The female vocal trio Bananarama recorded and had a hit with Venus in 1986. It was one of the first songs they started performing when they formed the band in 1979, but they wanted to record original songs first so they would be taken seriously.
Shocking Blue was a rock band from The Netherlands that lasted from 1967 to 1974. Fronted by singer, Mariska Veres, and with guitarist/songwriter, Robbie van Leeuwen, as its creative force, the band enjoyed international chart success and are one of the most successful bands ever to come out of The Netherlands. While Shocking Blue had several hits in The Netherlands and beyond, their biggest hit by far was Venus. Although Venus went to number one in the US in February 1970, it was their only hit stateside. Hence their US "one hit wonder" tag. Great additional songs by Shocking Blue include “Send Me A Postcard” (an amazing song!), “Never Marry A Railroad Man,” and “Love Buzz.” Btw, Nirvana covered Love Buzz for their debut album Bleach in 1989, and it was released as their first single! Sadly, Mariska Veres died on December 2nd, 2006, after a short battle with cancer. She was just 59 years old. RIP
I thought it was from the late sixties. That's what I seem to remember it from. If you look at the hairstyles and her outfit it's late sixty style. I was 16 then I'm 76 now. 😂
The song is used in commercials for women's razors, the movie "Remember the Titans", and for the 1980's Bananarama cover. They have other cool songs, they just never got airplay in the US. I like Inkpot, Never Marry a Railroad Man, Send Me a Postcard, and Long and Lonesome Road.
Mariska Veres is the lead singer. The band is Dutch and English was not their first language. So, during the recording session, she was reading the lyrics as she sang. Unfortunately, there was a misprint on the first line of the song, and she sang the misprint. "A 'godness' on a mountain top instead of 'goddess'. They corrected this during subsequent live performances. However, the mistake lives forever (lol).
Funny story. When this came out my parents, my siblings and I were driving and it came on the radio. We were listening to WSAI-AM Cincinnati OH. When she says "I'm your Venus" my mother God love her thought she was saying "I'm your fetus" and immediately shut it down. It took a while but finally made her realize what she truly was saying. Giving my Mom an A+ for looking out. ❤
Hardly...Venus was the Roman goddess of love, nothing to do with razors. But I'm not surprised at the responses given the abysmal knowledge most Americans possess of anything dating before the rise of Walmart culture.
@@timhazeltine3256 Wow you sure are intellectual, EXCEPT he asked where he had Heard the part before, not what was the definition of Venus. Sorry you were so over the top, on good stuff, to have heard that part, but we forgive you, we know you can't help yourself.
Yeah, you heard the '80s cover of it by Bananarama, which was used in a Venus razor commercial. This was the original. That '60s makeup! She looks like a Barbie doll. And yeah, the insertion of those album covers so quickly seemed to be a bit like subliminal advertising. Love the Clockwork Orange reference! You have some good film literacy!
It debuted December 13, 1969 at position #77 in the hot 100. It hit #1 February 7, 1970 and only stayed there for a week and #28 was its final charting position March 14, 1970. It had a good run and was an extremely popular song.
Super depressing when you remember the original and the remake and the remake is going on 40 years old. This song has the distinction of being 1 of less than ten songs which gave 2 separate artists a #1 Billboard hit.
It was the backing for the Venus woman's Razor starting late 70's to early 80's. This is from the days where a group might do a video to get DJs to play their music.
BANANARAMA revitalized this song with a great cover in the '80s. This is a Dutch band. Yes, Bananarama's version was used in a commercial. Subliminal Messaging is what you're thinking of. As young men we would sing this with the title replacing the 'V' with a 'P'. LOL!
I think every junior high garage band still learns Venus and “Kansas City” as their first two songs. I heard them both many times growing up in the mid 70s. Thanks for featuring this one BP.
I was a radio DJ when this song came out, I played it hundreds of times. I finally learned a few years ago that the vocalist was a woman. It didn't occur to me in 1970, I can hear it now.
