Shocking Blue

Shocking Blue was founded in 1967 by Robbie van Leeuwen. Other members of the group at this time were Fred de Wilde, Klaasje van der Wal (1 February 1949 – 12 February 2018)[2] and Cor van der Beek. The group had a minor hit in 1968 with "Lucy Brown is Back in Town". De Wilde left in 1968 after joining the Dutch army and van Leeuwen was introduced to Mariska Veres, singing at that time with a club band. He persuaded her to take over the vocals and the group charted a worldwide hit with the song "Venus", which peaked at No. 3 in the Netherlands in autumn 1969. The song was released in America and Great Britain at the end of the year and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. It subsequently sold 350,000 copies in Germany and topped the U.S. chart for three weeks, the first song from the Netherlands to do so. It sold over one million copies there by January 1970 and received a gold record awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America. Global sales exceeded five million copies.[1]

Other hits include "Send Me a Postcard" in 1968/69 and "Long and Lonesome Road" (often mistakenly named as "Long Lonesome Road") in 1969.[3]

"Venus" was followed by "Mighty Joe" (flip-side "Wild Wind") in 1969 and "Never Marry a Railroad Man" (flip-side "Roll Engine Roll") in 1970, both of which sold over a million records. The latter became a top-ten hit in several countries around the world.[1][4] Later songs – including "Hello Darkness", "Demon Lover" (1970), "Shocking You", "Blossom Lady" and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" (1971), "Inkpot", "Rock in the Sea" and "Eve and the Apple" (1972) and "Oh Lord" (1973) were successful in Europe, Latin America and Asia, but failed to chart in the U.S or U.K.

Klaasje van der Wal left towards the end of 1971, following their first trip to Japan (which spawned a live album). In 1974 Robbie Van Leeuwen quit and, later that year, Mariska Veres left, leading to the band's split. Veres enjoyed a solo career until 1982. Her singles "Take Me High" (1975) and "Lovin' You" (1976) were popular mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. She also released the singles "Tell It Like It Is" (1975), a cover version of Dusty Springfield's "Little By Little" (1976), and "Too Young" (1978).

Shocking Blue reformed with its most famous line-up in 1979 and recorded "Louise" as their first single since their break-up in 1974. The song was never released, for reasons unknown. They did, however, perform live in 1980 with earlier songs such as "Venus" and "Never Marry a Railroad Man". They attempted another comeback in 1984 and recorded "The Jury and the Judge" with "I Am Hanging on to Love" as the B-side in 1986. That same year, they recorded another unreleased song, "Time Is a Jetplane".

Drummer Cor van der Beek died on 2 April 1998, at the age of 49, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Mariska Veres died of gallbladder cancer on 2 December 2006, at the age of 59 in The Hague, Netherlands.[5][6] Bassist Klaasje van der Wal died on 12 February 2018 at the age of 69.[2]

• Bananarama covered "Venus" in 1986, hitting number one in the United States and reaching the UK Top 10 (#8).
• Nirvana covered the song "Love Buzz" as their debut single in 1988, and it also appeared on their 1989 album Bleach.
• The Prodigy covered the song "Love Buzz" on their 2004 album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, retitling the song "Phoenix".[7]
• Amy Gore & Her Valentines covered "Send Me a Postcard" in 2012 on the album In Love.
• Mint Royale remixed Shocking Blue's version of "Acka Raga" (itself a cover from John Mayer and Joe Harriott's Indo-Jazz Fusions song of the same title) for their 1999 track "From Rusholme with Love", featured in several films of the time.
• Gyllene Tider from Sweden, the band Roxette frontman Per Gessle headed in the late 70's and early 80's, covered "Send me a Postcard" as "Skicka ett vykort, älskling" (translated "Send a postcard, darling") on their 1980 debut album Gyllene Tider.
• Jess and the Ancient Ones covered "Long and Lonesome Road" on their 2013 EP "Astral Sabbat"
• The Mr. T Experience covered "Send me a Postcard" on their 1990 album "Making Things with Light"

The initial line-up consisted of

• Robbie van Leeuwen (guitar, sitar and backing vocals, 1967–1973)
• Fred de Wilde (vocals, 1967–1968)
• Klaasje van der Wal (bass guitar, 1967–1971; died 2018)[8]
• Cor van der Beek (drums, 1967–1974; died 1998)

Later members were

• Mariska Veres (vocals, 1968–1974; died 2006)
• Leo van de Ketterij (guitar, 1970–1971)
• Martin van Wijk (guitar, 1973–1974)
• Henk Smitskamp (bass guitar, 1972–1974)

Also

• Wim Voermans
• Jan Pijnenburg
• Michael Eschauzier
• André van Geldorp
• Charles Pesch

Timeline

• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shocking Blue.

• Shocking Blue discography at Discogs
• Shocking Blue biography
• Shocking Blue discography
• Shocking Blue (unofficial) at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)