"Venus" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Shocking Blue | ||||
B-side | "Hot Sand" | |||
Released | 14 July 1969 | |||
Studio | Soundpush (Blaricum, Netherlands) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:08 | |||
Label | Pink Elephant | |||
Songwriter(s) | Robbie van Leeuwen [4] | |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Shocking Blue singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Venus" on YouTube | ||||
Audio | ||||
"Venus" on YouTube |
"Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue,released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969. Written by Robbie van Leeuwen,the song topped the charts in nine countries. [5]
The song has been covered dozens of times by many artists. In 1986,English girl group Bananarama covered "Venus" for their third studio album, True Confessions ,with the single reaching number one in six countries. The composition has been featured in numerous films,television shows,and commercials.
The song was written by Robbie van Leeuwen,Shocking Blue's guitarist,sitarist,and background vocalist. Van Leeuwen wrote new lyrics set to music based on "The Banjo Song" by Tim Rose and the Big 3,which is in turn lyrically a modification of the 19th century song "Oh! Susanna" by Stephen Foster. [6] [7] Influences from other songs include the opening guitar riff that is similar to The Who's "Pinball Wizard". [8]
The song was recorded on a two-track machine in Soundpush Studio in Blaricum,the Netherlands. [9] Van Leeuwen also produced the song.
In the Shocking Blue original version,the song's lead vocals were performed by Mariska Veres. The lyrics,however,contained a typo in the line "A goddess on a mountain top",with "goddess" written as "godness",which was how Veres,who was at the time not perfectly fluent in English,sang it on the record and on television. [10] Later recordings by other lineups corrected the word. [11]
"Venus" was issued in the Netherlands on 14 July 1969 as a single, [12] backed with "Hot Sand",on the Pink Elephant label,a label specially created for Shocking Blue by Dureco. The song initially peaked at number three on the Dutch Top 40 on 12 July 1969,and remained at that position for a total of five weeks. It also reached No. 1 in Belgium,France,and Germany. [13]
Jerry Ross,who was in Europe in the autumn of 1969 looking for European hits for release in the United States,was offered the song. [14] He signed Shocking Blue to his newly created Colossus Records,and chose the record for release in the United States on 2 October 1969. [13] [15] [16] "Venus" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 7 February 1970,the first song by a Dutch band to reach No. 1 on that chart. [17] On 28 January 1970,it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of one million copies in the United States. [18] Its success in the United States prompted further interest in other markets around the world in 1970,and it reached No. 3 again in the Netherlands,as well as the top 10 in the UK. [13] [19] It was No. 1 in Canada for 2 weeks. The popularity of the song also spurred interests in other Dutch groups. [13] Worldwide,the single has sold over 5 million copies. [20]
In 1981,it was used to open the "Stars on 45" medley. [5] "Venus" was included as a bonus track on the 1989 CD reissue of Shocking Blue's second studio album, At Home ,originally released in 1969.
Stereogum said,"It's so clean and propulsive:that strum,that dinky organ riff,the Teutonic sneer in Veres' voice. Veres snarls hard enough that it ultimately doesn't matter whether or not she has any idea what she's singing. The yelp on the hook —'She’s got it! Yeah,baby,she’s got it!' —means nothing,but it sticks in your head all the same. The song works like a hook-delivery machine." [21]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [59] | Gold | 35,000^ |
France | — | 400,000 [60] |
Germany | — | 350,000 [20] |
Italy | — | 350,000 [61] |
Japan | — | 550,000 [62] |
Spain | — | 150,000 [63] |
United States (RIAA) [18] | Gold | 2,000,000 [64] |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | — | 5,000,000 [20] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
"Venus" | ||||
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Single by Bananarama | ||||
from the album True Confessions | ||||
B-side | "White Train" | |||
Released | 19 May 1986 | |||
Recorded | December 1985 | |||
Studio | Odyssey (London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | London | |||
Songwriter(s) | Robbie van Leeuwen | |||
Producer(s) | Stock Aitken Waterman | |||
Bananarama singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Venus" on YouTube |
"Venus" had been a part of Bananarama's repertoire for several years before they actually recorded it. The group's three members, Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward, had the idea of turning the song into a dance tune, but they were met with resistance from their producers at the time, Steven Jolley and Tony Swain. The group brought the idea to the production trio of Stock Aitken Waterman, and it became Bananarama's first collaboration with them.
The group had nearly completed recording their third studio album, True Confessions , with Jolley & 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 group, SAW relented. The track was initially produced in an arrangement more faithful to the Shocking Blue original, but was reworked in hi-NRG style after Fahey suggested that their version should sound similar to Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". [68]
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 song appeared as the B-side to the 1989 limited release "Megarama '89" in Germany and France. Bananarama has since re-recorded "Venus" for their eighth album Exotica (2001). It was later remixed by Marc Almond, with re-recorded vocals and included on their ninth album Drama (2005).