Her name is Mariska Veres and she lived in the same neighbourhood where I lived in The Hague. My father always went to her father to listen to his music, her father was an Hongarian gipsy who played violin and I listened to her music. She was a verry, verry kind person and it's so sad that she died in 2006. The other names from Shocking Blue are: Robbie van Leeuwen, Klaasje van der Wal and Cor van der Beek.
Now you must react to the Bananarama version which is more poppy. Yes you've probably heard it on an ad for venus razors for women to shave their legs and other areas.. lol.
That guitar player you see in the video, Robbie van Leeuwen, wrote this super classic song! He wrote most all of their original songs. "Venus" is one of the most famous pop/rock songs ever written and recorded. Its a pure classic!!!!
I did not know that Bananarama's version in the 80's was a cover. And you're right, she absolutely looks like a Bond girl. So much so, that now I'm wondering if maybe she was. But early Bond is in my very early memories, so I don't know.
Shocking Blue are underrated in my opinion. I think it's worth checking out Love Buzz too. That song had an edge to it, and it's easy to understand why lots of bands covered it in the following decades.
I was 13 back in late 1969 when this first came out and to say I was obsessed is definitely an understatement. Bought the 45 and in true teenybopper fashion played it over and over and over and over and...........❤
You saw it Black Pegasus it was a advertising bit back in the 50s , 60s and 70s where they would ad a few frames of a item into the movie to get you want it. The Movie theaters would slip as i said 2 or 3 frames of a picture of pop corn or candies/ soda . So you would then subliminally want a drink and a snack. I t was proven to work as the theaters tried it with and with out the quick frames and sales were 40% higher with the cut in frames
BP, Yup, you know this song from the Venus Razor commercials. I didn't recognize the group or the song (sounded like something from The Doors, to me) until I heard "the hook".
I always liked here for being attractive in a very individual way, not as a model or otherwise in terms of perfection but with so much individuality that you think "am I the only one who finds her that attractive"?
She was completely fake back then. There's an interview where she's embarrassed about how she looked at that time. I think she called herself a painted lady or something like that. Hair was a wig, big fake eyelashes, and extremely painted face. She was a lot better looking without all that.
In 1969 when this song came out, every teenage boy had a crush on Mariska, me included! I remember being at a party tripping on some blotter a*id and my buddy kept playing this song over and over again on the console stereo, of course we might have been encouraging him to keep playing it! Great memories!
Funny scene in the Brady Bunch movie....Marsha Brady walks down the hall at High School and every guy turns their head as she walks back...the song playing..."Venus" by Shocking Blue. The cultural references are everywhere....
It's amazing the ability nowadays that you have to choose when you want to listen to something. The decision as to when to listen to something was never something we really had back in the day unless you are seriously willing to invest some hard-earned cash into vinyl and then you can listen to him anytime you wanted to at home. The idea of deciding what mood I need to be in to listen to something was foreign to us back in the day, we were just happy to hear whatever song came on our little radios.
😊❤ Hi Black P! 😅 OMG I am LMAO!!😅😂🤣🤣 As soon as I saw the title I KNEW that you would recognize the hook! YES, it's a commercial! For Venus Razors! Not going to get too graphic but ... imagine 3 women in bikinis each one standing strategically in front of a little 'Bonzi bush' holding a razor in there hands with this hook playing the whole time!! LOL 😂 🤣🤣 Luv ya! 😊❤❤
those flashes were what was called subliminal messages back in the day. you did hear the song before but not from them. Bananarama remade the song and was one of their biggest hits. Also a female razor called "Venus" used the song for their commercials. they were popular back in the 80's.
Yes, they used the hook of this song in tv commercials for women's Gillette Venus razors. This song is from 1969. The female band Bananarama covered this song in the 1980s.
Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969 Other recordings of the song Venus, done by Bananarama · 1986 You probably heard it on a woman's razor or shaving cream commercial while they were shaving their legs
I had to look up when this group recorded this song. It was the summer of 1969, that was why I did not remember who sung it, was not exposed to a lot of rock at that time I was 10 years old.
When I flew to Tokyo back in 1987, the only English language entertainment on the Japan Airlines flight was fuve songs, one of them was Venus by Bananarama.
The female vocal trio Bananarama recorded and had a hit with Venus in 1986. It was one of the first songs they started performing when they formed the band in 1979, but they wanted to record original songs first so they would be taken seriously.
Great video too.
I’d like to see him react to Bananaramas version and see which one he prefers!!
One of several songs to go to No. 1 on the Hot 100 by two different artists.
A great song from a great Dutch band. Greetings from the Netherlands. 🎶🎶🙋♀️
Robbie, the writer of Venus, still lives off the proceeds from this song.
This was famously used in the Venus razor commercials!
Shocking Blue was a rock band from The Netherlands that lasted from 1967 to 1974. Fronted by singer, Mariska Veres, and with guitarist/songwriter, Robbie van Leeuwen, as its creative force, the band enjoyed international chart success and are one of the most successful bands ever to come out of The Netherlands. While Shocking Blue had several hits in The Netherlands and beyond, their biggest hit by far was Venus. Although Venus went to number one in the US in February 1970, it was their only hit stateside. Hence their US "one hit wonder" tag.
Great additional songs by Shocking Blue include “Send Me A Postcard” (an amazing song!), “Never Marry A Railroad Man,” and “Love Buzz.” Btw, Nirvana covered Love Buzz for their debut album Bleach in 1989, and it was released as their first single!
Sadly, Mariska Veres died on December 2nd, 2006, after a short battle with cancer. She was just 59 years old. RIP
Oh, I did not know she passed. Such sad news...
Long and Lonesome road is another great track.
I thought it was from the late sixties. That's what I seem to remember it from. If you look at the hairstyles and her outfit it's late sixty style. I was 16 then I'm 76 now. 😂
The song is used in commercials for women's razors, the movie "Remember the Titans", and for the 1980's Bananarama cover. They have other cool songs, they just never got airplay in the US. I like Inkpot, Never Marry a Railroad Man, Send Me a Postcard, and Long and Lonesome Road.
"Venus" by Shocking Blue definitely got airplay in the US
@@rubroken...not Venus...he means the other songs he mentioned didn't get the airplay here in the U.S.
@@jazzyboy7784 I've reread his comment, oops!
THIS WAS one of the 1st songs of 1970 im a HUGE 70s brat
The chorus of this song played in a Venus Gillette razor commercial 2006.
Mariska Veres is the lead singer. The band is Dutch and English was not their first language. So, during the recording session, she was reading the lyrics as she sang. Unfortunately, there was a misprint on the first line of the song, and she sang the misprint. "A 'godness' on a mountain top instead of 'goddess'. They corrected this during subsequent live performances. However, the mistake lives forever (lol).
Just like ABBA
She died fairly recently. That's when I found out she barely spoke English.
Almost 18 years ago is fairly recently?
Time flies ✌️
Ahhhh the distinctive twang of a fender telecaster
Funny story. When this came out my parents, my siblings and I were driving and it came on the radio. We were listening to WSAI-AM Cincinnati OH. When she says "I'm your Venus" my mother God love her thought she was saying "I'm your fetus" and immediately shut it down. It took a while but finally made her realize what she truly was saying. Giving my Mom an A+ for looking out. ❤
When I was 10, my older sister had this on a '45' record. We played it over & over and danced in our bedroom. 💃💃💃
Thank you so much. I haven't heard that song in decades. Loved it. Great show as usual
Another early 70s song. We had real music back then, and lots of it.
Rest in peace Mariska
I still have this 45. 😁
Wow!! I got rid of all my albums & 45's ..some were collectibles..oh well. And going back to 60's !
Me too!!!❤
Me too!
