This song is probably too famous to include on this website but Shocking Blue had only the one CHUM chart entry, so they qualify. Which is a good thing - that guitar riff is irresistible.
Shocking Blue was one of a number of Dutch bands signed by producer Jerry Ross in 1970. (Another signee was Tee-Set, also included on this site.) They were founded in 1967 and had a couple of hits in the Netherlands before striking it huge globally with "Venus", which reached #1 in both Canada and the United States and sold over five million copies. Another of their songs, "Love Buzz", was covered by Nirvana.
Shocking Blue reached the charts a few more times in the Netherlands before splitting up in 1974. They briefly reformed a couple of times after that. Lead singer Mariska Veres passed away in 2006.
In 1986, Bananarama released a cover version of "Venus" and took it to #1 on the Billboard chart for a second time. Their version was produced by the team of Stock Aitken Waterman; like much of SAW's work, it's so typically Eighties that it hasn't aged that well.
Created December 16, 2025.