Golden Earring

Golden Earring - Keeper Of The Flame - 1989 - Virgin (Germany)

Good album from the seemingly immortal Golden Earring who originally formed in 1961 in The Netherlands, and are still hard rockin' around the world. They are best remembered for Radar Love, but check out their extensive catalogue and you will find some real gems. Rated by many music critics as one of GE's weaker albums, KOTF is not as rock orientated as some of GE's other albums, and definitely got "bogged down" in the 80's trend of light rock, but it still has the great vibrancy of one of the world's greatest hard rock bands. Check out GE's "The Hole" album @ THOLE/GE This will lead you to further GE links.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

A1 Can Do That - Barry Hay, George Kooymans
A2 Too Much Woman - Barry Hay, George Kooymans
A3 One Word - Barry Hay, George Kooymans
A4 Keeper Of The Flame - Rinus Gerritsen, Barry Hay

B1 Turn The World Around - Barry Hay, George Kooymans
B2 Circles - Barry Hay, George Kooymans
B3 Say My Prayer - Barry Hay, George Kooymans
B4 Distant Love - Rinus Gerritsen

N.B: Also released as a 10 track CD, with extra tracks, "Nighthawks", and "My Killer My Shadow" both composed by Barry Hay, & George Kooymans

BAND

Vocals, Guitar - George Kooymans
Bass, Keyboards - Rinus Gerritsen
Drums - Cesar Zuiderwijk
Keyboards [Additional] - Tijn Smit (track: B1)
Vocals - Barry Hay
Backing Vocals - Jantien de Laaf (track: A1)

SHORT BIO

Best known in the U.S. for its hard rock material, Golden Earring has been the most popular homegrown band in the Netherlands since the mid-'60s, when they were primarily a pop group. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans and bassist/vocalist Rinus Gerritsen, then schoolboys, in 1961; several years and personnel shifts later, they had their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," and in 1968 hit the top of the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that broadened their European appeal. By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. They experimented with their style for several years before settling on straightforward hard rock initially much like that of the Who, who invited them to open their 1972 European tour. Golden Earring signed to the Who's Track label, which released a compilation of Dutch singles, Hearing Earring, helping the group break through in England. 1974's Moontan LP spawned the single "Radar Love," a Dutch number one, U.K. Top Ten, and U.S. number thirteen hit. The group toured America opening for the Doobie Brothers and Santana, but the lack of a follow-up ensured that their popularity remained short-lived in America, even though they remained a top draw in Europe over the rest of the 1970s. 1982 saw a brief American comeback with the album Cut and the Top Ten single "Twilight Zone," but as before, Golden Earring could not sustain its momentum and faded away in the U.S. marketplace. All of Golden Earring's basic lineup has recorded as solo artists in Europe. "Radar Love" enjoyed a second round of popularity when pop-metal band White Lion covered the song in 1989. © Steve Huey, All Music Guide