Psychedelic rock band from the Netherlands that operated in the 60s. An iconic song. A true original.They made some good records. It was a world hit in the 60s.
Good reaction, Mariska Veres could not speak English and was singing phonetically; this was the reason for her occasional stumble over the lyrics, such as the opening line of their 1970 hit song “Venus”: “God-ness on a mountaintop, She died from cancer at 59
The account I've read is that guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen mis-wrote that line when he translated it to English for Mariska to sing. So, she sang it exactly as he had written it.
She fueled a million fantasies among adolescent males (and others!) when this hit. They're Dutch, & her slight accent is part of the odd lilt of her voice, imo. Lex hit the vibe exactly right again -- "eerie, spooky, womany..."
I never knew for decades that this was a woman singing this song! Because I never looked into it, and because Mariska had such a husky voice, I always thought it was a dude !!
Wow! thanks very much for sharing this Shocking Blue - Venus with us. I liked it so much I saved up my money and for my first album ever I bought it. [[The single came out when I was 11 years old and later in High School I bought the Album.]] Others in my family purchased albums for me earlier in my life, but this was my first. I still have the Vinyl Record to this day, my parents did not like the photos on this album at all and did not approve with my decision. Thanks for letting me go down memory lane, hope you have a wonderful weekend! Keep up the good work you two, thanks again!
Big hit from 70, loved it then still do. Their only hit in the states, it baffles me with a voice and the sound of theirs. Believe were popular in Netherlands. 1970 was a very good yr for music.
@@HemlockRidge I see your drift. This is a worldwide hit. However, I am not sure about one-hit wonder. There must be other great songs. Never Marry A Railroad Man, for one.
a lot of the rock i grew up with is now being used in commercials and theme songs for tv shows. it's kinda wierd, but then new generations get to hear at least a thirty second clip LOL.
That twang come from the guitar he was playing is called a Fender Telacaster that was favored by country artists at the time. And still is. I love the sound and the look of it.
As usual, I enjoyed your reaction. That twang comes from the sound of the lead guitarists Fender Telecaster guitar. The Telecaster has been the "go to" guitar for country music for 50+ years. That is the twang that you hear with a lot of country especially older country music.
Anything that looks like is a good song in my opinion I mean really she is I mean she's super all around but her voice is her laugh oh man that's intoxicating it's almost s*** I don't
Lexus beautiful but really and truthfully any woman that could talk and laugh like she does damn that wouldn't matter what the hell they look like if they could do that
Ah, the Netherlands, the 60's and 70's. What a time and place to grow up in. Memory lane stuff. Nice one guys. Thanks! "Never marry a railroad man" is another of their hit songs.
They had tons of great songs,Love Buzz,Shocking You,Send Me A Postcard,Daemon Lover,Never Marry A Railroad Man,Devil And The Devil, Roll Engine Roll,Rock In The Sea,Fireball Of Love,I've Spent My Money, Early In The Morning, Will The Circle Be Broken,Is It Just A Dream,In My Time Of Dying, Get It On,Now He's Gone, Nashville Rebel, Mighty Joe Young,Inkpot,Long And Lonesome Road,California Here I Come, Hot Sand,I'm A Woman, Love Machine , Scorpio Dance,Little Cooling Planet, Time Slips Away,etc,etc, etc so many amazing songs. Literally the most underrated band of the late 60's early 70's without a doubt.
Shocking Blue is a Dutch band. Ifyou want to listen to another hit song by a dutch band, Tee-Set had a hit song called Ma Belle Amie (My Beautiful Friend) in 1969, the same year Venus was a hit.
American writer, producer, etc. Jerry Ross 'discovered' the Shocking Blue, The George Baker Selection(Little Green Bag)& The Tee-Set(Ma Belle Amie)in the Netherlands in 1969. All 3 are fun songs.
Yes, Little Green Bag. That was on the some Tarantino movie soundtrack...Pulp Fiction, maybe? I'd never heard the song until then. Edit: Nope, Reservoir Dogs, just checked.
1969, man we had some great hits when I was a kid... actually I was 11 when this song came out. The singer Mariska Verses past away in December 2006 of gallbladder cancer. One of my favs growing up.. Thanks for sharing and the memories popped right in of those times..
