Mariska Veres, the singer of the Dutch band Shocking Blue, became world-famous with the song “Venus” in 1969/1970. The song was the first No.1 hit of Dutch origin to be on the American charts. Many hits followed, just to name a few: “Never Marry A Railroadman”, “Mighty Joe”, “Blossom Lady” and “Inkpot”. Despite their popularity, the group split up in 1975. Mariska successfully continued her musical career with her own group Veres, and from 1993 with The Shocking Jazz Quintet and a new line-up of Shocking Blue. With great pride she went back to her gipsy roots and released the CD “Gipsy Heart” in 2003, together with renowned musician Andrei Serban. Unfortunately Mariska Veres died on December 2nd, 2006.