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Golden Earring

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Golden Earring

Golden Earring are 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 are perhaps the oldest rock band in the world that is still performing. March 13 and 14th 2009 Golden Earring plans a comeback in the UK with concerts in London and Ipswich.

History

Golden Earring was formed in 1961 in The Hague by 13-year-old George Kooymans and his 15-year-old neighbour, Rinus Gerritsen. Originally called The Tornados, the name was changed to Golden Earrings when they discovered that The Tornados was already in use by another group. The name Golden Earrings was taken from a song, originally sung by Marlene Dietrich in 1947 and a hit for Peggy Lee in 1948, with which they opened their concerts. Initially a pop rock band with Frans Krassenburg as lead singer, Golden Earrings had their first chart success with their debut single Please Go, recorded in 1965. It reached number 9 on the music charts in The Netherlands. Unsatisfied with Dutch recording studios, the band's manager and co-discoverer Fred Haayen arranged for the next single to be recorded at the Pye Records studios in London. The record cut at Pye, That Day, reached number two on the Dutch charts, prevented from reaching number one by The Beatles' Michelle.

In 1968, the band earned their first number one hit in the Netherlands with the pop song Dong Dong Diki Diki Dong. This was followed by a successful psychedelic album Eight Miles High, which featured an eighteen-minute version of the title track, itself a cover of the 1966 hit song by The Byrds. The live version, which could last 45 minutes, was considered by some to be a highlight in their first and second American tours, in the middle of the hippie and flower power era in the same year Woodstock was organised: 1969.

Golden Earring embarked on their first major US tour in 1969 - 1970, and were among the first European bands to do so. Due to American influences, their music evolved towards hard rock, and they performed along with Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Between 1969 and 1984, Golden Earring completed thirteen US tours. During this period, they performed as the opening act for Santana, The Doobie Brothers, Rush and .38 Special. In the early seventies, when Radar Love was a hit, they had KISS and Aerosmith as their opening act.

They enjoyed a brief period of US stardom but were unable to secure further chart success until 1982's Twilight Zone. After a disappointing reaction in the US to When the Lady Smiles in 1984, Golden Earring turned their focus towards Europe where they continue to attract standing-room-only crowds. Golden Earring have recorded over 30 gold and platinum albums and singles. A number of artists like U2, White Lion, R.E.M. and Bryan Adams have covered their international hit and rock classic Radar Love. In total, over 200 covers exist of this song.

In 1991, Golden Earring scored another hit in the Netherlands with "Going To The Run", a rock-ballad about a Hell's Angels motorclub member who was a friend of the band and died in a crash. The 'run' is how the Angels call their meetings, when they go riding their bikes together somewhere. The Russian rock band Aria made a successful cover of "Going To The Run". From 1992 to 2004, the band released three acoustic live unplugged albums, which became an instant success. Since 1992, they have performed acoustic unplugged theater-shows which continue to this date and usually sell out. The acoustic albums feature unplugged versions of famous hits of the band.

File:Goldenearringticket.jpg
Ticket to a concert of the Golden Earring

Known for their powerful live performances, Golden Earring perform over 200 concerts a year, mainly in their home country of the Netherlands and occasionally in Belgium, Germany and the UK. These energetic live performances have been recorded on several live albums - Live, recorded at London's Rainbow Theater in 1977; 2nd Live, 1981; Something Heavy Going Down, 1984 (also released on DVD as Live from the Twilight Zone); and Last Blast of the Century, a live recording of their last concert of the 20th century (available on both CD and DVD). Furthermore, there are the acoustic live albums The Naked Truth (1992), Naked II (1997) and Naked III (2005). Their latest live album, Live from Ahoy 2006, is a DVD with bonus CD.

Golden Earring have not toured in North America and other continents since 1984; however they still maintain a core group of loyal fans. They have never toured Asia, South America or Australia, although their music has always been released worldwide. It is still played on US, Canadian, British, Australian and other radio stations, and receives many awards. Their songs continue to top-rank in music polls, and are covered by many colleagues who are inspired by them. A new American and European tour is rumoured for 2009, although nothing has been announced officially yet.

Currently, the band is working on their latest studio release, their first studio album since the 2003 album Millbrook USA. This album was recorded in Millbrook, New York state, at the studio of fellow musician Frank Carillo, indicating that the band has not lost touch with the US over the years. The new album is due for release at the end of 2008-early 2009. To promote the release of the album, Golden Earring will do two gigs in the UK fot the first ime in thirty years. One concert on 14 March 2009 at The Shepherd's Bush Empire in London and one show at Ipswich Regent theatre on March 13, 2009. Later in 2009, the band will possibly cross the Atlantic again and do a short promotional tour in the USA.

Golden Earring celebrated their 47th anniversary in 2008 and have been performing almost continuously since their foundation in 1961. 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. Along with the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and Germany's The Lords, Golden Earring are one of the oldest rock bands that are still performing, and Golden Earring has arguably the most stable lineup of these veteran bands. For now, Golden Earring's gigs are scheduled on a "one month on - one month off" basis. The reason for this is mainly due to lead singer Barry Hay's relocation to the Dutch Antilles island of Curacao in the Caribbean, where he put up his new residence and lives during the band's time off.

Music

Golden Earring was one of the first major European rock bands to tour the United States, in 1969. They were at first inspired by The Beatles and other typical sixties pop groups like The Kinks. In 1966, Golden Earring performed together with The Kinks (famous for 'Lola') during a legendary concert in The Hague, Holland. On their first USA tour bands like Led Zeppelin and The Doors inspired Golden Earring's music and professionality. They saw that the Americans had very good soundsystems and electrical equipment. Later, they were influenced by Pink Floyd, Santana, The Who when they performed together during their many American tours. In total, the band has been in over 40 US states, including Hawaii.

Golden Earring has utilized many styles of rock and pop music; and in many of the over 400 songs they have recorded, you can hear influences of hard rock, rap, disco, folk, country, gospel and even Latin. In the past, their music was more psychedelic and progressive; this you can hear on albums like 'Moontan', 'Wall of Dolls' and 'Eight Miles High'. Golden Earring always seek ways to experiment with new styles and variations in the music they make. The band has always used the newest fashion in gear and equipment and were also experimenting with several PA systems, like quadrophonia, which would make Barry's flute sing trough the whole venue from all four directions where the speakers were positioned. Usually they are their own producers, backed up by other professionals. The band has developed a strong influence in the studio, because it is very important to 'catch' the typical Earring-sound in the recording-studio. This is why the band often plays together 'live' in the studio, so the original live sound is approached in the best way possible, instead of recording every vocal and instrument separately and putting them together in the final mix. Interestingly though, some of the best albums were not produced by the band themselves alone, but in association with 'fresh' producers with a cutting edge who have not been familiar with the typical Earring style and thus have been able to deliver groundbreaking performances.

International hits

Radar Love

[Golden Earring] has released music worldwide and enjoyed brief international superstar status in the Seventies when the single version of Radar Love, from the album Moontan became a hit in both Europe and the USA. A non-nude album cover was distributed for the North American release (which included a different tracklisting). Moontan itself was awarded a gold record in the US. Radar Love has its own website http://www.radar-love.net listing hundreds of covers of the song, voted "best car song ever" by readers of USA Today in 2005 and second best "greatest driving song" in a poll of BBC's program Top Gear, after Don't Stop Me Now from Queen.

Twilight Zone

'Twilight Zone', written by Kooymans in 1982, brought Golden Earring a second international round of success. Its b-side is the non-lp track "King Dark". The song was accompanied by one of the first rock videos, directed by Dick Maas. As MTV had just launched their music television channel in 1981, the airplay helped The Twilight Zone secure a Top Ten hit in the States.

When the Lady Smiles

'When the Lady Smiles' from the album N.E.W.S., was the next international hit in 1984, again helped by a video, although it never became a hit in the US as the original video was banned from MTV due to nudity and the portrayal of the rape of a nun, and a newly cut version of the clip failed to convey its original intentions. 'When the Lady Smiles' topped at #3 in Canada and became the band's fifth number one hit in their home country.

When touring the United States in 1984, Golden Earring played the Great Arena of Six Flags Great Adventure on May 11, 1984 and were in the midst of their concert when the fire at the Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure began on the opposite side of the theme park, killing eight teenagers.

The Naked Truth

Their best selling albums were Moontan of which over a million copies were sold worldwide, and the unplugged acoustic live CD/DVD The Naked Truth in 1992, which sold over 500,000 copies in the Netherlands alone and laid the foundation of their successful unplugged theater tours that started in 1992 and continue to date. This album was followed by Naked II, and the trilogy was completed in 2005 with Naked III Live at The Panama.

Golden Earring's Going to Run was covered by Russian rockband Aria in 2001, as Careless Angel.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

  • 1968 Greatest Hits (Polydor)
  • 1970 The Best of Golden Earring (US)
  • 1973 Hearing Earring
  • 1977 Story
  • 1981 Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
  • 1988 The Very Best, Vol. 1
  • 1988 The Very Best, Vol. 2
  • 1989 The Continuing Story of Radar Love
  • 1992 Radar Love
  • 1994 Best of Golden Earring (Europe)
  • 1998 The Complete Naked Truth
  • 1998 70s & 80s, Vol. 35
  • 2000 Greatest Hits
  • 2000 The Devil Made Us Do It: 35 Years
  • 2002 Singles 1965-1967
  • 2002 Bloody Buccaneers/Face It
  • 2003 3 Originals

References

  • Biography by Golden Earring founder and bass player Rinus Gerritsen published on the band's website.
  • Biographical books on the Golden Earring: "Haagsche Bluf" by Pieter Franssen, 1993, and "Rock die niet roest" by prof. Maarten Steenmeyer, 2005. Both titles are in Dutch.
  • "The Story of Golden Earring" by Karin and Mechteld Beks, Picture publishers, an authorized biography published on the occasion of the band's 45th anniversary. Text in Dutch. (2005)
  • Interviews with the band over the years, many of which can be traced back through the Golden Earring Museum website.
  • "What happened in Golden Earring history on..." at Golden Earring Research Website.
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