The “Golden Hits Of The 70s” 

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SHOCKING BLUE

VENUS

(Robby van Leeuwen)

Colossus 108

No. 1   February 7, 1970

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Dark-haired, brown-eyed, and lovely lead singer Mar­iska Veres (b. 1949) is the daughter of Lajos Veres,

inter­nationally known gypsy violinist.   “I really enjoy myself when I’m performing,” she once told Hit

Parader magazine.   “I love to smile.   And I am very happy when people smile back at me.”   As a little

girl, the half-Hungarian/half­-German Mariska accompanied her father on the piano.   She later played in

various nameless garage bands.

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Shocking Blue was a Dutch group founded by lead guitarist/sitarist Robby van Leeuwen (b. 1944).

Robby had been a member of the Motions, one of Holland’s leading beat groups, whose lone stateside

album,  Electric Baby (1968), is sought after by vinyl col­lectors.   In 1969, he lured drummer Cor Vander

Beek, bassist Klaasie van der Wal, and lead singer Fred de Wilde away from their band (Hu & The

Hilltops) to form Shocking Blue.   Pink Elephant Records signed the group and issued their first disk,

“Lucy Brown Is Back in Town,” which went to number 21 on the Dutch Top 40.

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While attending a party given to honor Golden Ear­ring’s first chart-topping homeland single, van

spotted Mariska, then singing with the Bumble Bees, the evening’s entertainment. That night, legend

has it,   Fredde  Wilde was asked to leave Shocking Blue, and Mariska was asked to join.   The group’s

next  single, “Send Me a Postcard Darling,” charted in Holland.

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When “Venus;’ their third single, was clocking in at number three on the Dutch listings, American record

producer Jerry Ross was there to sign Shocking Blue­ plus the George Baker Selection and the TEE SET–

to a U.S. distribution deal via his Colossus label.   Consider­ing the odds, it’s incredible that all three

Dutch acts charted in the States with their debut disks.   Baker’s “Little Green Bag” (#21, 1970) and

“Paloma Blanda” (#26, 1975) both went Top 40, as did the Tee Set’s “Ma Belle Arnie” (#5, 1970).

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Despite her multi-charms, Veres and her band hit the American airwaves with only two more singles,

“Mighty Joe” (#43, 1970) and “Long and Lonesome Road” (#75, 1970), the former a global million-seller.

Ross continued to issue Shocking Blue sides in the States, although 45s like “Never Marry a Railroad

Man” usually did better overseas.   The group’s lone stateside LP, The Shocking Blue (1970), sold a

respectable num­ber of copies.   In 1974, Shocking Blue disbanded, allegedly due to quarrels over van

Leeuwen’s inability to craft another “Venus:’

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In the mid-’70s, Robby resurfaced with a folk-and jazz-inflected unit called Galaxy Inc. He also produced

some solo sides on Veres.   Neither projects garnered much global notice.   In 1984, Shocking Blue

reunited for two shows in a Back-to-the-’60s festival.   Two years later, the strains of “Venus!” were once

again permeating the nation’s airwaves–a re-rendering by Bananarama (#1, 1986) went all the way to

the top of the charts.