Today’s classic song of the day spans three decades. It was first released and a big hit in Europe during the summer of 1969. That recording was then picked up in the U.S. and topped the U.S. charts in early 1970. Finally, a cover of the tune went to #1 in multiple countries in 1986. How many songs do you know that have that kind of life?
“Venus” was written by Robbie van Leeuwen of the Dutch band Shocking Blue. He based the melody on the song “The Banjo Song” by Tim Rose and the Big 3, an early ’60s folk trio consisting of Mr. Rose, Cass Elliott, and Jim (NOT Jimi!) Hendricks. That song was itself based on Stephen Foster’s song “Oh! Susanna” from a century earlier.
Shocking Blue recorded “Venus” and released it in the Netherlands and throughout Europe in July of 1969, where it went to #1 in multiple countries. Later that fall, American A&R man Jerry Ross heard the Shocking Blue single, signed the group to his Colossus label, and released “Venus” as their first single in the U.S. It hit the stores and radio stations in October of 1969 and rose to the top of the charts in February of 1970.
All total, Shocking Blue’s version of “Venus” was a #1 hit in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the U.S., “Venus” topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts. Interestingly, the tune only reached #2 in the group’s native Netherlands.
If you listen carefully to the original single, you’ll hear singer Mariska Veres singing the word “godness” for what was supposed to be “goddess” (as in, “goddess on the mountain top”). That’s because she, like other members of Shocking Blue, didn’t speak English. When making the recording, she was reading phonetically from a lyric sheet and the word in question was misspelled. That simple typo made it to the final recording—even if your ears tricked you into hearing the word “goddess,” as originally intended.
In 1986, the British pop trio Bananarama recorded a cover of “Venus” that did almost as well as the original. Bananarama’s version of “Venus” went to #1 in Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Switzerland. In the U.S., the Bananarama single hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Cash Box Top 100.
Not to neglect the original, today’s bonus video of the day is a promotional video of Shocking Blue lip synching “Venus” in 1969. Yes, she’s really singing “godness”—bet you never heard that.
