as part of the Stars on 45 medley. In 1986, the British female pop group Bananarama returned the song to number one in seven countries. The composition has been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials, and covered dozens of times by artists around the world.

Chart (1970) Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 1
Austrian singles chart 2
Belgium singles chart 1
Canadian singles chart 1
Dutch Top 40 Single Chart 3
Finnish singles chart 8
French singles chart 1
German singles chart 2
Irish singles chart 10
Italy singles chart 1
Japan Oricon Singles Chart 2
Spanish singles chart 1
Swiss singles chart 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
UK Singles Chart[7] 8

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-12 00:43 by RipThisBone.

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RipThisBone
video: [youtu.be]

Interview with original drummer and Mariska Veres 1988 from Dutch TV.

At 0:48 the interviewer asks the drummer -who was a bit drunk- why Venus became such a big hit.The only significant answer the drummer gave was that "he wasn't allowed to talk about it". The interview was done before it became public that "Venus" was re-arrangement of "the Banjo Song". A very good arrangement I must say.

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TheflyingDutchman

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RipThisBone
video: [youtu.be]

Interview with original drummer and Mariska Veres 1988 from Dutch TV.

At 0:48 the interviewer asks the drummer -who was a bit drunk- why Venus became such a big hit.The only significant answer the drummer gave was that "he wasn't allowed to talk about it". The interview was done before it became public that "Venus" was re-arrangement of "the Banjo Song". A very good arrangement I must say.

I thought he talked about the Beatles................

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There is nothing new under the sun..............
[www.youtube.com]

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NICOS


I thought he talked about the Beatles................

Yes he did talk about the Beatles. Strange observation on the drummer's behalf, as there was nothing new under the sun in the band at that time one might guess.