venüs

in 1986, when i was 13 years old, i developed a heavy interest in pop music - and of course i listened to the radio a lot. one of the biggest hits that year was "venus" by bananarama - who, together with the bangles, may have caused my long lasting passion for girl groups...

of course "venus" was not written by bananarama themselves but a cover version of the 1969 song by dutch group shocking blue. over the last two years i noticed that "venus" already was a popular cover song before my birth and was translated into many languages.

so i picked two versions in turkish and greek.

honestly i know almost nothing about the greek version - i'm not even sure about the correct spelling as i'm not familiar with the greek alphabet. well, the latin transcription of the artist is pashalis & the olympians - but you can check the original spelling over at greekmusic.com. the song is called "ΤΟ ΚΟΡΙΤΣΙ ΤΟΥ ΜΑΗ" (which is "to koritsi toumah" or "to koritsi tou mai" - there are different spellings floating around).

the turkish version was recorded in 1970 by mavi ışıklar, a fantastic anatolian beat group from the sixties/early seventies. they did a lot of cover songs ("light my fire", "ob-la-di-ob-la-da", "yesterday" etc.), but to me their own songs are the real sensation. so "venüs ve aşk" is a decent track - but surely not their finest moment. if you like what you hear you may request some more songs of mavi ışıklar and they will re-appear here at some later point.

but for now you can also visit other places to learn more about them. turkish progressive music has two really neat sites for the band with a lot of pictures and (english!) information. sadly the soundclips do not work. diskotek meanwhile provides the complete discography. and guess what you'll find at youtube...

listen:
peshalis & the olympians - ΤΟ ΚΟΡΙΤΣΙ ΤΟΥ ΜΑΗ (venus, 1970)
mavi ışıklar - venüs ve aşk (venus, 1970)