"Radar Love" is a song by the Dutch

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Golden Earring Golden Earring were a Dutch rock music, rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ...

. The single version of "Radar Love" reached No. 9 on the '' Record World '' chart, No. 10 on ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'', 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, Australia, Germany, and Spain.

Lyrics

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.

Composition

Like other famous songs of the era — " Highway Star", "

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy ...

", "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''A Night at the Opera (Queen album), A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by Queen's lead si ...

" — "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 Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

's "

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". 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 Marinus Gerritsen (born 9 August 1946) is a Dutch bassist. Best known for being founding member of Dutch group Golden Earring, he is also a producer of artists like Herman Brood. Career In 1961, Gerritsen and his neighbour George Kooymans ...

, the intro was inspired by

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

. During the chorus, starting in C♯ minor at 1:20, the band is joined by a brass section. The song references

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

's " Coming On Strong" from 1966 as a "forgotten song".

Impact

According to Rustyn Rose at ''Metalholic'', the song "is a

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." 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 ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' in November 2001. It was the #1 driving song in Australia (''

Australian Musician ''Australian Musician'' is an online Australian music magazine, formerly published as a free quarterly print magazine. History ''Australian Musician'' was launched by the Australian Music Association in December 1995 as a quarterly, colour pub ...

'', November 2005), beating two

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

songs; and in Canada (

BBC Canada BBC Canada was a Canadian English language specialty channel that mostly broadcast television series originally produced by the BBC, the public-service broadcaster of the United Kingdom. The channel was owned by Corus Entertainment (80% & managi ...

, March 2006). 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'." 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 Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

'' produced by ABC before it segues into the official theme,

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

's "Lost Patrol".

Cover versions and Radar-Love.net

According to the radar-love.net TimeTravel, the song has been covered more than 800 times by, among others, Tribe 8, Ministry,

Omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...

, U2,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

, Ian Stuart Donaldson,

Sun City Girls Sun City Girls was an American experimental rock band formed in 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1981, the group consisted of Alan Bishop (bass guitar, vocals), his brother Richard Bishop (guitar, piano, vocals), and Charles Gocher (drums, voca ...

, Dutch group

Centerfold The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle Folio, sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a Nudity, nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched maga ...

White Lion White Lion is an American glam metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, they released their debut album ''Fight to Survive ...

Blue Man Group Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in New York City in 1987. It is known for its stage productions that incorporate many kinds of music and art, both popular and obscure. Its performers, known as Blue Men, have their ...

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and ...

NWOBHM The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis coined the term for an arti ...

band Aragorn, Nine Pound Hammer, Oh Well, Joe Santana, the Space Lady, and the Pressure Boys. White Lion's version charted at #59 on the Hot 100. 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''. A pre- Mercyful Fate band featuring

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

on vocals recorded a cover of the song. It is featured on the 2001 compilation album '' King Diamond & Black Rose 20 Years Ago''. WaveGroup Sound covered the White Lion version of the song in the 2007 video game '' Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s''. On August 25, 202
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 amazin
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 ''Wayne's World 2'' is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Stephen Surjik and starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hosts of a public-access television cable television show in Aurora, Illinois. The film is the sequel to ''Wayne's World'' ...

'' (1993), '' Detroit Rock City'' (1999), ''

Baby Driver ''Baby Driver'' is a 2017 action crime film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Kevin Spacey, Eiza González, Jon Ber ...

'' (2017), and '' The Tender Bar'' (2021). It was a central piece in the 2007 ''Reaper'' series episode 7 "Love, Bullets & Blacktop", being featured on an

8-track cartridge The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic-tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, ...

. Top Gear included Radar Love in its Greatest Driving Songs list in 2005. Despite host

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...

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 Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

, Steppenwolf and

Chart history

Weekly charts

Radar Love White Lion Oh Well

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Official "Radar Love" website
{{Authority control 1973 songs 1973 singles 1974 singles 1989 singles Golden Earring songs Number-one singles in the Netherlands Songs about cars Songs about radio Songs written by Barry Hay Songs written by George Kooymans Polydor Records singles Track Records singles MCA Records singles Atlantic Records singles