Radar Love

Album

Moontan

Label

Track Record

Genre

Progressive Rock

Composer(s)

George Kooymans;Barry Hay

Entered Chart

May 11, 1974

Peak Date

Jul 27, 1974

Released

August 1973 (Europe) 16 November 1973 (UK) 15 April 1974 (US) [1]

Recorded

1973 Studio Trident, London

Catalog #

Track 40202

B-Side

Just Like Vince Taylor

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