Shocking Blue – Out of Sight Out of Mind

Nothing I like better than finding new/old music.

Shocking Blue was a band out of the Netherlands with a  sensational singer named Mariska Veres. She sounded like Grace Slick to me… Robbie van Leeuwen was the guitar player and he wrote most of the songs including this one.

This band had the worldwide number 1 hit Venus but I like many of their other songs more like Never Marry A Railroad Man (which should have been a hit), Mighty Joe, their version of I Ain’t Never, and Love Buzz which Nirvana covered.

This one has guitar hooks all over the place. The solo that Robbie Van Leeuwen plays is a huge hook itself. Mariska Veres’s voice is great and she has her own unique style that worked well with this band. This song peaked at #6 in the Netherlands and #13 in Belgium in 1971. This was a non-album single.

Shocking Blue was together from 1968-1974. They were known as a one-hit wonder with Venus but their other songs were hits in the Netherlands and were very good and sold a lot of records. They had some edge on their music and that is why I like them. If you are looking to find some old/new music…check this band out.

Mariska sadly died in 2006. With her voice, I’m shocked she didn’t have a more successful solo career.

Out Of Sight Out Of Mind

Love comes very easy and slips easy away
If you gotta go for a long, long time
Your baby promised you’ll be on his mind
Don’t be surprised if it turns out wrong

Out of sight, out of mind
That’s what happened a million times
Out of sight, out of mind

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Love has many faces and shows them all
When you have to kiss your baby goodbye
There is a presentiment you can’t deny
Will he come back, yes or no

That’s what happened a million times

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

32 thoughts on “Shocking Blue – Out of Sight Out of Mind”

  4. “One hit wonder” might mean lack of talent/staying power and might just mean marketing failure. When you featured “Venus” some time ago, I listened to more of this band. I think for them it was a marketing failure. Mariska Veres and Grace Slick have similar haunting and powerful contralto voices. If you look at early pictures of Slick, there is some resemblance (mostly the hair, when she had it long and straight with bangs).

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  6. Love this, never heard it but have always liked Venus, the drive of it. This music, and/or origins as you’ve written, remind me of Radar Love (also have always loved). Thanks for this find, definitely underrated…wish it had been on my radar : )

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    1. Thank you for trying it out! I really appreciate. I love posting things that people may not know…thats why I started this blog. One day if you have the time try out “Never Marry A Railroad Man”….crazy title but it’s a good pop song.

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      1. Oh my goodness, the guitar in Railroad Man is gorgeous – an unexpected (surprising?) Spanish-guitar sound, and then with western flair (add harmonica). The three repeated cords, abt 2/3 through, remind me of Radar Love again (like Venus with the similarly driving and urgent guitar), maybe a 70’s Netherlands rock sound, or just two great groups (I don’t know enough to know), but love the sound and guitar of these. Thank you.

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      2. This one just popped up in YouTube… my favorite by them is Never Marry A Railroad man… not a title you see everyday but very good.
        I’ve been listening to them recently… never knew this one.

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  8. Yep, I’l reiterate my theme for today Max- this is what WP/social media can be great at- opening minds and expanding knowledge (in this case musical) and finding lost treasures. This IS a hook ridden great Pop song and deserved to be a hit.
    In a perverse way being in the US, with its plethora of home-grown talents means your market missed out on some rest of the world music. At least there’s the chance to go back now and find them.

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    1. Yes I agree with you obbverse. The reason I started to do this was for Big Star mostly…a lost cause…but like Jimmy Stewart said…those are the causes worth fighting for…of course it’s just music but still.
      You are right about America…we only get the huge ones and never ones like this. It feels good to post something like this that other people comments and for the most part likes.

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    1. Well I like this band…they did Venus which you have heard of…but I like their others…it just popped up on my youtube…”play me play me”

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    1. This one just popped up on youtube while I was playing their song “Mighty Joe”… this one sure sounds like a hit to me….if it would have been marketed right.

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  11. I like this one. The rhythm guitar and drum pattern seems lifted from their ‘Never Marry A Railroad Man’, but it’s still a goody as a stand-alone. I love the Saxaphone interlude.
    Railroad Man is the much better song IMHO.

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