1969, Dutch rock group Shocking Blue released Venus in the Netherlands in 1969.
The song reached Number 1 in nine countries.
Australia
Japan
Belgium
New Zealand
Italy
Brazil
France
Singapore
South Africa
A bit of trivia. The original lyrics had a typo in the line - “a goddess on a mountain top”, with “goddess” written as “godness” which was how the lead singer - Mariska Veres - who was at the time not perfectly fluent in English, sang it on the record and on television.
Later recordings by other artists corrected the word. Venus - Shocking Blue 1969
Fast forward 15 years.
Dutch band, Claw Boy Claws - A “garage rock,” (a mixture of rock and roll and punk), band who quickly gained popularity, and in 1984 the band releases their first album, Shocking Shades Of Claw Boys Claw, containing among others a cover of the song “Venus”.
The album was later called one of the best records in the history of Dutch pop music by Trouw, (Loyal), a Dutch daily newspaper.
Here is their cover of Venus. Venus - Claw Boys Claw 1984
Not something I can answer.
The UK number 1 song at the time of the release of Venus was Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones. The song held that position for 5 weeks.
Followed by In the Year 2525 by Zager and Evans - 3 weeks.
Prefer the Shocking Blue version… it’s a song that needs to move… though the second version is interesting… amazing what a difference a tempo change makes…
Comments Venus (1969) by Robbie van Leeuwen was based on The Banjo Song (1963) by Tim Rose: Not only is the musical resemblance striking but Robbie van Leeuwen literally admitted this on Dutch Television. The Banjo Song is itself an adaptation of Oh! Susanna (1948) by (1848), which explains how Venus and Oh! Susanna are indirectly related.
Most notably, Venus recycles the the guitar riff that can be heard in the first 10 seconds of The Banjo Song, a musical element that Tim Rose added. This explains why Venus has little to nothing in common with Oh! Susanna , although it’s a second degree adaptation of it.
