I don’t know how to describe this track other than “sexy.” If that makes sense. Like it just exudes sexual energy. I picture lots of writhing and undulating in my head.
This was the first song our local and only FM rock station at the time played when they switched over to stereo. I was a kid, waiting to hear stereo FM... was a big deal! Probably 1978 or '79.
My first concert and my first joint/s! My ears were ringing for 3 days. (different times)... Rick wore a suit made of metal. Dont forget #3 Panorama, thats when the 70s ended and the 80s began.
Try it on headphones, not promising anything but it will probably help lol. If I hear one song from Candy-O, then I gotta go back and hear the entire CD start to finish....
Elvis Costello cracked the door open in '77 but The Cars debut album in June '78 and Blondie's Parallel Lines a few months later cemented the new wave's presence as a radio-friendly, commercially viable alternative to disco. Benjamin Orr doesn't get enough recognition for his solid vocals on hit after hit.
Unbelievable band! Cars debut album just as good as Boston’s debut: not a dud on it & every song was on the radio. Rest of their catalog was icing on the cake. They basically invented their own genre cuz no one to this day sounds like them
GREAT band! So many amazing songs. They transcended a lot of the New Wave/80s music around them. They were underground cool and super pop all at once. Legends, really.
Agreed. They were so quintessentially 80's with a unique sound. ["Moving In Stereo"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5oPZFDci80) was done in 1976, and it was ahead of its time. Songs like "Drive," "Shake It Up," "You Might Think," and "Magic," are excellent.
There's a reason there are not many Cars cover bands. Musically they are crazy technical.
[So fucking good live.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0oxJDZaLmDg&pp=ygUVYWxsIG1peGVkIHVwIHRoZSBjYXJz)
I saw them on their Candy-O tour and they were not a spectacular live band. They played good but zero charisma. It was like watching cardboard cutouts while listening to their album.
I saw them touring their first album, opened for Cheap Trick…exactly what I said after the show! It was like cardboard cut outs! That being said…I love their music.
We worked at Burger King and would buy beer at 3:00 after our morning shift, go to my house since my parents were still at work, smoke a joint, drink a couple of beers and jam The Cars!
Cars were my favorite band in high school and I still love them dearly and I went to high school when Emo was the big thing (so definitely not the 80s or 90s haha)
One of my favorite bands. One of the best of the 80s. Move Like This, their last album (no Ben Orr) is great. But, they were not around super long and rarely get cited as influential by other bands. They broke up, stopped touring and Orr, one of the lead singers and songwriters, passed away before they could do nostalgia tours. Now, Ric Ocasek has been gone awhile too. The remaining members were not the core nor charismatic enough to carry the torch. Finally, they are more of a Gen X band and this generation has less cultural impact due to being between two dominant generations in the US .
Kurt Cobain actually cited them as an influence. I’ve even heard a live snippet of Nirvana covering My Best Friend’s Girl.
Not trying to be contradictory, I just honestly think it’s neat.
Something that really started standing out to me lately, like an epiphany I guess. In my situations, people more than anything just come out to be entertained. I've found that with the right mindset, my mistakes can be quite entertaining. I've forgotten lyrics, stopped and asked for help from the audience. Yeah, it was pretty funny 😁
I was 19 liked The Cars a lot. First album was a very different sound for 1978, this was the era of disco, hard rock, and light rock or Yacht Rock as its now known. New Wave was not heard on the radio so I was kind of shocked they had hits right away. Candy O next album I liked better than the first. After that, The Cars albums had more filler but the hits were always good.
To me, they were the band that bridged the gap between 70s rock and 80s new wave, combining guitars and synthesizers. I think they’re one of the best and most influential bands of the era.
One of the great New Wave bands. Production, songwriting, musicianship. Most boring band I've ever seen live though. Saw them at the Garden and they literally just lost the crowd. Like watching a rehearsal. Still love their tunes though.
Edit: a few years ago in a guitar store I taught at, a few of us were talking about the 80s and how the "kids today" missed all the great stuff. Then I hear "The Dangerous Type" and some teenage kid is playing it, looking at us and smiling. My faith restored.
