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And now -- now it only remains for me to light a cigarette and go home. Dear God, only now am I remembering that people die. Does that include me?

But don't forget, in the meantime, that this is the season for strawberries.

The Shocking Blue: The Shocking Blue (1970) [a.k.a. At Home]

Here's a trivia question for you: what group wrote songs that were successfully covered, decades later, by both Nirvana AND Bananarama?

Why, Dutch psychedelic rock outfit The Shocking Blue, and, even more impressively, the original versions of the universally-recognized "Venus" and "Love Buzz" can both be found on this Japanese pressing of the group's 55-year-old sophomore album.

Alternatively called At Home in select countries, this was the group's first LP with emblematic frontwoman Mariska Verez (*), who replaced army-bound original singer Fred de Wilde (don't laugh) following the group's 1967 debut album, also self-titled.

Founded by guitarist and songwriter Robbie van Leeuwen (ex-Motions) and completed by bassist Klaasje van der Wal and drummer Cornelis van der Beek, The Shocking Blue emerged from the so-called Nederbeat movement, alongside Golden Earring, The Outsiders, and others.

But none of those bands enjoyed a No. 1 hit on the U.S. charts, as The Shocking Blue did with "Venus" in February 1970 -- and again in 1986 via Bananarama's spirited pop rendition -- following similar success in European countries when it was first issued as a single in late '69.

Spin The Shocking Blue's powerful original and you'll be amazed at the song's reimagining of the baleful "Peter Gunn Theme," The Who's "strummy" "Pinball Wizard," and, based on this stunning live performance, the proto-punk menace of The Stooges!

The band's original recording of "Love Buzz" is just as fascinating; building on van der Wal's distinctive bass lick, made grunge-famous by Krist Novoselic, with copious Eastern inspirations like van Leeuwen's sitar (see also "Acka Ragh") and Mariska's seductive delivery.

But that's not all: this record yielded another modest hit via the fuzz guitar urgency of "Send Me a Postcard" and other could-a, should-a been singles in the hard rocking "Long and Lonesome Road" and the subtler, darker, simply spectacular "I'm a Woman."

Other cuts showcasing van Leeuwen's innate pop smarts and songwriting range include the soulful groover "Love Machine," the plaintive "California Here I Come," the trippy, horn-enhanced "The Butterfly and I," and Stones-tough blues rockers, "Mighty Joe" and "Boll Weevil."

In sum: the caliber of pop and rock songcraft found on this LP is simply astonishing and has very few comparable contemporaries, in my humble opinion -- certainly beyond the superstar bands and releases we know all too well.

And yet, The Shocking Blue could never replicate this incredible run of success and inspiration, and though they had sold an estimated 13 million records by 1973, persistent line-up instability contributed to the group's break-up the following year.

Today, all except Robbie van Leeuwen are sadly deceased (Mariska passed away in 2006, aged just 59, after a brief battle with cancer) and their responsibility for the two songs in my trivia question is all but forgotten -- but hopefully this blog will help.

* Born Maria Elisabeth Ender to a French-Russian mother and Hungarian Romani violinist Lajos Veres, this incredibly talented and exotic singer deserves recognition as a true icon of the psych-rock era, right up there with Grace Slick!

More Psychedelic Rock: The 13th Floor Elevators’ The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators, The Amboy Dukes’ Journey to the Center of the Mind, Andromeda’s Andromeda, Art’s Supernatural Fairy Tales, Black Pearl’s Black Pearl, Blackstone's Blackstone, Bliss' Bliss, Blue Cheer’s Outsideinside, Bubble Puppy’s A Gathering of Promises, Coven’s Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls, Crow’s Crow Music, The Damnation of Adam Blessing’s The Damnation of Adam Blessing, Dragonfly’s Dragonfly, Fever Tree’s Fever Tree, Fields’ Fields, Fraction’s Moon Blood, Goldenrod’s Goldenrod, Sam Gopal’s Escalator, Gun’s Gun, Hamilton Streetcar’s Hamilton Streetcar, The Head Shop’s The Head Shop ...