Golden Earring

**Golden Earring** is a Dutch rock band. They began in 1961 in The Hague; named the Golden Earrings. In 1969, they became just Golden Earring, (dropping the "s"). They gained worldwide fame with their hit song "Radar Love" in 1973. The single was number one on the Dutch charts, in the top ten in the United Kingdom and number thirteen on the American music charts.

"Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984 were also hit singles. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts. Over the years they produced 25 studio albums. All musicians in the band have been members of the band since 1970. Other musicians, however, have come and gone during all these years.

In March 2009, Golden Earring celebrated its comeback in the United Kingdom with two concerts in Ipswich and London. Golden Earring's newest studio album was recorded live in a studio in London.  It was released in May 2012. The album, named _Tits 'n Ass_, went to number one in the Dutch album charts.

## Career

Golden Earring went on their first major US tour in 1969 and 1970. Between 1969 and 1984, the band completed thirteen US tours.

Golden Earring enjoyed a brief period of international stardom but were unable to get further chart success until 1982's "Twilight Zone". This was followed by "The Lady Smiles" in 1984.

The Russian rock band Aria made a successful cover version of a single, "Going To The Run". From 1992 to 2004 the band released three acoustic live "unplugged" albums which were successful. Since 1992, the band has performed popular acoustic unplugged theater-shows. The acoustic albums feature unplugged versions of famous hits of the band.

## Hit singles

"Radar Love", from the album _Moontan_, became a hit in both Europe and the US in 1973. The album _Moontan_ itself was awarded a gold record in the States. This is the band's best known song. There have been more than 200 cover versions of this classic rock song. It was voted "best car song ever" by readers of _USA Today_ in 2005 and second-best "greatest driving song" in a poll of BBC's programme _Top Gear_.

George Kooymans, the band's vocalist and guitarist, wrote "Twilight Zone". It was released in 1982 and brought Golden Earring more success. This song also had one of the first music videos. It was aired on the new music television channel, MTV, which began in 1981. This helped "Twilight Zone" become a Top Ten hit in the States. The song was inspired by the popular TV series _The Twilight Zone_.

"When the Lady Smiles", from the album _News_, was the next international hit in 1984. It became a top hit in Europe and Canada with the help of a music video.  It was not as successful in the States. The music video was banned from MTV because it showed nudity and the rape of a nun.

## Discography

The complete discography of Golden Earring is 25 studio albums, 8 live albums, 2 compilation albums, and 74 singles.
This is a list of the studio albums:
- _Just Ear-rings_ (1965)
- _Winter-Harvest_ (1967)
- _Miracle Mirror_ (1968)
- _On the Double_ (1969)
- _Eight Miles High_ (1969)
- _Golden Earring_ (1970)
- _Seven Tears_ (1971)
- _Together_ (1972)
- _Moontan_ (1973)
- _Switch_ (1975)
- _To the Hilt_ (1976)
- _Contraband_ (1976)
- _Grab It for a Second_ (1978)
- _No Promises...No Debts_ (1979)
- _Prisoner of the Night_ (1980)
- _Cut_ (1982)
- _N.E.W.S._ (1984)
- _The Hole_ (1986)
- _Keeper of the Flame_ (1989)
- _Bloody Buccaneers_ (1991)
- _Face It_ (1994)
- _Love Sweat_ (1995)
- _Paradise in Distress_ (1999)
- _Millbrook U.S.A._ (2003)
- _Tits 'n Ass_ (2012)

## Other websites

- Official Golden Earring website
- Radar Love

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Golden Earring
- **image**: Golden Earring on stage.JPG
- **image size**: 250px
- **background**: group_or_band
- **origin**: The Hague, Netherlands
- **genre**: Hard rock
Progressive rock
Psychedelic rock
Nederbeat
- **alias**: The Golden Earrings <small>(1961–1969)</small>
- **years active**: 1961–present
- **label**: Polydor Records, Polydor, Universal Music, Universal
- **website**: [http://www.goldenearring.nl/ www.goldenearring.nl]
- **current members**: Rinus Gerritsen
George Kooymans
Barry Hay
Cesar Zuiderwijk
- **past members**: Fred van der Hilst
Hans van Herwerden
Peter de Ronde
Frans Krassenburg
Jaap Eggermont
Sieb Warner
Bertus Borgers
Eelco Gelling
Robert Jan Stips
John Legrand
Philip Van Boom