A worldwide hit with the golden earring, Radar Love has been around for 50 years

The most famous song in Dutch music history has been around for 50 years: Radar Love by the Golden Earring. The song was voted the ultimate road song in America and was used in many movies, commercials and even in superfan Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. What makes this classic better? We discuss it with Golden Earring drummer Cesar Juderwijk, radio DJ Bart Ahrens and fan Dennis Weining.

Golden Earring drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk reckons he’s played the song 6,000 times, but always in a different way. “We’ve always been a free-spirited group. Once the song started everyone did what they wanted. As Barry joins in singing, George sings the solo for a while. The result was always riots. You are free to do whatever you feel at that moment.

Let’s go

From Metallica to Bono, Radar Love covers a total of 844 and is known worldwide. “I’m Hagenis, so I was raised by my father with a gold earring,” says Dennis Weining. “I was with U2 and all of a sudden you hear Bono singing ‘Radar Love.’ Then I thought: Holy shit, they’re really famous. And then I went to America with a friend when I was about 21. We were in the car and it came on the radio. You know it’s a world hit. Suddenly you understand.

George Kooymans

Juderwijk says the band didn’t celebrate Radar Love’s 50th anniversary together. “With what’s going on with George, we’re not in the mood to celebrate with the four of us.” In 2021, it became known that the Golden Earring guitarist was suffering from ALS, an incurable muscle disease. “We see each other often and then we have lunch and reminisce about old stories. We really only have fifty years of positive stories.

Watch the full conversation here.