Let’s go back to 1979.

Lately, for some reason I’ve been completely taken with the song Candy-O, which surprisingly was never released as a single. I’ve spent a good amount of time watching different live versions of The Cars perform this song. If you’ve read my previous work, or watched my YouTube channel, you know that I can’t help repeating that I find these songs sound so freaking amazing 46 years on.  I listen to them over and over and never tire of them. And I pick up new things every time I hear them. Maybe they haven’t gotten old because I didn’t overdose on them back in the day. I listened to The Cars and enjoyed them, but was far from a huge fan. 

1979, June 13, The Cars’ second album Candy O was released. It reached  #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 the week of August 26, 1979, outperforming their spectacular debut album released just a year earlier. That album peaked at #14 AND was still on the charts. The second album was recorded in a little over two weeks, a few days longer than it took to record the first album.  It was again produced that previous winter by Roy Thomas Baker, IMO their best producer, at Cherokee Studios in LA. The first single released was the classic Let’s Go, of course sung by the brilliant Benjamin and peaked at #14 on the charts.  The second single is my fave Cars song It’s  All I Can Do which peaked at #41. It is completely astonishing to me that it didn’t chart higher.  

To REALLY appreciate The Cars takes time.  At first listen they were fun and cool. I mean the real and authentic definition of rock and roll cool; indifferent, enigmatic, sexy, and definitely different looking and sounding than anyone else. 

You heard the fresh new wavy-ness of the albums The Cars and Candy-O. The sort of mindless pop of a song like Shake It Up. And then the smooth synth- heavy slick sounds of Heartbeat City.   But when you listen ten, twenty, a hundred times, you find something else behind the gloss.  That brilliant layering of sound, the absolute technical excellence of the musicianship, Ric’s unique way of playing that palm muted rhythm guitar.  And Benjamin’s bass playing. He doesn’t get enough credit for it but he was really quite skilled at creating that signature Cars sound. AND that he could match David’s drumming beat for beat on songs like Gimme Some Slack rivals any great bassist of the time.  And Elliot Easton.  No one, and I mean no one, could or can replicate EE’s tone, his sound, his unique skill set.  When Ben was performing with different bands later on, his own ORR Band, Voices of Classic Rock, Big People, as great and accomplished as those musicians were, they were never able to quite match the way Elliot, or the rest of The Cars for that matter, sounded.  Ben’s voice was always perfect, all the way up until he was ravaged by cancer, but IMO, none of those bands really did The Cars justice on JWIN or Let’s Go or Candy-O. It wasn’t from trying, it was just that Elliot’s playing had an intelligence, an intuitiveness about what was just right for every song. He had an ear and skills that were far and above. He was the right guitarist for the time- the cross pollinator of New Wave, Punk, Rock, Pop, Rock-a-Billy, calling on influences from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, The Velvet Underground, Mike Bloomfield, his time playing country and bluegrass in bars in the Combat Zone. And Greg Hawkes. He was able to key in- literally and figuratively, on the exact sound that Ric as the primary songwriter intended.  

But back to my latest obsession with the song Candy-O.  Interestingly the band performed it while they were on tour promoting their first album.  It was on their set list when they played at the El Mocambo in Toronto and The Agora in Cleveland in 1978. Ric was such a prolific songwriter that he must have had a huge cache of songs all ready for each successive album–except for Door to Door but that’s another story.

One of the most compelling live versions of Candy-O is from the band’s 1979 appearance, their second, on The Midnight Special. Ben looked absolutely stoned out of his gourd, dark hair with the skunk stripe in his signature shag cut,  that sexy zebra print top on, but he delivered an absolutely mesmerizing version of the song. I think this is a peak performance for the guys. They are pulsating with electricity, that driving beat at the beginning, Ric’s rhythm guitar setting the mood. Ben’s Rickenbacker bass boop boop two measures in while also starting to sing, his voice all deep and sexy;

Candy-O, I need you. 

Sunday dress, ruby rings

Candy-O, I need you so

Could you help me in ?

Oh lord!

Watching Elliot play his solo on this version, he is so completely and totally into it …I mean he was just fired up here, dressed all in red, setting that red Fender Tele on fire. All of the elements crescendoing at the end for a raucous cacophony of edgy New Wave power pop.  Delectable.

I believe that smaller stages and venues suited the band better than large arenas and stadiums.  At the beginning, the five of them appeared to have had such fantastic chemistry, especially Ben and Elliot on their side of the stage.  That connection seemed to have been lost later on as their fame grew and the stages got larger. Symbolic of the disintegration of their kinship? Who knows. Their two performances on The Midnight Special in ‘78 and ‘79  emphasized their unique  style and presentation, the way they focussed on playing an absolute killer live show that sounded just like their recordings.  I prefer watching these shows rather than any of their videos from the MTV days.  Something in their essence changed once they started becoming MTV darlings.

Another killer performance of Candy-O was a December 7, 1982  fundraiser for a children’s charity at The Metro in Boston.  If I’m correct, I think I read that they didn’t go on stage until pretty late in the evening- or rather the morning, like 1 am or something. This performance is H -O- T hot! Ben, ever the chameleon, was sporting a different look.  His hair looked like its natural shade of brown and he was wearing a headband a la Mike Reno from Loverboy- only Ben did it better.  And a black leather jacket.  Ben in black was a sight to behold. This performance was another instance of pure energy….and they seemed to be more animated.  Ben was in full rock star mode here. The video footage focusses a lot on Ben and he appears to be having a blast, playing to the crowd. And Ric!  Ric was actually  somewhat animated, moving in time with the beat! Like I said, this band was made to perform in smaller venues where the audience was up close, and the band’s energy seemed more animated and vibrant.  So this was 1982, the year after Shake It Up came out, about the time they took a break from The Cars to focus on solo works. Elliot and Ric were working on their projects at this time and Ben had signed to do a solo album as well. They had just come off four years of recording and touring, before the fateful six months of recording Heartbeat City in 1983. They appeared to be on top of the world, New Wave darlings with the world for their taking.  Such a heady time for guys who had spent a lot of time in the weeds trying for a break in the industry.  

I read an interesting observation when someone commented on the Midnight Special reel that when Ben sang in a lower register he sounded like Jim Morrison. What a revelation!  I had never thought of that before so I had to listen and compare and it’s so true! Morrison is another of my fave rock stars. The more I think about it, the two bands had some interesting things in common. Like The Cars, The Doors were Electra artists whose sound was unique and unlike anyone else recording at that time. And Jim, like Ben, was sexy as hell, had mesmerizing stage presence, and was somewhat mysterious. He was also, like Benjamin, a devotee of black leather pants. Here are links to that Cars performance and The Doors LA Woman and Touch Me so you can compare for yourself.  Check out Ben on Candy-O at 1:29;

Here tonight

Distract yourself

Obstacles don’t work

And Moving in Stereo:

And Jim at 3:45:

Midnight alleys roam

And here on Touch Me:

Two absolute vocal geniuses, and both sadly gone waaaayyy too soon, Jim Morrison over fifty years and Benjamin coming up on 25.  How the hell is it possible that Ben died almost a quarter of a century ago? 

If you haven’t given Candy O a deep listen ever, or in a long time, do yourself a favor, put on some headphones, distract yourself, homogonize, decentralize,  and travel back to a time when the music was great, life was more fun, and The Cars were making spectacular music.