"Venus" -- Shocking Blue 🆚 Bananarama [View all]

[NurseJackie]

"Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, initially released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969. Written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the song topped the charts in nine countries. In 1981, it was used to open the "Stars on 45" medley.[3] In 1986, English girl group Bananarama covered "Venus" for their third studio album, True Confessions, reaching number one in six countries. The composition has been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials, and covered dozens of times by artists around the world.

In the Shocking Blue original version, the song's lead vocals are performed by Mariska Veres. The music is from "The Banjo Song" by Tim Rose and the Big 3 with new lyrics by Robbie van Leeuwen, the band's guitarist, sitarist and background vocalist, who also produced along with record producer Jerry Ross. Van Leeuwen originally miswrote the line "...the goddess on the mountain top..." as "...the godness on the mountain top...", so Veres sang it this way on the recording of the song. This was corrected in later versions.

"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, and Keren Woodward, had the idea of turning the song into a dance music tune, but they were met with resistance from their producers at the time, Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. Bananarama brought the idea to the production trio of Stock Aitken Waterman, and it became Bananarama's first collaboration with them.

Which version to you like the best?

7 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Shocking Blue
	4 (57%)
	Bananarama
	2 (29%)
	I can't decide, I like both versions.
	1 (14%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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