Shocking Blue's by far biggest hit was Venus, which went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. 'Venus' returned to the top of the U.S. charts in 1981 as part of the Stars on 45 Medley and was also successfully covered by artists such as Greece's Olympians (1970), Bananarama (1986), Japanese singer Yoko Nagayama (1986).
Nirvana covered the song Love Buzz for their debut album Bleach in 1989, and it was released as their first single. The British Group The Prodigy also sampled Love Buzz for their song 'Phoenix' on their 2004 album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.
Before 'Venus' the group had only had two minor Dutch hits in 1969: Long Lonesome Road and Send Me A Postcard. In 1970 two more hits followed: Mighty Joe and Never Marry A Railroad Man, the latter almost provoking a strike by workers on the London Underground when posters advertising the single in the Underground stations were put on display.
Shocking Blue had several more hits in The Netherlands and beyond. The group started to dissolve in 1973 when Van Leeuwen called it quits. Singer Mariska Veres left the group to start a solo-career in 1974 and Shocking Blue folded.
Mariska Veres died on December 2nd, 2006, after a short battle with cancer. She was just 59 years old.
Members
The initial line-up consisted of
Robbie van Leeuwen (guitar, sitar and backing vocals) (1967–1973)
Fred de Wilde (vocals, 1967–1968)
Klaasje van der Wal (bass guitar, 1967–1972, deceased in 2018)
Cor van der Beek (drums) (1967–1974, deceased in 1998)
Later members were
Mariska Veres (vocals, 1968–1974, deceased in 2006)
Leo van de Ketterij (nl) (guitar, 1970–1971)
Martin van Wijk (guitar, 1973–1974)
Henk Smitskamp (nl) (bass guitar, 1972–1974)
Also
Wim Voermans
Jan Pijnenburg (nl)
Michael Eschauzier
André van Geldorp (nl)
Charles Pesch
Discography
Albums
1967 Shocking Blue (Polydor) also known as Beat with Us (German title) #31 US
1969 At Home (Pink Elephant)
1970 Scorpio's Dance (Pink Elephant) also known as Sally Was A Good Old Girl (Japanese title)
1971 Third Album (AKA Shocking You, Pink Elephant)
1972 Inkpot (Pink Elephant) – The official music of Mark Six
1972 Live in Japan (Pink Elephant)
1972 Attila (Pink Elephant) also known as Rock in the Sea (Japanese title)
1972 Eve and the Apple (Same as Attila with one different track, Polydor)
1973 Ham (Pink Elephant)
1974 Dream on Dreamer (Same as Ham, but with 3 different songs and 6 alternate versions, Polydor)
1974 Good Times (Pink Elephant)
Singles
Year Title US UK AUS NED NOR GER FRA NZ BEL JPN
1967 Love is in The Air / Fix Your Hair Darling - - - - - - - - - -
1968 Lucy Brown is Back in Town / Fix Your Hair Darling - - - 21 - - - - - -
1968 Send Me a Postcard / Harley Davidson - - - 10 4 - 4 - - -
1969 Long and Lonesome Road / Fireball of Love 75 - - 17 - - 6 - - -
1969 Venus / Hot Sand 1 3 1 3 1 2 1 1 - 15
1969 Mighty Joe / Wild Wind 43 45 43 2 - 6 8 - - -
1970 Never Marry a Railroad Man / Roll Engine Roll 102 - 40 1 5 10 1 4 19
1970 Hello Darkness / Pickin' Tomatoes - - - 4 - - - - 12 -
1971 Shocking You / Waterloo - - - 10 - - 1 - 21 -
1971 Serenade / Sleepless at Midnight 110 - - - - - - - - -
1971 Blossom Lady / Is This a Dream - - - 2 - - - - 3 -
1971 Out of Sight, Out of Mind / I Like You - - - 6 6 - - - 5 -
1972 Inkpot / Give My Love to The Sunrise - - - 5 - 21 1 - 4 -
1972 Rock in the Sea / Broken Heart - - - 14 - - 3 - 21 -
1972 Eve and the Apple / When I was a Girl - - - 15 - - 1 - 18 -
1973 Let Me Carry Your Bag / I Saw You in June - - - - - - 2 - - -
1973 Oh Lord / In My Time of Dying - - - 14 - - - - 6 -
1974 This America / I Won't be Lonely Long - - - - - - - - 16 -
1974 Dream on Dreamer / Where The Pick-Nick Was - - - - - - 4 - - -
1974 Good Times / Come My Way - - - - - - - - - -
1975 Gonna Sing My Song / Get It On - - - - - - - - - -
1980 Louise / Venus - - - - - - - - - -
1986 The Jury and The Judge / I am Hanging on to Love - - - - - - - - - -
1990 Venus '90 (UK Only) - 75 - - - - - - - -
1994 Body and Soul / Angel - - - - - - - - - -
Beggin'
Shocking Blue Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Put your lovin' hand out baby now.
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
Put your lovin' hand out baby.
Ridin' high when I was queen,
Play it hard and fast, I had ev'rything.
You walked away, you won me then,
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
Put your lovin' hand out baby now.
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
Put your lovin' hand out baby.
I need you to understand
Never tried so hard to be your girl,
The kind of girl you want in the end
Only then can I begin to live again.
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
Put your lovin' hand out baby now.
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
Put your lovin' hand out baby.
Ridin' high when I was queen,
Play it hard and fast, I had ev'rything.
You walked away, you won me then,
Now easy come and easy go and it would end.
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
Put your lovin' hand out baby now.
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
Put your lovin' hand out baby.
I need you to understand
Never tried so hard to be your girl,
The kind of girl you want in the end
Only then can I begin to live again.
The lyrics of Beggin' by Shocking Blue are telling the story of a woman who is begging for love and affection from her former lover. The chorus, "beggin' on, beggin' you, put your lovin' hand out baby now" is the woman's plea for her former love to take her back and show her the love and devotion she so desperately craves. The woman is reminiscing on how things used to be when she was "riding high" and had everything she wanted, but now she has nothing without the love of her former lover.
The lyrics also suggest that the woman tried hard to be the type of woman her lover wanted, but it was not enough to keep them together. She realizes that she needs to be the kind of girl he wants "in the end" if she wants to begin to live again.
In essence, the lyrics of Beggin' express the pain, loss, and desperation of a heartbroken woman who is trying to win back the love of her former partner.
Line by Line Meaning
Beggin' on, beggin' you,
The singer is pleading and begging the listener for something.
Put your lovin' hand out baby now.
The singer wants the listener to offer love and support.
Ridin' high when I was queen,
The singer was once at the top of the world and in control of everything.
Play it hard and fast, I had ev'rything.
The artist lived life recklessly and without restraint, but was successful and had it all.
You walked away, you won me then,
The listener left the artist when things were good, and the artist was won over at that time.
Now easy come and easy go and it would end.
Success didn't last, and the singer's life fell apart quickly and easily.
I need you to understand
The singer wants the listener to comprehend and empathize with their situation.
Never tried so hard to be your girl,
The artist attempted to become the person the listener wanted them to be but failed.
The kind of girl you want in the end
The artist desires to be the person the listener will love and be with for the long-haul.
Only then can I begin to live again.
The artist feels that only by being with the listener can they truly experience and enjoy life again.
Writer(s): Bob Gaudio, P. Farina
Contributed by Micah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
sjdinergrrl
This band was criminally ignored/underrated.
Drummer Needs a Band
I bought that 45 in 5th grade.
Pretty sure it was 50 cents.
Wish I still had it.
Joanie M
I only remember “Venus”, I still have the 45.
charbander
Neither ignored or underrated...were and still are huge
George Meladze
@Max Dvorkin Yes indeed. We knew and listen to them in early 1970s.
Max Dvorkin
Its pretty strange but they had huge popularity in USSR. Millions of people were listening and byuing records paying a lot for each record. Definitely not underrated there :)
K Busby
Did not realize Shocking Blue covered this song. Great band, great song, killer cover. Mariska always had the coolest clothes. The red and black leather ensemble looks like it could be custom. RIP Mariska.
Rod Francis
Lovely hair !! all 4 of them....🙃
Жорж Милославский
Yes dude ,her suit is just cool!
Even now))
Bart Lima
Insanse! None of the covers nowadays come even close to this. What a voice! What a bomb! She's totally insane singing a masterpiece like this.