The Cars -

The Cars were an American new wave band that released six albums between 1978 and 1987 on Elektra. Their first two, The Cars and Candy-O, spawned the radio-rock evergreens “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Good Times Roll,” and “Let’s Go.” Singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek formed the band in Boston with bassist/singer Ben Orr.

Keyboardist Greg Hawkes dominated their 1980 third album, Panorama, an experimental set that influenced Ocasek’s solo debut, Beatitude. The Cars became MTV mainstays with their 1981 fourth album, Shake It Up, with clips for the title-track and “Since You’re Gone.” Their popularity peaked with 1984’s Heartbeat City and the innovative videos for “You Might Think,” “Magic,” and the ballad “Drive.” In 1985, they charted with “Tonight She Comes,” a new song from their first hits compilation.

The Cars disbanded after their 1987 album, Door to Door. In 2011, the four surviving members — Ocasek, Hawkes, guitarist Elliot Easton, and drummer David Robinson — reunited for one final album, Move Like This.

Members: Ric Ocasek (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Elliot Easton (lead guitar, backing vocals), Greg Hawkes (keyboards, saxophone, rhythm guitar, bass, percussion, backing vocals), David Robinson (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Benjamin Orr (vocals, bass, 1976-88)

Background

The Cars evolved from the Boston jazz-funk bar band Cap’n Swing, which included singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek, singer Ben Orr, and guitarist Elliot Easton. Ocasek and Orr partnered beforehand in the folk combo Milkwood, which released the 1972 album How’s the Weather on Paramount Records. Recently, the pair gigged as Richard & The Rabbits with keyboardist Greg Hawkes, who also toured with the comedic act Martin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture.

Ric Ocasek was born Richard Theodore Otcasek on March 23, 1944, in Baltimore; the son of Mary Pauline (née Williams, 1920–2008) and Theodore Otcasek (1921–2003), a Cleveland-born systems analyst of Czech descent. As a teenager, he played early rock ‘n’ roll hits on his first guitar, a gift from his grandmother. When he was sixteen, his family moved to Cleveland, where Theodore worked at the NASA Lewis Research Center. Ric graduated from Maple Heights High School (Class of 1963) and briefly enrolled at Antioch College and Bowling Green State University.

In 1965, Otcasek quit his studies to focus on music. He took up songwriting and worked for a Columbus booking agency, where he befriended Orr, a teenage co-worker who played on one of Ric’s early demos.

Ben Orr was born Benjamin Orzechowski on September 8, 1947, in Lakewood, Ohio; the son of Czech-born Elizabeth (née Alžbeta Benová) and Polish-Ukrainian emigre Charles Orzechowski. Known as “Benny 11 Letters” among his Valley Forge High School classmates, the teenage Orr learned guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums.

In 1964, Orr joined Cleveland hopefuls The Grasshoppers as their singer and rhythm guitarist, a move that shifted them from Ventures-like instrumental rock to British-style beat. They became the houseband on Big 5, a local music variety program on WEWS-TV.

The Grasshoppers cut two 1965 singles: “Mod Socks” (b/w “Twin Beat”) and “The Wasp” (b/w the Orr-penned “Pink Champagne (and Red Roses)”). Both appeared on local-press Sunburst Records, which also issued singles by The Mystics, The Executioners, The Five Gents, and The Monclairs (not to be confused with Seventies soulsters The Montclairs). They disbanded in 1966 after the military draft of two members.

Orr’s next band, Mixed Emotions, cut three unreleased songs: “Forever You Have My Heart,” “I’ll Do My Cryin’ In the Rain,” and “I Can’t Help It.” After a brief unrecorded stint in The Colours (not the LA psych band), Orr was drafted into the US Army but deferred after eighteen months.

Milkwood

In 1968, Orr reconnected with Otcasek in Columbus, where they formed their first band, Nirvana ID, and gigged around Ohio State University. Their next band, Leatherwood, performed hard-rock originals in Manhattan, Woodstock, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they opened for the MC5. By 1971, they settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and adopted the name Milkwood, taken from Under Milk Wood, a 1954 radio play written by the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953).

