Stand Up and Be Counted in the Epic Golden Earring Showdown: Radar Love vs. Twilight Zone

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The most important ILM poll ever. It's FM vs. MTV, Classic Rock vs. New Wave, Boogie vs. Artsy Fartsy, etc.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Radar Love 19
Twilight Zone 14


kornrulez6969, Thursday, 14 May 2009 01:44 (sixteen years ago)

duh, radar love. you can't beat l.a. woman on the autobahn.

scott seward, Thursday, 14 May 2009 01:47 (sixteen years ago)

Wot? No "When the Lady Smiles"?

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 14 May 2009 02:10 (sixteen years ago)

"Candy's Going Bad"!

Nah, I love both of these, but I'll go with "Radar Love." Oddly, I was just posting about G.E. (and a 1986 LP by them) here approximately 24 hours ago:

Rolling Past Expiry Hard Rock 2009

xhuxk, Thursday, 14 May 2009 02:23 (sixteen years ago)

I dunno: I prefer MTV to FM, new wave to classic rock, and artsy fartsy, by a country mile, to boogie, but come on, "Radar Love" crushes "Twilight Zone" like a grape.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 14 May 2009 02:39 (sixteen years ago)

I like the idea that "Twilight Zone" = artsy fartsy!

Sundar, Thursday, 14 May 2009 03:00 (sixteen years ago)

("Radar Love" BTW. I am not mentally ill.)

Sundar, Thursday, 14 May 2009 03:00 (sixteen years ago)

http://www.biography.com/biography/images/episode_images/Brenda_Lee_320X240.jpg

•--• --- --- •--• (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 14 May 2009 03:12 (sixteen years ago)

Radar Love: a fun snack.

Twilight Zone: an epic feast.

Matt Armstrong, Thursday, 14 May 2009 03:17 (sixteen years ago)

http://bp2.blogger.com/_66T1v32JwZ0/RqQySOPwjgI/AAAAAAAAAEM/E5t57BDpSKk/s320/mx80.bmphttp://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/heart-blending.jpg

I wish he hadn't adapted my critique of his "ilxor" moniker (Myonga Vön Bontee), Thursday, 14 May 2009 04:26 (sixteen years ago)

ugh....... Radar Loooove.....

Edward Aetheling (Viceroy), Thursday, 14 May 2009 05:21 (sixteen years ago)

i used to think "Twilight Zone" was one of the dumbest songs ever, but the classic rock radio station here seems to play it about 10 times a day (oddly enough they never play "Radar Love") and my friend & i always seem to catch it in the car. maybe it's because they repeat the hook 74 times, but this song is now one of my absolute favorites to sing along with in the car, particularly with someone else who knows the words. "Radar Love" is almost undoubtedly the better song, but my vote is for the song that forces me to turn to my friend & sneer before howling shamelessly, "WHEN THE BULLET HITS THE BONE!"

myndbloom, Thursday, 14 May 2009 06:14 (sixteen years ago)

"Radar Love" brings back memories of the Golden Oldie Picture Show (Dave Lee Travis hosting video show with pre video era classic rock songs, clips made by BBC staffers).

And it exists!

Pro Creationism Soccer 2009 (ledge), Thursday, 14 May 2009 10:26 (sixteen years ago)

I'm in the demographic that'd be expected to vote "Radar Love," I think, but "Twilight Zone" in addition to be such a good time represents (I think) one of the longest lags between US chart appearances - ten years or so Golden Earring is "the band with that one song" and then out of nowhere, sneaking in during the early high-water of the video age, boom, these dudes with an awesome track. Loved that.

worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:56 (sixteen years ago)

when i was 12 (and looked like 8) Golden Earring's singer patted my head at a concert. yes! he also kissed my mother! o_O

this is a tough poll of course, i must admit i could sing Radar Love immediately and had to think hard about Twilight Zone.

Ludo, Thursday, 14 May 2009 12:03 (sixteen years ago)

one of the +-es of Twilight Zone is the prominent singing role for guitarplayer George Kooymans. (a much cooler guy really)

Ludo, Thursday, 14 May 2009 12:06 (sixteen years ago)

Lunatic Fringe vs. Life is a Highway

kingkongvsgodzilla, Thursday, 14 May 2009 12:19 (sixteen years ago)

As much as I love "Radar Love," I always seem to get it confused with "Driver's Seat" by Sniff n' The Tears (which is also righteous). "Twilight Zone," meanwhile, is awesome in virtually every aspect of its execution (also, one of the best videos E V E R !!!)

