The Cars
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The Cars
<tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3"> The album cover for Heartbeat City, one of The Cars' most successful and well known albums. </td></tr>
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<tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Boston, Massachusetts</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Art rock |
The Cars were a popular American New Wave band, fronted by Ric Ocasek, that emerged out of the early punk scene in the late 1970s. They hailed from Boston, Massachusetts and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977.
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[edit] Band history
The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synth-oriented pop then becoming popular, and which would flower in the early 1980s. While most of the singles included an Elliot Easton guitar solo, The Cars' sound was defined much more by the distinctive and instantly recognizable vocals of chief songwriter/rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek and bassist/sex symbol Benjamin Orr. The sound was filled out by Greg Hawkes' synthesizers and the huge harmonies of Easton, David Robinson, and Hawkes. While Ric Ocasek was the sole lyricist and main songwriter for the band, Benjamin Orr would act as frontman in concerts and live appearances.
The band's hits dominated the charts for over nine years; their most successful albums were 1978's The Cars, which included the hits "Just What I Needed", "Good Times Roll", and "My Best Friend's Girl", 1979's Candy-O, which featured the hits "Let's Go" and It's All I Can Do, and 1984's Heartbeat City, which included four Top 20 singles: "Magic", "Drive", "Hello Again" and "You Might Think", which also won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year (see 1984 in music). "Drive" gained particular notability when it was used in a video of the Ethiopian famine prepared by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and introduced by David Bowie at the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Another extremely popular song from the Cars (but often not attributed to them) is "Moving in Stereo". It became infamous for its use during the Phoebe Cates pool scene in the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Image:RICOCA2.JPG
After the resulting period of superstardom and another hit single ("Tonight She Comes", a new song from their first Greatest Hits album), the Cars released their last album Door to Door in 1987, but it failed to approach the success of their previous albums. The Cars announced the group's break-up in February 1988 (see 1988 in music). In the late 1990s, rumors circulated of a Cars reunion, but Orr's death of pancreatic cancer on October 3, 2000 put an end to them for a time.
However, with the blessings from Ocasek; Easton and Hawkes teamed with Todd Rundgren in the new revamped lineup, The New Cars in 2005. Ocasek stated, "I want Elliot and Greg to be happy". Two regular Rundgren collaborators, bassist Kasim Sulton and drummer Prairie Prince, replaced Orr and Robinson in the new lineup. On April 17 2006, Ocasek appeared on The Colbert Report and was asked if there was anyone he wanted to put "on notice" and answered Todd Rundgren — further supporting the tour with publicity. He has made several other appearances on The Colbert Report since then.
[edit] Discography
 <center>1978 Elektra <center>#18 U.S. |
 <center>1979 Elektra <center>#3 U.S. |
 <center>1980 Elektra <center>#5 U.S. |
 <center>1981 Elektra <center>#9 U.S. |
<center>1984 Elektra <center>#3 U.S. |
 <center>1985 Elektra <center>#12 U.S. |
 <center>1987 Elektra <center>#26 U.S. |
 <center>1995 Elektra/Rhino <center> |
 <center>1999 Elektra/Rhino <center> |
 <center>2001 Flashback <center> |
 <center>2002 Elektra/Rhino <center>#144 U.S. |
 <center>2005 WEA International <center> |
[edit] Singles
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† Lead vocals by Benjamin Orr (Ric Ocasek on all others).
[edit] Trivia
- "Stacy's Mom", a 2003 song, very closely mimicks The Cars' sound. The video clip re-enacts a scene from the film "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". In the scene from the film, the accompanying music is the Cars' "Moving in Stereo".
- Also in the video "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains Of Wayne - There is a quick shot of a car, and the rear license plate says "I ♥ RIC", a reference to Cars frontman Ric Ocasek.
- In the music video for "Get Free" by The Vines, lead singer Craig Nicholls wears the band's t-shirt.
- On The Colbert Report The Cars are frequently mentioned, and Ric Ocasek is a recurring character.
- Despite the fact that Benjamin Orr sang almost half of the songs recorded by The Cars, many still believe Ocasek was the sole lead singer and that Orr provided the vocals on "Drive" only.
- Starting in late 2004, The Cars hit song "Just What I Needed" was played in Circuit City television ads.
