Shocking Blue ~ Venus (Watch In 720p HD ~ Audio Is Re-Mixed, Re-Synchronized And Digital)

This is the original 1970 video release re-mixed with a modern digital version of the audio music for better HQ sound. Watch in 720p HD.

Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band from The Hague, the Netherlands, formed in 1967. Their biggest hit, "Venus", went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970, and the band had sold 13.5 million discs by 1973, but the group disbanded in 1974.

Shocking Blue was founded in 1967 by Robbie van Leeuwen. The group had a minor hit in 1968 with "Lucy Brown is Back in Town". After Mariska Veres took over the vocals, the group charted a world-wide hit with the song "Venus", which reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. Initially the disc was a big hit in the Netherlands, where it reached #3 in the summer of 1969. It subsequently sold 350,000 copies in Germany, and topped the U.S. chart for three weeks, becoming the Netherlands' first American #1 hit. It sold over one million copies there by January 1970, and received a gold disc awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America. Global sales exceeded five million copies. The song was based on "The Banjo Song" (1963) by The Big Three (folk music group).

Other hits include "Send Me a Postcard" in 1968/69 and "Long and Lonesome Road" (often mistakenly named as "Long Lonesome Road") in 1969. "Hot Sand", the flip-side of "Venus", was also heavily plugged on Dutch radio.

Many more Dutch hits followed including "Mighty Joe" (flip-side "Wild Wind") in 1969/70. This was the group's second million seller. In 1970 "Never Marry a Railroad Man" (flip-side "Roll Engine Roll"), their third to sell over one million and "Hello Darkness". In 1971 there followed "Shocking You", "Blossom Lady" and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind". In 1972 came "Inkpot" and "Rock in the Sea"; plus "Eve and the Apple" in 1972/73 and finally "Oh Lord" in 1973. None of these latter songs charted in the U.S. The group, however, was very successful in Europe, Latin America (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil etc.) and Asia (Japan and Hong Kong).

In 1974 Mariska Veres left the group to start a solo career. Her solo hits were "Take Me High" (1975) and "Lovin' You" (1976). Those songs were mainly popular in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. From the 1990s, Veres toured with a new group under the Shocking Blue banner, with permission of her former bandmates.

On April 2, 1998, Cor van der Beek died at the age of 49.

On December 2, 2006 Dutch news service ANP reported that Mariska Veres had died from cancer at the age of 59.

Nirvana covered the Shocking Blue song "Love Buzz" as their debut single in 1988 and as an extra track on the re-release of their 1989 release Bleach.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Shocking
• Blue
• Venus
• pop
• Psychedelic
• Rock
• dutch
• hague
• netherlands
• mariska
• veres
• musician
• vocalist
• guitarist
• singer
• songwriter
• #1
• number
• one
• billboard
• music
• 1970
• new wave
• rock music
• classic rock
• rock punk
• alternative rock
• blues rock
• rock blues
• original
• live band
• garage
• indie rock

[73guy]

We do jamming down here Indy, so now that you reminded me of this song, I want to play it so we will be doing that for one of our fun jam songs here from now on I can tell, ahah. I have saw other later versions of this song by other artists but this must be the original group maybe or does it go back even more?

[ImHiYrStnd]

@73guy How ya doin'??

As far as I know, this is the original version of this song. I do know that several other artists have covered this song but my research did not turn up anything older than this 1970 version. If that changes, I will let you know.

Glad I could help you with a new idea for a fun jam :)

[TheMarievil68]

I love Mariska's voice..! Thank you Indy for making my late night enjoyable with your videos...! Love them..! Ps. YT ain't using stars anymore, only thumbs, but I'll give you those five stars anyway....=))

[lhemeon]

I was in a band back in the 70's and we covered this song. Thanks for bringing me back....

[73guy]

@ImHiYrStnd Thanks Indy, it is all fun!

[73guy]

Very good video and sound!  Thanks.