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You very well might work for a radar company if you found this page; at your next holiday party, ask the DJ to cue up a radar song, then watch the dance floor magically fill in, these are classics. If you serve in the military, play one on your next bombing mission when you're carrying anti-radiation missiles, and share the love! We've include the lyrics so you can sing along.
Did you know there was once a UK record label "Radar Records?"
Radar Love
by Barry Hay and George Kooymans
Radar Love was a hit song in 1973 by Dutch group Golden Earring. Read the Radar Love story on Wikipedia.
What the heck is that, a man bra?
I've been drivin' all night, my hand's wet on the wheel
There's a voice in my head that drives my heel
It's my baby callin', says I need you here
And it's half past four and I'm shifting gear
When she's lonely and the longing gets too much
She sends a cable comin' in from above
We don't need no phone at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a wave in the air, radar love
The radio's playing some forgotten song
Brenda Lee's "Coming on Strong"
The road's got me hypnotized
And I'm speeding into a new sunrise
When I get lonely, and I'm sure I've had enough
She sends her comfort, comin' in from above
Don't need no radio at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We’ve got a line in the sky, radar love
No more speed, I'm almost there
Gotta keep cool now, gotta take care
Last car to pass, here I go
And the line of cars drove down real slow
And the radio played that forgotten song
Brenda Lee's "Coming on Strong"
And the newsman sang his same song
One more radar lover's gone
When I'm feeling lonely and I'm sure I've had enough
She sends the comfort coming in from above
Don't need no radio at all
We got a thing that's called radar love
We got a line in the sky
We got a thing that's called radar love
We got a thing that's called radar love
While we are on the subject of Dutch rock groups, Shocking Blue stands out as the best Dutch act to ever hit the US Pop charts, when they recorded I'm Your Venus in 1969. Mariska Veres probably had a lot of offers, but she refused all the ones that included sex, drugs and booze. She died in 2006, at the age of 59, from cancer, leaving millions of fans in mourning, Lady Gaga has a big wig to fill when it comes to Veres. Check it out, she says "godness" instead of "goddess" in the first line of the song! Kind of like The King of Pop singing Rock-a-Bobbin instead of Rocking Robin at 1:41 into this clip...
I'm your Venus, I'm your flier, at your desire
Neunundneunzig Luftballons
Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (music), Carlo Karges (German lyrics), Kevin McAlea (English lyrics)
Sung by Nena, most of the readers will remember this song as Ninety Nine Red Balloons. This protest song was written in 1983, about Cold-War military radar mistaking balloons for something else. Originally in German, the song was re-written in English in 1984; note that the English song was never meant to be a direct translation. Read both sets of lyrics here. Und hier someone has translated the original lyrics into English.
"Nena" was born Gabriele Susanne Kerner in 1960. "Niña" is Spanish for little girl, a nickname she acquired while on vacation in Spain at age three.
Mann, wer hätte das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons?
This is what we've waited for.
This is it boys, this is war.
Nena is still singing and looking great at it, here is a 2009 video of Neunundneunzig Luftballons with part of the lyrics in French. It's worth watching to the end, to see someone throw shoes at the general...
Bird is the Word
If you work in radar, everyone knows that "birdie" is the word for a spurious signal in your receiver. Of course, satellites are referred to as "birds", so if you work in space systems, one of the songs you need to request at your holiday party is obvious.
Bird is the Word was a hit for the doo-wop group The Rivingtons in 1962. The Rivington's distinctive hats have hopefully been preserved in a doo-wop museum somewhere.
Bird is the Word by the Rivingtons
Bird is the Word was adapted from an earlier hit Rivington's hit, Papa Oom-Mow-Mow, dating from 1962. In the video below of the Steve Allen show, first you will meet the Flying Wheels, a wheelchair basketball team, brought to you by spinal chord injuries from the exploding ordinance of World War II. Then the Rivingtons sing Papa Oom Mow Mow live, and it is not lip-synched and worth the wait.
Papa Oom-Mow-Mow by the Rivingtons, live
In 1963 The Trashmen combined the two songs and scored a#4 hit, which has since been beat to death by the cartoon Family Guy which does not rate a link here. Like many white groups The Trashmen pretended that they wrote a song they stole from R&B, and later changed their story after legal action by the actual songwriters. Below you can see Steve Ward perform Surfin' Bird on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Later in the interview he repeats the lie that his group wrote the song, and gives some background on how this might have occurred. Way to dig yourself in deeper, big guy...
Surfin' Bird by the Trashmen, lip-syched by Steve Ward
The Ramones did a cover of Surfin' Bird on the Rocket to Russia album and it became a standard for their live show. If you were born before 1970 and missed the Ramones in concert, your life went horribly wrong. Imagine a 1970's rock act without the masturbatory guitar solo and you will be on the right track. Surfin' Bird is three chord rock with the IV and V chords used very sparingly, it is a perfect fit for The Ramones.
Surfin' Bird by The Ramones. in concert
Underneath the Radar
by Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, and Alfie Thomas
Underworld is a British pop group that dates back to 1980. Their Underneath the Radar reached #74 in the Billboard Hot 100 back in '88, and was featured on the television show Miami Vice. More recently, Underworld had some work at the London Olympics opening ceremony in 2012. Read about Underworld on Wikipedia.
Why did everyone in the 1970s look like they just came from a leather bar?
Yes, that is Morse code at the opening. As you might already know, radars use Morse code. Don't believe everything you read on the internet! Supposedly it says: "think global, act local." But it's that drum beat at 144 beats per minute that is calling you out to the dance floor...
I am the doctor... please report to the dance floor...
Unknown, unseen, we live underneath the radar
No sign - on screen, we dance underneath the radar
Between the walls - Well hey, we're just too small to make a fuss about it
Did something fall? Well hey, what is the point in losin' sleep about it?
See ya later - see ya later - Hip-a-no-no-no, Hip-a-no-no-no
See ya later - call me
We dance underneath the radar
We live underneath the bomb
When you live underneath the radar
There's no way that you're ever gonna get far, yeah! (Ha ha ha ha so get hip!)
We speak, unheard, like ants we dance between the towers
We sleep, they move, come sailin' over the horizon
Between the walls - Well hey, we're just too small to make a fuss about it
Did something fall? Well hey, what is the point in losin' sleep about it?
See ya later - see ya later - Hip-a-no-no-no, Hip-a-no-no-no
See ya later - call me
We dance underneath the radar
We live underneath the bomb
When you live underneath the radar
There's no way that you're ever gonna get far...
We kiss underneath the searchlight
We live underneath the bomb
When you live underneath the radar
There's no way that you're ever gonna get far, yeah! (Ha Ha ha ha so get hip!)
He says I am the doctor - In a B-52 I come across the horizon -
Drop my love on you you you you you ... I'm gonna WO-O-O-O-O ya all - Watch out! Ha!
See ya later - See ya later - Hip-a-no-no-no Hip-a-no-no-no
See ya later - call me
We dance underneath the radar
We live underneath the bomb
When you live underneath the radar
There's no way that you're ever gonna get far...
We kiss underneath the searchlights
And we live underneath the bomb
When you live underneath the radar
There's no way that you're ever gonna get far, yeah! (Ha Ha ha ha so get hip!)
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