@@Cchan53 😥
Bananarama covered Venus in the 1980's and also took their version to #1😮😊!
70s virson is the REAL DEAL from 1970 Baby
@@theodoreritola7641 absolutely bananrama were pikers
I like the Bananarama version better. It is higher energy.
Probably a commercial for Venus razors for women. Bananarama also did a cover in the 80's
Sorry, stole your thunder, before seeing your post.
70s version Rocks
Hardly...Venus was the Roman goddess of love, nothing to do with razors. But I'm not surprised at the responses given the abysmal knowledge most Americans possess of anything dating before the rise of Walmart culture.
@@timhazeltine3256 Wow you sure are intellectual, EXCEPT he asked where he had Heard the part before, not what was the definition of Venus. Sorry you were so over the top, on good stuff, to have heard that part, but we forgive you, we know you can't help yourself.
Yeah, you heard the '80s cover of it by Bananarama, which was used in a Venus razor commercial. This was the original. That '60s makeup! She looks like a Barbie doll. And yeah, the insertion of those album covers so quickly seemed to be a bit like subliminal advertising. Love the Clockwork Orange reference! You have some good film literacy!
Oh, I remember this. Great song.
never underestimate the music from the 60s and very early 70s, was waaay more than the beatles. this isn't from anywhere, it's the OG.
One of my favorite songs from my late tern years
And it still is after 50 years
Watch the scene from "Grumpier Old Men" with Sophia Loren walking into this song. You'll understand what Venus means. She was a Greek Goddess
Holy Moly
Italian Goddess!!!
@@pcooper3559 Yeah...Sophia was pure Italiano, not Greek. (I'm 1/2 Italian but never looked at all like Sophia!!!🤣)
LOVE THIS SONG (loved the band name, too....) GREAT TUNE, BP!!! THANKS for REACTING TO THIS ONE!!
The lead singer "SHE'S GOT IT !!!"
It debuted December 13, 1969 at position #77 in the hot 100. It hit #1 February 7, 1970 and only stayed there for a week and #28 was its final charting position March 14, 1970. It had a good run and was an extremely popular song.
Super depressing when you remember the original and the remake and the remake is going on 40 years old. This song has the distinction of being 1 of less than ten songs which gave 2 separate artists a #1 Billboard hit.
Groovy song!!
You've heard it from the Venus razor commercials. Bananarama does a good cover of this. This is 68/69ish
TRY first number 1 song of 1970 , My 70s ROCK
An oldie btt a goodie. Love this song. Love your reaction!
Put it on your lovein play list, cause she’s got it and for your desire
This is the original! 🙂
Great track, my friends when I told them Bananarama were not the original! Ah..
It was the backing for the Venus woman's Razor starting late 70's to early 80's. This is from the days where a group might do a video to get DJs to play their music.
BANANARAMA revitalized this song with a great cover in the '80s. This is a Dutch band. Yes, Bananarama's version was used in a commercial. Subliminal Messaging is what you're thinking of. As young men we would sing this with the title replacing the 'V' with a 'P'. LOL!
I think every junior high garage band still learns Venus and “Kansas City” as their first two songs. I heard them both many times growing up in the mid 70s. Thanks for featuring this one BP.
Bananarama covered this in the 80s. It was hit for them. The Shocking Blue version is from '69.
Loved this when I was in High School. I keep hearing people referring to 90s music as Classic. This is Classic.
60's and 70's music is the all-time classic music. GOAT
❤❤ muito afrente ❤❤ para época 😂😂 lindo demais.
This is the original version from the late 60s. Bananarama did remake in the 80s . You probably heard this in an advertising for Venus women’s razors.
NUMBER 1 IN 1970,
I have it on my playlist. BTW, Bananarama did a cover of it in the 80s.
THIS VERSION WAS NUMBER 1 IN 1970
I was a radio DJ when this song came out, I played it hundreds of times. I finally learned a few years ago that the vocalist was a woman. It didn't occur to me in 1970, I can hear it now.
