How "Venus" first became the calling card of Shocking Blue, and then moved into the repertoire of Bananarama

shock blue - a legendary rock band that left its profound mark on history. The band from The Hague The songwriters managed to achieve international recognition, because their repertoire includes many worthy songs that music lovers listen to today with pleasure! Some compositions, particularly romanticized and measured, have found a fervent response even in the hearts of modern listeners! And it's a great success for the band 60s and 70s years, even more so for a Dutch one!

A powerful weapon of Shocking Blue, of course, was their vocalist, the beautiful Mariska Vereswhose powerful voice is now associated with an entire era!

"When Marishka came into the band, we came to life at once! Everything boiled up and spun, and we had hits. "Venus" was one of our first singles to achieve worldwide recognition!" said Robbie Van Leeuwen, Blue's guitarist and songwriter, once.

And it's true: Marishka brought a certain magic - the magic of success and popularity! And the legendary "Venus." - a striking and very melodic proof of that. But how did the cult hit come about? And why do many modern listeners know it thanks to the band Bananarama? Was it really plagiarism? Also, what does this have to do with the exotic "Shizgara"which was spoken of in the the USSR?

Creation history and dizzying success

The song was written by the aforementioned Robbie van Leeuwen. But in order for "Venus" to be born, I had to borrow the melodic basis from "The Banjo Song." groups The Big 3! By the way: this composition was in turn based on "Oh! Susanna" by Stephen Foster, a song that dates back as far as the 19th century! But that, however, is another story. Leuven also wasn't afraid to take the guitar riff from The Who From their track "Pinball Wizard. But the sacrifices were more than justified!

They recorded "Venus" in the Netherlands - Leuven was also the producer of the future hit. When the single was released in 1969, its success was not long in coming! "Venus" won the number one spot on the USA, France, Italy and in many other countries, including South Africa! But in his homeland Shocking Blue, ironically, was stuck in third place in the chart...

"Let's Get Young!" - Bananarama's version, which appealed to Western teens

As the years went by, "Venus" never lost its weight. What's more: soon the hit song became calling card an entirely different group - a girl's pop band Bananarama! In spite of the fact that the British girls released their cover as a single only in 1986, "Venus" had been in their repertoire practically from the very beginning of the band's existence. The girls were playing this hit at their concerts, but they didn't dare to record it - the band members wanted to become famous and with his own songs. But even though the band's tracks were a success in the 80's, it was "Venus" that became their biggest hit, thanks to which Bananarama is remembered to this day.

Soon after its release, their version became a wild success: "Venus" as performed by Bananarama began to be actively used in the media and on television. The younger generation was introduced to the hit in the early 2000s, when commercials for women's razors were often on TV. Gillette. Because of this, many modern music lovers to this day believe that the song belongs to sweet-voiced British women. And only avid music lovers know how history has evolved of this hit in fact.

Other covers

Not only Bananarama, but many other bands and even solo artists have interpreted the iconic "Venus" in their own way. Here, for example, is a version Jennifer Lopez:

And here's what it sounds like metal version:

Neither were they left out. national VIAs - "Hello Song," "Dr. Watson," and others also decided to experiment!

They all got their own. the special "Venus"which was different from the original. Still, the beautiful Mariška Veresz also sang this song in her own way, characteristically and uniquely. But despite the variety of covers, the most successful, favorite and undying remain Original Shocking Blue and Bananarama version.

Interesting to know

And lastly, we have three curious facts about this song for you! For example: back in 1959, that is, ten years before the release of "Venus" that we are discussing today, Frankie Avalon topped the U.S. chart with the song Venus! But this song has nothing in common with the hit Shocking Blue (except the title).

Both the original "Venus" and the Bananarama version achieved equal success on the charts! Both versions reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as number eight in the UK, where they spent 13 weeks each!

Why is it "Shizgara" (or "Sizgares")? What is this word so exotic? It's the name given to the hit in the USSRall because of the chorus line "She's got it, Yeah, baby, she's got it! So it's not like we're talking about the Sizzare in this song.