SHOCKING BLUE "Singles A’s and B’s"

Shocking Blue had great hooks to spare... So why were they only able to score one real hit ("Venus") here in the U.S.A.? A fickle record-buying public? Radio station/disc jockey indifference? Poor record distribution? Who knows. The end result was that these songs didn't get the exposure they deserved.
Like most people on this side of the Atlantic, I only knew the Shocking Blue for "Venus," before I picked up this collection. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they recorded many songs that are just as good as, if not better than, this classic. Mariska Veres has a powerful voice which is a dead ringer for Grace Slick. My favorite songs on the "A-side" disc (besides "Venus"), are "Mighty Joe," "Inkpot," "Rock In The Sea" (unusual key and structure on this one), "Sally Was A Good Old Girl" and "Gonna Sing Me A Song," with a great hook which has been bouncing around in my head for the past week (The drum fills on this track sound just ever-so-slightly "off," which I think adds to its charm.) My favorites on the "B-side" disc are "Keep It If You Want It" (It would have made a great A-side, but was relegated to the B-side of a promo-only 45), the bongo-driven "Wild Wind," "Is This A Dream" and "Hot Sand" (I remember flipping my old "Venus" 45 over to check out this track.) (Record Runner)Formed in 1967 by former Motions guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen, the Dutch quartet Shocking Blue originally had a lineup of VanLeeuwen on guitar, lead vocalist Fred DeWilde, bass player Klaasje Van der Wal, and drummer Cornelius Van der Beek, and the initial configuration of the band had a minor homeland hit with “Lucy Brown Is Back in Town” a year later in 1968. Things really got moving, though, when DeWilde was replaced by sultry singer Mariska Veres, whose sexy presence and solid singing brought the band a second Netherlands hit, “Send Me a Postcard,” and then a huge international smash with “Venus” in 1970 after the group had signed to Jerry Ross' Colossus Records imprint. Although Shocking Blue's albums (1968’s Shocking Blue, 1969’s At Home, 1970’s Scorpio’s Dance, 1971’s 3rd Album, 1972’s Inkpot, 1972’s Attila, 1973’s Dream on Dreamer, and 1974’s Good Times) featured progressive rock elements and inventive arrangements thanks to VanLeeuwen's writing and production skills, the band was essentially marketed as a pop singles unit, and while they scored several subsequent hits in their homeland, none of the group’s releases approached the massive saturation success of “Venus.” Veres left Shocking Blue in 1974 to pursue a solo career, and while there have been various reunions and different touring incarnations of the band over the years (including a version fronted by Veres in the '90s), its creative history ended then. VanLeeuwen later re-surfaced in the folk/jazz group Galaxy-Lin, while his most famous composition, “Venus,” continued to see play on oldies stations. Veres died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 59. (Steve Leggett, Allmusic)

INFO

http://www.amazon.com/Singles-As-Bs-Shocking-Blue/dp/B000007VQ8

trax disc 1:

01 Venus 02 Mighty Joe 03 Send Me A Postcard 04 Long And Lonesome Road 05 Never Marry A Railroad Man 06 Inkpot 07 Rock In The Sea 08 Dream On Dreamer 09 Hello Darkness 10 Shocking You 11 Sally Was A Good Old Girl 12 Blossom Lady 13 Out Of Sight Out Of Mind 14 Eve And The Apple 15 Let Me Carry Your Bag 16 Oh Lord 17 This America 18 Good Times 19 Gonna Sing Me A Song 20 The Jury And The Judge 21 Body And Soul 22 Love Is In The Air 23 Lucy Brown Is Back In Town

trax disc 2:

01 Roll Engine Roll 02 Pickin' Tomatoes 03 Waterloo 04 Harley Davidson 05 Fireball Of Love 06 Hot Sand 07 Wild Wind 08 Keep It If You Want It 09 Give My Love To The Sunrise 10 I Saw You In June 11 Is This A Dream 12 I Like You 13 Broken Heart 14 When I Was A Girl 15 In My Time Of Dying 16 Everything That's Mine 17 Where The Picknick Was 18 I Won't Be Lonely Long 19 Come My Way 20 Get It On 21 I Am Hanging On To Love 22 Angel 23 What You Gonna Do 24 Fix Your Hair Darling

...served by Gyro1966...