Radar Love
{{Infobox song
| name = Radar Love
| cover = Radar love.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Golden Earring
| album = Moontan
| B-side = *"The Song Is Over" (Europe)
- "Just Like Vince Taylor"
(UK and US)
| released = August 1973 (NL)
- 26 October 1973 (UK){{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/5320-1759-1|title=BPI}}
- 15 April 1974 (US){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Golden+Earring&titel=Radar+Love&cat=s|title=Golden Earring singles}}
| format =
| recorded = 1973
| venue =
| genre = * Hard rock{{cite book|first1=Harry L.|last1=Watson|first2=Jocelyn|last2=Neal|title=Southern Cultures: 2011 Music Issue: Winter 2011 Issue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gRGdeerhfPUC&pg=PT69|access-date=28 September 2015|date=1 December 2011|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-0-8078-6842-3|page=69}}
- progressive rock{{AllMusic | class= album| id= mw0001034773| label= The Best Glam Rock Album in the World Ever| first= Donald A.| last= Guarisco| access-date= 28 September 2015}}
| length = *6:26 (album version)
- 5:04 (single version)
- 3:51 (UK single version)
| label = *Polydor (UK)
| writer = *George Kooymans
| producer = Golden Earring
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc = {{Audio sample
| type = single
| file = Radar Love - Golden Earring.ogg
}}
}}
"Radar Love" is a song by the Dutch rock band Golden Earring. The single version of "Radar Love" reached No. 9 on the Record World chart, No. 10 on Cash Box, and No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It hit the top 10 in many countries, including the United Kingdom singles chart, Canada,{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5081a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - August 3, 1974}} Australia, Germany, and Spain.
Lyrics
{{expand section|date=September 2015}}
The song is written from the point of view of a man who has some sort of psychic connection with his lover — "radar love". He senses that she urgently wants him to be with her, and in his haste he drives recklessly, causing a fatal accident, but even in the afterlife the song's narrator and his lover still have radar love.{{cite web |url=https://americansongwriter.com/radar-love-golden-earring-behind-the-song/ |title=Behind The Song: "Radar Love" by Golden Earring |last=Beviglia |first=Jim |date=14 April 2020 |website=American Songwriter |access-date=8 October 2021}}
Composition
Like other famous songs of the era — "Highway Star", "Stairway to Heaven", "Bohemian Rhapsody" — "Radar Love" is composed as a suite with several distinctive and quite different sections, although the tonality throughout remains similar.
The intro starts with a guitar riff in four separated phrases, consisting respectively of three, three, five and three notes. The first phrase is up from C♯ minor with three power chords slightly reminiscent of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". The second phrase heads down, the third is up again, higher than the previous, and the fourth leads all down to E major. According to Golden Earring bass player Rinus Gerritsen, the intro was inspired by Carlos Santana.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkwMexl49g0&list=RDIkwMexl49g0&index=1 Golden Earring – Radar Love: The story behind the song.]
During the chorus, starting in C♯ minor at 1:20, the band is joined by a brass section.[https://www.songfacts.com/facts/golden-earring/radar-love Songfacts: Radar Love by Golden Earring]
The song references Brenda Lee's "Coming On Strong" from 1966 as a "forgotten song".
Impact
According to Rustyn Rose at Metalholic, the song "is a rock masterpiece, from its hooky chugging bassline, to its simple but unmistakable riffs, to its catchy anthemesque chorus. Even the jam which rides the song out is note for note classic."{{cite web |url=http://metalholic.com/golden-earring-radar-love-anatomy-of-a-song/ |title=GOLDEN EARRING 'Radar Love' ~ Anatomy Of A Song |last=Rose |first=Rustyn |date=19 June 2011 |website=Metalholic |publisher=Quasi Mojo Partners |access-date=8 October 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331210441/http://metalholic.com/golden-earring-radar-love-anatomy-of-a-song/ |archive-date=31 March 2015}}
The song has been chosen by many magazines and websites as a Top 10 driving song, often ranking in the top three. It was chosen as the best radio song by readers of the Washington Post in November 2001. It was the #1 driving song in Australia (Australian Musician, November 2005), beating two AC/DC songs; and in Canada (BBC Canada, March 2006).[http://www.radar-love.net Radar-love.net, Did you know that?] In 2011 it received a vast number of votes as the "Ultimate Driving Song" in a poll on PlanetRock and "finished well ahead of its nearest rival, Deep Purple's 'Highway Star'."[https://www.planetrock.com/music/backstage/the-rock-lists/ultimate-driving-song-the-top-50/ Ultimate Driving Song: The Top 50]
The bassline, guitar improv, and drum solo riff was used in the late 1970s and early 1980s as part of the opening credits and theme to the long running Australian current affairs programme Four Corners produced by ABC before it segues into the official theme, Robert Maxwell's "Lost Patrol".
