Venus (Shocking Blue song)

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"Venus"
File:Shocking blue venus Dutch vinyl.jpg
One of cover arts for Dutch releases
Single by Shocking Blue[1]
from the album At Home
B-side "Hot Sand"
Released 2 October 1969
Format 7" vinyl
Genre Folk rock, psychedelic rock
Length 3:06
Label Pink Elephant, Metronome, Colossus, Poplandia, Joker, Yugoton, Minos
Writer(s) Robbie van Leeuwen[2]
Producer(s) Robbie van Leeuwen
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Shocking Blue[1] singles chronology
"Lucy Brown Is Back In Town"
(1968)		 "Venus"
(1969)		 "Mighty Joe"
(1969)

"Venus" is a 1969 song written by Robbie van Leeuwen. In the United States, it is the only song to hit #1 3 times. In 1970, the Dutch band Shocking Blue took the song to number one in nine countries. In 1981 it was a part of the Stars On 45 medley and in 1986, the British girl group Bananarama returned the song to number one in seven countries. The composition has been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials, and covered dozens of times by artists around the world.

Shocking Blue version

Background

Released in late 1969 as a single from the group's second album At Home, Shocking Blue's single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 7 February 1970. RIAA certification came on 28 January 1970 for selling over one million copies in the U.S., garnering a gold record. Worldwide, the single sold over 7.5 million copies.[3]

The song's lead vocals are performed by Mariska Veres. The song's music and lyrics are written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the band's guitarist, sitarist and background vocalist, who also produced, along with record producer Jerry Ross. Van Leeuwen originally miswrote the line "...the goddess on the mountain top..." as "...the godness on the mountain top...". This was corrected in later versions. The Hohner electric piano on the release was played by Cees Schrama.

Van Leeuwen was inspired by "The Banjo Song", a composition by Tim Rose that set Stephen Collins Foster's lyrics to "Oh! Susanna" to a completely new melody.

"Venus" was remixed and re-released by dance producers The BHF (Bisiach Hornbostel Ferrucci) Team in May 1990, scoring the group a Top 10 hit in the UK and Australia 21 years after the release of the original. The remix featured a hip house rhythm and samples. An instrumental version was also released independently under the producer's alias "Don Pablo's Animals". The instrumental version (credited only to Don Pablos Animals – without referencing Shocking Blue) became the highest charting version of the song.[4] The single began with a sample from James Brown's 1988 hit "The Payback Mix (Part One)". This release of "Venus" peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart[4] and #8 in Australia in 1990.

In advertising

In film

The song has been used in several films:

In music

Chart performance

Chart (1970) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 1
Austrian singles chart 2
Belgium singles chart 1
Canadian singles chart 1
Finnish singles chart 8
French singles chart 1
German singles chart 2
Irish singles chart 10
Italy singles chart 1
Japan Oricon Singles Chart 2
Dutch Top 40 Single Chart 3
Swiss singles chart 1
Spanish singles chart 1
UK Singles Chart[7] 8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1

Bananarama version

"Venus"
Single by Bananarama
from the album True Confessions
B-side "White Train"
Released 30 May 1986
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded December 1985
Genre Dance-pop
Length 3:51 (Album Version)
3:40 (Single Version)
Label London Records
Writer(s) Robbie van Leeuwen
Producer(s) Stock Aitken Waterman
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Bananarama singles chronology
"Do Not Disturb"
(1985)		 "Venus"
(1986)		 "More Than Physical"
(1986)
Music sample
"Venus"

Background

"Venus" had been a part of Bananarama's repertoire for several years before they actually recorded it. The team's three members, Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward, had the idea of turning the song into a dance music tune, but they were met with resistance from their producers at the time, Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. Bananarama brought the idea to the production trio of Stock Aitken Waterman, and it became Bananarama's first collaboration with them.

Dallin, Fahey, and Woodward had nearly completed recording their third album, titled True Confessions, with Jolley and Swain. Stock, Aitken and Waterman also resisted the idea because they believed that "Venus" would not make a good dance record. After persistence by the women, SAW relented, and the result was a worldwide smash. Bananarama's "Venus" went to number one in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Mexico, and South Africa. It hit number two in Germany and Hong Kong and was a top ten success in Italy, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and their native UK (#8 on UK Singles Chart). It also went to number one for two weeks on the U.S. Dance chart.[8]

The collaboration on "Venus" led Bananarama and SAW to work together on the group's follow-up album Wow! the following year.

A new mix of the track appeared as b-side to the 1989 limited release "Megarama '89" in Germany and France. Bananarama has since re-recorded the track for their 2001 album Exotica and it was later remixed by Marc Almond, with re-recorded vocals, and included on their 2005 album Drama.

Music video

The music video for the song received extensive play on MTV and video channels across the world, and presented Bananarama in various costumes, including a she-devil, a French temptress, a vampiress, and several Grecian goddesses. In one sequence of the video, The Birth of Venus, the painting by Sandro Botticelli, was reenacted. The video marked a pivotal shift towards a more glamorous and sexual image for the girls that contrasted with the tomboyish style in their earlier work. Choreography by Bruno Tonioli. Music video directed by Peter Care.