Same here; I thought it was a guy until I saw this video a few years ago.
Until right now, seeing the video, I never knew that the vocalist was a woman, and I heard this song back in 1970.
I can’t imagine a male vocalist saying I’m your Venus!
@@irishgrl He could be quoting her.
My childhood in one song...thanks for good memories!
this song was great to listen to when i went to public skating as a teenager ~ revved me up around the rink ~
I remember reading an article on the guitar player who wrote the song saying he gets a check every year for 850,000 pounds for this song alone.
This was one of my favorite songs as a pre-teen. There was a commercial for the Venus razor quite a few years ago that used clips of this song.
Her name is Mariska Veres and she lived in the same neighbourhood where I lived in The Hague.
My father always went to her father to listen to his music, her father was an Hongarian gipsy who played violin and I listened to her music.
She was a verry, verry kind person and it's so sad that she died in 2006.
The other names from Shocking Blue are: Robbie van Leeuwen, Klaasje van der Wal and Cor van der Beek.
Pretty sure the flashes are the group's album covers.
Yet another great Dutch band 🇳🇱
More Dutch music please 😊
Now you must react to the Bananarama version which is more poppy. Yes you've probably heard it on an ad for venus razors for women to shave their legs and other areas.. lol.
Pegasus, you are in for a major treat, was born in 60 so grew up with this music, major love from a fan in Aurora Colorado.
That guitar player you see in the video, Robbie van Leeuwen, wrote this super classic song! He wrote most all of their original songs. "Venus" is one of the most famous pop/rock songs ever written and recorded. Its a pure classic!!!!
A "Ladies" razor and accessories was called Venus back in the day, and used this as their sales song.
👍💯
This is by far their most popular song, but "Never Marry a Railroad Man" is their best....in my opinion. Great song!
I remember when this song came out. I was 8.5 years old in July 1969 but I thought this was a cool song. It hit #1 on the Billboard chart.
1ST number 1 song of 1970
Here in Brasil there was a recent car commercial they used a cover version of this song too...
Great song, this is a real song , great dancing beat.
She reminds me of Bobbie Gentry!!!!!! Gorgeous and haunting !!!
Big hit. Loved it. Still sounds good. And better than the covers.
I did not know that Bananarama's version in the 80's was a cover. And you're right, she absolutely looks like a Bond girl. So much so, that now I'm wondering if maybe she was. But early Bond is in my very early memories, so I don't know.
You heard it from Bananarama that covered the song
Shocking Blue are underrated in my opinion. I think it's worth checking out Love Buzz too. That song had an edge to it, and it's easy to understand why lots of bands covered it in the following decades.
This song was great on Mushroom tea
This song was in a commercial for the Venus razors for women. This song came out in 1969, I was 6 yrs. old.
I was 13 back in late 1969 when this first came out and to say I was obsessed is definitely an understatement. Bought the 45 and in true teenybopper fashion played it over and over and over and over and...........❤
NUMBER 1 IN 1970
As a man of culture BP, you should check out Banarama's version, and watch the official video. Smoke show!
The "I heard this from somewhere" face is hilarious!!! I think it was in one of the Austin Powers movies too. 40!
Bananarama does a great dance cover of this!
You saw it Black Pegasus it was a advertising bit back in the 50s , 60s and 70s where they would ad a few frames of a item into the movie to get you want it. The Movie theaters would slip as i said 2 or 3 frames of a picture of pop corn or candies/ soda . So you would then subliminally want a drink and a snack. I t was proven to work as the theaters tried it with and with out the quick frames and sales were 40% higher with the cut in frames
BP, Yup, you know this song from the Venus Razor commercials. I didn't recognize the group or the song (sounded like something from The Doors, to me) until I heard "the hook".
I'm so used to the Bananarama version, i didn't realize it was a cover. Love learning this stuff. Thank ya BP!
