This year Radioinfo will take you back 50 years to songs from 1974. It was a mighty fine year for music.
Twice, on classic hits stations I’ve worked at we’ve done a poll of the greatest ever driving songs and both times Radar Love by Golden Earring was No 1. A third time if you include Australian Musician Magazine’s poll in 2005. It beat AC/DC and the two other fine examples already featured from 74, La Grange and Autobahn.
But it must be the six-and-a-half-minute album cut. Up until I conducted these polls, I didn’t even realise there was a shorter version. That version is below.
Radar Love came out two whole years before Bohemian Rhapsody. While I’ve never seen anything suggesting Freddie Mercury was influenced by Golden Earring, both songs feature several distinct “phases” that work together to make an epic whole.
Golden Earring are a Dutch band that celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2011 with their core lineup locked in in 1970. Sadly, due to singer and guitarist George Kooymans’ diagnosis with ALS in 2021 the band and all touring and recording have now officially wrapped up.
The Dutch Postal Service honoured the 50th anniversary, their 25 albums and 30 top ten singles in their home country with a stamp that contained a special app that would play Radar Love when you held a smartphone up to it.
While Golden Earring are a one hit wonder in Australia their biggest US hit was to come with Twilight Zone in 1982. It got a lot of airplay with its terrifying and futuristic film clip in the early days of MTV. I so miss how the combination of a great song, iconic video and TV platform supporting them could make a song a hit. On that note, next week’s Songs of 74 will be one that celebrates Countdown, which has it’s 50th anniversary of the first time it aired this Friday November 8.
For fans of Radar Love across the years, how many of you already knew or went to check out ‘radio’s forgotten song’, Brenda Lee’s Coming on Strong?
To save you the trouble I’ve attached it here. Brenda Lee herself is still going on strong and most who have gone to check it out do so because Radar Love.
Finally, the intro is one of popular music’s longest, at 47 seconds, probably how long it took you to read this if you put the song on at the same time. Wikipedia tells me that the Radar Love used to be played before segueing into ABC’s Four Corners intro when it was Lost Patrol, not the later and recently updated Peter Wall and Tony Ansell composition. It seems totally incongruous the two together, and I can’t find evidence of this. Does anyone remember?
If you’ve never driven to Radar Love before I thought I’d provide you with the Ultimate 1974 Driving Mix:
Radar Love / Golden Earring
La Grange / ZZ Top
Autobahn / Kraftwerk
Evie Parts 1-3 / Stevie Wright
Black Water / The Doobie Brothers
Ramblin’ Man / The Allman Brothers
Tubular Bells / Mike Oldfield
Devil Gate Drive / Suzi Quatro
The Joker / Steve Miller Band
Come and Get Your Love / Redbone
Takin’ Care of Business / Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number / Steely Dan
Horror Movie / Skyhooks
Rock On / David Essex
No Woman, No Cry / Bob Marley and the Wailers
Sweet Home Alabama / Lynyrd Skynyrd
Dreamer / Supertramp
Bennie and the Jets / Elton John
Piano Man / Billy Joel
You’re welcome. Don’t drive too fast!
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo
Wow, what a fabulous playlist - I grew up with all those brilliant songs and, while I can't remember why I went to the 'fridge just now, I can sing along with all the words to all those songs!!!