Jerry Smith of the Music Week magazine considered Bananarama's cover as a "lively version" of the original song, "catchy enough for minor success" but "lacking substance" with its SAW production. [69] Michael Pilgrim of Record Mirror was not enthusiastic, wondering why the Bananaramas needed to record another song, describing it like this: "There's beefy DOA-style hi-NRG electronics, the odd male vocal and at one point the girls go 'Wooaarrlll!'". [70] In a review published in Smash Hits , Martin Degville and Neal X of Sigue Sigue Sputnik criticized this cover version, saying about Bananarama that "they've destroyed it" and "They're completely boring and they've got boring hair". [71]
In 2014, Matt Dunn of WhatCulture ranked the song at number five in his "15 unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman singles" list, describing it as a "timeless classic of 80s synth pop, an instantly recognisable foot-tapping gem", while underlining the "provocative video and all its fire, sexy choreography, coffin dancing and red patent-leather devil outfits". [72] In 2021, British magazine Classic Pop ranked "Venus" number two in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs". [73] In 2023, Tom Eames of Smooth Radio ranked the song at number two in his "Bananarama's 10 greatest songs, ranked" list. [74]
Bananarama's version of "Venus" peaked at number one in the United States, Australia, Finland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Switzerland, while reaching number two in Germany and the top-ten in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom (number eight on the UK Singles Chart, matching the same peak of Shocking Blue's version). It also topped the US Dance Club Songs chart for two weeks. [75]
The accompanying music video, directed by Peter Care and choreographed by Bruno Tonioli, was extensively aired on MTV and video channels across the world, and presented the trio in various costumes, including a she-devil, a French temptress, a vampiress and several Greek goddesses. In one sequence of the video, Sandro Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus is adapted as a tableau vivant . The video marked a pivotal shift towards a more glamorous and sexual image for the group that contrasted with the tomboyish style of their earlier work. In the music video there's a cameo of the Polish-German dancer Andreas Wisniewski, who appears as a dancer during the synth solo.
UK: London Records NANA 10 / US: London Records 886-056-7 / Canada: London Records LDS 227 / Australia: Liberation Records LS 1789
+ some copies released in picture disc format NANPD 10
UK: London Records NANX 10 / Australia: Liberation Records LMD 474
London Records NANXR 10
London Records NAXRR 10
London Records 886 088-1
Credits adapted from the liner notes of True Confessions. [76]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [118] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
France (SNEP) [119] | Silver | 250,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [120] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
"Venus" was remixed and re-released by dance producers The BHF (Bisiach Hornbostel Ferrucci) Team in May 1990. Titled "Venus '90", the remix featured a hip house rhythm and samples. "Venus '90" reached number 78 on the UK Singles Chart and number 49 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. [121] [19] An instrumental version was also released independently under the producer's alias, Don Pablo's Animals, without referencing Shocking Blue. The instrumental version became the highest-charting version of the song, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart. [122]
Japanese singer Yōko Oginome covered the song in 1986, and peaked No.10 in Oricon Singles Chart. [123]
Dutch DJ Pieter Gabriel remixed the song for the opening ceremony of the Grand Final of The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 held in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The remix was used as a backdrop for the 26 finalists being introduced onto the stage in a flag ceremony. [124] [125]
Shocking Blue's "Venus" was featured in the sixth episode of the 2020 Netflix miniseries The Queen's Gambit . The protagonist Beth (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) dances and sings to the music video. The scene takes place in 1967, well before the song was released in 1969. [126] [127]
Bananarama's cover of "Venus" was featured in the 2011 video game Just Dance 3 . [128]
The song has been used in commercials for Gillette Venus Women's Razor since c. 2001. [11]
In 2023, the song appeared as part of the soundtrack of the comedy-drama film, The Holdovers .
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in The Hague in 1967. They were part of the Nederbeat movement in the Netherlands. The band had a string of hit songs during the counterculture movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, including "Send Me a Postcard" and "Venus", which became their biggest hit and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and many other countries during 1969 and 1970. The band sold 13 million records by 1973 but disbanded in 1974. Together with Golden Earring, they are considered the most successful Nederbeat band, because they had their best hits charted abroad and especially in the United States.
Bananarama are an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 32 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
Stock Aitken Waterman are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through to the early-1990s. SAW is considered one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time by the Guinness World Records, scoring more than 100 UK Top 40 hits and earning an estimated £60 million in royalties. The trio had thirteen UK No. 1 singles including three consecutive UK No. 1's and three US No. 1 singles. They also had at least one record in the UK Top 100 Singles Chart every week between March 1986 and October 1990.