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 14 May 2009 12:31 (sixteen years ago)

(also, one of the best videos E V E R !!!)

can't find it on tube yet. :\

Ludo, Thursday, 14 May 2009 13:12 (sixteen years ago)

AND it got an awesome treatment on the Twilight Zone pinball machine, aka the best pinball machine of all times:

worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 13:13 (sixteen years ago)

"Twilight Zone" for me -- I first heard about "Radar Love" as 'this song White Lion covered.'

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:11 (sixteen years ago)

I second Ludo that George Kooymans ia a much cooler singer than Barry Hay. Voted Twilight Zone for that.

Marty Innerlogic, Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:58 (sixteen years ago)

"Radar Love" is hall of fame shit, "Twilight Zone" is a footnote imo

whineford sings the blues (some dude), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:04 (sixteen years ago)

footnotes > texts

worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:06 (sixteen years ago)

don't unmix my metaphors

whineford sings the blues (some dude), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:14 (sixteen years ago)

Boogie vs. Artsy Fartsy

Somebody else keyed on this, but I gotta say I don't see how "Twilight Zone" is any more artsy-fartsy than "Radar Love" (which is hardly your average boogie record -- on that Hard Rock thread, I mentioned how Alan Neister in the Rolling Stone Record Guide called it "a fusion of Canned Heat and Kraftwerk": an exaggeration, but I always liked the equation anyway, and get where he coming from.)

xhuxk, Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:39 (sixteen years ago)

Also curious whether American kids growing up in the '80s who'd never heard "Radar Love" just figured G.E. were another wacky new new-wave band when "Twilight Zone" hit MTV. (They are such archetypcal two-hit-wonders in the U.S. -- like with Janis Ian or Dobie Gray, it's like their two hits were from two different lifetimes; hard to even think of them even as from the same band, unless maybe you saw them live, which I sure never did. Except G.E. had apparently already had a lifetime or two in Holland before "Radar Love" hit.)

xhuxk, Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:47 (sixteen years ago)

curious whether American kids growing up in the '80s who'd never heard "Radar Love" just figured G.E. were another wacky new new-wave band when "Twilight Zone" hit MTV

Definitely the case with me (though I didn't even have MTV at the time, they were just one of those 'new' bands on the radio to my ears -- like Reflex or Nena or the like [or perhaps even more appropriately, Slade]).

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:48 (sixteen years ago)

I'm voting for "Twilight Zone" even though "Radar Love" may be the objectively better song.

Also curious whether American kids growing up in the '80s who'd never heard "Radar Love" just figured G.E. were another wacky new new-wave band when "Twilight Zone" hit MTV.

Funny you mention this. When I was a young, MTV-obsessed kid, I pretty much thought that everyone who had a video on MTV was a wacky new band. I assumed that Michael Jackson, Don Henley, Glen Frey, Golden Earring, Stevie Nicks, Genesis, ZZ Top, etc. were all completely new performers who didn't exist before the advent of MTV. Took me a long time to figure out the truth.

Moodles, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:19 (sixteen years ago)

No idea whether you're being sarcastic or not, but with Golden Earring it would make a lot of sense. (It's not like they'd previously had a real U.S. presence in the way most of those others had.)

Anyway, from Wiki:

Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings (the 's' was dropped in 1969). They had international chart success with the songs "Eight Miles High" in 1969, "Radar Love" in 1973, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When The Lady Smiles" in 1984. In their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and platinum albums. Current members of Golden Earring are Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone, member since 1968), George Kooymans (vocals and guitar, founder of band), Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboard, founding member), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion, member since 1970). Golden Earring have sold millions of albums worldwide, and they are the oldest rock band in the world that are still performing today. 2009 marks the return of the band to the UK and the release of a new studio album.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Earring

Apparently their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," was way back in 1965. (Someday I need to get out a piece of graph paper and map out all the lineup changes; right now, I'm basically clueless about all those.)

xhuxk, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:23 (sixteen years ago)

No idea whether you're being sarcastic or not

He's not, that's a lot of what I assumed as well! Musical history pre-1980 or so was nothing to my born-in-1971 mind, outside of Shawn Cassidy and a random song or two.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:25 (sixteen years ago)

Voted "Radar Love". But to be honest, the one GE song I'd really vote before-and-above any other of their songs 's "Tons of Time".

t**t, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:35 (sixteen years ago)

"Radar Love" by a mile and that entire "Moontan" record slays, btw. I'm gonna pull it out with the headphones tonight.

kwhitehead, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:44 (sixteen years ago)

Xxxpost

I'm being completely honest - I had virtually no knowledge of any bands outside of MTV. I was 6 years old when MTV was first on and the only radio I ever heard was the softies station my mom listened to.

