Out of the ‘Shocking Blue’ from the Netherlands came this psychedelic rock folk group in 1967. They were actually quite a deal from the ‘summer of love’ through 1974 when they disbanded. They sold over 13 million records in that time and none of them were bigger than today’s feature song ‘Venus’. For Shocking Blue ‘Venus’ went to #1 in nine countries and sold of 7.5 million copies. ‘Venus’ was written by Robbie van Leeuwen who also served as the band’s guitarist and naturally, being a psychedelic band, sitar player. The song has an interesting lineage. Van Leeuwen was inspired by a song called ‘The Banjo Song’ which was a simple song by Tim Rose that set the lyrics of ‘Oh! Susanna to a different melody. Where ‘Venus’ took a completely different turn was when it became a favourite of the new wave and dance era in the late ’80s and early ’90s. It became a hit in the instrumental/electronic form as well as a female pop music trio from England.
Bananarama consisted of Sarah Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. I had no idea how big Bananarama was until I began researching ‘Venus’. I kind of thought they were a one hit wonder and it is not at all my style of music so I admit I paid little attention. Check out these numbers: Between 1982 and 2009 they had 32 singles reach the Top 50 of the U.K charts. This is an accomplishment that has them in the Guinness World Records. Their songs were literally smash hits worldwide throughout the 1980s. They were even featured as part of the 1984 Band Aid single, ‘Do hey Know it’s Christmas’. Fahey left the group in 1988 to form Shakespear’s Sister. She was replaced by Jacquie O’Sullivan. Part of Bananarama’s success was their strong connection to the MTV video craze. They had an ear for what would sell and they did it well. They looked pretty good too. Ironically, ‘Venus’ was the source of dispute between members of the group, producers and management. Bananarama thought ‘Venus’ would make a great dance song and took it to a production trio called ‘Stock Aitken Waterman’ (SAW for short). After some persistence SAW relented and the rest was history. It is hard to say whether the song would have stood on it’s own without the video but there is no denying the video enhanced ‘Venus’ to an astronomical level. Under the direction of Peter Care and choreographer, Bruno Tonioli the video was extremely popular and served to solidify Bananarama as sex symbols with the presentation of the three in provocative outfits including, she devils, French temptresses, vampires and Greek goddesses. This contrasted their earlier songs/videos which presented them in a more gender neutral way. You couldn’t go to a nightclub in the late ’80s without hearing this song. In 1991 the trio was reduced to a duo when O’Sullivan left. Dallin and Woodward continued as a duo and actually played their last performance in August after an extensive tour throughout 2017/18.
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