Shocking Blue were More Than Just "Venus"
Morten Vindberg | Denmark | 06/06/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
""Dream on Dreamer/Good Times" is a 1-CD compilation of Shocking Blue?s 7th and 8th album from 1973-74. Furthermore there are 3 bonus-tracks - singles from 74-75.The trademark of Shocking Blue was always their crafty and catchy rock-based tunes, irresistibly sung by female singer Mariska Veres. The arrangements were usually simple, but the sound tight and the playing solid. Nearly all their material was written by unique songwriter/guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen.They had a world-wide smash hit with the classic "Venus", but they were not able to repeat its success.- They had minor hits with "Never Marry a Railroad Man", "Mighty Joe" and other great singles, but their sound was probably too much out of the 1960`s to compete with the new trends and sounds of the early 1970`s. Nevertheless they kept on making terrific albums and singles."Dream on Dreamer" their seventh from 1973 is one of their most obscure, and probably not known by very many people. This is quite undeserved, as it features many great van Leeuwen songs. "Time Slips Away", "Diana in Her Dreams" and "Save Your Love" are classic Shocking Blue type of songs. Another highlight is the quite piano ballad "Just a Song" beautifully sung by Veres - in the same vein as "I Like You" from the Inkpot album. Oddly enough the great title track "Dream on Dreamer" was not originally featured on the album. This song and its equally strong B-side are perfect additions. Robbie van Leeuwen left the band shortly after the release of "Dream on Dreamer" and he is only featured on a few of the songs on the follow-up album "Good Times". Their sales had been declining and even in their home country Holland, the singles began to fail. Robbie was replaced by guitarist Martin van Wijk. This was obviously a great loss for the band and this can easily be heard on their final album "Good Times" - most of the material does have have the spark and charm of earlier days with van Leeuwen. Half of it are covers of other`s material. There are some good tracks here though. Their version of the Easybeat` "Good Times" is great and the only Robbie van Leeuwen song "Nashville Rebel" is a stand out track. Van Wijk`s "This America" and "Come My Way" are also good. They recorded 3 singles without van Leeuwen with no great success and singer Veres also left. Soon the band fell apart. They have been reunited in recent years, but have only recorded very little since their great 1970`s days."
Track Listings (27) - Disc #1