Track listings

UK / USA / Canada 7" vinyl single

UK: London Records NANA 10 / USA: London Records 886-056-7 / Canada: London Records LDS 227 / Australia: Liberation Records LS 1789

  1. "Venus" 3:30
  2. "White Train" 3:50
    S.Dallin/S. Fahey/K. Woodward/P. Bishop/P. Seymour

+ some copies released in picture disc format NANPD 10

UK / Australia 12" vinyl single

UK: London Records NANX 10 / Canada: Liberation Records LMD 474

  1. "Venus" (Extended version) 7:23
  2. "Venus" (Dub) 8:15
  3. "White Train" 3:50
2nd UK 12" vinyl single

London Records NANXR 10

  1. "Venus" (The Hellfire Mix) 9:20 #:Remixed by Ian Levine
  2. "Venus" (Hellfire Dub) 6:55
  3. "White Train" 3:50
3rd UK 12" vinyl single

London Records NAXRR 10

  1. "Venus" (The Fire And Brimstone Mix) 6:35 #:Remixed by Stock, Aitken & Waterman
  2. "Venus" (Hellfire Dub) 6:55
  3. "White Train" 3:50
USA 12" vinyl maxi-single

London Records 886 088-1

  1. "Venus" (The Hellfire Mix) 9:20
  2. "Venus" (The Fire & Brimstone mix) 6:55
  3. "Venus" (Extended version) 7:23
  4. "Venus" (Dub) 8:25
CD video single
  1. "Venus" (Extended version) 7:23
  2. "True Confessions" (Edit) 4:09
  3. "A Trick of the Night" (Edit) 4:07
  4. "More Than Physical" (UK Single version) 3:40
Other versions
  1. "Venus" (The Greatest Remix Edit) 3:40
    Found on the 1989 UK CD single "Cruel Summer '89", Remixed by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow
  2. "Venus" (The Greatest Remix) 7:43
    Found on the 1989 German CD single "Megarama '89", Remixed by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow
  3. "Venus" (2001 version)
    Found on the album Exotica
  4. "Venus" (Marc Almond's Hi-NRG Showgirls mix) 6:02
    Found on the 2005 album Drama, Remixed by Marc Almond
  5. "Venus" (From Soundtrack Sugar & Spice: Stuck in the 80's)

Personnel

Bananarama

Additional personnel

  • Andrew Biscomb – Sleeve design
  • Peter Barrett – Sleeve design

Chart performance

Other versions

In popular culture

In film

In games

In television

Sampling

"Shizgarah", or "Venus" in Russian urban folklore

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Despite the fact that the heavily controlled Soviet mass media totally ignored much of Western popular culture, the Shocking Blue song quickly become a popular hit in 1970s Russia, especially among street youth akin to Western hippie and "hooligan" subcultures. Due to the song's simple arrangement and danceable rhythm, "Venus" was adopted and performed by thousands of underground amateur performers, both those who accompanied themselves on acoustic guitar and full contemporary bands who performed it with electric guitar at dance parties. Thus, the English language song of a Dutch band become a prominent phenomenon of Russian urban folklore and was considered by many an unofficial "anthem of the generation".

The English language in the song, however, was only very loosely approximated, and the song was not even known by its title, "Venus". A countless number of variants of Russian lyrics existed for this song, but traditionally it was performed using gibberish or scat singing phonetically inspired by the sounds of original English lyrics which had become hardly intelligible after being passed along via repeated duplicate copying on cheap, low-end tape recorders. In the Russian variant, the first line of the chorus, "She's got it", was usually pronounced as "Shizgarah" ("Шизгáра") [sheez-GA-rah], and it was this word which became a commonly adopted name of the song in the USSR, even among those who could understand the original English text.

In modern times, a few disco clubs and a musical show on Nashe Radio are named "Shizgarah" after this song.

Also, "Shizgarah" ("Шизгара") is a novel of Russian writer Sergey Soloukh portraying the life of young Soviet hippies in the 1970s.[13]

References

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External links

Preceded by Canadian RPM number one single (Shocking Blue version)
January 31, 1970 - February 7, 1970 (2 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Without Love" by Tom Jones
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Shocking Blue version)
February 7, 1970 (1 week)		 Succeeded by
"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody Is a Star" by Sly & the Family Stone
Preceded by Australia ARIA Singles Chart number one single (Shocking Blue version)
March 9, 1970 – March 16, 1970 (2 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin
Preceded by New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number one single (Shocking Blue version)
March 20, 1970 – March 27, 1970 (2 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Bananarama version)
September 6, 1986 (1 week)		 Succeeded by
"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin
Preceded by
"Rumors" / "Vicious Rumors" by Timex Social Club
 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number one single (Bananarama version)
August 9, 1986 – August 16, 1986 (2 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent" by Gwen Guthrie
Preceded by
"I Wanna Be a Cowboy" by Boys Don't Cry
 New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number one single (Bananarama version)
September 12, 1986 – September 26, 1986 (4 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Slice of Heaven" by Dave Dobbyn
Preceded by Australia ARIA Singles Chart number one single (Bananarama version)
September 15, 1986 – October 27, 1986 (7 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"You're the Voice" John Farnham

Template:Shocking Blue

  1. ↑ In spite of the name mentioned on this cover, the band's name was Shocking Blue, without "The".
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  5. ↑ [1]
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between 1983 and 26 June 1988.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ imdb.com
  13. ↑ lib.ru Archived January 6, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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