LEX it isnt so much that it had a country twang to it....but those guitars sound like that naturally when you play them like that, thats why country was attracted to the Fender Telecaster as rock and guitar playing progressed sorta making it a country sound cause it became so dominant in country. But at that time that sound was neither one but new,
Oh my God this is such a fun reaction. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this since I heard it on the radio as a kid and it's only been in the last 5 years that I've come across this footage and there are a couple other videos of this as well as a couple other hits that they had. They are Dutch but this particular song got really really popular over here and then was covered a lot and used in commercials and movies and so forth. To me, a lot of those guitar licks definitely had a twang to them for sure. It was just a nice blend of a number of different things but it was fairly subtle and therefore pretty hit and I bet it was fun as hell to dance to in a really casual way, if you know what I mean.
This was the song in 1969 that started the Dutch invasion. Dutch artists to follow were The George Baker Selection with Little Green Bag (Greenback): Tee Set with Ma Belle Amie: Looking Glass with Brandy (You're A Fine Girl): Pussycat with Mississippi.
Most people know the Bananarama cover from the 1980s but there was also a cover in the late 80s/early 90s by Don Pablo's Animals which used samples of the Shocking Blue version.
Thanks, Brad & Lex -- this is a groovy song! they were a Dutch band... I have heard that they didn't speak English, and recorded this "phonetically" - I don't think that is entirely true - but English was definitely not their first language.. you can hear some "accents" - this was re-made in the 80's by Bananarama.. which, they did a decent job of it... but I still like this original version... (p.s. Lex - once a song has been around for 20 years, it's considered "public domain" - so anyone can use and record it -- the only time they have to pay is if they want to use the original artists' recording...Queen songs have been used for decades, and usually it IS the original - so somebody had to pay.. but once in a while you hear a song on a commercial NOT by the original artist... sometimes it's a good copy, sometimes not... depends on how cheap the advertiser is - lol)
I loved this song as a teenager. We all loved it but I had never actually seen a video of them singing! Thanks so much! I was wondering if you would recognize it as a Venus razor song lol
So funny, back in the 70's I remember my parents being amused by the Plymouth Volare' commercial using the song that Dean Martin made popular. They were telling me it was a popular song long before it was a car model and was in a commercial. Now that happens to me all the time!
The melody of the song was actually taken from The Banjo Song, which was written by folk singer Tim Rose and was a new melody for the lyrics of Oh Susanna. It was also recorded by the American folk group The Big 3, which included Mama Cass Elliott, and decades later by Neil Young . Shocking Blue guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen wrote new lyrics and turned it into Venus.
A goddess on a mountain top Was burning like a silver flame The summit of beauty and love And Venus was her name She's got it Yeah, baby, she's got it Well, I'm your Venus I'm your fire, at your desire Well, I'm your Venus I'm your fire, at your desire Her weapons were her crystal eyes Making every man mad Black as the dark night she was Got what no one else had, whoa! She's got it Yeah, baby, she's got it Well, I'm your Venus I'm your fire, at your desire Well, I'm your Venus I'm your fire, at your desire She's got it Yeah, baby, she's got it Well, I'm your Venus I'm your fire, at your desire Well, I'm your Venus I'm your fire, at your desire
have all their albums, even got a signed ( mariska ) 7" single , fantastic band, all their songs are awesome, great musicians and a great singer and beauty in mariska!
So much of our music is used in commercials these days-very cool. Check out two more that are used in commercials-Build Me Up Buttercup-The Foundations and Every Beat Of My Heart-The Du-Ettes. Both hits and great songs!
Fun fact (op FYI): Robbie van Leeuwen (lead guitarist) needed a B-side for his single 'I'm a woman'. He wrote 'Venus' and used parts of the music from 'The Banjo Song' (1963 by Tim Rose from the group The Big Three). Released in 1969 and the radio deejays loved the B-side more. The rest is history. Shocking Blue's 'Venus' was the first number 1 song by a Dutch band in the USA.
I just remember trying to do my make-up like hers - all that eyeliner and pale lipstick. I used up all of my mom's brow pencil and concealer stick. Ha ha!
As a kid we knew this from oldies radio, but Bananarama really brought it back when they covered it in the 80s. My next favorite song was Send Me A Postcard.. Nirvana's first single was a cover of Shocking Blue's song Love Buzz.
