Tag: Robbie van Leeuwen

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

Shocking Blue with Mariska Veres

A few years ago I posted nothing but Shocking Blue songs the entire weekend…when I was doing 2-3 posts a day. I received great feedback on their material. Most people have only heard Venus and some Nirvana fans have heard Love Buzz that they covered.

This is a band that I found when I first started to blog. I always liked their hit Venus but their other songs are just as good or better to me. The stringy guitar song Mighty Joe and the melodic Never Marry a Railroad Man are great songs.

They were a band out of the Netherlands with a  sensational singer named Mariska Veres who hit internationally in 1970. She sounded like Grace Slick to me…maybe a little stronger. Robbie van Leeuwen was the guitar player who wrote the songs.

Shocking Blue successfully combined Beat music and R&B with psychedelic elements of the time like sitar and odd production techniques. Robbie didn’t mind if the band included a few covers, as it took the pressure off him to constantly come up with new material. “We wrote a lot of our own stuff and the radio DJs preferred us to do original songs, but we had so many albums to do the band had to fill in with a few covers. It was quite exhausting writing all the lyrics and song myself”.

They were together from 1968-1974. Shocking Blue was known as a one-hit-wonder with Venus but their other songs were big hits in the Netherlands.

They were not smooth…they were raw… hence why I like them. Venus is probably my least favorite…maybe because I’ve heard it too much and it’s been covered a few times by different artists.

I like finding artists that have been largely forgotten. I never knew about Shocking Blue…with the exception of Venus until 3 or 4 years ago. I do listen to some new music on Youtube but I like digging and finding good bands that deserve attention. To me they are new…

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

Never Marry a Railroad Man

Mighty Joe

Love Buzz

Venus

Shocking Blue – Mighty Joe

The tone of this guitar gets to me every time. This song was the follow up to the #1 Venus and this made it to #43 in the Billboard 100. They are known as a one-hit-wonder but the truth is they had other hits all over the world just not in Billboard.

This song was written by guitarist  Robbie van Leeuwen who most all of Shocking Blue’s successful songs. The band formed in 1967 and broke up in 1974. They did regroup a few times in the 80s but never had the success of this period.

The members in this period were Mariska Veres vocals, Robbie van Leeuwen guitarist, Klaasje van der Wal bass guitar and Cor van der Beek drums.

Mighty Joe

Be careful girls
For Mighty Joe
Be careful!
He teaches you all that don’t know
He makes you cry
Before it’s through

And I bet you like it too
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Beware
Beware when he is around
Mighty Joe with the bass voice!

Mighty Joe was here last year
I tell you!
Just like you
I had no fear
I fell for him
Baby

And then he made of me a woman
Sweet
Sweet
Sweet thing
Sweet
Sweet
Sweet thing
I love you
Yes
I love you
I love you so bad

He took my heart and in a sense

I swear he ain’t got no sense
When I said yeah
He’s gone to town
I warn you
He will let you down
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Beware
Beware when he is around
Mighty Joe with the bass voice!

Shocking Blue with Mariska Veres

A band out of the Netherlands with a  sensational singer named Mariska Veres had a huge hit in 1970. She sounded like Grace Slick to me…maybe a little stronger. Robbie van Leeuwen was the guitar player who wrote the songs.

Their big hit worldwide was Venus that most people have heard. They had some great songs like Never Marry a Railroad Man, Mighty Joe, Love Buzz (which Nirvana covered). They were 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.

They were not smooth…they were raw hence why I like them. Venus is probably my least favorite…maybe because I’ve heard it too much and it’s been covered a few times by different artists.

I like finding  artists that have been largely forgotten. I never knew about Shocking Blue…with the exception of Venus until 3 or 4 years ago. I do listen to some new music on Youtube but I like digging and finding good bands that deserve attention.To me they are new…

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

Venus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFZPBSh0Wl0&ab_channel=NoMadU55555

Never Marry a Railroad Man

Mighty Joe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHub01jVQ3M&t=61s&ab_channel=fritz5133

Love Buzz