As a trio with guitarist Jim Goodkind, Milkwood linked with Paramount Records and cut the 1972 album How’s the Weather, a set of quiet folk numbers suited to the Cambridge coffee houses. Sessions spanned two weeks at Aengus Studios, Fayville, with five auxiliary players, including saxophonists John Payne (tenor, soprano) and Greg Hawkes (baritone).

Hawkes (b. Gregory A. Hawkes; October 22, 1952) hailed from Fulton, Maryland, where he played in his first band, Teeth, at Atholton High School. Post-graduation, he moved to Boston and majored in composition and flute at the Berklee College of Music. He gigged briefly with unsigned country rockers Orphan and found steady work as a reedist with Martin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture. In 1974, he gigged with Orr and Otcasek in Richard & The Rabbits.

Cap’n Swing

In late 1974, Orr and Ocasek (who dropped the t from his surname for reading efficiency) demoed multiple songs, including “Everyday,” “Harlequin,” “I Need Spring,” “Start It All Again,” and “Never Gonna Get Over You.” They gigged for a time as Ocasek & Orr. In exchange for late-night studio time, they worked as carpenters for Milkwood producer Bill Riseman at Northern Studios in Maynard, where Andy Pratt held sessions for his acclaimed third album, Resolution.

In 1975, Orr and Ocasek assembled Cap’n Swing, a six-piece with bassist Todd Roberto, drummer Glenn Evans, keyboardist Danny Schliftlin, and lead guitarist Elliot “Easton” Steinberg (b. December 18, 1953), a Brooklyn native who moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music.

With Orr concentrated on vocals, Cap’n Swing hit the Boston bar circuit with a setlist of Ocasek originals, including “Jezebel,” “Bye Bye Love,” “City Light,” “Dream Trader,” and “Twilight Superman.” Schliftlin dominated their sound and arrangements with extended runs on the Fender Rhodes electric piano^>.

On July 13, 1976, Cap’n Swing demoed eleven songs at Northern. Their performance at the annual Newbury Street Music Fair impressed WBCN DJ Maxanne Sartori, who added “Come Back Down” and “Strawberry Moonlight” to the playlist on her afternoon shift^>.

Emboldened by their local popularity, Cap’n Swing performed an October 4 showcase for talent scouts at Max’s Kansas City, a rock venue in New York City. Purportedly, the A&R’s deemed the band’s long-winded arrangements ill-suited to the straight-forward songwriting. With no contract offer, they returned to Boston for an overhaul.

Ocasek and Orr retained Easton and fired Roberto, Evans, and Schliftlin. With Orr re-positioned as bassist/singer, they drafted Hawkes as their new keyboardist. Sartori linked them with David Robinson (b. April 2, 1949), a Malden, Middlesex, native who drummed three years in the Modern Lovers with Jonathan Richman and (future Talking Heads) keyboardist Jerry Harrison. In 1972, they demoed material with John Cale that constituted a just-released album on Berserkly, including the since-leaked two-chord anthem “Roadrunner” (a staple of the Sex Pistols‘ early live set). In recent months, Robinson drummed in DMZ, an early Boston punk band.

Robinson found the Cap’n Swing moniker unrepresentative and suggested The Cars. In a dual role as stylist, he conceived their group image: a three-tone scheme of black, white, and red.

In early 1977, The Cars cut a nine-song demo. Sartori playlisted “Just What I Needed,” which spread to fellow Boston FM station WCOZ. Amid the local buzz, offers poured in from multiple labels, including Elektra and Arista. In November, The Cars signed with Elektra, which linked them with English producer Roy Thomas Baker, a longtime Queen soundman with credits on earlier albums by Free, Nazareth, Gasolin’, Man, and Be-Bop Deluxe.