I remember the song went to #1, I think on the radio, and once the record covers of the singer came out, all the girls started doing the same makeup look as her. It made the girls look very wild. Oh, Yeah!
A great group. You should also check out Poor Boy and Love Buzz from the same album. Nirvana actually covered Love Buzz years later. It’s considered a sort of proto-punk tune.
@Brad & Lex (My 1st Visit to your channel) Well? After watching you both enjoy listening to this great song my eyes immediately went to Lex as she was enjoying the song as much as I did when I first heard it back in the late 60's early 70's because it has soul & rhythm . But Brad? I then looked at you and saw a puzzled look on you face (like? what the hell is this?) if you did not feel the soul and rhythm in that song immediately then your feelings for music are in a different direction, Lex and I both got it straight away as I can still remember the day I first heard this song and I loved it (just like Lex's reaction) 😂hahaha. And Lex is right, the lead singers voice is original and has it's own mystifying intriguing sound, with one extra bonus, she singings effortlessly. Maybe some people need more time to process the complexities of her voice and that song since you looked so confused "Brad" 😁hehehe. Anyway, here is a little more info for you both to read. Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in The Hague in 1967. They were part of the Nederbeat movement in the Netherlands. The band had a string of hit songs during the counterculture movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, including "Send Me a Postcard" and "Venus", which became their biggest hit and reached number one in the U.S.👍 Thanks for your review.
Companies used to have jingles written especially for their commercials. But then in about the '90s, they started buying the rights to songs that were already popular; I guess it became easier and cheaper to do at some point. This song came out when I was in about 7th grade and I loved it!
Great Great band, this was their biggest hit, BananaRama Covered in the 80's and had big hit with it, but they had some cool tunes "Long and Lonesome Road", "Daemon Lover", "Mighty Joe", "Eve and The Apple"......
He's definitely using country guitar tricks on this old psych song! That slide-y stuff is some hybrid almost bottleneck or b-bender riffs, totally has the country twang to it.
I'm glad I don't know what commericial you guys are talking about. ;>) (I left the States in 1990 for good). I have always loved this song, especially that riff. Also there's a Bananarama version that came out in the '80s. I think you guys would really like that one, too.
The lyric after "I'm your fire" is usually misheard and perceived to be a weird pronunciation of "your desire" as if it was "chore desire". But the correct lyric is "at your desire"!
Psychedelic rock band from the Netherlands that operated in the 60s. An iconic song. A true original.They made some good records. It was a world hit in the 60s.
Not a true original, listen to The Big Three (with Mama Cass) The Banjo Song (1963)…
@@addickkelders2265 I like the Shocking Blue waaaay better :) But you are right it has that guitar part but for the rest is very different.
@@stack_of_records I like it also better, but that’s not the case😉
Preach my brother
I had no idea they were from the Netherlands. I assumed they were American.
RIP Mariska…. with this song, you’re immortal. Keep singing.
Can't keep singing. Cause you know. She's dead.
The guitar was a Fender Telecaster, and they are well known for their twang.
It don't mean a thang if it ain't got that twang. 🙂
And it only had 1 pickup that I could see....
@@donalddixon6541
No, it has two, you can see both about here: 3:47
@@donalddixon6541 the bridge pickup in the ashtray is a bit hard to see but it's there.
@@jackgilchrist I see it now!
@@DerEchteBold Ah, yes...
A great example of 60's music. Simple, catchy, rhythmic, timeless.
And one had to be a real musician with true strong vocal chords!!!
Is it that simple though ?
If you compare it to alot of today's crazy bad "lala-music", this is a complex masterpiece.
Good reaction, Mariska Veres could not speak English and was singing phonetically; this was the reason for her occasional stumble over the lyrics, such as the opening line of their 1970 hit song “Venus”: “God-ness on a mountaintop, She died from cancer at 59
Oh no! Didn't know she passed. Thanks for the info.
Oh no. RIP Mariska.
The account I've read is that guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen mis-wrote that line when he translated it to English for Mariska to sing. So, she sang it exactly as he had written it.
@@moonbeam2062 Except for the Djour desire thing. That was all her.
You can't beat the original
She had the Look and the Voice I fell in love!
The original and best version by far. Pure cool. Love Bananarama version but this original destroys theirs.
Bananarama... That's it! I was going to say The Bangles. lol
Yup I fully agree with you. It's the best.
