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Radar Love

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"Radar Love"
Single by Golden Earring
from the album Moontan
B-side (UK and US)
ReleasedAugust 1973 (NL)
  • 26 October 1973 (UK)[1]
  • 15 April 1974 (US)[2]
Recorded1973
StudioTrident, London
Genre
Length
  • 6:26 (album version)
  • 5:04 (single version)
  • 3:51 (UK single version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Golden Earring
Audio sample

"Radar Love" is a song by the Dutch rock band Golden Earring. The single version of "Radar Love" reached #9 on the Record World chart, #10 on Cash Box, and #13 on Billboard in the United States. It hit the Top 10 in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada,[5] Australia, Germany, and Spain.

Lyrics

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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.[6]

Composition

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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 bass player Rinus Gerritsen the intro was inspired by Carlos Santana.[7]

During the chorus, starting in C♯ minor at 1:20, the band is joined by a brass section.[8]

The song references Brenda Lee's "Coming On Strong" from 1966 as a "forgotten song".

Impact

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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."[9]

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 Magazine, November 2005), beating two AC/DC songs; and in Canada (BBC Canada, March 2006).[10] 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."[11]

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

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According to radar-love.net,[12] the song has been covered more than 500 times by, among others, Tribe 8, Ministry, Omen, U2,[13] R.E.M., Ian Stuart Donaldson, Sun City Girls, Dutch group Centerfold, White Lion, Blue Man Group, Def Leppard, [citation needed] James Last, NWOBHM band Aragorn, Nine Pound Hammer, Oh Well, Joe Santana, the Space Lady,[14] and the Pressure Boys. White Lion's version charted at #59 on the Hot 100.[15]

Goth-pop band Ghost Dance recorded a cover of the song on the B-side of their "Heart Full of Soul" single, itself a cover of the Yardbirds track.[citation needed]

A pre-Mercyful Fate band featuring King Diamond on vocals recorded a cover of the song. It is featured on King Diamond & Black Rose 20 Years Ago.[citation needed]

WaveGroup Sound covered the White Lion version of the song on Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.[citation needed]

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The song has been featured in several films including Wayne's World 2 (1993), Detroit Rock City (1999), Baby Driver (2017), and The Tender Bar (2021).[16]

It was a central piece in the 2007 Reaper series episode 7: "Love, Bullets & Blacktop", being featured on an 8-track cartridge.[17]

Chart history

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Silver 250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "BPI".
  2. ^ "Golden Earring singles".
  3. ^ Watson, Harry L.; Neal, Jocelyn (1 December 2011). Southern Cultures: 2011 Music Issue: Winter 2011 Issue. UNC Press Books. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8078-6842-3. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  4. ^ Guarisco, Donald A.. The Best Glam Rock Album in the World Ever at AllMusic. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  5. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - August 3, 1974" (PDF).
  6. ^ Beviglia, Jim (14 April 2020). "Behind The Song: "Radar Love" by Golden Earring". American Songwriter. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  7. ^ Golden Earring – Radar Love: The story behind the song.
  8. ^ Songfacts: Radar Love by Golden Earring
  9. ^ Rose, Rustyn (19 June 2011). "GOLDEN EARRING 'Radar Love' ~ Anatomy Of A Song". Metalholic. Quasi Mojo Partners. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  10. ^ Radar-love.net, Did you know that?
  11. ^ Ultimate Driving Song: The Top 50
  12. ^ radar-love.net
  13. ^ Matthias Muehlbradt, Andre Axver. "U2 Radar Love – U2 on tour". U2gigs.com.
  14. ^ 1hoseeman (2013-03-19), The Space Lady: Radar Love, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2018-05-10{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Allmusic (White Lion charts & awards)".
  16. ^ Hough, Q.V. (7 January 2022). "Soundtracks of Cinema: 'The Tender Bar'". Vague Visages. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  17. ^ "'Reaper': Radio plays that forgotten song". EW.com. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  18. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  19. ^ "Golden Earring – Radar Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Golden Earring – Radar Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  21. ^ "Golden Earring – Radar Love" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5072a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Golden Earring – Radar Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  24. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Radar Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  25. ^ "Golden Earring – Radar Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  26. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  27. ^ "Golden Earring Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  28. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  29. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  30. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  31. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1974". Kent Music Report. 30 December 1974. Retrieved 15 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  32. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (January 16, 2018). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada.
  33. ^ Musicoutfitters.com
  34. ^ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1974
  35. ^ "British single certifications – Golden Earring – Radar Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
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