Venus – Stockley Sisters
Venus – Stockley Sisters
Venus – Stockley Sisters
Miriam and Avril Stockley were the Stockley Sisters. In 1976 they took a cover version of the Shocking Blue classic song ‘Venus’ to number 5 on the Springbok top 20. Shocking Blue had topped the charts with the song in 1970 and Bananarama also took their 1986 cover to the top of the charts, making the song one of the most successful in SA chart history.
Comparisons between the versions are almost obligatory, so here goes. Shocking Blue were a little bit closer to the hippy age when they recorded theirs and it has a bit of a Doors-ey organ thing going on with folky tinged guitars. Bananarama’s one was straight out of the Stock, Aitken And Waterman hit factory of the 80’s making it sound like early Kylie.
Inbetween these other versions we get the polished pop of the Stockley Sisters. The Sisters brought a kind of girl-rock sound to the vocals, a sound we would see further developed in Clout a few years later. There is also a sort of disco sound going on as that genre was rising in popularity at the time. Overall, The Stockley Sisters can stand shoulder to shoulder with Shocking Blue and Bananarama when it comes to versions of the song. Each one brought something of its time to the interpretation.
Miriam Stockley went on to greater things, working with the likes of Queen, Mike Oldfield, Alphaville and Elaine Paige and performing backing vocals on music for The Lords Of The Rings movie trilogy.
Where to find it:
Various Artists – The Best of SA Pop Volume 2 (1994) GMP, CDGMPD 40486 (CD)
Video:
Stockley Sisters:
Shocking Blue:
Bananarama:
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 