Venus

When Bananarama recorded "Venus" in 1986 for their third studio album, True Confessions, they gave new life to a song that had first topped charts in 1970. Their version of the track reached number one in six countries, extending the reach of a composition that had already sold millions worldwide since its original release.

The song had begun as a Dutch single in the summer of 1969, written by Shocking Blue's guitarist, sitarist, and background vocalist Robbie van Leeuwen. He set new lyrics to music based on "The Banjo Song" by Tim Rose and the Big 3, which itself drew lyrically on Stephen Foster's 19th century song "Oh! Susanna". The opening guitar riff carried a resemblance to The Who's "Pinball Wizard". Recorded on a two-track machine at Soundpush Studio in Blaricum, the Netherlands, the single was produced by van Leeuwen and issued on 14 July 1969 on the Pink Elephant label, which Dureco had created specially for the band. Lead vocals came from Mariska Veres, who sang the line "A goddess on a mountain top" as "godness" because the written lyrics contained that typo and she was not fluent in English at the time.

The single reached number three on the Dutch Top 40 on 12 July 1969 and held that spot for five weeks, also hitting number one in Belgium, France, and Germany. Jerry Ross heard the record while searching Europe for hits and signed Shocking Blue to his new Colossus Records, releasing it in the United States on 2 October 1969. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending 7 February 1970, the first song by a Dutch band to do so, and was certified gold by the RIAA on 28 January 1970 for sales exceeding one million copies. Later cover versions corrected the "godness" typo.