| Golden Earring | |
|---|---|
| Origin | The Hague, Netherlands |
| Genres | Hard rock Progressive rock (mid) Psychedelic rock (mid) Nederbeat (early) |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Labels | Polydor |
| Website | www.goldenearring.nl |
| Members | |
| Barry Hay George Kooymans Rinus Gerritsen Cesar Zuiderwijk |
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| Former members | |
| Jaap Eggermont Eelco Gelling Hans van Herwerden Fred van der Hilst Frans Krassenburg Bertus Borgers Peter de Ronde Robert Jan Stips Sieb Warner |
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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 "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 they are one of the longest existing rock bands in the world that are still performing today in the same line up. 2009 marks the return of the band to the UK and 2010 the release of a new studio album.
Contents |
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 Murvyn Vye 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 Digi 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.
The band enjoyed brief international superstar status in the Seventies when the single version of "Radar Love", from the Gold-certified album Moontan became a hit in both Europe and the USA. Golden Earring embarked on their first major US tour in 1969 - 1970, and were among the first European bands to do so. Owing 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". The music video of the song, directed by Dick Maas, was one of the first rock videos played on the recently-launched MTV in the United States, and helped the song to become a Top Ten hit.
"When the Lady Smiles" became an international hit in 1984, reaching #3 in Canada and becoming the band's fifth number one hit in their native country, but received a disappointing reaction in the United States. The reason for this lack of success was the that the music video of the song was banned from MTV, because of nudity and a scene portraying the rape of a nun. An edited version of the video was shown, but failed to convey its original intentions. While touring the U.S. in 1984, the band played at the Great Arena of Six Flags Great Adventure on May 11 and were in the midst of their concert when a fire at the Haunted Castle began on the opposite side of the theme park, killing eight teenagers. Following this tour, Golden Earring turned their focus toward Europe where they continue to attract standing-room-only crowds.
In 1991, Golden Earring scored another hit in the Netherlands with "Going To The Run", a rock-ballad about a Hells Angels motorcycle club member who was a friend of the band and died in a crash. A "run" is what a motorcycle club calls an event consisting of riding their bikes somewhere together. The Russian rock band Ария (Aria) made a successful cover of "Going To The Run" as "Беспечный ангел" ("Careless Angel"). 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, and have been some of the band's best selling albums, such as The Naked Truth, which sold over 500,000 copies in the Netherlands alone.
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, the band's acoustic live albums include 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 or other continents since 1984. They have never toured Asia, South America or Australia.
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.
March 2009 Golden Earring will do two gigs in the UK for the first time in thirty years, with 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.
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 (Dutch keyboardist and leader of legendary band Supersister, Robert Jan Stips). Along with the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and Germany's The Lords, Golden Earring are the oldest rock band that are still performing today, 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. 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.
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 sixties pop groups like The Kinks. In 1966, Golden Earring performed together with The Kinks during a legendary concert in The Hague, Netherlands. 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, and 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 used many styles of rock and pop music, and in many of the over 400 songs they have recorded, influences of hard rock, rap, disco, folk, country, gospel and even Latin can be heard. In the past, their music was more psychedelic and progressive; this can be heard 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 have experimented with several PA systems, such as quadrophonia, which made Barry's flute sing through a 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 they feel that it is very important to create the typical Earring-sound in the recording studio. This is why the band often plays together "live" in the studio, so that 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.
| Golden Earring | |
|---|---|
| [[Image: File:Golden Earring on Golden Earring on stage | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | The Hague, Netherlands |
| Genres | Hard Rock Heavy Metal Pop (60s) |
| Years active | 1961–Present |
| Website | www.goldenearring.nl |
| Members | |
| Barry Hay George Kooymans Rinus Gerritsen Cesar Zuiderwijk | |
Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings (the 's' was later dropped). 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 is the oldest still performing rockband in the world and have sold millions of albums worldwide. March 2009 Golden Earring celebrated its comeback in the United Kingdom with two concerts, at the Ipswich Regent and at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. Golden Earring's upcoming studio album will be recorded live at Abbey Road Studios, London, during spring 2011 and released later in the same year.
