SONG OF THE DAY
“Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring (Cut, Capitol/ 21/Mercury, 1982). Written by George Kooymans.
WHERE I HEARD IT
I keep hearing it on Woodstock Radio, WDST, and I’m totally loving it. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before, so it’s new classic rock to me, I guess there is such a thing—totally fun and exciting!
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
– “Twilight Zone” is a 1982 hit song by the Dutch hard rock band Golden Earring.
– It was written by the band’s guitarist George Kooymans, who got the inspiration from the book by Robert Ludlum The Bourne Identity.
– It reached #10 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart, the band’s only #1 hit in the country.
– Lead vocals on the song are performed first by George Kooymans (who speaks the lines up to, and including, the line “the gun is still warm”), then by Barry Hay who sings the rest of the song. If the first 5 or 6 seconds of the song is played in reverse, the words “Sirens in my head, my whole life spins into” can be heard which are from two lines and chords later in the song. The full lines, “Yeah, there’s a storm on the loose, sirens in my head” and “Cannot decode – my whole life spins into a frenzy” are partly masked because the vocal track is being played at a much lower volume than the reversed chords are.
– The music video, directed by Dick Maas, features a storyline with lead singer Barry Hay as an espionage agent who is inevitably apprehended by three henchmen (played by the other members of the band). The music video was one of the first to feature a cinematic storyline and dance choreography and was a hit on the fledgling MTV network, helping the song to become the second international hit for the band.
– Golden Earring followed the success with an extensive tour of the USA, Canada and Europe. MTV commissioned the band to shoot a movie of the final ‘homecoming’ concert of the tour in The Netherlands.
– The concert film, also directed by Dick Maas, included a brief introductory segment which was a parody of the TV series “The Twilight Zone”. The concert was released in 1984 as Live from The Twilight Zone, aired on MTV and published as video and DVD. To date this concert is regarded as one of the best live shows of the band.
– The Cut album cover’s iconic image of the jack of diamonds playing card being shredded by a bullet is used in the video and represents the life of the rogue agent.
– “Twilight Zone” was used as the theme song in the 1993 hit pinball game, “The Twilight Zone” (based on the classic TV series), made by Midway Games.
– “Twilight Zone” is used as the theme song for the radio news show “Wall Street Journal This Morning”.
– “Twilight Zone” is often heard as bumper music on the “Coast to Coast” AM radio show.
– The song was covered by CSS and was used in a Lincoln commercial titled “Wired Luxury.”
– The song which reached #1 in the Netherlands and #10 in the United States.
– 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 currently performing in the same line up.
– Golden Earring’s upcoming studio album will be recorded live at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London in July 2011.
– In 1968, the band earned their first #1 hit in the Netherlands with the pop song “Dong Dong Diki Digi Dong.” This single was followed by a successful psychedelic album Eight Miles High, which featured an 18-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 organized: 1969.
– 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 13 US tours. During this period, they performed as the opening act for Santana, The Doobie Brothers, Rush and .38 Special. In the early 1970s, when “Radar Love” was a hit, they had KISS and Aerosmith as their opening act.
– While touring the US 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.
– 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.
– 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.
– Golden Earring have not toured in North America or outside Europe since 1984. They have never toured Asia, South America or Australia.
– Along with the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and Germany’s The Lords, Golden Earring are one of the oldest rock band that are still performing today, and Golden Earring has arguably the most stable lineup of these veteran bands (ZZ Top holds the record for stable membership, but is a younger band, being formed in 1969).