Shocking Blue
| Shocking Blue | |
|---|---|
 Shocking Blue (1970) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| founding | 1967, 1978 |
| resolution | 1974 |
| Founding members | |
| Fred de Wilde (until 1968) | |
Vocals, guitar
|
Robbie van Leeuwen (until 1973) |
| Klaasje van der Wal (until 1971, † 2018) | |
| Cor van Beek (until 1974, † 1998) | |
| Current occupation | |
Guitar, backing vocals
|
Andre van Geldorp (since 1993) |
Keyboard , backing vocals |
Michael Eschauzier (since 1993) |
Drums |
Michel Schreuder (since 1998) |
bass |
Paul Heppener (since 1994) |
| former members | |
singing |
Mariska Veres (1968 - † 2006) |
guitar |
Leo van de Ketterij (1970–1971) |
guitar |
Martin van Wijk (1973–1974) |
bass |
Henk Smitskamp (1971–1974) |
bass |
Bert Meulink (1993-1994) |
Drums |
Gerben de Bruijn (1993–1998) ? |
Drums |
Jeff van Veen (Apr-Nov 1998) |
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band that was founded in The Hague in 1967 , dissolved in 1974 and re-formed several times. Her biggest success was Venus from 1969.
Band history
Shocking Blue was founded in 1967 by Robbie Van Leeuwen . The second single Lucy Brown Is Back in Town , sung by Fred de Wilde, reached the top 5 straight away in 1968 in the Netherlands.
Mariska Veres performed at a party of the rock band Golden Earring , who already had their first number 1 hit in the Netherlands . Rob Van Leeuwen, invited as a guest, was so enthusiastic about Veres that he fired his singer and hired Veres. The first album with her and the single Venus became a global success. Shocking Blue was especially celebrated in Japan and Latin America. From 1972 there were numerous changes in the line-up, even Van Leeuwen got out. In 1975 the group finally broke up and the individual members joined other bands . Mariska Veres started a solo career in 1976 and sang in German and English with less, more national success.
Van Leeuwen tried 1979 to initiate a comeback of the band. With Louise a new title was recorded, but it never appeared because the project was quickly terminated. Every now and then, musicians came together under the old name to perform at oldie festivals. Another attempt to liven up the band was started in September 1993 by Mariska Veres. The other former comrades-in-arms showed no interest. Van Leeuwen allowed Veres, however, to use the name Shocking Blue for his own project and also produced his first single Body & Soul . In December 1993 the new formation had its first appearance in Utrecht . Up until Veres' death, Shocking Blue were represented at many oldie festivals, especially in Germany.
The song Love Buzz , released in 1988 in only a small number on the first single of the later very successful band Nirvana , originally came from Shocking Blue.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 US
|
 NL
|
|||
| 1969 | At home |
DE30 (8 weeks) DE |
- |
NL6 (12 weeks) NL |
|
| 1970 | The Shocking Blue | - |
US31 (17 weeks) US |
- |
Pink Elephant
|
| Scorpio's Dance | - | - |
NL10 (1 week) NL |
Pink Elephant
|
|
More albums
- 1968: Beat with Us ( Polydor , Carousel)
- 1971: 3rd album (Pink Elephant)
- 1972: Inkpot (Pink Elephant)
- 1972: Attila (Pink Elephant)
- 1972: Eve and the Apple (only differs in one title from Attila , Polydor)
- 1973: Dream On Dreamer (Polydor)
- 1973: Ham (differs in three titles from Dream On Dreamer , Pink Elephant)
- 1974: Good Times (Pink Elephant)
Live albums
- 1972 Live in Japan (Pink Elephant)
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
US
|
NL
|
|||
| 2015 | The Golden Years of Dutch Pop Music | - | - |
NL39 (1 week) NL |
|
| 2017 | The blue box | - | - |
NL83 (2 weeks) NL |
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
US
|
NL
|
|||
| 1968 | Lucy Brown Is Back in Town |
- | - | - | - | - |
NL21 (5 weeks) NL |
|
| Send Me a Postcard The Shocking Blue |
- | - | - | - | - |
NL11 (7 weeks) NL |
||
| 1969 | Long and Lonesome Road The Shocking Blue |
- | - | - | - |
US75 (5 weeks) US |
NL17 (7 weeks) NL |
|
|
Venus The Shocking Blue |
DE2 (24 weeks) DE |
AT2 (20 weeks) AT |
CH1 (18 weeks) CH |
UK8 (11 weeks) UK |
US1  (14 weeks)US |
NL3 (26 weeks) NL |
||
| Mighty Joe The Shocking Blue |
DE5 (16 weeks) DE |
AT16 (8 weeks) AT |
CH6 (4 weeks) CH |
UK43 (3 weeks) UK |
US43 (7 weeks) US |
NL1 (18 weeks) NL |
||
| 1970 | Never Marry a Railroad Man |
DE12 (14 weeks) DE |
AT15 (16 weeks) AT |
CH6 (12 weeks) CH |
- | - |
NL1 (12 weeks) NL |
|
| Hello Darkness |
DE44 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
NL6 (9 weeks) NL |
||
| 1971 | Shocking You |
DE45 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | - |
NL12 (5 weeks) NL |
|
| Blossom Lady |
DE41 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | - |
NL2 (10 weeks) NL |
||
| Out of sight, out of mind |
- | - | - | - | - |
NL6 (10 weeks) NL |
||
| 1972 | Inkpot Inkpot |
DE12 (19 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
NL5 (9 weeks) NL |
|
| Rock in the Sea Attila |
DE31 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
NL12 (5 weeks) NL |
||
| Eve and the Apple Eve and the Apple |
- | - | - | - | - |
NL13 (8 weeks) NL |
||
| 1973 | Oh Lord Ham |
- | - | - | - | - |
NL14 (5 weeks) NL |
|
| 1990 | Venus 1990 |
- | - | - |
UK78 (2 weeks) UK |
- | - | |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
swell
Web links
- Shocking Blue at Discogs (English)