Songoftheday 10/23/12 - It's 2am and the fear is gone, I'm sitting here waiting the gun's still warm...

Golden Earring - "Twilight Zone"
from the album Cut (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (two weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 15

Today's Song of the Day is the Dutch rock group Golden Earring, started by teens George Kooymans and Renis Gerritsen. In 1965, their first hit single, "Please Go", made the Top-10 in the Netherlands. After recruiting singer Barry Hay, the band topped their country's pop chart with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong" in 1968. Two years later, after adding drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk, and now completing the foursome now still going, they expanded their scope with their second #1 Dutch hit "Back Home", which made the top-20 in both Germany and Switzerland.

By then their sound had gone from a Beatles-esque primitive rock sound to a hard group wail, and by 1973, that paid off with their American breakthrough hit, "Radar Love", which made the top-20 on the US charts while being their third chart-topping single in their homeland, and also becoming their first big hit in England, peaking at #7.

While their success on pop radio didn't linger, they still remained huge in Holland, racking up 22 top-10 hits there up to the 80s. In 1982 the band released their album Cut, and the first single, "Twilight Zone", written by Kooymans, topped the American rock radio chart and became their first US top-10 pop hit...

The song helped Cut become their second top-10 album, but besides a couple more minor American singles, their American success waned, though they've continued to have top-10 hits in the Netherlands as late as 2005.

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The Brazilian pop group CSS tackled the song in 2010...

...and last year, Wisdom In Chains from Stroudsburg, PA covered the tune...

Finally, here's Golden Earring in 2006 live..

Up tomorrow: a Checkmate needs a subscription...