"Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band

Shocking Blue Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in 1967 in The Hague. It was part of the music movement in the Netherlands that was generally known by the name Nederbeat. The band had a number of hits throughout the counterculture movement during ...

, initially released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969. Written by

Robbie van Leeuwen Robbie van Leeuwen (born 29 October 1944) is a Dutch musician who was a guitarist, sitarist, background vocalist and main songwriter for Dutch bands, including The Motions and Shocking Blue. In 1967 he played guitar on the only single ever rel ...

, the song topped the charts in nine countries. The song has been covered dozens of times by many artists. In 1986, English girl group

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. T ...

covered "Venus" for their third studio album, '' True Confessions'', with the single reaching number one in six countries. The composition has been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials.

Composition and recording

The song was written by

, Shocking Blue's guitarist,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

ist and background vocalist. Van Leeuwen wrote new lyrics set to music based on "The Banjo Song" by

Tim Rose Timothy Alan Patrick Rose (September 23, 1940 – September 24, 2002) (unofficial website by long-term correspondent of Rose's) was an American singer and songwriter who spent much of his life in London, England, and had more success in E ...

and the Big 3, which is in turn lyrically a modification of the 19th century song "

Oh! Susanna "Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all tim ...

" by

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

. Influences from other songs include the opening guitar riff that is similar to

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

's " Pinball Wizard". The song was recorded on a two-track machine in Soundpush Studio in

Blaricum Blaricum () is a municipality and village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Gooiland and part of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (Metropoolregio Amsterdam). It is known for its many monumental farm bui ...

, the Netherlands. Van Leeuwen also produced the song. In the Shocking Blue original version, the song's lead vocals were performed by Mariska Veres. The lyrics, however, contained a typo in the line "A goddess on a mountain top", with "goddess" written as "goddness", which was how Veres sang it on the record and on television. Later recordings by other artists corrected the word.

Release and reception

"Venus" was issued in the Netherlands in July 1969 as a single, backed with "Hot Sand", on the Pink Elephant label, a label specially created for Shocking Blue by

Dureco Dureco is a Dutch independent record label based in the Netherlands. Over the years many artists and groups such as the Amboina Serenaders, Judy Cheeks, Jules de Corte, De Dijk, Jef Elbers, Gotcha!, Samantha Jones, Ming Luhulima, the Mena Moe ...

. The song initially peaked at number three on the Dutch Top 40 on 12 July 1969, and remained at that position for a total of five weeks. It also reached No. 1 in Belgium, France and Germany. Jerry Ross, who was in Europe in the autumn of 1969 looking for European hits for release in the United States, was offered the song. He signed The Shocking Blue to his newly-created

Colossus Records Colossus Records was an American record label founded in 1969 by Jerry Ross, who had also founded Heritage Records the year before. Like Heritage, Colossus was distributed by MGM Records. In the autumn of 1969, Jerry Ross was in Europe looking ...

, and chose the record for release in the United States later that year. "Venus" reached number one on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 7 February 1970. It became the first song by a Dutch band to reach No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On 28 January 1970, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of one million copies in the United States. Its success in the United States prompted further interest in other markets around the world in the 1970, and it reached No. 3 again in the Netherlands, as well as the top 10 in the UK. Its success also spurred interests in other Dutch groups. Worldwide, the single has sold over 5 million copies. In 1981, it was used to open the "

Stars on 45 Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was successful in Europe, the United States, and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the UK and Ireland it was known as Starsound (aka S ...

" medley. "Venus" was included as a bonus track on the 1989 CD reissue of Shocking Blue's second studio album, '' At Home'', originally released in 1969.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Bananarama version

Background

"Venus" had been a part of Bananarama's repertoire for several years before they actually recorded it. The group's three members, Sara Dallin,

Siobhan Fahey Siobhan Maire Fahey (; born 10 September 1958) is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto. She was a founding member of the group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the US number one hit single "Venus". She later ...

and Keren Woodward, had the idea of turning the song into a dance tune, but they were met with resistance from their producers at the time, Steven Jolley and Tony Swain. The group brought the idea to the production trio of

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considere ...

, and it became Bananarama's first collaboration with them. The group had nearly completed recording their third studio album, '' True Confessions'', with

Jolley & Swain Steven Nicholas Jolley (born April 1950) and Tony Swain (born 20 January 1952, London, England) were a successful songwriting and record production duo in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1980s, producing some of the top artists and song ...

. Stock, Aitken and Waterman also resisted the idea because they believed that "Venus" would not make a good dance record. After persistence by the group, SAW relented. The track was initially produced in an arrangement more faithful to the Shocking Blue original, but was reworked in

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

style after Siobhan requested it sound like Dead or Alive's "

You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" is a song by English pop band Dead or Alive, featured on their second album, '' Youthquake'' (1985). Released as a single in November 1984, it reached No. 1 in the UK in March 1985, taking 17 weeks to get ...

". Bananarama's "Venus" peaked at number one in the United States, Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Switzerland and South Africa, while reaching number two in Germany and the top-ten in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom (number eight on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, matching the same peak of Shocking Blue's version). It also topped the US Dance Club Songs chart for two weeks. The collaboration on "Venus" led Bananarama and SAW to work together on the group's follow-up album, '' Wow!'', the following year. A new mix of the song appeared as the B-side to the 1989 limited release "Megarama '89" in Germany and France. Bananarama has since re-recorded "Venus" for their eighth album ''

Exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny Exotica (Martin Denny album), album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon Wa ...

'' (2001). It was later remixed by

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...

, with re-recorded vocals and included on their ninth album ''

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

'' (2005). In 2021, British magazine '' Classic Pop'' ranked "Venus" number two in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs".