Cover versions and Radar-Love.net
According to the radar-love.net TimeTravel,[https://www.radar-love.net radar-love.net] the song has been covered more than 800 times by, among others, Tribe 8, Ministry, Omen, U2,{{cite web|url=http://www.u2gigs.com/Radar_Love-s400.html|title=U2 Radar Love – U2 on tour|author=Matthias Muehlbradt, Andre Axver|work=U2gigs.com}} R.E.M., Ian Stuart Donaldson, Sun City Girls, Dutch group Centerfold, White Lion, Blue Man Group, Def Leppard, {{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} James Last, NWOBHM band Aragorn, Nine Pound Hammer, Oh Well, Joe Santana, the Space Lady,{{Citation|last=1hoseeman|title=The Space Lady: Radar Love|date=2013-03-19|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB2vVpgiTv4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/WB2vVpgiTv4| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-05-10}}{{cbignore}} and the Pressure Boys. White Lion's version charted at #59 on the Hot 100.{{cite web|url = {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5817|pure_url=yes}}|title = Allmusic (White Lion charts & awards)}}
Goth-pop band Ghost Dance recorded a cover of the song on the B-side of their 1986 "Heart Full of Soul" single, itself a cover of the Yardbirds track which were then included on their 1988 compilation album Gathering Dust.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}
A pre-Mercyful Fate band featuring King Diamond on vocals recorded a cover of the song. It is featured on the 2001 compilation album King Diamond & Black Rose 20 Years Ago.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}
WaveGroup Sound covered the White Lion version of the song in the 2007 video game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}
On August 25, 2023 [https://noordboek.nl/boek/radar-love-50-jaar/ the biography of the song], Radar Love 50 jaar - Biography of the Ultimate Drivin' Song, was released in the Netherlands. The book (in Dutch) captures the amazing [https://radar-love.net/ TimeTravel] of the song in 248 pages.
In popular culture
The song has been featured in several films including The Private Eyes (1976), Wayne's World 2 (1993), Detroit Rock City (1999), Baby Driver (2017), and The Tender Bar (2021).{{cite web |last1=Hough |first1=Q.V. |title=Soundtracks of Cinema: 'The Tender Bar' |url=https://vaguevisages.com/2022/01/07/the-tender-bar-soundtrack-amazon-songs/ |website=Vague Visages |date=7 January 2022 |access-date=13 January 2022}}
It was a central piece in the 2007 Reaper series episode 7 "Love, Bullets & Blacktop", being featured on an 8-track cartridge.{{Cite web |date=2007-11-07 |title='Reaper': Radio plays that forgotten song |url=https://ew.com/article/2007/11/07/reaper-love-bul/ |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=EW.com |language=en}}
Top Gear included Radar Love in its Greatest Driving Songs list in 2005. Despite host Jeremy Clarkson declaring it as his favourite early on, Radar Love came second to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, beating outstanding entries from Meat Loaf, Steppenwolf and Deep Purple.
Chart history
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1973–1974) !Peak |
| scope="row"| Australian Singles (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=19}}
| align="center"| 10 |
|---|
| {{single chart|Austria|10|artist=Golden Earring|song=Radar Love|rowheader=true|access-date=8 November 2020}} |
| {{single chart|Flanders|6|artist=Golden Earring|song=Radar Love|rowheader=true|access-date=8 November 2020}} |
| {{single chart|Wallonia|9|artist=Golden Earring|song=Radar Love|rowheader=true|access-date=8 November 2020}} |
| {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|10|chartid=5072a|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021|refname="can"}} |
| {{single chart|Germany|5|songid=11827|artist=Golden Earring|song=Radar Love|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021|refname="nz"}} |
| {{single chart|Ireland2|16|song=Radar Love|rowheader=true|access-date=8 November 2020}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|1|artist=Golden Earring|song=Radar Love|rowheader=true|access-date=8 November 2020}} |
| {{single chart|UK|7|date=19740113|rowheader=true|access-date=20 September 2018|refname="uka"}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|13|artist=Golden Earring|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021|refname="hot100"}} |
Radar Love {1977}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1977) !Peak |
| {{single chart|UK|44|date=19771009|rowheader=true|access-date=20 September 2018|refname="ukb"}} |
White Lion
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1989) !Peak |
| scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}
| style="text-align:center;"|59 |
|---|
Oh Well
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1990) !Peak |
| {{single chart|UK|65|date=19900225|rowheader=true|access-date=20 September 2018|refname="uk"}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry | type = single| region = United Kingdom | artist = Golden Earring| title = Radar Love| award = Silver| certyear = 1974| relyear = 1973| access-date = 28 October 2016 | refname = UK certification|id=5320-1759-1}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.radar-love.net/ Official "Radar Love" website]
{{Golden Earring}}
{{White Lion}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Number-one singles in the Netherlands
Category:Songs written by Barry Hay
Category:Songs written by George Kooymans
Category:Polydor Records singles