This band was founded in 1967 by guitarist Robbie Van Lieven (b. October 29, 1944), a veteran of the famous Dutch rock band "The Motions". The name "Shocking Blue" was inspired by the Eric Clapton song "Electric Blue". In addition to Van Lieven, the starting line-up included drummer Cor Van Der Beek (b. April 8, 1948), bassist Klaasje Van Der Wahl (b. December 1, 1949) and vocalist Fred De Wilde. The first single, "Love Is In The Air", didn't make much of an impression, but the second, "Lucy Brown Is Back In Town", had already made it to No. 21 on the Dutch Top 40. "Bumble Bees" with the amazing vocalist Mariska Veres (b. October 1, 1947) decided that she would be the perfect complement to "Shocking Blue". Robbie was immediately attracted to her vocal style, which was very different from other performers.
Mariska, half Hungarian, half German, often sang with her father, who played the violin in a gypsy orchestra. Before being invited to "Shocking Blue", she managed to record a solo single ("Topkapi") and gain experience in various groups. Veres took over from Wild and with her sonorous voice and good looks, she immediately became the center of attention, both audio and visual. As Robbie put it: "When Mariska came along, everything started spinning and one of the first singles (Venus) became a big hit."
In the Netherlands, "Venus" peaked at number three while topping the charts in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. The recording attracted the attention of the newly founded American company Colossus. Label head Jerry Ross signed Shocking Blue and was rewarded for his entrepreneurial spirit when Venus topped the US charts in February 1970. It goes without saying that the band was extremely popular at home with around fifty hits in the Dutch charts, while their records also sold very well in France and Japan. The next single, "Mighty Joe", went to number one in the Netherlands and, like its predecessor, charted on numerous other charts.
The EP "Never Marry A Railroad Man" also topped the Dutch charts, followed by hits like "Hello Darkness", "Shocking You", "Long Lonesome Road", "Blossom Lady" and "Inkpot". In their work, "Shocking Blue" successfully combined beat and rhythm and blues with psychedelic and the sound of the Indian sitar. Full-lengths followed one after the other, so Robbie did not mind if the group included several covers on the albums, since constantly writing new material was too much work for him.
For several months in 1970-1971, guitarist Leo Van De Ketteridge played with the team. Mariska, Robbie, Kor and Klaasje were together for three years: they toured the world, visiting as far away as Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and South America. Despite the fact that the group continued to release excellent and often groundbreaking singles and to take places in the European charts, Robbie Van Leeven became depressed. He was depressed by the limited success of the team, as a result of which quarrels began to occur within the "Shocking Blue". Klaasje left first, replaced in 1971 by Henk Smitskamp. In 1973, Van Lieven himself left the group for a while, and Martin van Wijk took his place.
Without Robbie, "Shocking Blue" still somehow held on, but in 1974 Mariska also left the group, who decided to start a solo career, and the team finally broke up. Attempts to revive the project were made in 1979 and 1984, but these reunions were short-lived. In the 90s, Mariska received permission from Robbie to use the name "Shocking Blue" and for several years toured under this sign with musicians who were not related to the original line-up. On December 2, 2006, Veres passed away from cancer.
Last update 28.05.08Shocking Blue is a Dutch rock band best known for their 1969 hit Venus. For a short time of its existence, the team became the most popular in its country, but never achieved wide popularity outside of it. The composition of the Shokin Blue group, its history and discography - later in this article.
Creation
The Dutch guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen, already known in his homeland for his participation in The Motions, decided to form his own band. The names of the participants of "Shokin Blue" in the original composition, in addition to Leuven:
- Fred de Wilde (vocals)
- Clasche van der Wal (bass)
- Cornelius van der Beek (drums)
Robbie himself took the place of the guitarist and acted as the author of all the songs, he also came up with the name for the newly minted ensemble - at first it sounded like "Electric Blue", according to a line from Eric Clapton's song Strange Brew, but then "electric blue" turned into "shocking" . This suited all the members of the group. In this composition, the musicians released two singles and one album. The photo below shows the cover of this album, which was called "Shokin Blue". It is interesting because you can see the original composition of the group on it.
The arrival of Mariska Veres
However, both the participants themselves and the manager understood that the Shocking Blue group was missing something. The lyrics are good, the arrangements too, but overall the music is mediocre. And so, in 1968, when he saw the performance of the aspiring singer Mariska Veres at one of the musical parties, the manager immediately realized what exactly the group lacked. This girl with gypsy, Hungarian, German and Russian roots had a truly unique vocal, and the manager suggested that she be included in the line-up instead of Fred de Wilde. It took the participants one listening session to agree immediately. Below is a photo of "Shokin Blue", taken during one of the first performances with the participation of Mariska.
The success of the group with the arrival of the vocalist began to grow noticeably - in the new composition of "Shokin Blue" they released two fairly successful singles, and then the main hit of the group was born, by which it is recognized to this day.
Venus
This song, released as a single in 1969, was a musical cover version of the 1963 hit The Banjo song by The Big Three. The lyrics and new arrangement were composed by Robbie van Leeuwen. In Holland, the homeland of the musicians, the song took only the third line of the hit parade, but in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium it was in first place. In 1969, the band's second album, At Home, was released - and, of course, Venus was included in its track listing. This contributed to the high sales of At Home itself, as well as several subsequent singles and albums.
But the real success for the song (and, accordingly, the group) came in 1970, when the head of the American label Colossus, Jerry Ross, signed a contract with Shokin Blue to release an American single with the song Venus. He did not fail - the hit took first place in the main American Billboard 100 chart and did not leave the top of several other charts for several months. This year it again took first place in the charts in Switzerland and Belgium and second place in the charts in Austria, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. You can see the performance of the most famous song "Shokin Blue" in the video below.
In Russia and the countries of the former USSR, the song is often called "Shizgara" - according to the sound of the line She "s got it, with which the chorus begins. This was also facilitated by the song of the domestic rock group "Mongol Shuudan", which recorded its version of the song in Russian, but with the original English refrain, called "Shizgara".
Further creativity and breakup
Despite the innovative sound of the melodies and the unique vocals in the subsequent compositions of "Shokin Blue", the band failed to repeat the success of the Venus song. In the style of the psychedelic ensembles of the time, Robbie van Leeuwen very successfully combined in his arrangements the sound of rhythm and blues guitar and Indian sitar, which he played himself. Some compositions of "Shokin Blue" were highly appreciated by the American group Jefferson Airplane, playing in a similar musical direction, but this did not affect their commercial success in any way.
From 1970 to 1971, another guitarist, Leo van der Ketterey, joined the band, and with this line-up the musicians managed to tour several countries, including South America, Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The maximum sales of records at that time were noted in the Japanese and French music markets. But this success did not satisfy Leuven - his dream of big performances in the USA remained unrealizable. Growing on this basis, internal scandals between the members forced the bass player Clashe van der Wal to leave the group in 1971. He was replaced by Henk Smitskamp.
Finally, in 1973, founding member and songwriter Robbie van Leeuwen left Shokin Blue. He was replaced by Martin van Wijk, who also became a guitarist and songwriter. Under his leadership, in the last year of its existence, Shokin Blue turned from a psychedelic into a funk group. Finally, in 1974, Mariska Veres also left the band, deciding to take up solo work. On this, the existence of the most famous Dutch rock band ceased. The only member who went all the way "Shokin Blue" from creation to disintegration was drummer Cornelius van der Beek.
Reunification attempt
In 1979, Robbie van Leeuwen made an attempt to rejoin the band. He even prepared new material for recording, but none of the former members supported the idea of resurrecting Shokin Blue. However, after only 4 years, in 1983, Mariska Veres turned to Leuven for permission to use the name of the former group for her new team. He agreed, but all the new Shokin Blue lineup did was one single and two gigs at the 1994 Back to the Sixties festival.
Discography
During the period of existence from 1967 to 1974, the Shokin Blue group released 11 music albums. In addition to the first two albums mentioned above, they were:
- Scorpio's Dance (1970).
- Third Album (1971).
- Inkpot (1972).
- Live in Japan (1972).
- Attila (1972).
- Eve and the Apple (1972).
- Dream on Dreamer (1973).
- Ham (1973).
- Good Times (1974).
Robbie van Leeuwen(Robbie van Leeuwen; October 29, 1944, The Hague, the Netherlands) - guitar, sitar,
backing vocals (1967-1973)
Mariska Veres(Mariska Veres; October 1, 1947 - December 2, 2006, The Hague, the Netherlands) - vocals (1968-1974)
Claché van der Wal(Klaasje van der Wal, February 01, 1949, La Haie, The Netherlands) - bass guitar (1967-1971)
Kor van der Beek(Cornelius van der Beek; 06 June 1948, Rotterdam, Netherlands) - drums (1967-1974)
The history of "Shocking Blue" is inextricably linked with Robbie van Leeuwen, born October 29, 1944 in The Hague. In the first half of the 60s, being influenced by British rock, Robbie seriously delved into musical research, and it was simply impossible to find a better place for this than the Motions group at that time in Holland (before Motions, Robbie flashed in " Ricochets" and "Atmospheres"). Most of the Dutch bands of the first half of the 60s, such as "Johnny Kendall & The Heralds", "ZZ & The Maskers", "The Hunters" and even "Golden Earring", performed beat-rock, and only a few, including were "Motions", proudly "cut" rhythm and blues, in this case - in the spirit of British "mods". But due to a conflict with the band's vocalist Rudy Bennett in 1967, Robbie leaves and starts looking for like-minded people. The first project on this thorny path was "Six Young Riders", where Henk Smitskamp and Rene Nodelijk played along with Van Leeuwen. His century was short-lived, and in the same 1967, Robbie gathered new musicians: vocalist Fred De Wild (ex.-"Hu & Hilltops"), bassist Klaasje van der Wai and drummer Cornelius Van Der Beek (Cornelius van der Beek, ex.- "Sect", in some sources his name is spelled Cornelis, and most often just Cor). The idea of the name "Shocking Blue" Van Leeuwen involuntarily prompted Eric Clapton. Once he had the imprudence to write the thing "Electric Blue", which inspired our hero to exploits. During this period, changes began in the face of the Dutch rock scene. "Golden Earring" began to gradually move away from beat-rock sound towards blues, and a little later, hard rock, "Cuby & Blizzards" and "Q65" began to gain wide popularity, such "cool" bands as " Harpers Bizarre", "Livin` Blues", "Ekseption", "Brainbox". The main events of this rock whirlpool took place in the city of The Hague, from which our heroes began their journey. It should be noted here that in a few years critics will call The Hague "Dutch Liverpool" and "European San Francisco".
In 1967, the first album "Beat With Us" was released (according to other sources, it was simply called "The Shocking Blue"). By old habit, sustained in the "mod" rhythm and blues vein, it is somewhat reminiscent of the music of the British bands "The Who" and "Small Faces". However, for those years it was natural. It should be noted the original arrangement of the song with which Elvis Presley's career began - "That" s All Right (Mama) ". But this was not yet the music that Robbie Van Leeuwen wanted to play, because his eyes were fixed west of London - to a distant the city of San Francisco... And something incomprehensible was going on there - hippies, psychedelia, rock and roll, marijuana, LSD ... From this cocktail, like mushrooms after rain, groups began to appear with new, unusual music - "Grateful Dead ", "Quicksilver Messenger Service", "Moby Grape", "Country Joe & The Fish" and, of course, the unsurpassed "Jefferson Airplane". Robbie and his team decided to be equal to these Californians.
In 1968, only one single was recorded, "Lucy Brown Is Back In Town" / "Fix Your Hair Darling", rather in the tradition of "Move" (and partly "Tomorrow"). But the main event of the year for the group was the departure of Fred De Wild. 
He had problems with serving in the army, and Fred parted ways with the group.
Van Leeuwen has long secretly dreamed of female vocals. The manager of "Shocking Blue" Ceec van Leeuwen looked for a suitable candidate at a jazz festival in Lusdrecht, and the issue was finally decided at a get-together arranged by "Golden Earring" in honor of their first "hit number 1". Before this wonderful event, Mariska Veres (Mariska Veres), and that was the name of the new member of the group, managed to work with Blue Fighters, Danny & Favourites, Motowns, Mysteres, Bumble Bees. From the latter, she was lured away by the more dexterous "Shocking Blue". With the changes in the line-up, a new style came: melodic moves in the best traditions of Jefferson Airplane, a powerful rhythm section in the spirit of the Rolling Stones, and Mariska worked miracles with her voice and could easily compete with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. It must be said that this lady was a very colorful figure: the daughter of a German woman and a Hungarian gypsy, she embodied in her appearance and voice all the best qualities of these peoples. By the way, her external attractiveness played an important role in the success of the group.
In 1969, the album "At Home" was released, from which the musicians themselves count their discography. The sitar, which Van Leeuwen masterfully owned, was added to all the advantages of the group. The greatest success fell to the single "Venus" - in February 1970, he quickly broke into the top lines of the charts in England, the USA and many European countries. It was a serious bid for success, but unfortunately Venus' triumph did a disservice to Shocking Blue. Many - and quite in vain - began to consider them "heroes of one hit". But in general, luck accompanied the group.
In 1970, another disc "Scorpio`s Dance" came out from the pen of "Shocking Blue", which, thanks to the two-part composition of the same name, can be called quasi-conceptual. The signature sound covered the widest stylistic range: hard rock riffs in "Send Me A Postcard", psychedelic blues - "California Here I Come", "Demon Lover" and, finally, folk psychedelia "I Love Voodoo Music" .
In January 1971, Shocking Blue began recording their next album. Here comes a new character - the second guitarist Leo van der Kettery (Leo van der Kettery). Released in March '71, "The Third Album" was a true masterpiece of the European version of "west coast rock". It is interesting that, unlike most of their colleagues, the musicians of "Shocking Blue" had nothing to do with the drug cult that prevailed in those days. This, of course, did not benefit the image, but "Shocking Blue", like Ted Nugent, Mike Pinera, or, say, the musicians of "Jethro Tull", devoted more time and energy to creativity, rather than drinking and orgies. True, it so happened that the creative takeoff coincided with the first difficulties: tired of the race of recent years, Van Der Wahl left the group (in "Antilope"), and Van Der Ketteri with him. Their place was taken by an old friend of the band, former bassist of the bands "Willy & Giants", "Motions", "Sandy Coast", "Six Young Riders" and "Livin' Blues" - Henk Smitskamp. He gave the group a new charge of creative energy, which materialized in the 72nd in the form of two new studio albums ("Inkpot" and "Attila") and "live" "Live In Japan". The concert album perfectly shows the work of the group without studio bells and whistles - as they say, what we can do is what we play. And I must say, they were capable of a lot, and it is surprising that this album is still stuck in the list of rarities. By this time, "Shocking Blue" traveled virtually the entire civilized world - from the US to Indonesia and South America. 
For example, in the States, "Shocking Blue" performed in one bundle with the then stars of the first magnitude - "Sly & The Family Stone" and "Three Dog Night".
In 1973, the next album "Dream On Dreamer" was released, which brought a clear roll in the folk-rock sound. And at the same time, "Shocking Blue" had its first big failure: critics simply tore apart the new single with the song "Let Me Carry Your Bag". The tension within the group increased sharply, Van Leeuwen was at the limit, because he wrote all the material - four albums in a year and a half, a lot of singles, numerous tours, plus pressure from the record company ... In general, completely exhausted, the captain left the ship . About the solo swimming of the ex-leader of the group - a little later, but for now let's continue the saga about "Shocking Blue".
In 1974, Martin van Wijk, known for his work in two Dutch bands, Fairy Tale and Jupiier, took over as guitarist. He surprisingly quickly became the leader of "Shocking Blue", and the new material was already the result of his research. It must be said that Martin successfully brought a certain amount of glam rock and funk into the music of "Shocking Blue". And although at first glance, these styles did not quite fit into the traditions of the group, calling the album "Good Times" an outlandish language simply does not turn. In memory of the breakaway Van Leeuwen, the new album included the song "Nashville Rebel" - one of his last recordings for the group. The process of disintegration caused by the departure of the patriarch of the group could not be stopped. In 1974, Mariska began her solo career, Henk moved to the "Livin' Blues", and Cor and Martin started a joint project "Lemming". A little later, Kor followed Smithskamp's example and also joined the ranks of the "Livin` Blues", which only benefited from this acquisition. After a year with the "Livin' Blues", Core moved to "Headline".
In the 75th, the last single "Gonna Sing My Song" was released, which put an end to the history of "Shocking Blue". Robbie Van Leeuwen has formed a new experimental group "Galaxy Lin". The next stop on Robbie's creative path in the late 70s was the Mistral project. The result of it is three singles, and different vocalists sang on all three - Sylvia Van Asten, Mariska Veres and on the most famous - "Starship 109" - Marian Shattelein.
In 1984, Shocking Blue got together to perform at the Back-To-The-Sixties-Festival in Den Bosch, along with Q65 and other lesser known Dutch bands. In addition to the old hits "Shocking Blue", two legendary numbers were "cut": "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit" - the most famous hits of "Jefferson Airplane". In honor of the revival of the group, the musicians recorded a new single "Jury And the Judge" / "I`m Hanging On To Love", which was released in 1986. Then the group disappeared from the horizon.
In the early 90s, Mariska Veres resumed her musical activity in a jazz-rock vein with her group "Mariska Veres Shocking Jazz Quintet". Within four days from November 10 to 13, 1992, the musicians recorded an album that could be listened to as early as the beginning of 1993. 
They did not break their heads over the name for a long time: "Shocking You!" - one of the best songs in the repertoire "Shocking Blue" perfectly suited this role. In the album, next to the old action films "Shocking Blue", cover versions of the songs "Golden Earring", "Jefferson Airplane", "The Zombies", "The Kinks" (all performed in the style of light jazz) are conveniently located. Inspired by her own luck, in 1993 the singer enlisted the support of Robbie van Leeuwen`a and collected a new version of "Shocking Blue". She was accompanied by: guitarist Andre van Geldorp, keyboardist Michael Eschauzier, Bert Meulink, bass player from the jazz quintet Veres, Gerben de Bruijn played drums ). The group actively performed throughout Europe, their concerts were especially successful in Germany, England and Belgium, and, of course, in Holland. The line-up was not without changes: in 1994, a new bassist, Paul Heppener, appeared, and four years later, a drummer changed. Actually, Jeff van Veen and Michael Schreuder shared this place from April to November '98, but in the end the last one remained. Not without new material - in 1994 the band's single "Body And Soul" / "Angel" was released. Robbie van Leeuwen decided to shake things up and joined the band, but only as a producer. Mariska occasionally performed at the Oldie Festivals in Holland and even recorded several singles with Peter Tetteroo, the lead vocalist of another famous Dutch band of the 60s, "Tee Set". The legendary lead singer of "Shocking Blue" died of cancer at the age of 59, at home in the Netherlands. It happened on December 3, 2006...
Based on the materials of "Rock encyclopedias"
party hosted by the Bumble Bees with amazing vocalist Mariska Veres and decided she would be the perfect complement to Shocking Blue. Robbie was immediately attracted to her vocal style, which is very different from other performers. Mariska, half Hungarian gypsy, half German, often sang with her father, who played the violin in a gypsy orchestra.
Prior to being invited to Shocking Blue, she recorded a solo single called "Topkapi" and gained experience in various bands. She replaced de Vilde, and, without a doubt, it was her vocals that became a magnet that attracted viewers and listeners; her ringing voice gave the music a distinct rhythm and blues sound. As Robbie said: "When Mariska came, everything immediately started spinning, and one of the first singles - Venus - became a great hit."
In the Netherlands, Venus peaked at number three while topping the charts in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. The recording attracted the attention of the newly founded American company Colossus. Label head Jerry Ross signed with Shocking Blue and was rewarded for his entrepreneurial spirit when Venus topped the US charts in February 1970. It goes without saying that the band was extremely popular at home and had approximately fifty hits in the Dutch charts, while their records also sold well in France and Japan. The group's next single, Mighty Joe, went to number one in Holland and, like its predecessor, was present on all the charts.
"Never Marry a Railroad Man" also topped the Dutch charts; followed by "Hello Darkness", "Shocking You", "Long Lonesome Road", "Blossom Lady" and "Inkpot". "Shocking Blue" successfully combined beat and rhythm and blues with the oriental sound of the Indian sitar.
Robbie didn't mind if the band included a few cover versions of old songs on the albums, as it was too much of a burden for him to write new material all the time. “We did everything ourselves, and the DJs of the radio stations would like to hear from us every time everything is completely new. But a large number of albums led to the fact that the group was forced to supplement them with cover versions. It was extremely difficult for me to write all the music and words alone.” For several months in 1970-1971 guitarist Leo van de Ketterey played with the band. Mariska, Robbie, Cornelius and Klache were together for three years: they toured the world, visiting such distant corners as Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and South America. Despite the fact that the group continued to release excellent and often groundbreaking singles and to take places in the European charts, Robbie van Leeuwen fell into a depression. He was depressed by the limited success of the group, as a result of which quarrels began to occur within Shocking Blue.
Klache left first, replaced in 1971 by Henk Smitskamp. In 1973, van Leeuwen himself left the group for a while, and Martin van Wijk took his place. Without Robbie, Shocking Blue still held on, but in 1974 Mariska also left the group, who decided to start a solo career, and the team finally broke up. In 1979, Robbie wanted to revive the group, but for some reason this did not happen then. However, in late 1984, Shocking Blue reunited and played two shows at the Back-to-the-Sixties festival.