True Confessions is the third studio album by British group Bananarama. It was released on 30 June 1986 by London Records. The majority of the album was produced by Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, with the exception of "Venus" and "More Than Physical". The latter, given a garage remix for its single version, was Bananarama's first songwriting collaboration with the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production team.
"I Heard a Rumour" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987), and was released on 22 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became a hit in UK where it reached the top 20, but was more successful in North America, where it peaked within the top five.
"Brand New Lover" is a song recorded by the English pop band Dead or Alive. It was the lead single released from the band's third studio album, Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know on Epic Records. It achieved international success when released as a single in 1986, including the United States and Japan, though it failed to enter the Top 20 in the UK.
"This Time I Know It's for Real" is a song by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, released on February 13, 1989, as the first single from her 14th studio album, Another Place and Time (1989), by Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records. Like the rest of the album, the song was written and produced by the British Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) team, though Summer also had a hand in writing this song.
"Nathan Jones" is a song by American girl group the Supremes from their twenty-third studio album, Touch (1971). It was released on April 15, 1971, as the album's lead single. Produced by Frank Wilson and written by Kathy Wakefield and Leonard Caston, "Nathan Jones" was one of eight top-40 entries the Supremes recorded after its original frontwoman, Diana Ross, left the group for a solo career.
English group Bananarama have released 12 studio albums, two live albums, 16 compilation albums, two extended plays, 51 singles and four video albums.
"More Than Physical" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their third studio album, True Confessions (1986). It was released on 28 July 1986 as the album's third single. It was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. A reworked version of the song was released as the single version.
"A Trick of the Night" is a mid-tempo ballad recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It was written and produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain and released as the final single from Bananarama's album True Confessions.
"Love in the First Degree" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987). It was released on 21 September 1987 as the album's second single, except in the United States, where it was released in 1988 as the third single. The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. It achieved major success in the UK and Australia, and also peaked within the top 20 in many European countries, but, unlike "I Heard a Rumour", it reached only the lower end of the top 50 in the US.
"I Can't Help It" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987). It was released on 28 December 1987 as the album's third single, except in the United States, where it was the second single, and Australia, where it served as the fourth single. The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. The single peaked at number 20 in the UK singles chart, number 27 on the Australian ARIA chart, and number 47 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
"I Want You Back" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987). It was released on 28 March 1988 by London Records as the album's fourth and final single. The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. It became one of Bananarama's highest-charting singles, peaking at number five on the UK Singles Chart. It also climbed into the top three in Australia and the top 10 in New Zealand. The single was not released in the United States. Andy Morahan directed its accompanying music video.
"Love, Truth and Honesty" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their first greatest hits album, Greatest Hits Collection (1988). Co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio, the song was released on 12 September 1988 by London Records as the album's lead single. It achieved a moderate success, peaking out of the top 20 in the majority of countries where it was released. The music video was produced by Big TV!.
"'Movin' On" is a song written and performed by English girl group Bananarama. Released on 17 August 1992, it was the first single from their sixth album, Please Yourself (1993). It was produced by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, two-thirds of the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio who had produced a number of Bananarama's past hits.
"Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)" is a song by English pop duo Mel and Kim, released as their debut single in September 1986. The song became a chart hit in the UK, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart and reaching number one in four European countries.
"Shattered Glass" is a song written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe which was originally recorded in 1980 by Scottish singer Ellie Warren. The song was recorded in 1987 by American singer Laura Branigan with the Stock Aitken Waterman production team to serve as the lead single from Branigan's fifth studio album, Touch (1987).
"Who's Leaving Who" is a song written by Jack White and Mark Spiro, first recorded by Canadian country singer Anne Murray in 1986. It achieved bigger popularity in Europe when it was covered by British Hi-NRG singer Hazell Dean in 1988. David Hasselhoff covered the song on his 1991 album David, produced by Jack White.
"Say I'm Your Number One" is a song by English singer Princess, released in 1985 as the lead single from her self-titled debut studio album (1986). Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), the song peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it reached number 20 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart, while it reached the top ten in the UK and several of European and Oceanian countries.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)No 2 in Germany, where it sold 350,000 copies ... Global sales were over five million
Gli shocking blue sono a Milano per registrare una puntata di "Settevoci" (che andrà in onda domenica 22 marza). Nella trasmissione di Pippo Baudo il complesso olandese presenterà la canzone che li ha resi fulmineamente famosi nel mondo, "Venus". Di questo disco sono state vendute tre milioni e più di copie (soltanto in Italia trecentocinquantamila)
When Bananarama covered it and brought it back to #1 sixteen years later, they turned it into bloopy synthpop...
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