If I remember correctly ,the lead singer spike no English
Nope. Bananarama's version is just as good. It has an energy that Shocking Blue's version doesn't have.
@@bmw128racer Bananaramas version is awful compared to this. Standard stock aiken and waterman manufactured sound.
Back in the day many of us loved both Mariska Veres and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane!
This song hit #1 on the singles chart for Shocking Blue and was their only top 40 hit. In the 80's, it was covered by Bananarama and hit #1 again!
Dutch group with the beautiful green-eyed vocalist Mariska Veres. how I train memories of my youth. I love you mariska RIP.
She fueled a million fantasies among adolescent males (and others!) when this hit. They're Dutch, & her slight accent is part of the odd lilt of her voice, imo. Lex hit the vibe exactly right again -- "eerie, spooky, womany..."
I never knew for decades that this was a woman singing this song! Because I never looked into it, and because Mariska had such a husky voice, I always thought it was a dude !!
@@SirManfly Same here. I'm floored to learn it's a woman.
@@SirManfly Hello! Me too! I am 63 freaking years old and never knew until the video was in Queen's gambit. LOL
Wow! thanks very much for sharing this Shocking Blue - Venus with us. I liked it so much I saved up my money and for my first album ever I bought it. [[The single came out when I was 11 years old and later in High School I bought the Album.]] Others in my family purchased albums for me earlier in my life, but this was my first. I still have the Vinyl Record to this day, my parents did not like the photos on this album at all and did not approve with my decision. Thanks for letting me go down memory lane, hope you have a wonderful weekend! Keep up the good work you two, thanks again!
Big hit from 70, loved it then still do. Their only hit in the states, it baffles me with a voice and the sound of theirs. Believe were popular in Netherlands. 1970 was a very good yr for music.
Brad & Lex, a great one-hit wonder in the US for this Dutch band! Mariska Veres on lead vocals!
Mariska Veres RIP in 2006.
@@HemlockRidge I see your drift. This is a worldwide hit. However, I am not sure about one-hit wonder. There must be other great songs. Never Marry A Railroad Man, for one.
Dutch group and she is like Hungarian, right?
@@musicaficionado2974 Born in the Netherlands. Father Hungarian, mother French/Russian.
@@musicaficionado2974 She had a Dutch gypsy background but was a well established singer before she joined shocking blue.
Massive pop radio hit around 1970.
I also love Bananarama's 80's cover.
This sound is what used to be called GROOVY . A discofied version became a hit in the mid - 1980's by the girl group BANANARAMA .
a lot of the rock i grew up with is now being used in commercials and theme songs for tv shows. it's kinda wierd, but then new generations get to hear at least a thirty second clip LOL.
also movies-Guardians of the Galaxy and Ragnarok!!
Nirvana does a cover of shocking blue song "love buzz" on their first album
That twang come from the guitar he was playing is called a Fender Telacaster that was favored by country artists at the time. And still is. I love the sound and the look of it.
has a great rock tone too - as it was favoured by Jimmy Page at the time too.
Brings back great memories. Such a great song. Never tired of it.
As usual, I enjoyed your reaction. That twang comes from the sound of the lead guitarists Fender Telecaster guitar. The Telecaster has been the "go to" guitar for country music for 50+ years. That is the twang that you hear with a lot of country especially older country music.
I remember this song on radio when new! Still a good tune, Lex really seems to get fired up about certain music, all the best to you two!
This was a huge hit when it came out in the late sixties. We loved it, and still do!
all time classic! ♥
Anything that looks like is a good song in my opinion I mean really she is I mean she's super all around but her voice is her laugh oh man that's intoxicating it's almost s*** I don't
Lexus beautiful but really and truthfully any woman that could talk and laugh like she does damn that wouldn't matter what the hell they look like if they could do that
Ah, the Netherlands, the 60's and 70's. What a time and place to grow up in. Memory lane stuff. Nice one guys. Thanks! "Never marry a railroad man" is another of their hit songs.
Love, love, LOVE this song....this version specifically. Classic.
