Here’s a trivia question. How many Dutch bands can you name who have made number one in the United States? We are familiar with the British invasion of the Sixties and have seen many groups from Great Britain who have hit the top of our chart, but Dutch bands? One would be Shocking Blue as you might guess. The only other group that I can find (at least before the year 2000, which is what I cover,) is Van Halen. They hit number one in 1984 with their song “Jump.” Now, the entire band is not from the Netherlands, but the Van Halen brothers were both born there before their family moved to the United States, so I think that counts.

For now, let’s concentrate on Shocking Blue. They were formed in 1967 by Robbie van Leeuwen who with three of his friends, Fred de Wilde (lead singer), Klaasje van der Wal (bass guitar) and Cor van der Beek (drums) had a minor hit “Lucy Brown is Back in Town” before Fred de Wilde left the group to join the Dutch Army. They decided the group needed the female touch and so took on Mariska Veres as lead lead vocal to replace de Wilde.

The founder of the group, Robbie van Leeuwen wrote the song, “Venus” and they released it. It was included on their third album, Scorpio’s Dance. The song was the only hit Shocking Blue had in the United States, although they continued to chart in the Netherlands for a couple years. Robbie van Leeuwen’s inability to write another hit for the United States, led to some discord among the members of the band and in 1974, they disbanded.

In 1984, they reunited for two concerts and there were rumors that the band might get back together, but it never happened.

The song hit number one in seven other countries around the world, but, surprisingly, it only got to number three in their native Netherlands. “Venus” has been covered by many other groups, most notably, Bananarama, who also took the song to number one in 1986.

“Venus” should not be confused with a song with the same name which hit number one in 1959 by Frankie Avalon. They are two completely different songs. This “Venus” entered the pop charts in the United States on December 20, 1969, took until February 7, 1970 to get to number one where it stayed for just one week. As I said, it is the only American hit Shocking Blue had. They never hit the Top 40 again.