Tuesday, November 15, 2011

some things are just timeless...

And one of these things is the band


The Cars.


The Cars were a "New Wave" rock group based in Boston that began in the late 1970's.  "New Wave" rock was at first considered synonymous with punk rock, but then became it's own genre when it was consistently characterized by synthesizers and electronic sounds. 

The band originally had five members:
Ric Ocasek, the lead singer and rythym guitarist,
Benjamin Orr (he was also born in Lakewood, which is pretty cool), the other lead singer and bassist,
Elliot Easton, the lead guitarist,
Greg Hawkes, the keyboardist, and
David Robinson, the drummer.

The foundations for the band was laid when Ocasek and Orr met in Columbus, Ohio in 1973 and decided to cover rock n roll songs as a duo.  They soon relocated to Boston, thinking it was a better place to break into the music buisness.  In Boston they met their future keyboardist Greg Hawkes, and the three performed in several bands together over the next several years.  They later met their future guitarist Elliot Easton in Boston and formed the band Cap'n Swing along with several other musicians.  They later booted out the other musicians and brought in drummer David Robinson, and The Cars were born.

So, why were they called The Cars?
Robinson came up with the name, and Ocasek said in a later interview that they all loved the name because,

"It's so easy to spell; it doesn't have a 'z' on the end; it's real authentic. It's pop art, in a sense."

The band's prime years were from 1976 to 1974, where they had many great hits.  The one that is probably the most well-known and loved is "Just What I Needed"


And, yes I as well wish I had as much dancing talent as that audience.


Other great hits from the band include


See what I mean? (;


The Cars broke up in 1988, and they vowed they would never, ever, ever get back together.  Ocasek even said in an interview,  "I'm saying never and you can count on that."  But, I'm sure many people are happy he was wrong, because then in 2010, the four remaining members of the band reuinted and released an album, Move Like This.  Benjamin Orr had unfortunatly passed away in 2000 due to pancreatic cancer :'c


Their new album was actually really good, despite the band taking a 24 year break c;  The best songs on the album are Blue Tip, Too Late, Free, and Hits Me.  But here's the whole album lineup:


That's all for now. kthxbaiiiii. c:

1 comment:

  1. I always liked the Cars. It's cool that they kind of started in Ohio, I didn't know that.

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