Mariska Veres


Maria Elisabeth Ender, better known as Mariska Veres , was a Dutch singer who was best known as the lead singer of the rock group Shocking Blue. Described as being similar to a young Cher, she was known for her sultry voice, eccentric performances, and her striking appearance which featured kohl-rimmed eyes, high cheekbones, and long jet black hair, which was actually a wig.

Family

Veres was born in The Hague. Her father was the Hungarian Romani violinist Lajos Veres, and her mother Maria Ender was born in Germany of French and Russian parents.
She often accompanied her father on the piano, along with her elder sister Ilonka, but her youngest sister Irene never had a career in music.

Singing career

Veres began her career as a singer in 1963 with the guitar band Les Mysteres. In 1964 the band recorded an EP with Veres singing on side 1: Summertime and Someone. In 2010 the EP was re-released by record club Platenclub Utrecht. In 1965, she sang with the Bumble Bees, and then with the Blue Fighters, Danny and his Favourites and General Four. Later in 1966 she sang with the Motowns with whom she also played organ.
In 1968, she was invited to join Shocking Blue to replace lead singer Fred de Wilde who had to join the army. In 1969/1970 Shocking Blue gained worldwide fame with the hit single "Venus". The month of their arrival in the United States gossip columnist Earl Wilson referred to Veres as a 'beautiful busty girl.'
When Shocking Blue split up on 1 June 1974, Veres continued in a solo career until the band was reunited in 1984. This comeback turned out to be successful, but one of the other original members, Robbie van Leeuwen, stepped back from the group, partly because he had moved to Luxembourg but also due to the success of Bananarama's cover of "Venus".
Veres started the jazz group The Shocking Jazz Quintet in 1993, and recorded an album with pop songs from the 1960s and 1970s, now in a jazz version. From 1993 to 2006 she performed in yet another reincarnation of Shocking Blue, and also recorded an album with Andrei Serban in 2003, named Gipsy Heart, going back to her Romani roots.
A version of "Venus" was posthumously released in 2007, a few months after her death, recorded with pianist/bandleader Dolf de Vries. Veres recorded "Venus" four times: with Shocking Blue, with the Mariska Veres Shocking Jazz Quintet, with Formula Diablos, and with Dolf de Vries.

Personal life and death

Veres had a long-term relationship with guitarist, but never married or had children. Reminiscing to the Belgian magazine Flair, she remarked about her early fame, "I was just a painted doll, nobody could ever reach me. Nowadays, I am more open to people."
Veres died of gallbladder cancer on 2 December 2006, aged 59, just three weeks after the disease had been detected.

Discography

Solo singles