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, directed by

Peter Care Peter Alan Care (born 28 April 1953) is an English director of music videos, commercials and film. He has directed music videos for Cabaret Voltaire, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Depeche Mode and New Order, amongst others. Biogr ...

, with choreography by Bruno Tonioli, received extensive play on MTV and video channels across the world, and presented Dallin, Fahey and Woodward in various costumes, including a she-devil, a French temptress, a vampiress and several

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

goddesses. In one sequence of the video,

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th cent ...

's painting ''

The Birth of Venus ''The Birth of Venus'' ( it, Nascita di Venere ) is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea ...

'' is adapted as a ''

tableau vivant A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrica ...

''. The video marked a pivotal shift towards a more glamorous and sexual image for the group that contrasted with the tomboyish style of their earlier work.

Track listings

*UK / US / Canadian 7-inch vinyl single ''UK: London Records NANA 10 / US: London Records 886-056-7 / Canada: London Records LDS 227 / Australia: Liberation Records LS 1789'' #"Venus" – 3:30 #"White Train" – 3:50 #:S.Dallin/S. Fahey/K. Woodward/P. Bishop/P. Seymour + some copies released in picture disc format ''NANPD 10'' *UK / Australian 12-inch vinyl single ''UK: London Records NANX 10 / Australia: Liberation Records LMD 474'' #"Venus" (extended version) – 7:23 #"Venus" (dub) – 8:15 #"White Train" – 3:50 *UK 12-inch vinyl single #2 ''London Records NANXR 10'' #"Venus" (the Hellfire mix) – 9:20 #:remixed by Ian Levine #"Venus" (Hellfire dub) – 6:55 #"White Train" – 3:50 *UK 12-inch vinyl single #3 ''London Records NAXRR 10'' #"Venus" (the Fire And Brimstone mix) – 6:35 #:remixed by Stock, Aitken & Waterman #"Venus" (Hellfire dub) – 6:55 #"White Train" – 3:50 *US 12-inch maxi single ''London Records 886 088-1'' #"Venus" (the Hellfire mix) – 9:20 #"Venus" (the Fire & Brimstone mix) – 6:55 #"Venus" (extended version) – 7:23 #"Venus" (dub) – 8:25 *CD video single #"Venus" (extended version) – 7:23 #"True Confessions" (edit) – 4:09 #" A Trick of the Night" (edit) – 4:07 #"

More Than Physical "More Than Physical" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their third studio album, '' True Confessions'' (1986). It was released on 11 August 1986 as the album's third single. It was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

" (U.K. single version) – 3:40 *Other versions #"Venus" (the Greatest Remix edit) – 3:40 #:Included on the 1989 U.K. CD single "Cruel Summer '89", remixed by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow #"Venus" (the Greatest Remix) 7:43 #:Included on the 1989 German CD single " Megarama '89", remixed by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow #"Venus" (2001 version) #:Included on the album ''

'' #"Venus" (Marc Almond's Hi-NRG Showgirls mix) 6:02 #:Included on the 2005 album ''

'', remixed by

#"Venus" (from the soundtrack ''Sugar & Spice: Stuck in the 80's'')

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

of ''True Confessions''. *

– production,

Linn 9000 The Linn 9000 is an electronic musical instrument manufactured by Linn Electronics as the successor to the LinnDrum. It was introduced in 1984 at a list price of $5,000, ($7,000 fully expanded) and about 1100 units were produced. It combined MID ...

programming (credited as "A. Lin") *

Matt Aitken Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as the creative force behind the 1980s and early 1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman ...

– guitar * Mike Stock – keyboards * Garry Hughes – keyboards * Tim Young – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

BHF/Don Pablo's Animals remixes

"Venus" was remixed and re-released by dance producers The BHF (Bisiach Hornbostel Ferrucci) Team in May 1990. Titled "Venus '90", the remix featured a

hip house Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip hop, that originated in both London, United Kingdom and Chicago, United States in the mid to late 1980s. British group the Beatmaster ...

rhythm and samples. "Venus '90" reached number 78 on the

and number 49 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. An instrumental version was also released independently under the producer's alias, Don Pablo's Animals, without referencing Shocking Blue. The instrumental version became the highest-charting version of the song, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.

Other versions

Dutch DJ Pieter Gabriel remixed the song for the opening ceremony of The Grand Final of The

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song " Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was set to host the ...

held in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The remix was used as a backdrop for the 26 finalists being introduced onto the stage in a flag ceremony.

Popular media

Shocking Blue's "Venus" was featured in the sixth episode of the 2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

miniseries '' The Queen's Gambit''. The protagonist Beth (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) dances and sings to the music video. The scene takes place in 1967, well before the song was released in 1969. Bananarama's cover of "Venus" was featured in the 2011 video game

Just Dance 3 ''Just Dance 3'' is a 2011 dance rhythm game released on the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 with Kinect and Move support respectively for the latter two. It is part of the '' Just Dance'' video game series published by Ubisoft originally on the ...

. The song was used in the commercial for Gillette Venus Women's Razor. Bananarama's version of the song was used in an episode of the American animated show '' American Dad'' in which the character Roger uses it as the national anthem. He named the country after the group and afterwards the residents of the country danced to the song.

References

Bibliography

External links

"Venus"
at 45cat.com {{Authority control 1969 singles 1969 songs 1970 singles 1986 singles Bananarama songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles English-language Dutch songs Classical mythology in music London Records singles Metronome Records singles Minos EMI singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Belgium Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Spain Number-one singles in Switzerland RPM Top Singles number-one singles Shocking Blue songs Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Robbie van Leeuwen Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles Venus (mythology) Country rock songs

Composition and recording

Release and reception

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Bananarama version

Background

Music video

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

BHF/Don Pablo's Animals remixes

Other versions

Popular media

See also

References

Bibliography

External links