The story of Mariska Veresch (Shocking Blue).

Shocking Blue is a widely celebrated Dutch band that has won the fervent love and appreciation of listeners from all corners of the globe! "Deamon Lover", "Shocking You", "Venus" - forever the "Shizgara"... These are just a fraction of the musical legacy we enjoy today. But what lies behind the powerful, soul-penetrating female vocals? Who really was Mariška Veres? There were various rumours about her person - the lead singer was found in some brothel, she was a dark-skinned American... In life Marishka was very far from all these gossips. Moreover, even the most devoted fans of her work to this day have no idea what this charming girl, the permanent "Shizgara" of her era, was really like....

The decisive moment of the occasion

Maria Elisabeth Ender - that was Mariska Veresch's birth name - was born on 1 October 1947 in The Hague, the capital of South Holland. Her father was a Hungarian gypsy and her mother had Russian-French roots. As a conductor and violinist, Lajos Veres instilled in both of his daughters, Ilona and Marishka, a fervent love of music. The man took the girls with him to Gypsy ensemble performances, finding them not the last place on the stage. However, singing career was not in the girls' plans at that time. Everything was decided by chance... At the age of 16, Marishka won a talent contest, captivating the audience and the jury with her singing and powerful vocals for a tender age. Since then she has a new image of a talented vocalist. She began to be noticed and greedily tried to lure her into different musical groups. There were rumours that in her youth charming "Shizgara" managed to try on the apron waitress and sing in a brothel, but they were far from reality. Yes, Marishka had to perform in pubs, but her reputation remained impeccable ...

The rise of the legendary Shizgara.

In addition to excellent vocal data, Marishka impressed the audience with her external charm: a mop of thick dark hair, beautiful dark skin, appetising figure and huge expressive eyes... No wonder that hordes of musicians expressed a passionate desire to collaborate with her. And some of them were even honoured with such a gift of fate. Before Veresh joined Shocking Blue, she had managed to make a name for herself as a solo singer and even changed several bands.

Luck helped Marishka to get into Shocking Blue. Initially the band consisted of four members. However, the vocalist was sent away to serve in the army, so the guys had to find a replacement for him. Surprisingly, but for some reason they decided to replace brutal male vocals with female ones. And they did not fail. It was with Mariska Veresh that the band became world famous! Their timeless hits, released one after another, became so popular that to this day modern performers continue to re-sing them. This has even led to the fact that the younger generation of listeners probably don't remember, or perhaps don't even know who the original rendition of such hits as "Love Buzz", "Demon lover", "Lonesome road", "Venus" belongs to. However, the last composition became a real gem of Shocking Blue's repertoire, their calling card, which many know by the sticky explosive chorus of "Shizgara". In fact, this song became the only incredibly famous superhit of the band, which exploded the world top charts in its time.

Group break-up

In the mid-70s, Shocking Blue, which was at the height of its fame at that time, broke up. This decision was taken unanimously by all the members. All their countless producers expected from the guys masterpieces in the spirit of the world-famous "Shizgara", but the musicians flatly refused to produce schlaggers in an endless variation of the same song.

"To be frank, I have no desire to sing the same 'Venus' until I'm eighty, only with slightly altered lyrics. On his return from a tour of Japan and Indonesia, Robbie van Leeuwen fell ill with jaundice. Naturally, he couldn't perform for a long time - something like half a year. And then me and the guys talked and came to the conclusion that it was time for us to go our separate ways. All the more so, because our last records were a bit of a mess and were not the most successful ones. And now, after waiting for the contract to expire, we finally erased all the points of return," Marishka later shared with journalists.

Of course, there were attempts to revive the team from the producers' side, and even repeated ones, but all of them ended in failure. Marishka devoted herself to building a solo career, and, naturally, did not want to return to the team.

"Perhaps youthful pride was playing in me at that moment...," she later admitted, with obvious regret.

Unlike most pop singers, Mariska Veresh never had a tendency to addictions and habits, she was never seen in romances with musicians. She was an incredibly modest and shy girl, very vulnerable and naive at heart. Barely joined the team, Marishka immediately warned all the guys that between them will never get any relationship except professional. Perhaps it is because of his own pride and shyness, the great "Shizgara" never found female happiness. The singer was never married, she never had children. Offstage, she adhered to a modest and very measured way of life, always avoiding publicity.

Unfortunately, the singer was never able to repeat her legendary success, which she achieved in Shocking Blue. Marishka persevered and continued to hold concerts and release singles. By the early 90s, she released an entire album featuring jazz versions of old hits. However, the work went almost unnoticed...

Yes, of course her tracks were played on radio channels. But they did not arouse much emotion in the listeners. At the height of the noughties, the singer took part in the recording of Andrei Serban's album "My Gypsy Heart", and this was her last work. In the last years of her life Veresh was very seriously ill. Doctors diagnosed cancer. In 2006, she passed away. She was only 59 years old. Her passing went virtually unnoticed. There were a few dry notes in the press, but that was it. And as for the listeners - by that time they already had new idols. Unfortunately, no one recognised in Mariška Veresz the legend of the 1970s...