I don’t think so but…

I’ve been working on a post for quite a while about what I think may be the not-so-hidden gem of all The Cars albums but it’s not quite where I want it yet. So because I haven’t posted in a while, I’m writing this as a sort of preface to it. Enjoy…and feel free to give feedback. I’d love to discuss and hear what you love about The Cars!

Trying to pull together lots of different threads in this post that I’ve been ruminating on for a while. One of them is that I believe Benjamin Orr of The Cars sang some of the most perfectly crafted pop/rock/New Wave, whatever you want to call them, songs of the 20th century.  I would venture to say that the songs Benjamin Orr sang while in The Cars rank right up there with songs sung by Buddy Holly, Paul McCartney, Elvis and Michael Jackson.

Bye Bye Love

Just What I Needed

It’s All I Can Do

Candy-O

Let’s Go!

Drive

These songs are cultural touchstones for legions of late Baby Boomers and Gen X teenagers. The minute you hear any one of these you’re immediately transported to a certain place and time, a particular event or situation.  They were part of the cultural fabric of growing up in the 1970s and 80s. But unbelievably Ben Orr seems to be forgotten when people discuss the greatest voices from the heyday of popular music. I think it’s because he did not purposely pursue the spotlight.  And that did him such a disservice. 

The other thing I’ve been mulling over for a while now is why The Cars today don’t seem to be considered in same “New Wave” category that so many other bands from the era between disco and the hair band and grunge era are.  No one mentions The Cars when they talk about Devo, Oingo Boing, The Cure, The Clash, Depeche Mode, Style Council, Pet Shop Boys and others.  Why is that? Is it because The Cars essentially kicked down the door that let New Wave into the mainstream, and some of their songs are considered more “power pop”? That their music kind of defied a particular definition or category?  I mean if you give them a really deep listen, their new wave cred can’t be denied.  The look:  heavy on the black and white, and then red;   Greg Hawkes’ keyboard and synth wizardry is uber 80s, and was pretty much the precursor to a lot of the later synth driven music. David Robinson’s spare yet really masterful skill on the drums. I mean talk about proto-punk cred, that’s David Robinson, previously of the Modern Lovers for crying out loud!  

Actually, The Cars are rarely discussed in any forum on-line or on social media today- aside from fan pages, as anything other than an “oldies” band.  Which is so interesting to me because if you know the back story, and you listen really deeply to the music and the lyrics, and you remember what the popular musical landscape was in the mid to late 70s, The Cars should not be viewed as anything other than truly groundbreaking.  In 1978 their sound was completely unlike anything else that was being played on the radio.  And Ric was heavily influenced by Television, Roxy Music, the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed.  And of course Jonathan Richman.

The more I delve into the story of the Cars and listen to the songs the more I love them.  Maybe it’s because this band is so completely inaccessible in any “live” way for me. Other than Greg Hawkes who’s still out there playing with Eddie Japan. I almost saw them this past summer but the concert nearest me was canceled. I can’t even begin to tell you how crushed I was.  And two vital members are sadly  gone.  Attempts at re-grouping never were long-lived.  So many other groups or singers from their era are still touring or playing live gigs; The Cure, Rick Springfield.  Huey Lewis and David Byrne have had Broadway musicals. So has Sting. Cheap Trick and Bruce Springsteen are still going strong.  It seems as if these performers will go on forever.  Everyone except The Cars.

In my inexpert opinion I think there are two reasons they sort of moved into a different category or genre;  the song Shake It Up and the album Heartbeat City with the massive singles Drive, You Might Think and Hello.  Those songs pushed the band into a different category- more fimly pop.  I suspect Elektra demanded something more “palatable” to the masses after 1980s Panorama which at first listen seemed to take The Cars in a different direction from the first two albums. Just a guess.  I mean don’t get me wrong.  There are some great Ben Orr songs on the Shake It Up album like Cruiser and This Could Be Love.  But for as much as I have come to love this band I cannot stand the single Shake It Up.  It’s almost unlistenable.  But that particular single is probably just exactly what some higher up wanted, something kind of simple with an easy to remember refrain that would appeal to a wide audience- the die hard fans as well as possible new fans who wouldn’t and/or didn’t like the darkness of Panorama. I also really dislike both the single and the video of I’m Not the One.  Of course different strokes for different folks- obviously the album was loved by a lot of fans since it was certified 2X platinum.  And even though several publications called it “decidedly underwhelming” (the Toronto Globe and Mail) and a work that “breaks no new ground”(the Boston Globe), the title track was the band’s first top ten Billboard hit and Spin magazine listed the album as one of the 50 best of 1981, so go figure.

 And then 1984’s Heartbeat City was just in a completely different realm altogether. That Mutt Lange production made the band sound like someone else. I mean The Cars were not known for ballads so the single Drive was totally different from anything they had released before.  Of course Ben Orr was the one who made that song- there’s absolutely no way that song would have been the hit it had been if sung by Ric. But even so, the resulting MTV fame and videos changed the way the fans perceived the members. They weren’t The Cars anymore.  They became Ric Ocasek and The Cars. Unbelievable to me is the number of people who never even realized that Ben Orr sang some of their most popular and best songs- they thought Ric sang them all. Head exploding here. 

To be continued with my non-expert, amateur in-depth analysis of…Panorama!