The Cars

The Cars released their self-titled debut album on June 6, 1978, on Elektra. The album contains nine Ric Ocasek originals, including the FM evergreens “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” and “Good Times Roll,” all mid-tempo melodic pop-rock songs with modernist synth themes and multi-tracked harmonies.

Side A groups the three hits at uniform time (3:44), followed by the oblique, percussive “I’m in Touch With Your World” and the uptempo “Don’t Cha Stop,” respective takes on experimental art rock and proper new wave.

Side B contains the heavy, pounding “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” (a “Good Times Roll” alternate) and the Cap’n Swing leftover “Bye Bye Love” (a “Best Friend’s Girl” reflection), both oft-aired FM deep cuts. Greg Hawkes co-wrote “Moving in Stereo,” a lurching synth-laden number that segues into “All Mixed Up,” a summary of the album’s layered tunefulness.

Ocasek sings everything apart from “Just What I Needed” and “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight,” both sung by Ben Orr in a direct mid-range. Hawkes handles keyboards, saxophone, and percussive sundries; the latter shared with Dave Robinson, who plays a standard kit plus the Syndrum 1, an early electronic drum.

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)

B1. “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” (4:13)
B2. “Bye Bye Love” (4:14)
B3. “Moving in Stereo” (5:15)
B4. “All Mixed Up” (4:14)

Sessions occurred in February 1978 at AIR Studios in London, where Roy Thomas Baker produced the album in the company of engineer Geoff Workman, an earlier soundman for Brainchild and the two 1970 King Crimson albums, In the Wake of Poseidon and Lizard. The pair handled The Cars in sequence with 1977/78 titles by Journey, Starcastle, and the Queen albums News of the World and Jazz.

As the band’s visual director, Robinson arranged a photo collage for the intended album cover, which Elektra vetoed in favor of an arm-over-face dashboard image of Nataliya Medvedeva, a Russian model and subsequent author. Industry photographer Elliot Gilbert captured Nataliya’s image and the back-cover group photo: a windy evening pic with The Cars grouped around a wood beam, where Ric tugs on Ben’s red suspenders while Dave (far right) holds balance in red pencil jeans. Gilbert’s photography also graces covers for 1977/78 albums by Bill Withers, Gary Bartz, Player, Valerie Carter, and Van Halen. Portions of Robinson’s design appear on the inner-sleeve: a collage of monochrome member pics, car bumpers, and models in leopard-print new wave attire.

“Just What I Needed” appeared on May 29, 1978, as an advance single (b/w “I’m in Touch With Your World”). “My Best Friend’s Girl” followed in October, backed with “Don’t Cha Stop” (US, Japan) and “Moving in Stereo” (Europe). In February 1979, “Good Times Roll” became the third single (b/w “All Mixed Up”). “My Best Friend’s Girl” reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

The Cars reached No. 5 in New Zealand and No. 18 on the US Billboard 200. Nonstop FM airplay of the three singles eventually rose the album to sextuple-Platinum status for sales of six million units.

During the second half of 1978, The Cars played select dates opening for Rainbow (Detroit) and Styx (San Francisco, San Diego). That August, they co-headlined an event at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium with Fleetwood Mac, Bob Welch, and Todd Rundgren and Utopia. After headlining over The Fabulous Poodles at London’s Lyceum that November, The Cars topped most subsequent bills.

Candy-O

The Cars released their second album, Candy-O, on June 2, 1979, on Elektra.

Candy-O features eleven Ric Ocasek originals, which range from synth-swirling harmony pop (“It’s All I Can Do”) and bleeping uptempo cuts (“Night Spots”) to the heady closing trifecta: the echoing stop/start “Lust for Kicks,” the galloping “Got a Lot On My Head,” and the swelling “Dangerous Type.” Ben Orr sings lead on four songs and co-leads with Ric on “Since I Held You.”

Greg Hawkes makes bold use of the Prophet-5 synthesizer on “Let’s Go,” the album’s evergreen. Another Hawkes’ experiment, the bleeping chiptune “Shoo Be Doo,” functions as a prelude to the album’s title-track, rendered heavy by David Robinson’s echoing drums and the thick production of Roy Thomas Baker.

