Formed in 1961, the band was active for 60 years, almost non-stop. They had 56 years of studio output, starting in 1965, which made them the world's longest surviving rock band, formed a year before The Rolling Stones, until their tragic end on 5 February 2021, when guitarist founding member George Kooymans revealed that he had been diagnosed with the neuro-muscular disease, ALS.
The band's core line-up of four was unchanged from 1970 to 2021, although extra musicians had short stints in the band in the 1970s. Golden Earring was always touring, except in 2000 (their only sabbatical year) and the final year of their existence, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 1961 George Kooymans (age 13) and his neighbour Rinus Gerritsen (age 15) formed The Tornado's in the Zuiderpark district of their home town of The Hague, The Netherlands. The band's first line-up mainly played The Shadows and The Ventures covers, as well as other instrumental tunes, and played its first gigs at school parties.
In 1963, as the band found out that there already was a British band called The Tornados, they decided to change their name into The Golden Ear-rings (after a Peggy Lee song). The band now performed around The Hague, soon had a devoted local following and landed a record deal with Polydor. Their début single, 1965's Please Go, immediately landed in the Dutch Top 10.
Under the Golden Earrings moniker the band eventually recorded four albums and had twelve hit singles in the Netherlands between 1965 and 1969, ten of which reached the Dutch Top 10. Several of their records were released internationally in Europe and even North America, although they failed to make an impact there.
One of the band's sixties singles became their first Dutch #1 hit: 1968's somewhat carnavalesque Dong-Dong-Diki-Digi-Dong, although that tune is now frowned upon by the band and generally regarded as inferior to other sixties Earrings gems, such as That Day (1966, the first Dutch pop single to have been recorded in the U.K., at London's Pye Studios), Sound Of The Screaming Day (1966) and the epic Just A Little Bit Of Peace In My Heart (1969).
The band's lead singer during the early Golden Earrings years was Frans Krassenburg. He was replaced by Barry Hay (ex-The Haigs) in 1967. The band's drummer for much of the 1960s was Jaap Eggermont. His successors were Sieb Warner (1969) and, in 1970, Cesar Zuiderwijk (ex-Livin' Blues), Golden Earring's definitive drummer.
The band's international career modestly started to take off in 1969, the year of their psychedelic Eight Miles High album, their first haphazard tour of the United States and also the year in which the band name was slightly changed into The Golden Earring and finally (dropping the article within a year), Golden Earring. On their early U.S. tours, their long, wild cover version of The Byrds' classic Eight Miles High impressed audiences and press alike. Golden Earring's 19-minute album version, as well as the stand-alone 1969 single, Another 45 Miles, were the first Golden Earring recordings to get some North American airplay.
The arrival of drummer, Cesar Zuiderwijk, in 1970, completed what would turn out to be the group's definitive line-up: Barry Hay (lead vocals/guitar/flute), George Kooymans (guitar/vocals), Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums) and Rinus Gerritsen (bass/harmonica/keyboards).
1970 saw a dramatic shift in Golden Earring's musical style. After the melodic, often Beatle-esque sixties beat of The Golden Earrings and a brief phase of psychedelia and hippie rock in 1968 and 1969, the single Back Home marked the birth of Golden Earring's trademark heavy, riff-based brand of hard rock with catchy hooks. Back Home hit #1 in the Dutch charts and 'broke' Golden Earring in most of Europe, notably countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.
This marked the start of a decade of domestic and international glory. Between 1966 and 1976 seventeen consecutive Earring singles rocketed into the Dutch Top 10, while their international popularity increased, especially after their lengthy 1972 tour of Europe, supporting The Who. Buddy Joe (1972) achieved considerable chart success in the German-speaking countries of Europe, but 1973's Radar Love was their breakthrough smash hit worldwide: #13 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, #1 in the U.S. Cashbox chart, #5 in Britain, #8 in Australia, #10 in Canada, #5 in Germany, #6 in Belgium, #1 in Spain and also #1 in (last but not least) Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), to name but a few.
Radar Love remains an enduring 'car classic' and radio anthem of global fame to this day. Between 1969 and 1985 Golden Earring completed ten major tours of North America, building a considerable North American fanbase, as well as five headlining tours of Great Britain in 1973 and 1974 alone. Golden Earring toured as 'special guests' of The Who, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, .38 Special, Rush and many more, whereas bands like Aerosmith, KISS, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for Golden Earring. The album that spawned Radar Love, 1973's Moontan, was certified 'Gold' by North America's RIAA in 1974 and sold millions of copies worldwide.
The band failed to achieve similar chart success in the years after Radar Love: the progressive Switch (1975) and To The Hilt (1976) charted in Billboard's album charts, but yielded no major U.S. hits. The singles were clearly not what North American audiences wanted from the 'Radar Love guys'.
Golden Earring was forgotten by many outside of The Netherland and by 1980 even Dutch audiences started to lose interest: albums such as No Promises, No Debts (1979) and Prisoner Of The Night (1980) were commercial flops, leading to the band's decision (in 1981) to record a 'final LP and then call it quits.
The lead single from 1982's 'farewell album', Cut, a Kooymans-penned tune called Twilight Zone, surprisingly became an even bigger hit in the U.S. than Radar Love: #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, thanks to heavy MTV rotation of the Dick Maas-directed video. The song (#1 in The Netherlands) revived Golden Earring's stateside career overnight. The Cut LP was certified 'gold' in Canada, with Twilight Zone hitting #3 in the Canadian charts.
In their native Netherlands the band did manage to extend their creative and commercial peak this time: the single When The Lady Smiles and the album N.E.W.S. ('NorthEastWestSouth'), both released in 1984, repeated the success of Twilight Zone and Cut. 'Lady' peaked at #3 in Canada, but fared disappointingly in the U.S. as MTV and even radio stations banned the track because of its controversial video, once again directed by Dick Maas, in which the rape of a nun was suggested.
After 1985 things rapidly went downhill for Golden Earring internationally (they would not tour the U.S. again), but - after a creative and financial crisis that lasted throughout the second half of the 1980s - the band wrote one of their most enduring Dutch hits in 1991 (the power-ballad, Going To The Run, which fared partially well in Russia) and discovered a new gold mine in their home country a year later: acoustic concerts in theatres, the concept of MTV Unplugged.
To everybody's surprise, the band's acoustic live album, The Naked Truth, slowly became their all-time biggest selling album in The Netherlands. Its sequels, Naked II (1997) and Naked III (2005) also went platinum at least once in The Netherlands.
Golden Earring's by far most succesful album internationally remains 1973's Moontan, which sold well over 3.5 million copies outside of The Netherlands and was certified 'gold' in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom (and platinum in the U.S. in later years).
Golden Earring released 25 studio albums, 9 live albums and countless succesful compilations. Almost all of these records were certified gold, often platinum, in The Netherlands. More than anything else, though, the band remained a live force of legendary status in their home country and beyond. They toured throughout each year until the very end, almost exclusively in the Netherlands, although there are still occasional live appearances in Belgium and Germany. 2009 saw Golden Earring's long overdue return to the United Kingdom: their sold out shows in Ipswich and London's Shepherd's Bush Empire were their first live appearances in England since 1978.
In 2011 the band recorded their first album of new material since 2003's Millbrook U.S.A.: Tits 'n Ass - studio album #25 for the Dutch legends - was released on 11 May 2012 on Universal Music and hit #1 in the Dutch album charts one week after its release to become Golden Earring's 8th #1 album in their home country. Certified 'gold' in The Netherlands, the album was generally believed to be Golden Earring's final studio outing, but December 2015 saw the release of a five-track mini album entitled The Hague, released more than fifty years after their début single and just before the band's sold out 'Five Zero' anniversary concert at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome in front of a 17,000-strong crowd. 2019 saw the release of a stand-alone single, Say When: Golden Earring's final studio recording.
Nobody was aware of it at the time, but the band's 16 November 2019 performance at the Rotterdam Ahoy would turn out to be their final concert. After a year of Covid-19 lockdowns, guitarist George Kooymans announced his ALS diagnosis on 5 February 2021, the disease rendering him unfit to perform. Within hours, the band admitted that carrying on without Kooymans was unthinkable. In the words of lead singer, Barry Hay: "This is the end of the line for the band. It's a death blow. We always said: we'll keep going until the first one of us goes down. I never expected it to be George."
The band's final performance was released as a live CD and DVD in April 2022, named after Barry Hay's final words at the end of countless Golden Earring shows: You Know We Love You!.
Studio albums (released as Golden Earring, unless noted otherwise)
Just Ear-rings (1965, as The Golden Earrings or The Golden Ear-rings)
Winter-Harvest (1967, as Golden Earrings, sometimes spelled as Winter Harvest)
Miracle Mirror (1968, as Golden Earrings)
On The Double (1969, as Golden Earrings)
Eight Miles High (1969, as The Golden Earring)
Golden Earring (1970, colloquially known as 'Wall Of Dolls')
Seven Tears (1971)
Together (1972)
Moontan (1973)
Switch (1975)
To The Hilt (1976)
Contraband (1976, U.S. title: Mad Love)
Grab It For A Second (1978)
No Promises... No Debts (1979, spelled as No Promises, No Debts on most online platforms)
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, covers album)
Paradise In Distress (1999)
Millbrook U.S.A. (2003)
Tits 'n Ass (2012)
The Hague (EP, 2015)
Live albums
Live (1977)
2nd Live (1981)
Something Heavy Going Down (1984, includes one new studio track)
The Naked Truth (1992, acoustic)
Naked II (1997, acoustic)
Last Blast Of The Century (2000)
Naked III (2005, acoustic, incorrectly listed as Naked Truth III on some streaming platforms)
Live In Ahoy 2006 (2006, live DVD + CD set)
You Know We Love You! (2022, live DVD + CD set)
Additional information:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Earring
Official website: https://www.golden-earring.nl
Mad Loves' Comin'
Golden Earring Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To keep your love-life successful
And you want a happy ending
With lots of stud potential
Reliable and perpetual
Without being distasteful, oh wee
My papa says it's not the size
On stiletto shoes, papa sure improves
But I bet he's just trying to be commercial