Moodles, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:45 (sixteen years ago)

I assumed that Michael Jackson, Don Henley, Glen Frey, Golden Earring, Stevie Nicks, Genesis, ZZ Top, etc. were all completely new performers who didn't exist before the advent of MTV. Took me a long time to figure out the truth.

ha otm. i remember running across Off the Wall in a record shop around 8 years old and being pretty confused. I guess I wasn't even aware of the J5?? tho that seems weird.

^defense is impregnable (will), Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:48 (sixteen years ago)

'this song White Lion covered.'

White Lion covered "Radar Love"? That can't have been good.

two-hit-wonders in the U.S. -- like with Janis Ian

Wait -- what's her other hit (other than "Seventeen")?

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 14 May 2009 17:57 (sixteen years ago)

"Society's Child" in '67

The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:00 (sixteen years ago)

White Lion covered "Radar Love"? That can't have been good.

Just wait until you see the video.

•--• --- --- •--• (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:02 (sixteen years ago)

Which, sadly, does not appear to be on YouTube, but maybe elsewhere? MTV's site?

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:04 (sixteen years ago)

Found it (thanx to google video):

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1apm_white-lion-radar-love_music

The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:06 (sixteen years ago)

And here is the vid for "Twlight Zone"

Apparently someone has it up on youtube too, but the sound has been removed.

The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:10 (sixteen years ago)

two-hit-wonders in the U.S. -- like with Janis Ian
Wait -- what's her other hit (other than "Seventeen")?

The inter-racial dating anthem "Society's Child," which went to #14 in 1967, when she was just 15 years old, eight years before she hit with "At Seventeen." (Which was part of my point -- like G.E., Janis Ian went so long between hits that lots of people don't even seem to connect them in their heads.)

xhuxk, Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:22 (sixteen years ago)

I don't see how "Twilight Zone" is any more artsy-fartsy

The video.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:24 (sixteen years ago)

Yeah, it's all Fassbinder meets the Arthur Freed unit.

The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:32 (sixteen years ago)

I've had a longer love affair with Radar Love and only fairly recently put together that Twilight Zone was by the same band.

It is a great video.

Nate Carson, Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:47 (sixteen years ago)

My memories of "Twilight Zone" are kinda vague, but aren't they exactly the same song?

Subtlest Fart Joke (Oilyrags), Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:55 (sixteen years ago)

No. "Radar Love" has a bass-line that goes doot doot doot doot do-DO! and "Twilight Zone" has a guitar hook that goes dow-now-now-now, dow-na-now-now

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 14 May 2009 19:07 (sixteen years ago)

"Radar Love" is about driving cars. "Twilight Zone" is about shooting guns.

xhuxk, Thursday, 14 May 2009 19:28 (sixteen years ago)

So these are the only two songs I've ever heard by Golden Earring.

Did they have any other good stuff?

Moodles, Thursday, 14 May 2009 19:52 (sixteen years ago)

similar career trajectory to manfred mann/mann's earth band. kinda. only i don't think mann had a big mtv hit. just the 60's fame and then the 70's reinvention. the hollies kinda did this too. (um, again without the 80's pop hit.) steve miller did it all. 60's and 70's and mtv fame. (meaning, they mastered the era-appropriate costume changes. not everyone did it so well. twilight zone WAS some sorta perfect mtv hit at that moment. it fit right in. alan parsons did it too (though really this was just a case of mtv and the world catching up with alan parsons' robot pop) and so did yes, obviously.)

scott seward, Thursday, 14 May 2009 19:52 (sixteen years ago)

Btw:

Where is the love for Golden Earring?

xhuxk, Friday, 15 May 2009 20:04 (sixteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 18 May 2009 23:01 (sixteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 23:01 (sixteen years ago)

six months pass...

You will come to know - when the bullet hits the bone!!!

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 22 November 2009 02:02 (sixteen years ago)

a studio engineer I knew was making up charts for "radar love" cause a band wanted to cover it. he was surprised to discover there was a horn part. so was I! apparently the only thing anybody remembers is the bassline.

鬼の手 (Edward III), Sunday, 22 November 2009 16:25 (sixteen years ago)

fifteen years pass...

We've got a thing that's called Radar Love
We've got a line in the sky

[drums]

[awesomeness]

mookieproof, Wednesday, 19 November 2025 04:55 (five months ago)

woo!

mookieproof, Wednesday, 19 November 2025 04:57 (five months ago)


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