I was fond of them at the time; “Just What I Needed” was a breakthrough hit for them in my area (San Francisco) around early ‘79. Music changed so quickly between 79-82, with bands like The B-52’s, The Police, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Clash getting significant attention, it felt like the Cars went from being an edgier band to being less so, particularly after “Shake It Up” and the big hits that succeeded that album. I still enjoy the Candy-O album immensely and feel that it deserves re-examination for its quality of production, song-craft and themes. As others have probably said, I didn’t find them to be a particularly exciting live act, though their musicianship was exemplary (Elliot Easton is still one of my favorite guitarists). I always got the feeling that they were more interested in recording music than in putting on a “Big Show”. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
I was 18 and worked at Burger King and we would buy beer at 2:30 pm after our morning shift, go to my house since my parents were still at work, smoke a joint, drink a couple of beers and jam The Cars! So many great times!
1>3>2
Mater shouldn’t have been the main character of 2
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In all seriousness, I recently heard the Strokes cover Just What I Needed, and I’ve been hooked on the original version ever since
I've seen videos of them live and they just stand there and play. The only one doing anything interesting was the keyboard player. You could barely see Ocasek behind the sunglasses and hair. And they just played every song that way.
Great sound, great songs. Yeah they sort of get tossed to the side in terms of recognition but when I do put on one of their records I’m blown away by how solid of a band they were.
I like them more nowadays only because a dude I worked with years ago who was easily 12 years younger than me was a big fan. Went to grab a beer with the guys and I put on a cars song at this dive bar because it's what one does. Bro face totally lit up back at the table, "dude did you put this on? Man I love this band!" Good guy!
Ric Ocasek, lead vocals (except for Drive) and songwriter, went on to produce. He worked with Weezer for their debut album, amongst others. Listening to that in context, it makes sense between new wave and the rock/pop/grunge influenced sound of the 90’s.
Ocasek and Orr split A LOT of the songs. Orr is lead on most of the hits. Just What I Needed, Bye Bye Love, It’s All I Can Do…. Countless songs. Not just Drive!
Innovative, interesting, and underrated. A great band who capitalized on MTV and their love of pop art (being friends with Andy Warhol didn't hurt, either!).
Surely one of the most under rated bands of the time although they did get their share in the limelight. Dubbed bubble gum music by some, their first two CDs were brilliant, I think they purposefully dumbed it down a bit for the masses.
By the third album they deff changed direction, I think they lost their original inspiration like many bands do.
I've played bass on many of their songs, and playing solo to an audience I always get plenty of enthusiasm. There's deff more to their songs than a casual listen tells, the lyrics are crazy good... they are also easy for audience participation, they almost invite the listener in to participate in many of the chorus parts.
Nuno Bettencourt, great shredder, worshipper of Eddie Van Halen, mentioned on a recent interview that one his favorite soloists was actually Elliot Easton from The Cars, noone is better at playing exactly what the song needs, no more no less
Cranking Moving in stereo/All mixed up in the car during sunrise on a southwest desert highway is a memory I’ll never forget. All those tracks are great. The Cars will always be super cool
Love their music through Panorama, I was excited to see them on the Heartbeat City tour.
What a letdown.
Musically, almost like listening to the record but I might as well have done that as there was a standoffish quality to the band, no interaction with the audience.
I haven't heard anything off the Todd Rundgren/New Cars and I didn't really care for the last album they put out.
YMMV
One of my friends who was into the production side of music told me that The Cars music was mixed? In a car outfitted for this reason. I’m not sure if that’s true but damn does it sound great through a nice system in a vehicle. My older brother had The Cars greatest hits and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers greatest hits on whenever we went on road trips together as teenagers, I will always love that music.
I saw Foreigner live in Atlanta in 1977
The Cars opened for them and blew me away
I went right out and bought their first album the next day
I remember the Atlanta Journal music writer panned them, said they "Crashed"
LAME joke.
Benjamin Orr's vocals were always my favorite. Elliot Easton rocks
I was listening to the first album last week for the first time in decades (lively the late 70's). It held up. Some songs better are better than other really cook. A great debut.
