Single:
Radar Love entered the Australian singles chart* on 29 July 1974 and peaked at #10. The song was #56 on the Top 100 of 1974.
Album:
The song is on Moontan which entered the Australian albums chart* on 19 August 1974 and peaked at #13.
Songwriters:
George Kooymans, Barry Hay
Producer:
Golden Earring
Record label of Australian release:
Polydor
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
BONUS CLIPS BELOW:
Radar Love from RocKwiz
Twilight Zone
Wikipedia:
The song by the Dutch rock band Golden Earring is written from the point of view of a car or truck driver who says he has some sort of psychic relationship with his girlfriend – “radar love”. He has sensed that she urgently wants him to be with her, which makes him reckless.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_Love
American Songwriter:
Co-songwriter Barry Hay explains that no idea was off-limits, which also contributed to the inventive structure of Radar Love. “The arrangement, the horns and everything, was all kind of accidental in a way,” he says. “The horn section just sort of put meat on the song. We asked Eelco (Gelling), who was a band member for a while, to put a slide guitar in the chorus. There was never a moment where we came up with an idea and said, ‘Nah.’ It was always like, ‘Yeah, that’s great,’ and it went on like that. I’m still really surprised because sometimes you have to fight to get something right.”
Read more: americansongwriter.com/radar-love-golden-earring-behind-the-song
Lyrics:
I′ve been drivin’ all night, my hands wet on the wheel
There′s a voice in my head that drives my heel
It’s my baby callin’, sayin′, “I need you here”
And it′s a half past four and I’m shiftin′ gear
Click for full lyrics
Radar Love contains the lyric: “The radio’s playin’ some forgotten song, Brenda Lee’s Coming on Strong.” The song was a minor hit in Australia, which you can hear here: Coming on Strong
Radar Love is on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
Find more songs to enjoy: Bang a Gong song finder
BONUS CLIPS:
RADAR LOVE on SBS television show RocKwiz
Radar Love from a 2015 episode of RocKwiz recorded at the Espy: Vika and Linda Bull, Megan Washington, Jess Cornelius from Teeth and Tongue, Lou and Phoebe from Alpine, and the RocKwiz Orkestra.
TWILIGHT ZONE
Golden Earring’s only other appearance on the Australian singles charts was with Twilight Zone, which entered the Kent Music Report on 21 February 1983 and peaked at #79.
Golden Earring also charted in Australia with two albums:
Moontan entered the Kent Music Report album charts on 19 August 1974 and peaked at #13
Switch entered the Kent Music Report album charts on 16 June 1975 and peaked at #93
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