This morning’s CarTune is the 1973 car-radio smash, “Radar Love,” by the veteran Dutch rock band Golden Earring. 

MCG has a theory (constructed without a scintilla of hard evidence) that “Radar Love” is responsible for more speeding tickets than any other song in the history of vehicular law enforcement. It’s automatic: When the brain hears drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk beating out those triplets, the right foot involuntarily applies more pressure to the throttle pedal. Sorry officer, couldn’t be helped.

The band responsible for all this criminal activity, Golden Earring, is one of the longest-running acts in rock music. Formed in 1961, the band still performs today with a roster unchanged since 1970, and enjoyed a huge hit at the peak of the MTV era with the song “Twilight Zone,” which, oddly perhaps, was based on the Robert Ludlum novel, The Bourne Identity. 

In 1992 in Rotterdam, the band performed “Radar Love” accompanied by 1000 drummers with full kit, a stunt of world record caliber (check it out here). However, the video performance below is from the July 5, 1974 broadcast of The Midnight Special, the musical variety show that aired on NBC from 1973 to 1981. Now drive carefully, and watch your speed.

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