Shocking Blue, The

Dutch female fronted rockband founded in 1967 by Motions, The guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen. Cor van Beek (drums), Klaasje van der Wal (bass) and Fred de Wilde (vocals) joined Robbie.
In 1968 their first single came out and hit the Dutch Top 40. Shortly after, Mariska Veres took the place of Fred de Wilde and since then Shocking Blue had an attractive female singer. Then they become succesful all over the world and hit the charts in several countries.
In 1971 Klaasje van der Wal, left the band and Henk Smitskamp replaced him and in 1973 Robbie van Leeuwen left his band and Martin van Wijk took his place.
The band then quit when Mariska began her solo career. In 1970 Robbie tried to reunite Shocking Blue and they even recorded a song, but it has never been released.