Hearing Earring: A Biography of Golden Earring
Golden Earring was formed as The Tornados by George Kooymans and Rinus Gerritsen, with guitarist Hans van Herwerden and drummer Fred van der Hilst, in the Hague, the Netherlands, in 1961. When the Tornados discovered their name was already being used by Billy Fury's band, the name The Golden Earrings (in the plural) was adopted. With Frans Krassenburg on vocals, Jaap Eggermont replacing Van der Hilst on drums and Van Herweden jettisoned, their debut single 'Please Go' was also the first hit, reaching number eight in the Netherlands' chart in 1965. An album, Just Earrings, produced by manager Fred Haayen, was released in the same year (Peter de Ronde also plays rhythm guitar). Haayen arranged for the next single, 'That Day', to be recorded at the Pye Records studios in London, a decision which paid off, as it reached number two in the Dutch charts in 1966. 'That Day' was only kept from the number one spot by The Beatles' 'Michelle'. Augmented by session piano player, Cees Schrama, the Golden Earrings recorded the Winter Harvest album, which was released in January 1967.
Original singer Frans Krassenburg was replaced by Barry Hay in 1967 and a year later, the band finally achieved their first number one hit in the Netherlands with the typically Euro-titled, 'Dong Dong Diki Digi Dong'. The same line-up of Hay, Kooymans, Gerritsen and Eggermont recorded the Miracle Mirror, which was released in 1968. On the Double, in 1969, was the last album to feature Eggermont, with Sieb Warner replacing him on drums for Eight Miles High in the same year (released under the name The Golden Earring - singular). Eggermont switched mainly to production work and later became known for the 'Stars on 45' dance medley records of the early 1980s. DJ Neil Kempfer-Stocker began playing the band on US East Coast FM radio and they embarked on two North American tours in 1969, however the Perception Records label in New York failed to capitalise on the Golden Earring album, aka Wall of Dolls, with the Back Home single, in 1970. Golden Earring is the first album credited to 'Golden Earring' and introduces drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. This 'classic' line-up would remain intact for more than 40 years.
During this period with Barry Hay, Golden Earring evolved into a hard rock band. They enjoyed brief international superstardom in 1973-74 when the shortened version of 'Radar Love', from the Gold-certified album Moontan, became a hit single in both Europe and the USA. For a while, Cesar Zuiderwijk was a minor celebrity for jumping over over his drum-kit at the end of TV performances of 'Radar Love'. Between 1969 and 1984, Golden Earring completed 13 US tours. They performed as the opening act for such luminaries as Santana, King Crimson, The Doobie Brothers, Rush and .38 Special. When 'Radar Love' was a hit, they even had Kiss and Aerosmith as their opening acts. Being signed to Track Records, a UK label, the band hired the quadraphonic sound system used by The Who. Indeed, because of their successful transition from makers of hit singles in the early sixties to full rock band in the seventies, they were compared to The Who.
Eelco Gelling joined Golden Earring, as a second guitarist alongside Kooymans (replacing occasional keyboardist, Robert Jan Stips of Supersister), in 1973, and first appeared on Contraband (1976) which was released in the US as Mad Love. Gelling's haunting slide work is highlighted on a number of tracks, particularly on the single Bombay. The group released its first live album, Golden Earring Live, in 1977, on which Kooymans's and Gellng's dual guitars breath new life into extended versions of the classics, including 'Radar Love'. An edited version of the latter returned Earring to the UK singles charts in 1977. Gelling also played on the group's Grab It For A second album of 1978. During a tour of the United States, he left the band, following differences over improvisation, and after his favourite guitar (a Gibson Les Paul Custom) was stolen from a cab in New York. Returning to the Netherlands, he played in several bands including his own Eelco Gelling Band.
Golden Earring enjoyed a short period of US stardom but were unable to secure further chart success until 1982's Twilight Zone. An accompanying music video, directed by Dick Maas, was one of the first rock videos played on the recently launched MTV and helped the song become a top ten single. 'When the Lady Smiles' was an international hit in 1984, reaching number 3 in Canada and becoming the band's fifth number one hit in their native country, but it received a disappointing reaction in the United States. The reason for this lack of success was attributed to the promotional video being banned from MTV, due to nudity and a scene portraying the rape of a nun. An edited version of the video was shown, but to little avail. While touring the US, the band played at the Great Arena of Six Flags Great Adventure on 11th May 1984, when a fire at the Haunted Castle began on the opposite side of the theme park, killing eight teenagers. Following this tour, Golden Earring returned their focus towards Europe, where they continued to attract large audiences.
In 1991, Golden Earring released the excellent Bloody Buccaneers album and scored another hit in the Netherlands with 'Going to the Run', about a motorcycling friend of the band who who was killed in a road crash. A 'run' is motorcycle jargon for a group of motorcyclists riding to a particular destination. Until recently, Golden Earring were performing over 200 concerts a year, mainly in their home country and occasionally in Belgium, Germany and the UK. These performances have been released on several live albums: the aforementioned 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 band's acoustic live albums including: 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 outside Europe since 1984. However, the Millbrook USA album was recorded at Frank Carillo's studio in New York. They performed two gigs in the UK, for the first time in 30 years, with one concert on 14th March 2009 at The Shepherd's Bush Empire in London and another on 13th March at Ipswich Regent Theatre. Golden Earring celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2011 and have been performing almost continuously since their formation in 1961. From 1970 onwards, they have had the same core of four musicians, occasionally augmented with keyboardist, Robert Jan Stips of Supersister, and of course for a while, Eelco Gelling, making them one of the longest surviving unchanged lineups. Barry Hay relocated to the Dutch Antilles island of Curaçao in the Caribbean.
On 10th October 2011, at the Historical Museum of The Hague, PostNL presented the first postage stamp with music, issued in honour of Golden Earring's 50th anniversary. When the stamp is held up to a smartphone with a special app, Golden Earring’s 'Radar Love' plays. This stamp is the first in a series of music stamps with real sound, highlighting the most successful pop albums released in the Netherlands. PostNL was the first post office in the world to initiate this concept. Band member and co-founder Rinus Gerritsen accepted the first sheetlet from PostNL. The 50th anniversary was also celebrated at the museum, with a special temporary exhibition on the band, called 'Golden Earring - Back Home', featuring their music, background and influences.
Originally written in March 2012