They had tons of great songs,Love Buzz,Shocking You,Send Me A Postcard,Daemon Lover,Never Marry A Railroad Man,Devil And The Devil, Roll Engine Roll,Rock In The Sea,Fireball Of Love,I've Spent My Money, Early In The Morning, Will The Circle Be Broken,Is It Just A Dream,In My Time Of Dying, Get It On,Now He's Gone, Nashville Rebel, Mighty Joe Young,Inkpot,Long And Lonesome Road,California Here I Come, Hot Sand,I'm A Woman, Love Machine , Scorpio Dance,Little Cooling Planet, Time Slips Away,etc,etc, etc so many amazing songs. Literally the most underrated band of the late 60's early 70's without a doubt.
The world rediscovered it when the British pop group Bananarama had a massive hit with the cover in the 80s
the 'country twang' is the venerable Fender Telecaster he is playing.. classic country choice for tone!
God, I miss the 60's and the melodies.....they are unforgettable.
the bass player is Killing It!!
They became the first dutch band! nr 1 in USA (Billboard hot 100 = 02-1970). 9 years old and in love the song (and Mariska Veres)
Great reaction!! How about "I'm Your Vehicle" by Ides of March. You both are fun and have some interesting points to make. Thanks!!!!
Great choice , surprised so few have reviewed it
Yes 👏🏻
@@eggy1962 Same here!
Excellent choice 👌 👏
A MUST HEAR....Smith "Baby It's You"...Nuff Said.
Yep, I had the 45 as a kid. Such a catchy tune.
Shocking Blue is a Dutch band. Ifyou want to listen to another hit song by a dutch band, Tee-Set had a hit song called Ma Belle Amie (My Beautiful Friend) in 1969, the same year Venus was a hit.
American writer, producer, etc. Jerry Ross 'discovered' the Shocking Blue, The George Baker Selection(Little Green Bag)& The Tee-Set(Ma Belle Amie)in the Netherlands in 1969. All 3 are fun songs.
Yes, Little Green Bag. That was on the some Tarantino movie soundtrack...Pulp Fiction, maybe? I'd never heard the song until then. Edit: Nope, Reservoir Dogs, just checked.
Got me with this one! Didn't realize this was an actual song, as opposed to a commercial jingle.
The original, then bananarama’s version was pretty popular, commercial is least known.
That song was blasting from every radio, when it first came out. Such an appealing groovy sound!
You guys picked some great songs today!
1969, man we had some great hits when I was a kid... actually I was 11 when this song came out. The singer Mariska Verses past away in December 2006 of gallbladder cancer. One of my favs growing up.. Thanks for sharing and the memories popped right in of those times..
You guys have been crushing it with your song choices, especially lately. Another classic
LEX it isnt so much that it had a country twang to it....but those guitars sound like that naturally when you play them like that, thats why country was attracted to the Fender Telecaster as rock and guitar playing progressed sorta making it a country sound cause it became so dominant in country. But at that time that sound was neither one but new,
I remember the first time I heard Venus in the commercial I was like Nooooooo how could they. Good reaction. :D
Oh my God this is such a fun reaction. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this since I heard it on the radio as a kid and it's only been in the last 5 years that I've come across this footage and there are a couple other videos of this as well as a couple other hits that they had. They are Dutch but this particular song got really really popular over here and then was covered a lot and used in commercials and movies and so forth.
To me, a lot of those guitar licks definitely had a twang to them for sure. It was just a nice blend of a number of different things but it was fairly subtle and therefore pretty hit and I bet it was fun as hell to dance to in a really casual way, if you know what I mean.
Love this so much! One of my all time favourites for sure.
This was the song in 1969 that started the Dutch invasion. Dutch artists to follow were The George Baker Selection with Little Green Bag (Greenback):
Tee Set with Ma Belle Amie: Looking Glass with Brandy (You're A Fine Girl): Pussycat with Mississippi.
Most people know the Bananarama cover from the 1980s but there was also a cover in the late 80s/early 90s by Don Pablo's Animals which used samples of the Shocking Blue version.
Thanks, Brad & Lex -- this is a groovy song! they were a Dutch band... I have heard that they didn't speak English, and recorded this "phonetically" - I don't think that is entirely true - but English was definitely not their first language.. you can hear some "accents" - this was re-made in the 80's by Bananarama.. which, they did a decent job of it... but I still like this original version... (p.s. Lex - once a song has been around for 20 years, it's considered "public domain" - so anyone can use and record it -- the only time they have to pay is if they want to use the original artists' recording...Queen songs have been used for decades, and usually it IS the original - so somebody had to pay.. but once in a while you hear a song on a commercial NOT by the original artist... sometimes it's a good copy, sometimes not... depends on how cheap the advertiser is - lol)
I loved this song as a teenager. We all loved it but I had never actually seen a video of them singing! Thanks so much! I was wondering if you would recognize it as a Venus razor song lol
Classic. The song is performed flawlessly. This Dutch band has a lot of great songs.
Funny, I don't know the commercial y'all are referring to in the commentary, but I remember the song so well. Big memory trigger! 😉♥
th-cam.com/video/hOToMeTI6eY/w-d-xo.html is one. It's an obvious jingle for Venus razors.
Commercial for a womens razor.
I love Shocking Blue! Thank you for doing this... Check out their songs "Never marry A Railroad Man", and "Shocking You"..
Cheers!
So funny, back in the 70's I remember my parents being amused by the Plymouth Volare' commercial using the song that Dean Martin made popular. They were telling me it was a popular song long before it was a car model and was in a commercial. Now that happens to me all the time!
SUCH a great, hip vibe that still sounds terrific!!!
This song is SMOKING!!! one of my all time favorite top 3 songs from the 60's!
Mariska Veres had such a 60's look, in the same vein as Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. RIP Mariska 2006
Venus was a number #1 hit song on the charts .
A million bands like this in the 70s and 80s it was great never be a time like this again my picture of heaven
The melody of the song was actually taken from The Banjo Song, which was written by folk singer Tim Rose and was a new melody for the lyrics of Oh Susanna. It was also recorded by the American folk group The Big 3, which included Mama Cass Elliott, and decades later by Neil Young . Shocking Blue guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen wrote new lyrics and turned it into Venus.
He also reworked the melody, especially the chorus.
Original 60's...can tell by her makeup it's the 60's... love it.
This band has lots of fantastic songs and his guitarrist is one of the best and most original rythm guitar players coming from rock music
great throwback, guys. I was just a kid when i first heard this.
I used to have the 45 rpm vinyl single of this. It has long since disappeared. It was one of coolest songs.
One hit wonder back in the day Great song!
She definitely had it. She'll always be my goddess on the mountain top. RIP Mariska!
Funny side note, she actually sings godness
A goddess on a mountain top
Was burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name
She's got it
Yeah, baby, she's got it
Well, I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, at your desire
Well, I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, at your desire
Her weapons were her crystal eyes
Making every man mad
Black as the dark night she was
Got what no one else had, whoa!
She's got it
Yeah, baby, she's got it
Well, I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, at your desire
Well, I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, at your desire
She's got it
Yeah, baby, she's got it
Well, I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, at your desire
Well, I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, at your desire
A song that was cut from the same cloth as this..(same record label, Collossus) was "Ma Belle Amie", by the band The Tee Set.. it's worth a listen.
have all their albums, even got a signed ( mariska ) 7" single , fantastic band, all their songs are awesome, great musicians and a great singer and beauty in mariska!
So much of our music is used in commercials these days-very cool. Check out two more that are used in commercials-Build Me Up Buttercup-The Foundations and Every Beat Of My Heart-The Du-Ettes. Both hits and great songs!
My other favorite Shocking Blue song is "Never Marry a Railroad Man."
Yes, Never marry a Railroad Man is one of my all time favorite songs since 1970.
The other beautiful tune is "Navajo Tears".
I found shoking blue with "Never Marry a Railroad Man", but my favorite is Deamon Lover!
ONE OF THE BEST BANDS I'VE EVER HEARD. MARISKA VERES, PHENOMENON. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
That came out the year I graduated from high school
Blew my mind then
and now
I was no 1 in the US in I think 1968
They are a very popular dutch band from my city, but only this song got international fame
Fun fact (op FYI): Robbie van Leeuwen (lead guitarist) needed a B-side for his single 'I'm a woman'. He wrote 'Venus' and used parts of the music from 'The Banjo Song' (1963 by Tim Rose from the group The Big Three). Released in 1969 and the radio deejays loved the B-side more. The rest is history. Shocking Blue's 'Venus' was the first number 1 song by a Dutch band in the USA.
Together with ''Radar Love'', the most epic songs from that era in The Hague, Holland.