A1. “Let’s Go” (3:32) Ben observes a take-charge girl. Hawkes plays an arching synth line with a spiraling proto-zolo sound similar to the opening riff on “My Tulpa” by Magazine.
A2. “Since I Held You” (3:16)
A3. “It’s All I Can Do” (3:46) Ben
A4. “Double Life” (4:11)
A5. “Shoo Be Doo” (1:41)
A6. “Candy-O” (2:37) Ben

B1. “Night Spots” (3:14)
B2. “You Can’t Hold On Too Long” (2:47) Ben
B3. “Lust for Kicks” (3:52)
B4. “Got a Lot On My Head” (2:59)
B5. “Dangerous Type” (4:30)

Sessions took place in Hollywood at Cherokee Studios, where Baker produced Candy-O between albums by Journey (Evolution) and Foreigner (Head Games). Geoff Workman engineered all three amid work on solo titles by Stones guitarist Ron Wood, ex-Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, and former Runaways singer Cherie Currie.

Robinson conceived the cover design for Candy-O and subsequent Cars albums. He contacted his favorite pin-up artist, Alberto Vargas, the 82-year old former illustrator for Esquire and Playboy. Vargas emerged from retirement to illustrate the covers for Candy-O and two subsequent albums by Bernadette Peters. The body-suited redhead depicted on Candy-O was Candy Moore, a model and B-comedy actress (not to be confused with the onetime Lucy Show actress). This Moore (a brief Robinson flame) is seen from afar on the cover of Rick James‘ 1981 album Street Life.

Boston Globe photographer Jeff Albertson took the back-cover member pics and inner-sleeve group photo, which highlight the band’s red/blue/black scheme.

The Cars lifted “Let’s Go” as the lead single, backed with “That’s It,” a sessions outtake. “Let’s Go” reached No. 5 in Canada, No. 6 in Australia, and No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox Top 100.

B. “That’s It”

“It’s All I Can Do” emerged as a late-September single (b/w “Got a Lot On My Head”), followed in December by “Double Life” (b/w “Candy-O”).

Candy-O reached No. 7 in Australia, No. 6 in New Zealand, No. 4 in Canada, and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in the US, where the album later certified quadruple-Platinum for sales in excess of four million copies.

Panorama

The Cars released their third album, Panorama, on August 15, 1980, on Elektra.

Ric Ocasek songs wrote all ten Panorama songs, which take a modernist approach with detached vocals; sheer, manicured riffs; kinetic, airtight rhythms; and icy, luminous layers of synthesizers. Ben Orr sings “Don’t Tell Me No” and the interior of Side B.

Cybernetic vibes pervade multiple tracks, from the robo-precision of “Panorama” and the syncopated trance of “Touch and Go” to the circular motif of “Don’t Tell Me No” and the motorized assembly feel of “Up and Down.” Octane fuels select songs: namely the galloping “Gimme Some Slack,” the near-rockabilly “Getting Through,” and the brisk, aggressive “Down Boys.” Side B unthaws with the emotional sparkle of “You Wear Those Eyes,” a lyrical ballad with off-kilter touches.

A1. “Panorama” (5:42)
A2. “Touch and Go” (4:55)
A3. “Gimme Some Slack” (3:32)
A4. “Don’t Tell Me No” (4:00)
A5. “Getting Through” (2:35)

B1. “Misfit Kid” (4:30)
B2. “Down Boys” (3:09)
B3. “You Wear Those Eyes” (4:55)
B4. “Running to You” (3:22)
B5. “Up and Down” (3:31)

Sessions occurred in April–May 1980 at studios in Hollywood (Cherokee) and New York (Sigma Sound) with Roy Thomas Baker, who produced the album in sequence with titles by Alice Cooper, Hilly Michaels, and ex-Stories singer Ian Lloyd. English new wave soundman Ian Taylor (Penetration, Gloria Mundi) engineered Panorama and Cooper’s Flush the Fashion amid work with the Psychedelic Furs and the UK/Danish act Local Operator.

