
Peak
13
Weeks
20
Score
2,295
Chart Year
1974
Before you could send a text message or call someone in their car, there was no way to communicate to a driver - unless you had a certain telepathic love that could convey from a distance your desire to be with that person, something you might call - Radar Love. In this song, the guy has been driving all night, but keeps pushing the pedal because he just knows that his baby wants him home. Golden Earring was founded 1961 and into the '00s was still playing with the same lineup since 1970, doing 100+ shows a year in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The group is from The Netherlands, where this was a #1 hit. They had only one other hit. It didn't come until 1982, with "Twilight Zone." Like many of Golden Earring's songs, this began with the title and grew from there. Originally intended only as an album track, it turned out to be the only cut on their US debut album Moontan that they could whittle down to a single for radio. It became their showstopper at concerts, and provided a striking moment for their drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk, who would take a few steps back and leap at the drum kit near the end of the song. The song is all in 4/4 time, and the original tempo is around 100 BPM. It's a very clever arrangement: the intro is on the beat of each bar at the start. The shuffle on the snare is semi triplets which give the illusion of the song speeding up. You have to quantize drum machines to a 6th beat. Consequently the chorus is doubled up to give the impression that the tempo has speeded up to 200 BPM. You have to transpose the 4/4 bar so it can be played with in 1 beat of the bar. It does take a bit of lateral thinking to get your head around the math, but the song is all 4/4 at 100 BPM. >> This song is featured in the movie Detroit Rock City, about four teenage boys and their struggle to finally see the band KISS play live. >> The website radar-love.net details lots of info on the use and abuse of this song. It has been covered over 250 times: Notable versions include Bryan Adams, U2, Crowded House, Def Leppard, R.E.M. and Carlos Santana. It has also been used in TV shows The Simpsons, The X-Files, Beverly Hills, 90210 and My Name Is Earl. Movie usages include The Break-Up, Pushing Tin and Wayne's World 2. >> White Lion covered "Radar Love" in 1989 when they were still an imposing presence in the jungle of hair metal. The band had big hits with "When The Children Cry" and "Wait" from their 1987 album Pride, but had to make their next album, Big Game, under duress, writing it in just two weeks. "We needed half a year off, we needed hair treatments for our abused hair, we needed just to breathe," lead singer Mike Tramp told Songfacts. "We needed the vocal cords to relax, stuff like that. We didn't get that." Their version of "Radar Love" was the second single from the album, and it stalled at #59 in the US. The band released just one more album before splitting up in 1992. UK radio station Planet Rock carried out a survey of their listeners in 2011 regarding their favourite tracks for in-car listening. This song came out top with Deep Purple's "Highway Star" the runner-up and AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" in third place. The line, "The radio's playing some forgotten song, Brenda Lee's coming on strong" is a reference to the 1966 Brenda Lee song "Coming On Strong," which made #11 in the US. >>
I've been drivin' all night, my hand's 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 a half past four and I'm shiftin' gear When she is lonely and the longing gets too much She sends a cable comin' in from above Don't need no phone at all We've got a thing that's called radar love We've got a wave in the air, radar love The radio is playing some forgotten song Brenda Lee's comin' on strong The road has got me hypnotized And I'm speedin' into a new sunrise When I get lonely and I'm sure I've had enough She sends her comfort comin' in from above We don't need no letter at all We've got a thing that's called radar love We've got a light in the sky, radar love 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 comin' on strong And the newsman sang his same song Oh one more radar lover gone When I get lonely and I'm sure I've had enough She sends her comfort comin' in from above We don't need no letter at all We've got a thing that's called radar love We've got a light in the sky We've got a thing that's called radar love We've got a thing that's called radar love
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 11, 1974 | 99 | 27 |
| 2 | May 18, 1974 | 94 | 32 |
| 3 | May 25, 1974 | 84 | 42 |
| 4 | Jun 1, 1974 | 73 | 53 |
| 5 | Jun 8, 1974 | 65 | 61 |
| 6 | Jun 15, 1974 | 54 | 72 |
| 7 | Jun 22, 1974 | 40 | 86 |
| 8 | Jun 29, 1974 | 29 | 97 |
| 9 | Jul 6, 1974 | 20 | 106 |
| 10 | Jul 13, 1974 | 16 | 110 |
| 11 | Jul 20, 1974 | 15 | 111 |
| 12 | Jul 27, 1974 | 13 | 113 |
| 13 | Aug 3, 1974 | 18 | 108 |
| 14 | Aug 10, 1974 | 22 | 104 |
| 15 | Aug 17, 1974 | 28 | 98 |
| 16 | Aug 24, 1974 | 32 | 94 |
| 17 | Aug 31, 1974 | 43 | 83 |
| 18 | Sep 7, 1974 | 49 | 77 |
| 19 | Sep 14, 1974 | 55 | 71 |
| 20 | Sep 21, 1974 | 64 | 62 |