Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Radar Love (1973)
There's something great about driving on the open road, especially when you've got some good music to crank on your stereo. One of the greatest driving songs came from an unlikely source: a little-known Dutch band called Golden Earring.
The band was already a veteran act by the early '70s, having made its debut in 1961 in the Hague as the Tornados. They soon changed their name to the Golden Earrings after discovering another band was already called the Tornados. Their debut single came out in 1965 and by 1969, they had shortened their name to Golden Earring.
Vocalist Barry Hay joined the band in 1968 and they started having success in the Netherlands but look to break in the U.S. It took a while, but in 1973, Golden Earring released a song that would change their career forever (it wasn't released in the U.S. until the following year).
Boasting an unforgettable bass line and a relentless riff, "Radar Love" tells the story of a man who has a telepathic connection to his lover, who he has been separated from. As a result, he's speeding down the highway to get to her.
"I've been driving all night, my hands wet on the wheel/There's a voice in my head that drives my heel/It's my baby callin', says 'I need you here'/And it's half past four and I'm shifting gears/When she is lonely and the longing gets too much/She sends a cable coming in from above/Don't need no phone at all/We've got a thing and that's called radar love/We've got a wave in the air/Radar love."
The driver is distracted by the need to get home and keeps speeding recklessly until he passes a car and crashes, dying. But the two lovers still have that radar love connection.
"No more speed, I'm almost there/Gotta keep cool now, gotta take care/Last car to pass, here I go/And the line of cars drove down real slow/And the radio played that forgotten song/Brenda Lee's 'Coming On Strong'/And the newsman sang his same song/Oh, one more radar lover gone."
The song went to #13 in the U.S. and was top 10 in several other countries. It's been a classic rock staple ever since. It took another eight years before Golden Earring had another U.S. hit with "The Twilight Zone" in 1982 and another two years later with "When the Lady Smiles.
The band kept releasing albums and touring until 2021, when they called it quits after guitarist George Kooymans fell ill.
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