Robinson designed the blue/black/white scheme of the cover, which shows a Grand Prix flag (front) and a shadowy monochrome overhead shot of the leather-clad Cars (positioned within a circumference) by Live at the Rat photographer Paul McAlpine.

The Cars first lifted “Touch and Go” as a single (b/w “Down Boys”). “Touch and Go” reached No. 2 in France. In November, “Don’t Tell Me No” became the second single, backed with “Don’t Go to Pieces,” a non-album Ocasek/Hawkes track.

B. “Don’t Go to Pieces”

In January 1981, “Gimme Some Slack” became the third Panorama single, backed once again by “Don’t Go to Pieces.”

Panorama reached No. 5 on the US Billboard 200, No. 20 in Canada, and also went Top 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

Shake It Up

The Cars released their fourth album, Shake It Up, on November 6, 1981, on Elektra.

The album contains nine Ric Ocasek originals, including “Since You’re Gone” and the hit title track. Greg Hawkes co-wrote “This Could Be Love,” one of three tracks (along with “Cruiser” and “Think It Over”) with vocals by Ben Orr.

Musically, Shake It Up consists of upbeat new-wave rock and synthpop staccato rhythmic accents. Select tracks explore dark, hypnotic balladry (“I’m Not the One”) and thick Panorama-style electronics (“This Could Be Love”). Dave Robinson dominates “Maybe Baby,” a galloping closeout track with a hyperactive paradiddle.

A1. “Since You’re Gone” (3:30)
A2. “Shake It Up” (3:32)
A3. “I’m Not the One” (4:12)
A4. “Victim of Love” (4:24)
A5. “Cruiser” (4:54)

B1. “A Dream Away” (5:44)
B2. “This Could Be Love” (4:26)
B3. “Think It Over” (4:56)
B4. “Maybe Baby” (5:04)

Sessions took place in Boston at Syncro Sound, a Newbury St. facility purchased by The Cars. Roy Thomas Baker produced the album between the soundtrack to Heavy Metal — the 1981 animated sci-fi film by the publishers of the namesake magazine — and the fifth Devo album, Oh, No! It’s Devo. Ian Taylor engineered Shake It Up and Heavy Metal amid work with Romeo Void on their 1981 EP, the Syncro-recorded Never Say Never.

Robinson designed the cover art: a circular image of a wind-blown beauty with a mixer in hand (front) and five-frame photo rows of each member (back), all taken by Clint Clemens, an advertising photographer featured on the covers of numerous arts magazines (Communication Arts, Applied Arts, Lürzer’s Archive).

The Cars lifted “Shake It Up” as the first single (b/w “Cruiser”). “Shake It Up” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 7 in Canada, and No. 10 in Australia. In March 1982, they issued “Since You’re Gone” as the second single (b/w “Think It Over”). In June, “Victim of Love” became the third single (b/w “This Could Be Love”).

Shake It Up reached No. 7 in Canada, No. 9 in the US, No. 12 in New Zealand, and No. 20 on the Kent Music Report.

Solo Work

In 1982, Ric Ocasek made his solo debut with Beatitude, an art-pop album in the Panorama vein. The songs range from energized synthpop (“Connect Up to Me,” “A Quick One”) to hypnotic minimal wave (most of Side B). “Jimmy Jimmy” opens the set with a dark lyrical theme. The most Cars-like song, “Something to Grab For,” was the first single. Ocasek recorded the album with Greg Hawkes (“Out of Control” co-writer) and Ministry drummer Stephen George. Beatitude reached No. 28 on the Billboard 200.

Greg Hawkes made his solo debut with Niagara Falls, released in May 1983 on Passport. It features eleven self-performed instrumentals with titles like “Ants in Your Pants,” “Beep Beep,” and “Voyage into Space.” Hawkes plays keyboards, drum machine, guitar, and noises across the album, which veers between avant-garde synthpop and library styles.