Contents |
Golden Earring was formed in 1961 in The Hague by 13-year-old George Kooymans and his 15-year-old neighbour, Rinus Gerritsen. Originally the name of the band was The Tornadoes. The name was changed to 'The Golden Earrings' when they discovered that "The Tornadoes" was already in use. The name 'The 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. The boys 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. because the band was not happy with the quality of the Dutch recording studios, the next single was recorded at Pye Studios in London. The song recorded at Pye, 'That Day', reached number two on the Dutch charts. It could not beat the 'The Beatles' 'Michelle' which stayed on number one position for weeks.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 the success of their psychedelic album 'Eight Miles High' in 1969.It was the time of the hippies , flower power and Woodstock. On this album the most important song was an 18-minute version of the title track. The original text and music were written by The Byrds. Golden Earrings live version, which could last 45 minutes, was one of the reasons the young band became very popular in America, in the summer of 1969. It was the first time the Golden Earrings did a tour in the USA and they discovered a country where rock music was made in a professional way.They played with Led Zeppelin, Carlos Santana , Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton. This way they learned a lot and the band slowly was becoming a true hard rock band. Golden Earring went on their first major US tour in 1969 - 1970. Between 1969 and 1984, the band completed thirteen US tours. During this period, they performed as the opening act for The Who,Carlos Santana, Pink Floyd the Doobie Brothers, Rush and .38 Special and played together with a lot of other famous musicians. After their classic rocksong 'Radar Love' became an international super-hit in 1974, 'Golden Earring' even had KISS and Aerosmith as the opening-act of their concerts. in 1970 Jimi Hendrix wanted bass player Rinus Gerritsen in his Jimi Hendrix Experience. But Rinus wanted to stay in his own band so he said "no". Golden Earring enjoyed a brief period of international stardom but were unable to get further chart success until 1982's 'Twilight Zone', which was followed by The Lady Smiles' in 1984. This became a #3 hit in Canada but in the [[USA}} the videoclip for this song was banned from MTV because of nudity. Golden Earring turned their focus towards Europe, where they continue to attract large crowds and continue to perform. Golden Earring has recorded over 30 gold and platinum albums and singles, and inspired over 200 fellow bands who have covered their 1973-74 international hit and rock classic 'Radar Love', including REM, U2, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams and White Lion, who gave Radar Love a second run in the American charts in 1989.
In 1991 they had another hit 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 driving 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 the Earring does also 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. Golden Earring: the same unchanged line-up of the same four musicians and friends since 1970, (augmented time to time with a fifth member), in a band founded in 1961. These two facts show clearly that Golden Earring is the one and only band which may truly carry the title "the longest still performing rock 'n' roll band on earth". But the four sworn friends from The Hague always keep their head cool as they heat it up night after night in sold out venues and theatres, when the crowd goes wild for these four living legends. Together they may be "rock's best kept secret" in the music universe.
The band inspired musicians like Rolling Stones and Iron Maiden who are fan of Golden Earring.
Golden Earring is perhaps the oldest rock band in the world that is still performing and active on the road.In March 2009 they will make a comeback in England with concerts in Ipswich and London. On the 21st of March a big concert in the Colorline Arena in Hamburg Germany is planned as well as a new CD for which some songs have already been recorded.
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 The Golden Earrings 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 Earrings music and professionality.THey saw that the Americans had very good soundsystems and electrical equipment.Later they were influenced by Pink Floyd,Santana, Te Who when they performed together during the many American tours Golden Earring did.In total the band has been in over 40 US-states,even Hawaii. The Golden earring has used almost all styles you can find in rock and pop music, mostly straightforward (hard)rock nowadays,like guitar-rock, but in many of the over 400 songs they have recorded you can hear influences of hardmetal,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' ('Golden Earring') and 'Eight Miles High'.Golden Earring always seeks ways to experiment with new styles and variations in the music they make.Usually they are their own producers and have a strong influence in the studio, because it is very important to 'catch' the typical Earring-sound on tape in the recording-studio.This is why the band often plays 'live'in the studio,that is: everybody plays together so the original live-sound is approached in the best way possible.For information on the instruments, the gear and technical equipment the band uses their own website is the best way to go to.
Golden Earring has released music worldwide and enjoyed brief superstar status in the seventies when Radar Love, from the album Moontan, became a hit in both Europe and the USA. Moontan itself was awarded a gold record in the US. The ultimate Earring hitsong Radar Love has its own website [1]. On this site are also found more than 200 covers of this classic rock song, which 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", after "Don't Stop Me Now" from Queen.A number of artists like U2, White Lion, R.E.M., and Bryan Adams have covered this international hit and rock classic. In total, over 200 covers exist of this song.
George Kooymans wrote Twilight Zone, which appeared in 1982 and brought Golden Earring a second international round of success. This song was accompanied by one of the first rock videos, directed by Dick Maas. As the music television channel MTV had just been launched in 1981, the airplay helped "Twilight Zone" secure a Top Ten hit in the States.The song was inspired on the popular TVseries The twilight Zone.
When the Lady Smiles, from the album News, was the next international hit in 1984, again helped by a video. It became a tophit in Europe and canada. But it never became a hit in the US because the original video was banned from MTV because of nudity and the rape of a nun. In 2008 Hillary Clinton used this song during her campaign to become the democratic candidate for president of the USA.
Their best selling albums ever were Moontan of which over 1 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 theatre tours that started in 1992 and continue to date. The first unplugged acoustic live album was followed by Naked II, and the trilogy was completed in 2005 with Naked III Live at The Panama.During unplugged concerts Rinus,the bass-player, sometimes uses a standing contrabass.
   | Official Golden Earring website - Golden Earring - Home |
| | Virtual Golden Earring Museum - Golden Earring Museum |
| | Radar Love - www.radar-love.net |
| | Golden Earring Record Research - Golden Earring Record Research by Casper Roos |
| | official Golden Earring website - Golden Earring - Home |
| | Golden Earring Fansite - Albino Moon - Home |
| | Golden Earring on Metallian - METALLIAN - Golden Earring |
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