(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Shocking Blue - "Venus"
Hit Number 1: February 7, 1970
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
"The godness on the mountaintop." That's the nonsensical line we hear in the song "Venus", the biggest hit for Dutch band Shocking Blue. There's a simple reason why that line turned out to be that way. The band's lead guitarist, Robbie van Leeuwen, intended on the line being "a goddess on the mountaintop", but miswrote it. That led lead singer Mariska Veres to sing the line wrong. Some might say that it's a flaw to the song, but I see it as a neat identity tag. Things could have been worse, we've heard crazier, stupid lyrics come out of songs in the psychedelic era, so this was hardly a flaw in and of itself. Instead it ended up being a cool lyric that the members of Shocking Blue could easily have passed off as being intentional. It worked for them.
Things didn't work for long though. Shocking Blue had one of the briefest periods of popularity, which really only lasted from 1969-1970. The band formed in 1967, but not with the lineup that gave us "Venus". Their first lead singer, Fred de Wilde, left to go join the army after all Shocking Blue could muster was a minor hit with "Lucy Brown is Back in Town". Shocking Blue needed something. They needed a front man who they could get behind and push forward as their identity tag. Well, they never found that. They found a "front woman" instead, who was Veres. Veres was basically a Cher rip off. She literally went to great lengths to be like Cher, wearing a long black wig, specific styles of makeup and even put on eccentric performances in live shows. Veres was exactly what the band needed. She was Shocking Blue's identity.
"Venus" is hard to place into a specific genre. It's a bluesy rock style, with little hints of psychedelia sprinkled in here and there. It's a groovy little song. There's some quality guitar work on display, which is always something I can respect since I'm a guitar player myself. I love the riffs that van Leeuwen came up with, and the "WOW!" that he screams before the second chorus. Veres has one of those subtle, yet seductive voices that puts you in a trance. Cher isn't easy to imitate, but Veres does a hell of a job. Shocking Blue took that seduction, and the bluesy rhythms that came with it, and rode that all the way to #1. It's just too bad that this band never did anything more after "Venus". They were on their way to becoming big, but they just kind of fizzled out. They broke up in 1974.
Obviously, we won't hear from Shocking Blue again in this blog. However, we will hear from "Venus" again, after a cover version by Bananarama hit #1 in the 80's. That should tell you all you need to know about the song, and the kind of staying power it possesses. Shocking Blue's run was brief, but their highlight was a good one.
GRADE: 8/10
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