For their next album, The Cars linked with Rhodesian-born producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange, a Seventies proto-new wave soundman (Boomtown Rats, City Boy, Deaf School, Graham Parker, Supercharge) with recent credits behind AC/DC, Foreigner (4), and Def Leppard, whose 1983 blockbuster Pyromania later surpassed ten million in US sales.

Heartbeat City

The Cars released their fifth album, Heartbeat City, on March 13, 1984, on Elektra.

The album features ten Ric Ocasek songs, each in a modernist vein enhanced by the Fairlight CMI digital synthesizer. Musically, the songs range from melodic mid-tempo pop rock (“You Might Think,” “Magic”) and breezy uptempo numbers (“Stranger Eyes,” “Heartbeat City”) to the airy ballads “Why Can’t I Have You” and “Drive,” a poignant number about psychosis sung by Ben Orr.

Greg Hawkes co-wrote “It’s Not the Night,” a dramatic rocker marked by oscillating synths and Ocasek/Orr vocal tradeoffs. Hawkes drives the opener, “Hello Again,” with a boinging motif reminiscent of “Let’s Go.”

A1. “Hello Again” (3:47)
A2. “Looking for Love” (3:52)
A3. “Magic” (3:57)
A4. “Drive” (3:55)
A5. “Stranger Eyes” (4:26)

B1. “You Might Think” (3:04)
B2. “It’s Not the Night” (3:49)
B3. “Why Can’t I Have You” (4:04)
B4. “I Refuse” (3:16)
B5. “Heartbeat City” (4:31)

Robert “Mutt” Lange produced the album between July 1983 and January 1984 at Battery Studios in London. Heartbeat City was engineered by Nigel Green, a soundman on 1983/84 titles by A Flock of Seagulls, Baron Rojo, Belle Stars, Billy Ocean, Comsat Angels, and Whodini.

Robinson designed the album’s maroon-framed gatefold cover, which appropriates Art-O-Matic Loop di Loop, a 1972 collage by English multi-media artist Peter Phillips, whose piece includes a Fifties Vargas pinup and a green a 1971 Plymouth Duster 340.

“You Might Think” first appeared in February as a single (b/w “Heartbeat City”). “You Might Think” reached No. 8 in Canada, No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and (more important for its evergreen status) No. 1 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart.

“Magic” followed as a May 1984 single (b/w “I Refuse”). “Magic” reached No. 14 in Canada, No. 10 in France, No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, but also reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart.

On July 23, The Cars lifted “Drive” as a third single (b/w “Stranger Eyes”). With its AC ballad arrangement and Orr’s soft vocals, “Drive” received high rotation on adult contemporary stations while the two prior singles remained on pop and rock playlists. When the video hit MTV, viewers who didn’t own Heartbeat City learned (with surprise) that the AC staple was a Cars song.

“Drive” reached No. 3 in Ireland and Switzerland, No. 4 in West Germany, and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The single also went Top 10 in New Zealand (No. 5), Canada (No. 6 Pop; No 1 AC), Austria (No. 8), Norway (No. 9), and Australia (No. 10). In the US, “Drive” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts.

In October, “Hello Again” became the fourth single, backed with a dub version. “Hello Again” reached No. 4 in France, No. 12 in New Zealand, and No. 20 on the Hot 100. In January 1984, “Why Can’t I Have You” became the fifth and final North America single (backed with the non-album “Breakaway”) and peaked at No. 11 in Canada.

B. “Breakaway”

Heartbeat City reached No. 1 in New Zealand, No. 5 in Canada, and No. 15 in Australia and Germany. In the US, the album reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and later certified quadruple-Platinum with sales of four million copies. Austrian singer Falco covered “Looking for Love” (as “Munich Girls”) on his 1985 album Falco 3. “Stranger Eyes” appeared in the trailer (but not the soundtrack) for the 1986 film Top Gun.

