BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Description: Guitarist, Composer. Netherlands
Known For: Member of – “Shocking Blue”
Instruments: Guitar
Music Styles: Rock
Date Born: 29th October 1944
Location Born: The Hague
CONTACT DETAILS
Web Site: Shocking Blue | Facebook
Other Links: For other links about this entertainer click on the Links button above
YOUTUBE VIDEO
BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Robbie van Leeuwen
A Dutch musician.
Robbie van Leeuwen (born 29 October 1944, The Hague) is a Dutch musician who was guitarist, sitarist, background vocalist and main songwriter for the Dutch bands The Motions, Shocking Blue and Galaxy-Lin. His most well-known compositions are Shocking Blue’s most famous songs, “Venus”, which was a US and UK No. 1 hit, “Love Buzz”, which was covered by Nirvana and released as their first single, and “Demon Lover”.
Originally the guitarist for the Motions, a Nederbeat band influenced by The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things, he decided to start Shocking Blue as a Dutch equivalent of Jefferson Airplane, which would combine a hard-edged rock style with a powerful and attractive female vocalist.
The group had a minor hit in 1968 with “Lucy Brown Is Back In Town”. After Mariska Veres took over the vocals, the group charted a world-wide hit with the song “Venus”, which reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970.
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band from The Hague, the Netherlands, formed in 1967. Their biggest hit, “Venus”, went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970, and the band had sold 13.5 million discs by 1973, but the group disbanded in 1974
Members included:
Robbie van Leeuwen (guitar, sitar and backing vocals), (October 29, 1944 – )
Fred de Wilde (vocals), later replaced by Mariska Veres (October 1, 1947 – December 2, 2006) in 1968.
Klaasje van der Wal (bass guitar), (December 1, 1949 – )
Cor van der Beek (drums), (June 6, 1948 – April 2, 1998)
LINKS: Robbie van Leeuwen
at the Internet Movie Database