Bassist James Lomenzo recalls how song “Radar Love” ended up on White Lion’s ‘Big Game’ album

Bassist James Lomenzo recalls how song “Radar Love” ended up on White Lion’s ‘Big Game’ album

Former White Lion and Megadeth bassist James Lomenzo was recently interviewed by media journalist Mark Dean for Madness To Creation.

Lomenzo was asked about White Lion‘s inclusion of Golden Earring‘s track “Radar Love” on their album Big Game, which was released back in 1989. The bassist replied (with slight edits):

“Well it was actually an accident. We were at rehearsal one day working on some of the songs, and I got in my head to start jamming that riff, because I think I’d heard it on the radio that day. So I started just playing it, and Greg [D’Angelo] joined in, and it felt pretty good. And then Mike [Tramp] came up to me and said, “What is that? I love that song.” And I said, “Well that’s not Danish, but it’s in your neighborhood.” So I said, “It’s Golden Earring, ‘Radar Love’.” And he goes, “Ah,” so he starts singing it, and at first he was a little clumsy on it, because he sounded like… He was very square on it. “I’ve been riding all night, hands white on the wheel,” but then he started swinging it really good.

And I was like, “Man, we should do this,” and Vito [Bratta] was digging it, so we just threw it on just as a lark, just because it was fun to play, and the record label when they heard it, they really, really liked it, and they were hedging their bets, because they weren’t really sure about a lot of the songs on Big Game, and maybe looking back, I don’t disagree with them completely. That band was just a little more raw, we didn’t really do a big production on that. We just played the songs, really close to being a three-piece band. And so I think, because that was a wide, familiar-sounding song, I think the record company was more than thrilled to throw it out there as an insurance policy. I think that’s why they ended up doing that.”

You can read the rest of the interview with James Lomenzo by media journalist Mark Dean at Madness To Creation‘s website.

White Lion‘s “Radar Love” video: