(Netherlands 1961 - Present)
They achieved their first success in 1965 with "Please Go," as a pop rock band with Frans Krassenburg as lead singer. It reached number 9 on the music charts in The Netherlands. Their next single "That Day", went up to # 2 on the Dutch charts, stopped only by the Beatles "Michelle". Come 1968, they topped the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that spread their name through Europe.
By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. As with many late 60s groups, they find themselves looking for their own style for several years before settling on straightforward hard rock, initially much like that of the Who, who invited them to open their 1972 European tour.
From '69 and their first tour in the U.S., through their European treks in the early 70s, the group slowly builds up a following. By '71, they are a regular presence on Dutch charts, and are starting to climb up the ladder in Germany. They sign on to the Who's Track label, which released a compilation of Dutch singles, Hearing Earring, helping the group break through in England. Already on the way up to stardom in Europe, 1973 becomes their big year. That most driven of driving songs is released on the world. Golden Earring have grabbed the golden ring with "Radar Love" and the album "Moontan". They hit the American market for long tours with such acts as Santana, the Doobie Brothers, & J Geils. The world seems theirs. But the lack of a follow-up hit ensured that their popularity remained short-lived in America, even though they remained a top draw in Europe over the rest of the 1970s, as their singles & albums continue their success. 1982 saw a brief American comeback with the album Cut and the Top Ten single "Twilight Zone," but as before, Golden Earring could not sustain its momentum and faded away in the U.S. marketplace. "Radar Love" even enjoyed a second round of popularity when pop-metal band White Lion covered the song in 1989.
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| L to R: George Kooymans, Rinus Gerritsen, George Kooymans, Barry Hay & Eelco Gelling |
Golden Earring celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2011, which the Dutch postal service honored with a stamp that contained a music link: when a smartphone with a special app is held up to the music stamp, Golden Earring's "Radar Love" plays. They have had the same unchanged line-up of the same four musicians and friends since 1970, augmented time to time with a fifth member (Dutch keyboardist Robert Jan Stips).
And for a band known to many for one of the all-time classic rock tracks - Radar Love - they are a group that has built up a solid & very varied body of work that will interest beyond the typical rock n roller.
Album Review
Somewhere between the release of Moontan and Cut, the two most popular albums by Golden Earring, the band continued it's aimless wandering of trying to find their next hit, and the proof of their wandering is probably most evident in their 1978 release "Grab It For a Second". With the release of each album during this time, their popularity kept waning as their music just seemed to keep missing the mark. The band was constantly trying to get notoriety, but it seems they were having a lot of trouble trying to find that sweet spot, pushing their music to be more rock oriented, radio friendly and less progressive.
What we have here is a very short album with 8 songs on it, only one of them exceeding the 6 minute mark. Throughout the album, you hear the band missing opportunities left and right to make some great music, even if it isn't progressive, yet they can't seem to pull that off. Neither Hay nor Kooyman's vocals show any kind of emotion. The entire band just seems like they are going through the motions of "hurry and release another album and fill it with songs that were written in 5 minutes".
There really are only three tracks that stand out on this lackluster album: "Cell 29", a mini-prog epic in the classic Golden Earring vein. Nice guitar brings this one in, with the solo searing through the gentle picking, as the song tells the story of a prisoner's lament. We got melody. We got a soaring, memorable choral hook. Mood. Ambiance. All stretched out over a very non-commercial 6:39.
And for a band known to many for one of the all-time classic rock tracks - Radar Love - they are a group that has built up a solid & very varied body of work that will interest beyond the typical rock n roller.
Somewhere between the release of Moontan and Cut, the two most popular albums by Golden Earring, the band continued it's aimless wandering of trying to find their next hit, and the proof of their wandering is probably most evident in their 1978 release "Grab It For a Second". With the release of each album during this time, their popularity kept waning as their music just seemed to keep missing the mark. The band was constantly trying to get notoriety, but it seems they were having a lot of trouble trying to find that sweet spot, pushing their music to be more rock oriented, radio friendly and less progressive.
What we have here is a very short album with 8 songs on it, only one of them exceeding the 6 minute mark. Throughout the album, you hear the band missing opportunities left and right to make some great music, even if it isn't progressive, yet they can't seem to pull that off. Neither Hay nor Kooyman's vocals show any kind of emotion. The entire band just seems like they are going through the motions of "hurry and release another album and fill it with songs that were written in 5 minutes".
It's that Golden Earring sound some of us dug the hell outta, back with Moontan. The next track is "Against the Grain" which breaks from the boring formula of rock beats to be a bit more heartfelt and more ballad-like, even hinting at some progressiveness. Finally, the album closes with "U-Turn Time," which presents some of the best guitar on the album before dropping into a rather punky rocker. It may not sound like the band I remember from the Moontan days, but it's a corker and a fun song.
This Golden Earring album received mixed reviews on it's release. The album is arguably better than many critics made it out to be. The album is not as complex in it's musical structure as other Golden Earring releases. Instead, it is more of a rockin' album with some great guitar work. Maybe this is not the album Golden Earring fans had hoped for back in the days, and certainly not one that would restore their lost fortunes. But it is a solid album nonetheless which still deserves a spin on ya turntable.
This post consists of FLACs ripped from my 'still in shrink wrap' vinyl MCA pressing, and includes full album artwork along with label scans. I have also included as a bonus the non-album track "Can't Talk Now" which was the flip side of the single "Movin' Down Life" (see cover above).
I've always considered this album to be the poor cousin to their later release 'Cut' which I posted recently HERE but still enjoy listening to it when I tier of playing Cut. But of course, nothing compares to their masterpiece 'Moontan' which I plan to post here very soon - so stay tuned.
Track Listing:
01. Movin' Down Life (3:31)
02. Against the Grain (4:35)
03. Grab It for a Second (4:10)
04. Cell 29 (6:39)
05. Roxanne (3:39)
06. Leather (5:01)
07. Temptin' (3:43)
08. U-Turn Time (3:25)
09. Can't Talk Now [B-Side Single] (3:30)
Golden Earring were:
Barry Hay - vocals
George Kooymans - guitar, Arp synthesizer guitar, vocals
Eelco Gelling - guitar, slide guitar
Rinus Gerritsen - bass guitar, Moog Bison synth bass
Cesar Zuiderwijk - drums
Lani Groves - backing vocals
Jimmy Maelen - percussion
Kevin Nance - keyboards
John Zangrando - saxophone on "Against the Grain"
Golden Earring Link (177Mb)
Many thanks for this. Still a much underrated band after all these years.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I really like this band particularly their live stuff and Moontan of course.
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