Wow haven't heard this one in awhile thanks ❤
This song was covered in the 80s by Bananarama. The Sound of a Fender Telecaster clean with reverb bright and poppy.
Bannarama version next:)
I always liked here for being attractive in a very individual way, not as a model or otherwise in terms of perfection but with so much individuality that you think "am I the only one who finds her that attractive"?
She was completely fake back then. There's an interview where she's embarrassed about how she looked at that time. I think she called herself a painted lady or something like that. Hair was a wig, big fake eyelashes, and extremely painted face. She was a lot better looking without all that.
No, I was 13 years old when this came out,been in love with Mariska forever ❤️😎
A commercial made this song Popular also later after it was released Venus ladies razors
13 in 8th grade when this was released. I was lucky to grow up with the best music.
If you ever watched queens Gambit. This was one of the songs.
You might have heard of this song before because it was remade in the 80s by the music group Bananarama and became a very big hit song for the group
The funny part is no one in this band spoke English when they recorded this song!
In 1969 when this song came out, every teenage boy had a crush on Mariska, me included! I remember being at a party tripping on some blotter a*id and my buddy kept playing this song over and over again on the console stereo, of course we might have been encouraging him to keep playing it! Great memories!
Funny scene in the Brady Bunch movie....Marsha Brady walks down the hall at High School and every guy turns their head as she walks back...the song playing..."Venus" by Shocking Blue. The cultural references are everywhere....
It's amazing the ability nowadays that you have to choose when you want to listen to something. The decision as to when to listen to something was never something we really had back in the day unless you are seriously willing to invest some hard-earned cash into vinyl and then you can listen to him anytime you wanted to at home. The idea of deciding what mood I need to be in to listen to something was foreign to us back in the day, we were just happy to hear whatever song came on our little radios.
Yes as someone said Bananrama covered it but it was also in a women's deodorant TV advert.
It was used in a TV commercial for women's shaving razor brand named Venus.
😊❤ Hi Black P! 😅 OMG I am LMAO!!😅😂🤣🤣 As soon as I saw the title I KNEW that you would recognize the hook! YES, it's a commercial! For Venus Razors! Not going to get too graphic but ... imagine 3 women in bikinis each one standing strategically in front of a little 'Bonzi bush' holding a razor in there hands with this hook playing the whole time!! LOL 😂 🤣🤣 Luv ya! 😊❤❤
those flashes were what was called subliminal messages back in the day. you did hear the song before but not from them. Bananarama remade the song and was one of their biggest hits. Also a female razor called "Venus" used the song for their commercials. they were popular back in the 80's.
Yes, they used the hook of this song in tv commercials for women's Gillette Venus razors. This song is from 1969. The female band Bananarama covered this song in the 1980s.
It's on my house cleaning playlist, Hi energy, bouncy simple lyrics.
It's been used in the Venus razor commercials as well as a remake done in the 80s by the girl group bananarama
Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969
Other recordings of the song Venus, done by
Bananarama · 1986
You probably heard it on a woman's razor or shaving cream commercial while they were shaving their legs
You NEED to watch the video of the 5thDemension doing The Age Of Aquarius!
Check "the banjo song", from "the big three"😊
This came out in 69. And if I remember correctly, there was a razor commercial that used this song. That may be where you heard it before.
Many great songs, great band, Mariska very beautiful and amazing singer,more Shocking Blue please 😎🏹
You may have heard Bananarama singing this. It was used for a Venus razor commercial.
I had to look up when this group recorded this song. It was the summer of 1969, that was why I did not remember who sung it, was not exposed to a lot of rock at that time I was 10 years old.
Great oldie !!!
When I flew to Tokyo back in 1987, the only English language entertainment on the Japan Airlines flight was fuve songs, one of them was Venus by Bananarama.
34 years ago today, we lost our one and only Stevie Ray Vaughn. Can you please add
Life without you the live version
Never Marry a Railroad Man is another Shocking Blue great!