1985–86 Activity

On Saturday, July 13, 1985, The Cars played Live Aid, an all-star concert event organized by Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof for Ethiopian famine relief. The event was telecast globally to 1.9 billion homes from two stadiums: Wembley (London) and JFK (Philadelphia). The Cars took the JFK stage at 5:30pm EST a four-song set: “You Might Think,” “Drive,” “Just What I Needed,” and “Heartbeat City.” Bette Midler introduced The Cars, who appeared between sets by between Kenny Loggins and Neil Young.

After David Bowie‘s Wembley set, producers aired a CBC newsreel of starving Ethiopian children with “Drive” as the backing track. This sent “Drive” back into the UK Singles Chart with a new peak at No. 4. The re-released version raised £160,000 for the Band Aid Trust.

In October 1985, Elektra issued Greatest Hits, a twelve-track Cars compilation with three songs each from The Cars (“Just What I Needed,” “Good Times Roll,” “My Best Friend’s Girl”), Shake It Up (“Since You’re Gone,” “Shake It Up,” “I’m Not the One”), and Heartbeat City (“You Might Think,” “Magic,” “Drive”), plus one each from Candy-O (“Let’s Go”) and Panorama (“Touch and Go”).

Greatest Hits contains one new track, “Tonight She Comes,” issued as an autumn single with an accompanying video. “Tonight She Comes” reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The inclusion of “I’m Not the One” is a remix of the 1981 deep-cut. Released as the compilation’s second single, the remixed “I’m Not the One” peaked just outside the Billboard Top 30.

In late 1985, Elliot Easton released Change No Change, his only solo album. It features ten songs co-written with Jules Shear of the Polar Bears. Easton also plays on 3 Ships, a 1985 Christmas album by Jon Anderson.

Ric Ocasek released his second solo album, This Side of Paradise, in September 1986 on Geffen Records. It features ten originals, including one co-write (“Hello Darkness”) with Greg Hawkes, who plays the album’s keyboards and bass. Paradise also features Elliot Easton and backing vocals by Benjamin Orr, plus King Crimson bassist Tony Levin, Hall & Oates guitarist GE Smith, Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, and (on “P.F.J.”) ex-Television guitarist Tom Verlaine, plus Tears for Fears drummer Chris Hughes and guitarist-singer Roland Orzabal. The single “Emotion in Motion” reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “True to You” also received airplay.

In October 1986, Ben Orr released The Lace, his only solo album. It features ten songs co-written with Orr’s personal partner, Diane Grey Page, including the singles “Too Hot to Stop” and “Stay the Night,” an AC hit. Easton plays guitar on The Lace, an otherwise largely self-performed effort.

Door to Door

The Cars released their sixth album, Door to Door, on August 11, 1987, on Elektra.

The album contains eleven Ric Ocasek originals, including “Fine Line,” “Wound Up On You,” “Strap Me In,” and “Go Away,” a Greg Hawkes co-write with vocals by Ben Orr, who also sings “Double Trouble,” “Everything You Say,” and “Coming Up On You.”

Ocasek and Orr co-sing the album’s lead single, “You Are the Girl.” Side A bookends with “Leave or Stay” and “Ta Ta Wayo Wayo,” both newly recorded versions of songs from their 1977 Cars demo.

A1. “Leave Or Stay” (2:55)
A2. “You Are the Girl” (3:52)
A3. “Double Trouble” (4:14)
A4. “Fine Line” (5:22)
A5. “Everything You Say” (4:52)
A6. “Ta Ta Wayo Wayo” (2:52)

B1. “Strap Me In” (4:22)
B2. “Coming Up You” (4:18)
B3. “Wound Up On You” (5:02)
B4. “Go Away” (4:38)
B5. “Door to Door” (4:16)

Sessions occurred in April–May 1987 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, where Ocasek produced Door to Door. The album was engineered and mixed by Joe Barbaria, a Fear of Music recording assistant with additional new wave/disco-era credits on titles by BT Express, Skyy, Mi-Sex, and the Buggles precursor Chromium.

Door to Door features cover art by Italian abstract impressionist Emanuele DiLiberto and scattered monochrome member pics by fashion photographer Marco Glaviano.

Discography: