Released in late 1969 as a single from the album “At Home” - Shocking Blue's single, "Venus" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 7, 1970 and was certified gold on January 28, 1970 for selling over one million copies in the U.S. The song was later covered by girl group Bananarama and returned to number one in the U.S. as well as topping the charts in six other countries around the world in 1986.
The Shocking Blue were formed in 1967 by guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen, a veteran of the Dutch rock band, The Motions. Joining Van Leeuwen in the group was drummer Cor van Beek, bass player Klaassje van der Wal and lead singer Fred de Wilde.
In the spring of 1968, Shocking Blue were signed to Dureco, an independent company in the Netherlands.The group's first single, "Lucy Brown Is Back In Town", was released on the company's Pink Elephant label and went to number 21 on the Dutch top 40.
Shortly after the release of their first single, Shocking Blue's manager and music publisher attended a party celebrating the success of Golden Earring's first number one song in Holland. A band known as the Bumble Bees, fronted by the strong and striking female singer Mariska Veres, performed at the party, and the two men thought she would be a perfect addition to Shocking Blue. Mariska, half-Hungarian and half-German, had often sung with her father, who played violin in a gypsy orchestra.
Mariska did not speak English when she joined Shocking Blue and when “Venus” was recorded she sang the song phonetically.
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