I asked for favorite Golden Earring songs the other day, then found two top-10 GE song lists from rock critics
- Canadian journalist Martin Popoff and Pete Pardo, an American who has a popular YouTube channel where he discusses rock music, frequently with Martin.
I'd run across Pete's channel because of a video tribute he did for George Kooymans, which I'll post below. After finding it I checked for any other videos he'd done on Golden Earring and found one on his 10 favorite Golden Earring albums, and another on the recent reissue of the 1977 double live album (which he's recommended as a place to start for anyone unfamiliar with their music).
But it was the hour-long video he did with Martin Popoff, each listing their 10 favorite GE songs, that struck me as especially interesting. There was ZERO overlap. Neither mentioned Twilight Zone, though one mentioned Radar Love. Nor did their lists look much like what I've seen Golden Earring fans list as their favorite songs. But they explained in detail why they chose each song on the list, and I thought other people here might find it interesting - and since I've never posted some of their favorites here, I suspect a lot of songs on the list will be new to DUers.
Their choices didn't resemble my list, either. Their lists each focused on a particular era of GE's music, different eras of several years. My favorites have a range of 25 years.
Anyway, I'll post my favorites, then theirs, and will post their hour-long video (which is just discussion of the songs, no music) below that, so you can hear their reasons for including some deep cuts on their lists.
My list, songs with the albums/year in parentheses:
1.Twilight Zone (Cut, 1984)
2. Radar Love (Moontan, 1973 Europe, 1974 US)
3. Vanilla Queen (Moontan)
4. When The Lady Smiles (N.E.W.S. aka NorthEastWestSouth, 1984)
5 - 10 in no particular order:
Back Home (Golden Earring, 1970)
Another 45 Miles (non-album single, 1969, added to their 1969 album Eight Miles High when it was reissued)
Weekend Love (No Promises...No Debts, 1979)
Just A Little Bit Of Peace In My Heart (later live performances are better than the 1968 single on their early 1969 album On The Double)
Turn The World Around (Keeper Of The Flame, 1989)
Just Like Vince Taylor (not the studio track for the European version of Moontan, a track that was the B side of the Radar Love single in the States, but the much better live performances)
I'd also add two great covers they did, the acoustic cover of the Byrds' Eight Miles High, recorded for their first live acoustic album, The Naked Truth, in 1992, and their cover of the Beach Boys' Sail On Sailor for their studio album Love Sweat in 1995.
The songs on my list were both hit singles and concert staples for Golden Earring, with the exceptions of Vanilla Queen and Just Like Vince Taylor (concert staples but not released as A-side singles) and Sail On Sailor (neither a single not a concert staple; I just think it's a great cover).
Martin Popoff's list:
1. Weekend Love (No Promises...No Debts, 1979)
2. D-Light (NP...ND)
3. When The Lady Smiles (N.E.W.S., 1984)
4. Long Blond Animal (Long Blond Animal, 1980 - album title was Prisoner Of The Night in Europe)
5. Lost And Found (Cut, 1982)
6. Moving Down Life (Grab It For A Second, 1978)
7. It's Over Now (N.E.W.S.)
8. Grab It For A Second (GIFAS)
9. Enough Is Enough (N.E.W.S.)
10. Clear Night Moonlight (N.E.W.S.)
My comments on Martin's list: He chose only songs from 1978 through 1984. Only Weekend Love and When The Lady Smiles are on my list, though if I added another 10 songs for a list of 20, Long Blond Animal and Moving Down Life would be somewhere between 11 and 20. And as much as I like Weekend Love - I posted it again the other day at https://www.democraticunderground.com/1034148859 - I was surprised to see that it was his favorite...and stunned that he thinks the Rolling Stones should have covered it.
Pete Pardo's list:
1. She Flies On Strange Wings (Seven Tears, 1971)
2. Candy's Going Bad (Moontan, 1973/74)
3. From Heaven From Hell (Together, 1972)
4. Radar Love (Moontan)
5. I'm Going To Send My Pigeons To The Sky (Golden Earring, 1970)
6. The Road Swallowed Her Name (Seven Tears)
7. Brother Wind (Together)
8. Vanilla Queen (Moontan)
9.The Wall Of Dolls (Golden Earring)
10. Everyday's Torture (Eight Miles High, 1969)
My comments on Pete's list: Pete chose only songs from 1969 through 1973. Only Radar Love and Vanilla Queen are on my top 10 list, though if I added favorites 11-20, She Flies On Strange Wings, Candy's Going Bad, The Road Swallowed Her Name, and (maybe) Everyday's Torture would be somewhere on there. (Btw, Pete's comment describing Everyday's Torture as early doom metal is why I posted here - https://www.democraticunderground.com/1034148676 - about it, though I saw other people make similar comments online.) Both Pete and Martin were confused by I'm Going To Send My Pigeons To The Sky, unaware that racing pigeons is a popular Dutch hobby and sport, and reportedly at one point George almost chose that over being in a band.
Video of their discussion, recorded a year ago:
Pete's tribute to George Kooymans, recorded 5 days ago:
= new reply since forum marked as read
I don’t know much of GE’s discography beyond the songs that got radio play in the 70s. Very interested in exploring further, so I’ll probably listen to everything on these lists in the next couple weeks. Yay!
Have listened to several of Pardo’s album ranking videos for various prog rock and a few jazz artists, and generally my tastes sort of align with his (except I never have connected with the metal genre… and as for the more mainstream rock, meh… it’s music that I often find boring.) Have listened to a couple of joint reviews that Popoff has done with Pardo… and I’ll just say that I like Pardo’s taste in music much better. But I like the fact that both guys do these reviews and descriptions of the music, they provide jumping off points for expanding my musical horizons.
Again, thanks for the GE lists, highplains!
