Psychedelic Rock Dutch Rock band Shocking Blue peaks to No.1 on the U.S Hot 100 in 1970
They were the first Dutch band to score a No.1 song on the U.S Hot 100
Psychedelic Rock Dutch Rock band Shocking Blue peaks to No.1 on the U.S Hot 100 in 1970
Released in late 1969 as a single from Shocking Blue’s third album “Scorpio’s Dance”, the song “Venus” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 7 February 1970 and worldwide, the single sold over 7.5 million copies. Written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the band’s guitarist, sitarist and background vocalist, who also produced along with record producer Jerry Ross. Van Leeuwen originally miswrote the line “…the goddess on the mountain top…” as “…the goodness on the mountain top…”, so the lead singer Mariska Veres sang it this way on the hit recording of the song. The Dutch band enjoyed a global wave of success during that period with their Psychedelic Rock songs, making them one of most influential bands on that genre. Other famous songs by Shocking Blue are “Send Me a Postcard”, “Long and Lonesome Road”, “Hot Sand” (the B-Side of “Venus”), “Mighty Joe” and “Never Marry a Railroad Man”. Although never released as a single, Shocking Blue’s song “Love Buzz” became one of the band’s most popular songs after Nirvana covered it for their first single and included it on their 1989 debut album “Bleach”, remaining a Nirvana live staple for the during their early concerts. In 1986, the British female pop group Bananarama returned “Venus” to number one in seven countries with their version of the song produced by the team Stock Aitken Waterman.
Watch Shocking Blue performing “Venus” on this 1970 promotional clip for the song
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