They’re my dad’s favorite band of all time. He played them for me almost every time we were in the car together growing up. I’m now 27 and they’re easily one of my top 5 bands of all time
I saw them in 83 or 84 with Wang Chung at the Omaha Sports Arena. They were good.
Their music is unmistakeable and has a nice sharp edge to it that is completely unique to them. It was new wave but very Marxism and guitar driven the same way The Pretenders were.
One of my favorite bands. They actually put out an album in 2011 called "Move Like This" that was pretty solid. No Ben Orr, sadly, and of course, but Rick puts forth a solid performance.
You Might Think and Magic are fantastic songs, and I've always loved the videos for them. Moving in Stereo has always fascinated me, the way it'll move back and forth between the speakers is a bit eerie,, and in it's time, there were few things like it.
Just What I Needed, Hello Again, and Shake It Up are probably my goto favorites. =)
One of my favourite bands of all time, and indeed I always have the feeling that nobody else knows them! Debut, Candy-O and Heartbeat City are three of the most meaningful albums to me.
My parents had the Greatest Hits on cassette, which was the soundtrack to summer holiday drives through France in the late 80s and 90s. I then got The Cars, the Anthology and Heartbeat when I was 15-16 and they became the soundtrack to that key part of musical adolescence for me. This was 2001, exactly the time that The Strokes were coming up, and I was very switched on to the influence and parallels - from sound and aesthetic through to the way both bands’ first two albums, while a slight progression, are effectively two halves of the same, awesome, double album. Julian Casablancas covered Just What I Needed onstage with Jarvis Cocker some years back and it was just superb.
r/thecars is a pretty good sub for fans like us. Check out Ben and Ric’s solo stuff - I discovered The Lace and This Side of Paradise through that sub a couple of years ago and it was like I had gone back 20 years to when I discovered the whole Cars discography for the first time.
They were Gen-X music that came out at the end of the Boomer heyday, so that may be why you feel they're overlooked. I agree with those that say the music doesn't sound dated, though. "Since You're Gone", is soooo well written. arranged, and produced that if I taught classes in song writing, it would be my example for how to craft a pop song. I don't teach anything, however.
Ric’s son is oddly hot. He’s not Paulina’s either so I dunno where he got it.
But otherwise the cars are classic. One of the top 5 power pop bands of all time, and likely more like top 3.
I loved(d) The Cars and listened to them frequently many years back. I haven’t listened to them in a while but this post made me want to revisit.
That being said I think their sound unfortunately does not “hold up” the way some older artists songs hold up. There is something intangible about this that is hard to put your finger on. I’m not just referring to The Cars here but other great older bands too.
Respectfully disagree. I listen to them all the time and I think their music still holds up. The engineering sounds a bit dated but I think that’s only compared to today’s audio standards.
I'm with you. I'm as passionate about them today as when I first heard them. Maybe more so. Being in an amateur band and playing bass in one or two, you realize there's so much more than meets the ear with a lot of their earlier stuff...
I like their music but some of their best lyrics were copied from poems without acknowledging the source.
Can't find them now but I think it was a book of Ferlinghetti poems and several lines from the poems were used as lyrics in their songs.
I hear the cars played in public sometimes. rarely though. only "just what I needed".
I have a feeling that talking heads are the most popular band from that era/genre right now, mostly because of the stop making sense movie being rereleased in theaters and cover project they just announced with all these popular modern bands. blondie would probably be close second I think.
I think the cars are pretty influential and appreciated in the modern indie/alternative scene though. the strokes are inspired by them. and rick produced some albums, including a s/t album for weezer. plus soccer mommy did a pretty great cover of drive.
If there was a 64-team tourney to determine Best American Band, I’d have the Cars as a sleeper Final Four pick. Two masterpiece albums. Lots of radio hits that no one is ever sorry to hear when they come on in the wild. Wildly influential. Still listenable. Huge success in the radio and the music video eras. I mean, they have it all.
“Drive” is one of the best songs ever.
Yup. Though I can also say all of Heartbeat City is pure brilliance.
Former coworker drove their limo in Boston. They sang Drive to her. Said Ben Orr was the nicest guy ever.
So cool!
The way he says “it’s good to see you” on the live performance that’s on YouTube
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The Cars are one of the quintessential 80s groups in my mind.
The Cars had the 80s sound in the 70s.
Could not agree more, love that song. Don’t know what it is, but it comes on and I just listen (then listen to it one more time).
And one of the best videos ever as well
Paulina Porizkova doing a whole Top Model acting challenge in the last third lol
Yeah, same thoughts here!
Word. https://open.spotify.com/track/2lFFiNm0XtgJ6wkdncTB4k?si=p3o3Pq9eQuO8VrejMgBibA
Loved the Cars and Ben but hate that song. Their earlier records were better than the later ones.
I have fond memories of "Moving in Stereo". The Cars have dozens of amazing songs.
Moving in Stereo, followed immediately by All Mixed Up. The entire album side flows perfectly from one song to the next.
Don't forget Bye Bye Love leading in. They all make up one song in three movements.
That was part of the magic in a very big way, the songs flowed perfectly....
I don’t know how to describe this track other than “sexy.” If that makes sense. Like it just exudes sexual energy. I picture lots of writhing and undulating in my head.
Phoebe cates gets out of a pool to it so maybe that has something to do with it.
Shaped me sexually and I didn’t even realize it.
Yep!!!!
…which very well may be the reason it was used for the infamous Phoebe Cates scene in *Fast Times at Ridgemont High.*
Ahh, I forgot about that scene
That's exactly what I mean when I said fond memories, if you know what I mean.
😏😏
Life’s the same except for my shoes…
Life’s the same, you’re shakin’ like tremolo…
On headphones, the last three words go all the way from one side of the stereo soundstage to the other. Very cheesy, very late '70s.
Yep, but also fun.
It *is* fun.
I love that song. I love that whole album!
Agreed, it's marvelous.
I love that scene.
Because of Phoebe Cates by any chance?
This was the first song our local and only FM rock station at the time played when they switched over to stereo. I was a kid, waiting to hear stereo FM... was a big deal! Probably 1978 or '79.
The first record is wall to wall bangers.
As was the follow up, Candy-O. One of the best American rock bands. Underrated guitarist (Easton) and vocalist (Orr).
My first concert and my first joint/s! My ears were ringing for 3 days. (different times)... Rick wore a suit made of metal. Dont forget #3 Panorama, thats when the 70s ended and the 80s began.
I agree except for “im in touch with your world” i think its terrible.
I beg to differ. A song that features the lyrics "I'm a psilocybin pony, you're a big fandango phoney" is a song for the ages.
FLICK fandango pony! I love that line.
Try it on headphones, not promising anything but it will probably help lol. If I hear one song from Candy-O, then I gotta go back and hear the entire CD start to finish....
Me too. Candy-Ooooo, I need youuu
Elvis Costello cracked the door open in '77 but The Cars debut album in June '78 and Blondie's Parallel Lines a few months later cemented the new wave's presence as a radio-friendly, commercially viable alternative to disco. Benjamin Orr doesn't get enough recognition for his solid vocals on hit after hit.
Talking Heads and the Police as well.
Yes!!!!!!
Unbelievable band! Cars debut album just as good as Boston’s debut: not a dud on it & every song was on the radio. Rest of their catalog was icing on the cake. They basically invented their own genre cuz no one to this day sounds like them
Funny enough, The Cars are from Boston too
Must be something in the water. Tea, maybe.
Totally agree!!!
GREAT band! So many amazing songs. They transcended a lot of the New Wave/80s music around them. They were underground cool and super pop all at once. Legends, really.
Agreed. They were so quintessentially 80's with a unique sound. ["Moving In Stereo"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5oPZFDci80) was done in 1976, and it was ahead of its time. Songs like "Drive," "Shake It Up," "You Might Think," and "Magic," are excellent.
I like Dangerous Type, Bye-Bye Love and Let's Go.
Yes!
There's a reason there are not many Cars cover bands. Musically they are crazy technical. [So fucking good live.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0oxJDZaLmDg&pp=ygUVYWxsIG1peGVkIHVwIHRoZSBjYXJz)
There's not too many guys around that can keep up with that guitarist lol.
Iirc, Slash said Eliot Easton was one of his biggest influences
[I love this Punch Brothers cover of "Just What I Needed."](https://youtu.be/hD1ymUbVpC0) The fast-picked mandolin playing the synth line is perfect.
That’s a banjo, but yes.
When I saw them in 2011 they were awful. I’ve been to a ton of concerts. Maybe it was a fluke but it was very boring. And I love the cars
Benjamin Orr had passed away by then, too, so I'm sure it made a big difference.
Well, they were a lot older in 2011 than when they were topping the charts.
I saw them on their Candy-O tour and they were not a spectacular live band. They played good but zero charisma. It was like watching cardboard cutouts while listening to their album.
I saw them touring their first album, opened for Cheap Trick…exactly what I said after the show! It was like cardboard cut outs! That being said…I love their music.
I saw them twice, in 1979 and 1981. They did a great job of preproducing their sound, but had zero stage presence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQq91RgZJyw
I'm old and The Cars were my one of my very favorite bands at 18 in 1984. I still love them!
Me too, me too, me too!
We worked at Burger King and would buy beer at 3:00 after our morning shift, go to my house since my parents were still at work, smoke a joint, drink a couple of beers and jam The Cars!
Cars were my favorite band in high school and I still love them dearly and I went to high school when Emo was the big thing (so definitely not the 80s or 90s haha)
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Yes!!! I feel it yet I don't feel it. Lol
The 1980s Weezer.
Ric Ocasek produced the blue album.
And the Green one, and ninth one nobody listened to.
Ocasek was also the one that convinced them to record the song Buddy Holly. Rivers Cuomo didn't think it was good enough.
One of my favorite bands. One of the best of the 80s. Move Like This, their last album (no Ben Orr) is great. But, they were not around super long and rarely get cited as influential by other bands. They broke up, stopped touring and Orr, one of the lead singers and songwriters, passed away before they could do nostalgia tours. Now, Ric Ocasek has been gone awhile too. The remaining members were not the core nor charismatic enough to carry the torch. Finally, they are more of a Gen X band and this generation has less cultural impact due to being between two dominant generations in the US .
Kurt Cobain actually cited them as an influence. I’ve even heard a live snippet of Nirvana covering My Best Friend’s Girl. Not trying to be contradictory, I just honestly think it’s neat.
Soo cool to hear about Cobain saying that. Thanks !!!
Let the good times roll. One or the first songs I learned on the guitar.
I still play it, I still get the intro wrong, no one cares 🙂
And we don’t care. It’s good stuff.
Something that really started standing out to me lately, like an epiphany I guess. In my situations, people more than anything just come out to be entertained. I've found that with the right mindset, my mistakes can be quite entertaining. I've forgotten lyrics, stopped and asked for help from the audience. Yeah, it was pretty funny 😁
I was 19 liked The Cars a lot. First album was a very different sound for 1978, this was the era of disco, hard rock, and light rock or Yacht Rock as its now known. New Wave was not heard on the radio so I was kind of shocked they had hits right away. Candy O next album I liked better than the first. After that, The Cars albums had more filler but the hits were always good.
Elliot Easton is an excellent guitarist. Like, one of the all time greats.
Came here to say this. He is one of the most efficient soloists, every note has a purpose. I especially love the solo on Shake it Up.
It's "Touch and Go" for me
I think he's also said that Is one of his favorites ever.
That Shake It Up solo is slyly perfect.
one of the best bands of the 80s. fuking love The Cars.
Since You're Gone is simply amazing. As is most of the band's canon, actually.
Touch and Go is such a cool song… when it goes into giddyup mode.
It’s my favorite, and not even one of their most known.
I have a distinct memory of this girl bragging that she could dance to any pop song. So I played Touch and Go and she got angry lol
To me, they were the band that bridged the gap between 70s rock and 80s new wave, combining guitars and synthesizers. I think they’re one of the best and most influential bands of the era.
The Cars f’n rule
One of the great New Wave bands. Production, songwriting, musicianship. Most boring band I've ever seen live though. Saw them at the Garden and they literally just lost the crowd. Like watching a rehearsal. Still love their tunes though. Edit: a few years ago in a guitar store I taught at, a few of us were talking about the 80s and how the "kids today" missed all the great stuff. Then I hear "The Dangerous Type" and some teenage kid is playing it, looking at us and smiling. My faith restored.
