Shocking Blue
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band from The Hague that existed from 1967 to 1974. Their biggest hit, "Venus," went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970.
Members
The initial line-up consisted of:
- Robbie van Leeuwen (b. 1944) (vocals, guitar, sitar)
- Fred de Wilde (vocals)
- Klaasje van der Wal (bass guitar)
- Cor(nelius) van Beek (drums)
In 1968, Mariska Veres (b. October 1, 1947) replaced Fred de Wilde as lead singer.
History
They had a hit world-wide with the song "Venus," which went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. The song was immediately covered at the year of its release by Greek pop band Olympians, with entirely different lyrics in Greek and retitled as "Το Κορίτσι Του Μάη" (To koritsi tou Mai - The girl of May). It was later part of the Stars on 45 Medley (which put it at #1 in 1981), and covered by British girl band Bananarama in the 1980s (1986) and Japanese singer Yoko Nagayama (also in 1986).
Nirvana covered the song Love Buzz for their debut album Bleach in 1989, and it was released as their first single. The British Group The Prodigy also sampled Love Buzz for their song 'Pheonix' on their 2004 album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.
Before the breakthrough of "Venus," the group had two minor hits in 1969: "Long Lonesome Road" and "Send me a postcard." The flip-side of "Venus" was also heavily plugged on Dutch radio ("Hot Sand"). In 1970 two more hits followed: "Mighty Joe" and "Never Marry a Railroad Man" (flip-side "roll engine roll"). In 1971 "Hello Darkness," "Shocking You" and "Blossom Lady." In 1972 "Inkpot," "Out of Sight Out of Mind" and "Eve and the Apple," and in 1973 "Rock in the sea" - just to name the big hits. In 1974 female singer Mariska Veres left the group to start a solo-career. The only big hit by her was "Take me high" the same year.
Discography
Albums
- 1968 Beat With Us (Polydor, Karussell)
- 1969 At Home (Pink Elephant)
- 1970 The Shocking Blue (Colossus)
- 1970 Scorpio's Dance (Pink Elephant)
- 1971 Third Album (AKA Shocking You, Pink Elephant)
- 1972 Inkpot (Pink Elephant)
- 1972 Inkpot (Polydor – West German release with several different tracks)
- 1972 Live in Japan (Pink Elephant)
- 1972 Attila (Pink Elephant)
- 1972 Eve And The Apple (Same as "Attila" with one different track, Polydor)
- 1973 Dream On Dreamer (Polydor)
- 1973 Ham (Same as "Dream On Dreamer" with 3 different tracks, Pink Elephant)
- 1974 Good Times (Pink Elephant)
All the albums except "Beat With Us" and "Live in Japan" were released on CDs. "Eve & The Apple" and "Ham" were not released on CDs, but these albums are almost the same as "Atilla" and "Dream On Dreamer" correspondingly.
Singles
- 1967 Love Is In The Air/What You Gonna Do (Polydor)
- 1968 Lucy Brown Is Back In Town/Fix Your Hair Darling (Pink Elephant)
- 1969 Venus/Hot Sand (Pink Elephant)
- 1969 Mighty Joe/Wild Wind (Metronome)
- 1969 Send Me a Postcard/Harley Davidson (Metronome)
- 1969 Long And Lonesome Road/Fireball Of Love (Metronome)
- 1969 Scorpio's Dance/Sally Was A Good Old Girl (promo)
- 1970 Never Marry A Railroad Man/Roll Engine Roll (Metronome)
- 1970 Hello Darkness/Pickin' Tomatoes (Metronome)
- 1971 Shocking You/Waterloo (Metronome)
- 1971 Blossom Lady/Is This A Dream (Polydor)
- 1971 Out Of Sight Out Of Mind/I Like You (Polydor)
- 1972 Inkpot/Give My Love To The Sunrise (Polydor)
- 1972 Eve And The Apple/When I Was a Girl (Polydor
- 1972 Rock In The Sea/Broken Heart (Polydor)
- 1973 Let Me Carry Your Bag/I Saw You In June (Polydor)
- 1973 Oh Lord/In My Time Of Dying (Polydor)
- 1973 Oh Lord/Everything That's Mine (Pink Elephant)
- 1974 This America/I Won't be lonely Long (Polydor)
- 1974 Dream On Dreamer/Where The Pick-Nick Was (Polydor)
- 1974 Good Times/Come My Way (Pink Elephant)
- 1975 Gonna Sing Me A Song/Get It On (Decca)
- 1986 The Jury And The Judge/I Am Hanging On To Love (Polydor)
- 1994 Body And Soul/Angel (Red Bullet)
Compilations
- 1986 Best of Shocking Blue (CNR)
- 1986 Classics (21)
Audio sample
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