Great Reaction.
Good “Nederbeat” Band.
VERY catchy Song.
HUGE Hit worldwide, in many forms.
I just went and looked up "Shocking Blue" their song "Venus" was remade by the band Bananarama. I did
I like the way Brad always looks totally bewildered while Lex is having a great old time.
😂 yes!
I just remember trying to do my make-up like hers - all that eyeliner and pale lipstick. I used up all of my mom's brow pencil and concealer stick. Ha ha!
I purloined some of dear papa's whiskey just to emulate jim Morrison.
Another great song is "Never marry a railroad man" from Schocking Blue.
As a kid we knew this from oldies radio, but Bananarama really brought it back when they covered it in the 80s. My next favorite song was Send Me A Postcard.. Nirvana's first single was a cover of Shocking Blue's song Love Buzz.
I remember the song went to #1, I think on the radio, and once the record covers of the singer came out, all the girls started doing the same makeup look as her. It made the girls look very wild. Oh, Yeah!
One of the best One Hit Wonders....EVER!!! Shot up to Number One on Billboard, January, 1970....good times!!!!
From this Shocking Blue by Venus..to Venus in furs by... the velvet underground.😉😎 Shiny shiny...Shiny boots of leather..
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee ...and then there's "Venus" by Frankie Avalon too. 😉👍
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee Oh, and "Venus in Blue Jeans" by Jimmy Clanton. 😉👌
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee
Interestingly varied😎 😉
Theres also Fairies wear boots and you'd better believe it, route by Black Sabbath.😁
A great group. You should also check out Poor Boy and Love Buzz from the same album. Nirvana actually covered Love Buzz years later. It’s considered a sort of proto-punk tune.
@Brad & Lex (My 1st Visit to your channel)
Well? After watching you both enjoy listening to this great song my eyes immediately went to Lex as she was enjoying the song as much as I did when I first heard it back in the late 60's early 70's because it has soul & rhythm . But Brad? I then looked at you and saw a puzzled look on you face (like? what the hell is this?) if you did not feel the soul and rhythm in that song immediately then your feelings for music are in a different direction, Lex and I both got it straight away as I can still remember the day I first heard this song and I loved it (just like Lex's reaction) 😂hahaha. And Lex is right, the lead singers voice is original and has it's own mystifying intriguing sound, with one extra bonus, she singings effortlessly. Maybe some people need more time to process the complexities of her voice and that song since you looked so confused "Brad" 😁hehehe.
Anyway, here is a little more info for you both to read. Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in The Hague in 1967. They were part of the Nederbeat movement in the Netherlands. The band had a string of hit songs during the counterculture movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, including "Send Me a Postcard" and "Venus", which became their biggest hit and reached number one in the U.S.👍
Thanks for your review.
Companies used to have jingles written especially for their commercials. But then in about the '90s, they started buying the rights to songs that were already popular; I guess it became easier and cheaper to do at some point. This song came out when I was in about 7th grade and I loved it!
Very exotic sound. Almost like a foreign movie about abroad trip in some far off land.
Great Great band, this was their biggest hit, BananaRama Covered in the 80's and had big hit with it, but they had some cool tunes "Long and Lonesome Road", "Daemon Lover", "Mighty Joe", "Eve and The Apple"......
This was very big back in the day! You got it!
He's definitely using country guitar tricks on this old psych song! That slide-y stuff is some hybrid almost bottleneck or b-bender riffs, totally has the country twang to it.
Yup, covered very well by Bananarama.
Until There Was Video, Alot of People Thought It Was A Guy Singing ( Including Myself ) !! I Was 9yrs. Old Going on 10 in 1969 !! Love This Song !!
Reminds me of being a 15-16 year old boy at school and clumsily dancing to this with the girls we secretly fancied - great track.
The guy is deep in thought! 😆
I'm glad I don't know what commericial you guys are talking about. ;>) (I left the States in 1990 for good).
I have always loved this song, especially that riff. Also there's a Bananarama version that came out in the '80s. I think you guys would really like that one, too.
The lyric after "I'm your fire" is usually misheard and perceived to be a weird pronunciation of "your desire" as if it was "chore desire". But the correct lyric is "at your desire"!
Loved watching Lex get into it!!
Great Dutch group, made my day back in (wait for it) the 70's