So let me say something simple to you
Before we get to do the do: Baby I love you
That takes care of that, you can take off your hat
You and me gotta be the lucky few
There's a tourist in the city
That went and lost his lady
On the purpose if you ask me
He'll have to find a reason
To cover-up the treason
Meanwhile let's hope the night never ends [Repeat: x2]
?cos mad love's coming, I know mad love is coming
Mad love is coming, I know mad love is coming
Mad mad love is coming, I know mad love is coming
Out on the corner, city boy routine
Right on the border of enemy territory
This is how far you've come, this is how far you've gone
There's a fool's moon out, makin' me shout
And it's cruel cruel, street's a mean school
Too many blows, below the belt, you know
This is how far you've come, this is how far you've gone
There's a fool's moon out, makin' me shout
Mad love is comin', not too soon
On beds that sail outta the blue
Mad love is comin', all day through
Who's afraid of that romance is doomed
Mad love's comin', all over your walls
Into your life, it creepy crawls
This is how far you've come, this is how far you've gone
There's a fool's moon out, makin' me shout
Mad love is
a song by the Dutch rock band Golden Earring. The lyrics are about a man trying to satisfy his partner's desires and maintain a successful love life. He mentions that his father has told him that it's not just about physical attributes but also the way a man moves. The singer then declares his love for his partner and says that they should consider themselves lucky to have found each other. The song also references a man who is searching for his lost love and the hope that the night never ends.
One of the key themes of the song is the search for love and the importance of maintaining a successful relationship. The singer wants to keep his partner happy and satisfied, both physically and emotionally. He acknowledges that there are challenges and uncertainties in any relationship, but ultimately, he feels that love will prevail. The references to the lost tourist and the fool's moon add a sense of mystery and intrigue to the lyrics.
Golden Earring formed in 1961 and is one of the most popular rock bands from the Netherlands. They are best known for their hit songs "Radar Love" and "Twilight Zone." "Mad Love" was released in 1999 on their album "Paradise in Distress." The album received mixed reviews from critics but was a success with fans, reaching number 11 on the Dutch charts.
Line by Line Meaning
You want different positions
You desire various approaches to keep your romantic life interesting
To keep your love-life successful
Your aim is to maintain a fulfilling love-life
And you want a happy ending
Your goal is to have a satisfying conclusion
With lots of stud potential
You hope for a partner with attractive qualities
Reliable and perpetual
You seek someone dependable and long-lasting
Without being distasteful, oh wee
You want to achieve this without being tacky or inappropriate
My papa says it's not the size
According to my father, size isn't important
Nor the way it's looking, it's the way it moves
Appearance doesn't matter, but performance does
On stiletto shoes, papa sure improves
My father is confident in his ability to impress
But I bet he's just trying to be commercial
I suspect he's just trying to sell something
So let me say something simple to you
Allow me to express something straightforward
Before we get to do the do: Baby I love you
Before we become intimate, I want to tell you that I love you
That takes care of that, you can take off your hat
With that said, there's nothing left to do but proceed
You and me gotta be the lucky few
We have to be grateful to have found each other
There's a tourist in the city
A visitor to the city is lost
That went and lost his lady
This person also lost their partner
On the purpose if you ask me
It seems intentional to me
He'll have to find a reason
They will need to come up with an excuse
To cover-up the treason
To hide their betrayal
Meanwhile let's hope the night never ends
In the meantime, let's enjoy the current moment
?cos mad love's coming, I know mad love is coming
Because passionate love is on the way and I'm certain of it
Mad love is coming, I know mad love is coming
Intense love is approaching and I'm confident of it
Mad mad love is coming, I know mad love is coming
A powerful and overwhelming love is approaching and I'm sure of it
Out on the corner, city boy routine
Living life as a city boy, routine but curious
Right on the border of enemy territory
On the verge of venturing into unfamiliar and possibly dangerous areas
This is how far you've come, this is how far you've gone
Reflecting on how much progress has been made
There's a fool's moon out, makin' me shout
The full moon is causing foolish behavior and excitement
And it's cruel cruel, street's a mean school
The city streets can be harsh and unforgiving
Too many blows, below the belt, you know
There are too many unfair and inappropriate actions taken on the streets
Mad love's comin', not too soon
Passionate love is on the way, but not arriving too soon
On beds that sail outta the blue
On unexpected journeys that lead to love and romance
Mad love is comin', all day through
Intense love will permeate all aspects of life
Who's afraid of that romance is doomed
Who would be scared of a love that is destined to succeed?
Mad love's comin', all over your walls
Passionate love will be everywhere in your life
Into your life, it creepy crawls
Intense love will enter your life and captivate you
This is how far you've come, this is how far you've gone
Revisiting the distance that has been traveled
There's a fool's moon out, makin' me shout
The full moon continues to create excitement and recklessness
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BARRY HAY, GEORGE KOOYMANS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind