Album of the Day — February 8
The Cars — The Cars — 1978
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08.February.2021
The Cars
The Cars
1979
The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton said the band would joke of their eponymous debut album that it “should be called The Cars’ Greatest Hits.”
He’s not far off.
Even though they scored hits for the next decade and had a string of platinum albums, arguably, they were never this good again.
The Cars took shape in 1976 after toiling around the Boston music scene for years and consisted of:
- Ric Ocasek — rhythm guitar, vocals
- Benjamin Orr — bass, lead vocals
- Elliot Easton — lead guitar, backing vocals
- David Robinson — drums, percussion, Syndrums, backing vocals
- Greg Hawkes — percussion, saxophone, backing vocals
After a bidding war between Arista Records and Electra Records, The Cars signed with Electra and then jetted off to England to partner with producer Roy Thomas Baker (Journey, Queen) to record their debut.
Immersing themselves in Sir George Martin’s (of Beatle fame) AIR Studios in February or 1978, the band recorded what would become one of the most consistent and best debut albums in rock history. And they did it quickly.
The Cars was released four months later, in June of 1978. By the end of the year, The Cars had sold one million copies in the United States alone.
That may not sound like a big deal today, but I assure you that in 1978, it was a huge deal.
From the opening notes of “Good Times Roll,” the downbeat rhythm and laconic singing of Ric Ocasek may lead you to believe this is going to be anything but a good time. But by the second song, “My Best Friend Girls,” it's clear the good times are rolling. Besides bridging the gap between rockabilly and New Wave, “My Best Friends Girl” serves as a harbinger of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.”
Interestingly, even though Ric Ocasek wrote almost all the songs, he split lead vocal duties with bassist Benjamin Orr right down the middle. Side one is Ocasek doing the majority of lead vocals and Orr doing one song (“Just What I Needed”). On side two, the reverse is true with Ocasek doing one song (“You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”) and Orr the others.
However, it would seem that Orr sung songs resonate more. Both “Just What I Needed” and “Drive” (from Heatbeat City) have Benjamin Orr on lead vocals and are the two most listened to songs by The Cars on Spotify …and not marginally.
And then there’s “Moving In Stereo” from this debut album. If you meet the following criteria:
- You’re a male (not necessarily, but it helps in this case) and
- You’ve seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
When you hear the opening to “Moving in Stereo,” a particular image will come to mind. That’s all I’ll say about that.
The Cars spawned four singles:
- “Just What I Needed”
Billboard peak position #27 - “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”
No chart information - “My Best Friend’s Girl”
Billboard peak position #35 - “Good Times Roll”
Billboard peak position #41
But The Cars weren’t meant to be a singles band. The Cars peaked at #18 on the Billboard album chart and would go on to sell six million copies in the United States alone.
In 1978, rock and roll was fracturing into different sub-genres (punk, album rock, Southern rock, etc.), and as a “New Wave” band, The Cars were one of the more successful groups leading the brigade of their sub-genre.
They’re also one of the few bands that would remain when the dust settled by the early 80s.
Listening to The Cars today? It sounds like a straight-up rock record. It always has to me, in particular tracks like “Don’t Cha Stop” and “Bye Bye Love.” Sure, Ocasek sings a little odd (my mother would always say he sounded ill), but the music and lyrics (mostly written by Ocasek) are straight-ahead rock and roll.
Critics mostly liked the record. And I happen to even agree with the crusty Robert Christgau of The Village Voice who said, “Ric Ocasek writes catchy, hardheaded-to-coldhearted songs eased by wryly rhapsodic touches, the playing is tight and tough, and it all sounds wonderful on the radio. But though on a cut-by-cut basis Roy Thomas Baker’s production adds as much as it distracts, here’s hoping the records get rawer.”
It’s here on The Cars; the band gives notice to the world writ large that they have both the talent and will to blend seemingly disparate genres like minimalism, art rock, rockabilly, power pop, and blend them to create something both unique and relatable.
Something they would continue throughout their career.