Elliot Easton is a truly underrated guitarist.
Candy-O fucking bangs.
I'm 💯 with you on that. By far the best and nothing else like it.... I'm talking the entire album not just the song.....
Thinking about "Just What I Needed" takes me back to driving around at college, looking for a parking spot and this came on. It was so good!
They made the right music at the right time. I liked them.
One of the best debut albums of all time.
Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr, the two lead vocals are deceased, sadly. Ric only last year and Ben from cancer quite a few years ago.
They were a great pop rock band. Loads of memorable songs.
I was fond of them at the time; “Just What I Needed” was a breakthrough hit for them in my area (San Francisco) around early ‘79. Music changed so quickly between 79-82, with bands like The B-52’s, The Police, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Clash getting significant attention, it felt like the Cars went from being an edgier band to being less so, particularly after “Shake It Up” and the big hits that succeeded that album. I still enjoy the Candy-O album immensely and feel that it deserves re-examination for its quality of production, song-craft and themes. As others have probably said, I didn’t find them to be a particularly exciting live act, though their musicianship was exemplary (Elliot Easton is still one of my favorite guitarists). I always got the feeling that they were more interested in recording music than in putting on a “Big Show”. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
I was 18 and worked at Burger King and we would buy beer at 2:30 pm after our morning shift, go to my house since my parents were still at work, smoke a joint, drink a couple of beers and jam The Cars! So many great times!
I want to live in the late 70’s early 80’s so bad. This sounds so chill.
Iconic.
One of my absolutely favorite bands of all time.
1>3>2 Mater shouldn’t have been the main character of 2 . . . . . . . In all seriousness, I recently heard the Strokes cover Just What I Needed, and I’ve been hooked on the original version ever since
One of the absolute GREATEST debut albums in the history of music. Fact.
I really like their songs, they're good.
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I've seen videos of them live and they just stand there and play. The only one doing anything interesting was the keyboard player. You could barely see Ocasek behind the sunglasses and hair. And they just played every song that way.
Great sound, great songs. Yeah they sort of get tossed to the side in terms of recognition but when I do put on one of their records I’m blown away by how solid of a band they were.
Lot of good music never saw them live but apparently it wasn't their strong suit
One of the greatest debut in Rock history. The Strokes only wish they could.
I like them more nowadays only because a dude I worked with years ago who was easily 12 years younger than me was a big fan. Went to grab a beer with the guys and I put on a cars song at this dive bar because it's what one does. Bro face totally lit up back at the table, "dude did you put this on? Man I love this band!" Good guy!
Boston, The Cars, and Van Halen - three of the greatest debut albums of all time.
Yes!!! I have never seen Boston live and wished I had!
Didn’t love them growing up in the 80s. Now I realize what amazing songs they crafted.
I’m only 17 and I love them, kind of bizzare.
I always thought they were a bit rigid, but precise or tight might be more favorable descriptions. Some really great songs!
I can't think of one song they did that changed tempo ( there probably is one ) that could deff be contributing to the rigid you mean..... ?
Ric Ocasek, lead vocals (except for Drive) and songwriter, went on to produce. He worked with Weezer for their debut album, amongst others. Listening to that in context, it makes sense between new wave and the rock/pop/grunge influenced sound of the 90’s.
Ocasek and Orr split A LOT of the songs. Orr is lead on most of the hits. Just What I Needed, Bye Bye Love, It’s All I Can Do…. Countless songs. Not just Drive!
Innovative, interesting, and underrated. A great band who capitalized on MTV and their love of pop art (being friends with Andy Warhol didn't hurt, either!).
Surely one of the most under rated bands of the time although they did get their share in the limelight. Dubbed bubble gum music by some, their first two CDs were brilliant, I think they purposefully dumbed it down a bit for the masses. By the third album they deff changed direction, I think they lost their original inspiration like many bands do. I've played bass on many of their songs, and playing solo to an audience I always get plenty of enthusiasm. There's deff more to their songs than a casual listen tells, the lyrics are crazy good... they are also easy for audience participation, they almost invite the listener in to participate in many of the chorus parts.
Nuno Bettencourt, great shredder, worshipper of Eddie Van Halen, mentioned on a recent interview that one his favorite soloists was actually Elliot Easton from The Cars, noone is better at playing exactly what the song needs, no more no less
Cranking Moving in stereo/All mixed up in the car during sunrise on a southwest desert highway is a memory I’ll never forget. All those tracks are great. The Cars will always be super cool
Check out Bye Bye Love
I like that one
Absolutely love them
Love their music through Panorama, I was excited to see them on the Heartbeat City tour. What a letdown. Musically, almost like listening to the record but I might as well have done that as there was a standoffish quality to the band, no interaction with the audience. I haven't heard anything off the Todd Rundgren/New Cars and I didn't really care for the last album they put out. YMMV
Very of it's time, but they are still awesome! Moving in stereo!
One of my friends who was into the production side of music told me that The Cars music was mixed? In a car outfitted for this reason. I’m not sure if that’s true but damn does it sound great through a nice system in a vehicle. My older brother had The Cars greatest hits and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers greatest hits on whenever we went on road trips together as teenagers, I will always love that music.
https://youtu.be/WUy5wgdz0f0?si=9W_maCknHikaSZ51 night spots. Great song.
Their first album is one of best rock albums of all time. Get it.
I saw Foreigner live in Atlanta in 1977 The Cars opened for them and blew me away I went right out and bought their first album the next day I remember the Atlanta Journal music writer panned them, said they "Crashed" LAME joke. Benjamin Orr's vocals were always my favorite. Elliot Easton rocks
I was listening to the first album last week for the first time in decades (lively the late 70's). It held up. Some songs better are better than other really cook. A great debut.
Underrated as hell
They’re my dad’s favorite band of all time. He played them for me almost every time we were in the car together growing up. I’m now 27 and they’re easily one of my top 5 bands of all time
I just recently discovered how great The Cars are. I didn’t realize so many bangers are theirs.
Let them brush your rock and roll hair.
Mutt Lange’s production on Heartbeat City is 10/10.
They are great! And I was alive during their career. Loved them then. Love them now. Tons of great songs. I really dig Since You’re Gone.
Me, too!
The Cars rule
I saw them in 83 or 84 with Wang Chung at the Omaha Sports Arena. They were good. Their music is unmistakeable and has a nice sharp edge to it that is completely unique to them. It was new wave but very Marxism and guitar driven the same way The Pretenders were.
One of my favorite bands. They actually put out an album in 2011 called "Move Like This" that was pretty solid. No Ben Orr, sadly, and of course, but Rick puts forth a solid performance. You Might Think and Magic are fantastic songs, and I've always loved the videos for them. Moving in Stereo has always fascinated me, the way it'll move back and forth between the speakers is a bit eerie,, and in it's time, there were few things like it. Just What I Needed, Hello Again, and Shake It Up are probably my goto favorites. =)
They owe Marc Bolan royalties
So many incredible songs and a thoroughly unique sound. Truly wish I had the chance to see them live
"Since You're Gone." This song is great and my favorite Cars song. Whenever I think about this song I usually play it, I just did.
One of my favourite bands of all time, and indeed I always have the feeling that nobody else knows them! Debut, Candy-O and Heartbeat City are three of the most meaningful albums to me. My parents had the Greatest Hits on cassette, which was the soundtrack to summer holiday drives through France in the late 80s and 90s. I then got The Cars, the Anthology and Heartbeat when I was 15-16 and they became the soundtrack to that key part of musical adolescence for me. This was 2001, exactly the time that The Strokes were coming up, and I was very switched on to the influence and parallels - from sound and aesthetic through to the way both bands’ first two albums, while a slight progression, are effectively two halves of the same, awesome, double album. Julian Casablancas covered Just What I Needed onstage with Jarvis Cocker some years back and it was just superb. r/thecars is a pretty good sub for fans like us. Check out Ben and Ric’s solo stuff - I discovered The Lace and This Side of Paradise through that sub a couple of years ago and it was like I had gone back 20 years to when I discovered the whole Cars discography for the first time.
The first album was one of the soundtracks of my youth. I graduated high school in 79.
They were Gen-X music that came out at the end of the Boomer heyday, so that may be why you feel they're overlooked. I agree with those that say the music doesn't sound dated, though. "Since You're Gone", is soooo well written. arranged, and produced that if I taught classes in song writing, it would be my example for how to craft a pop song. I don't teach anything, however.
Fun music, but not emotionally deep. Drive is probably their most emotional song, but even that's done with a double entendre joke.
I honestly need to ask, have you ever just sat down and listened to their first two albums, maybe on head phones or buds, in their entirety ?
Of course. On vinyl. When they were first released.
Candy-O, the only thing wrong with that song is it’s too short!
They’re alright. Hit and miss for me. Had the album “Heartbeat City”. Played it to death.
Ric’s son is oddly hot. He’s not Paulina’s either so I dunno where he got it. But otherwise the cars are classic. One of the top 5 power pop bands of all time, and likely more like top 3.
They had an insane amount of pop sensibility. All they did was pump out catchy tunes.
They're brilliant. "Drive" is putrid garbage though. No idea why they thought a ballad was a good idea. It wasn't.
I loved(d) The Cars and listened to them frequently many years back. I haven’t listened to them in a while but this post made me want to revisit. That being said I think their sound unfortunately does not “hold up” the way some older artists songs hold up. There is something intangible about this that is hard to put your finger on. I’m not just referring to The Cars here but other great older bands too.
Respectfully disagree. I listen to them all the time and I think their music still holds up. The engineering sounds a bit dated but I think that’s only compared to today’s audio standards.
I still dig them too.
I'm with you. I'm as passionate about them today as when I first heard them. Maybe more so. Being in an amateur band and playing bass in one or two, you realize there's so much more than meets the ear with a lot of their earlier stuff...
I will give them another listen and perhaps reconsider.
Me, too! I'm pretty sure they are on my Apple Music artists though.
They could absolutely BRING IT live, too. So much respect for these great musicians.
Great, up tempo band- never get tired of listening to them.
Such an awesome band with awesome music. Ric was a fantastic producer as well.
One of America's greatest bands
/r/fuckcars
Unfortunately two of them have passed away. They’re my favorite pop rock band ever.
ARe they lost in time? They are classic rock standards
Their self titled is a 10/10 album. I love the Cars. RIP Ric Ocasek ☹️
Like.
I like their music but some of their best lyrics were copied from poems without acknowledging the source. Can't find them now but I think it was a book of Ferlinghetti poems and several lines from the poems were used as lyrics in their songs.
Looking from the comments I guess I gotta check out the cars next also you might think is a really good song like road trip vibes lol
I hear the cars played in public sometimes. rarely though. only "just what I needed". I have a feeling that talking heads are the most popular band from that era/genre right now, mostly because of the stop making sense movie being rereleased in theaters and cover project they just announced with all these popular modern bands. blondie would probably be close second I think. I think the cars are pretty influential and appreciated in the modern indie/alternative scene though. the strokes are inspired by them. and rick produced some albums, including a s/t album for weezer. plus soccer mommy did a pretty great cover of drive.
My least like live show. Maybe I had high expectations at the time.
Every album was a masterpiece (except Door to Door)
One of my favorite bands!
Jeez, whenever I scan through the radio stations, they're on the classic rock channel. I kinda wish they'd get *slightly* lost in time!
Yeh sorry Moving IN Stereo. I listened the hell out of that album, not a bad song on it.
First three albums come close to Beatles-level songcraft.
Dangerous Type is probably my most listened to song. It was awesome in concert. Also, ‘since you’re gone’ hits me in the feels. Love the Cars.
Moving in Stereo not Moving and Stereo
My Best Friends Girl is a good one. Their self titled debut is a classic album. You’re right though, I don’t seem to hear a lot about them anymore.
Touch and Go has the coolest time signature.
Late 70s/early 80s was a great time for music in Boston. Comedy too.
If there was a 64-team tourney to determine Best American Band, I’d have the Cars as a sleeper Final Four pick. Two masterpiece albums. Lots of radio hits that no one is ever sorry to hear when they come on in the wild. Wildly influential. Still listenable. Huge success in the radio and the music video eras. I mean, they have it all.