~ 
vinyl LP front cover detail
front cover photo by Elliot Gilbert
Today is the birthday of American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, Richard Theodore Otcasek, aka Ric Ocasek, who was also co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and songwriter for the New Wave band the Cars. This was the first album I bought by the group.
vinyl LP front cover
front cover photo by Elliot Gilbert
photo of album cover by Styrous®
My main shopping technique is to rummage though a record store bin without any expectation of finding anything; I usually do, though. Often I would find a record promo; those are the ones I love. Sometimes they are by groups or artists I'm not familiar with and it gives me an opportunity to hear something new without spending a bunch of money, which is good if the album turns out to be a lemon. In late 1978 I came across this demo and bought it not knowing anything about the group.
With no anticipation of a new music adventure I slapped the record on the turntable. I was snagged by the very first song and this album became one of my very favorites of the exciting New Wave movement.
The Cars ~ The Cars
vinyl LP back cover
back cover photo by Elliot Gilbert
photo of album cover by Styrous®
The first song was, of course, Good Times Roll. What a great song! The syncopated hand clapping on the second song, My Best Friend's Girl, kept my interest going. Just What I Needed picked up the tempo and peaked my curiosity. The tom-tom, doppler opening of You're All I've Got Tonight had a great beat for dancing, so that was good.
The Cars ~ The Cars
vinyl LP back cover detail
back cover photo by Elliot Gilbert
detail photo of back cover by Styrous®
I'm In Touch With Your World started up with its pseudo clock beat. Hesitant discordant and dysfunctional with boingy effects interested me. Don't Cha Stop came along with its driving beat and that was good.
You're All I've Got Tonight was ok. Bye Bye Love was another ok song and I was thinking the best was on the first side and this was going to be it.
The Cars ~ The Cars
vinyl LP record sleeve detail
record sleeve photos by Elliot Gilbert
detail photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
Then the second to last song on the last side, Moving In Stereo, came on and totally blew me out of the water! From the first high pitched slowly warbling kazoo/siren sound on the opening to the moderately paced body of the song I was completely sold. Ocasek wrote all of the songs on the album except this one co-written by him and the band's keyboard player Greg Hawkes, and sung by bassist Benjamin Orr.
What a fantastic song!!!!! It's one of my very favorite New Wave songs!!! And after 40 or more years I still love it!!!
The Cars ~ The Cars
vinyl LP record sleeve detail
record sleeve photos by Elliot Gilbert
detail photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
Before the Cars, members of the band performed together in several
different groups. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr met in Cleveland, Ohio in
the 1960s after Ocasek saw Orr performing with his band the Grasshoppers
on the Big 5 Show, a local musical variety program.
From Wikipedia:
"The Cars were at the forefront of merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and flourishing in the early 1980s. Robert Palmer (not to be confused with singer Robert Palmer), music critic for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described the Cars' musical style: "they have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend."
"The Cars were named Best New Artist in the 1978 Rolling Stone Readers' Poll and won Video of the Year for You Might Think at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Their debut album The Cars sold six million copies and appeared on the Billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. As of 2001, the Cars had sold over 23 million albums in the United States."
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The Cars ~ The Cars
vinyl LP record sleeve detail
record sleeve photos by Elliot Gilbert
detail photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
The Cars disbanded in 1988 and Ocasek stated that a reunion would never happen. Orr died in 2000 from pancreatic cancer. In 2005, Easton and Hawkes joined with Todd Rundgren to form the spin-off band the New Cars, which performed classic Cars and Rundgren songs along with new material. The surviving original members reunited in 2010 to record the album Move Like This, which was released in May 2011.
In April 2018, the Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and reunited to perform at the induction ceremony. The reunion was
their final performance with Ocasek, who died on September 15, 2019 of
cardiovascular disease.
The Cars ~ The Cars
vinyl LP record sleeve detail
record sleeve photos by Elliot Gilbert
detail photo of record sleeve by Styrous®
Classic Rock (link below) described The Cars
first album, "Quite simply one of the best produced albums of the era,
the 1978 self-titled debut album was a unique sounding breakthrough
which brought the group instant worldwide attention."
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Good Times Roll - 3:44
A2 - My Best Friend's Girl - 3:44
A3 - Just What I Needed - 3:44
A4 - I'm In Touch With Your World - 3:31
A5 - Don't Cha Stop - 3:01
A2 - My Best Friend's Girl - 3:44
A3 - Just What I Needed - 3:44
A4 - I'm In Touch With Your World - 3:31
A5 - Don't Cha Stop - 3:01
Side 2:
B1 - You're All I've Got Tonight - 4:13
B2 - Bye Bye Love - 4:14
B3 - Moving In Stereo, written by Greg Hawkes - 5:15
B4 - All Mixed Up - 4:14
Companies, etc.
Record Company – Warner Communications Inc.
Manufactured By – Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records
Produced For – R.T.B. (Audio- Visual) Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Elektra Records
Copyright © – Elektra/Asylum Records
Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Compton, CA
Published By – Lido Music
Published By – Oversnare Music
Mastered At – Sterling Sound
Credits:
Art Direction – Ron Coro
Design – Johnny Lee (4)
Drums, Percussion, Drum Programming [Syndrums], Backing Vocals – David Robinson (3)
Engineer – Geoff Workman
Engineer [Second] – Nigel Walker
Keyboards, Percussion, Saxophone, Backing Vocals – Greg Hawkes
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals – Elliot Easton
Management – Fred Lewis Organization
Mastered By – George Marino
Photography By – Elliot Gilbert
Producer – Roy Thomas Baker
Vocals, Bass – Benjamin Orr
Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Written-By – Ric Ocasek
Notes:
Issued with custom inner sleeve.
℗ & © 1978 Elektra/Asylum Records
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (A side label): 6E-135-A
Matrix / Runout (B side label): 6E-135-B
Pressing Plant ID (Labels): PRC-W
Matrix / Runout (Side A Etched): 6E-135-A1-RE-PRCW STERLING
Matrix / Runout (Side B Etched): 6E-135-B-1-PRCW 1 RTB STERLING
Rights Society: BMI
Rights Society: ASCAP
The Cars – The Cars
Label: Elektra – 6E-135
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, PRC Compton Press
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Pop Rock, Power Pop
Label: Elektra – 6E-135
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, PRC Compton Press
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Pop Rock, Power Pop
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ~ The Cars
Classic Rock Review ~ The Cars
everythingsgonegreen ~ Classic Album Review: The Cars - The Cars (1978)
Pitchfork ~ The Cars: Deluxe Edition
NY Times ~ Back to New Wave, Older and Somewhat Wiser
RollingStone ~ The Cars Take on Their Critics
YouTube links:
The Cars ~
Good Times Roll
My Best Friend's Girl
Just What I Needed
I'm In Touch With Your World
Don't Cha Stop
You're All I've Got Tonight My Best Friend's Girl
Just What I Needed
I'm In Touch With Your World
Don't Cha Stop
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