I think perhaps SHOCKING BLUE could be the hippest band in the history of rock.

I mean, for the love of pete, LOOK AT THEM. Look at HER.

And the woman has a voice that could level a skyscraper. Think Grace Slick, only with even more ice queen rock goddess superpower.

You may know them as the sixties band who did the original version of "Venus" (yeah, that Bananarama song), and a few of you may even know their other semi-hit, the uberswank "Send Me A Postcard". What I just learned today is that Shocking Blue originally recorded the song "Love Buzz", which was covered by Nirvana on their first album.

This is the kind of '60s psychedelia I love - very mod, very upbeat, a little bit bubblegum, very euro, and with a strong female vocal. It makes me want to grow my hair like Buster Brown and start wearing big white sunglasses, skinny black pants and shiny elf shoes. I think I'm going to listen to some Shocking Blue tonight and replace all my bulbs with blacklights and paint butterflies all over my walls. GROOVY.

Any fans on here? tA, maybe?

I know OF their songs, but that's the first I've ever heard of their name or seen a picture.


VERY GROOVY! Their style is right up my alley!



:peaceloveandgroovyhippyflowers:

Nothinbutjoy said:

where shocking blue lived is where kier kirby and austin powers robbed their identities from.

The chick was pretty gorgeous. I've seen other pics and she definitely had it going on. Nice rack, too.


[Edited 11/25/06 18:10pm]

Anx said:

I must admit that other than hearing their hit Venus, i'm not real familiar with them.
Never even saw a picture of Mariska Veres (or any of the band) until today.
They pretty much had that hit and then vanished (from the U.S. scene anyway)

Just trying to come up with another female singer led band with that combination of Pop/Rock/Looks in the same psychedelic time period is difficult.

Rotary Connection - Minnie Riperton
5th Dimension - Marilyn McCoo
Spanky and Our Gang - Elaine McFarlane
We Five - Beverly Bivens

These are some of the groups that come to mind during that era that had strong female vocalists.
Their material is definitely more Pop and less Rock than Shocking Blue though.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

I had a really good listen to Shocking Blue's greatest hits tonight. A lot of their music veered toward blues/country, much like Janis Joplin, though a lot less electrified and frenzied. Mariska's voice is simply fabulous, though. I'm a sucker for a good female rock voice, and I believe she has joined my list of household goddesses, somewhere between Ronnie Spector and Grace Slick.

And yeah, they were a one-hit wonder in America. Apparently in Europe they were at least a two-or-three-hit wonder. I googled them and found some recent pictures of Mariska. She's still very beautiful.

She reminds me a bit of a less-manufactured version of Cher.

I know "Send Me A Postcard" because it's on the Ladytron influences album 'Softcore Jukebox'. I always thought that was a very neat little song, but now seeing a picture of Shocking Blue for the first time--well, I think you've converted me.

very interesting and very interested.

sextonseven said:

i have that compilation too, and it's what got me interested in checking out more of shocking blue's stuff.

I knew they did the original "Venus" but, I had no idea about "Love Buzz". I may have to check them out based on that chick's wardrobe alone!

Anx, have you heard of The Smoke? They're psychedelic,mod and their signature song My Friend Jack.. (eats sugurlumps) is very bubblegum.Actually, if you don't catch the reference, is really about taking L.S.D. .

Darla said:

ooh, they look fun.

Ah sweet memories.....my first SINGLE was from them: "Blossom Lady" and I still have it
I was 10 at the time.....

Greetz
Lily

Anx said:

Dutch pride..... The only dutch band that has made it to no.1 in the US-charts!

abierman said:

I didn't know they were Dutch.

minneapolisgenius said:

they were amish, too!

minneapolisgenius said:

Mariska Veres (59), singer of dutch band Shocking Blue, passed away today in The Hague, the Netherlands.....heard it on the news tonight.

abierman said:

That is so weird.

Stax said:

Exactly, that's what I thought as well when I heard the news night in my car, driving home from The Hague.....
They just said on tv that she had a very agressive form of cancer.

abierman said:

Would have been severely disturbing if they'd said she'd died of an anxiety attack.

VoicesCarry said:

I guess someone is trying to tell us not to fuck with him.....

abierman said:

I KNOW! I just saw it on the news! I was going to start a thread for Anx if I couldn't find this one about it. How crazy is THAT though?

I was in the car tonight on the way to a party, and I turned to my husband and said "Hey, I didn't know that Shocking Blue was from Den Haag. I want to get that album actually." My exact words. And then a few hours later, I heard that she died.

Just SO weird. And sad. She was only 59 I think.

Anx has some really weird mojo.

CinisterCee said:

dude, it's true.....It is all over the news here in Holland!

abierman said:

That was a direct quote from someone else's post on another board, and that's the most I had heard.

CinisterCee said:

that's really awful news!

I found this on a European news site: