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Ric Ocasek RIP

HenryJames

By HenryJames
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horn4life

horn4life 3784

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The Album "The Cars" was released in the Summer of 1978.  I graduated high school in '79 and the Album was honestly one of the single best first albums ever.  The amount of airplay they got helped make them a big part of my high school sound background.  Just songs that were mirrors of teen life then, "Just what I needed", and in particular "Best Friend's Girl" were just songs that were playing out as we cruised the streets every night. "Let the Good Times Roll" was a teen antherm for partying, and "You're all I've got tonight" encaptures that teen angst for emotional closeness.

Hard to believe Ocasek was like 40 at time of the release, yet the album hit all my teen buttons at the time.  Just one damn fine album!

 

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21900

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3 minutes ago, horn4life said:

The Album "The Cars" was released in the Summer of 1978.  I graduated high school in '79 and the Album was honestly one of the single best first albums ever.  The amount of airplay they got helped make them a big part of my high school sound background.  Just songs that were mirrors of teen life then, "Just what I needed", and in particular "Best Friend's Girl" were just songs that were playing out as we cruised the streets every night. "Let the Good Times Roll" was a teen antherm for partying, and "You're all I've got tonight" encaptures that teen angst for emotional closeness.

Hard to believe Ocasek was like 40 at time of the release, yet the album hit all my teen buttons at the time.  Just one damn fine album!

 

An absolute masterpiece first album.  And some of the lesser played tracks are amazing.  "All Mixed Up" is one of my favorite Cars songs.  "Bye, Bye Love" is finominle too.  "Substitution, mass confusion, clouds inside your head..."

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46275

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1 hour ago, horn4life said:

Hard to believe Ocasek was like 40 at time of the release, yet the album hit all my teen buttons at the time.  Just one damn fine album!

Well, he was 34, but agreed.  Easily one of my 10 favorite bands of the time and that hasn't changed much.  I'm a sucker for smart, hooky pop.  Maybe because it's really fucking hard to pull off.

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gernblansten

gernblansten 3197

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1 hour ago, horn4life said:

The Album "The Cars" was released in the Summer of 1978.  I graduated high school in '79 and the Album was honestly one of the single best first albums ever.  The amount of airplay they got helped make them a big part of my high school sound background.  Just songs that were mirrors of teen life then, "Just what I needed", and in particular "Best Friend's Girl" were just songs that were playing out as we cruised the streets every night. "Let the Good Times Roll" was a teen antherm for partying, and "You're all I've got tonight" encaptures that teen angst for emotional closeness.

I think I heard Patrick Bateman saying the exact same thing to Paul Allen recently.

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Chopper

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The Cars first lp and Candy O were among the rarest of albums, the type where pretty much every song on 'em is kick-ass. I'd guess those 2 albums got the most play of any music in the mediocre cassette deck of my shitty ford mustang. I hadn't really listened to them in a long time but the last couple days I've listened and re-listened. It's really amazing how well those albums withstood the test of time. They sound great even today. I was surprised to learn the other day that The Cars put out an album post-Ben Orr's death, Move Like This in 2011. I gave it a listen and it's shockingly good rock and roll. 

Here's a bunch of Ric Ocasek remembrances that Bob Lefsetz published in his newsletter - what various people, most still in the music business, wrote in to share about their thoughts. I thought some might find it worth a read. I'll spoiler it due to length. 

Spoiler

 

Now the 1970s were an era of platinum sales and sold out arenas. But there started to be a backlash, against what was labeled "corporate rock." I purchased the Ramones' "Rocket To Russia," because I loved "Rockaway Beach." But it wasn't until Joey Ramone died, back in 2001, that the band was acknowledged for the breakthrough they were. The Sex Pistols, with their one LP, got most of the attention in the mainstream. And now three of the four original members are dead, they cannot bask in the Ramones' newfound glory.
 
But after the Ramones, there came a new sound, "New Wave." Can't tell you exactly what it sounded like, it was a catch-all for those not members, nor influenced by their progenitors, the legendary classic rock acts and the virtuosos in bands like Yes and ELP. Was Graham Parker new wave? At first he was considered so. Certainly Elvis Costello. And despite Costello's legendary appearance on SNL, most people were unaware of the new sound, which came primarily out of England, there was a slew of bands if you were a fan, but they weren't even played on AOR radio, they were too edgy, you needed free format outlets, like the original KROQ, before it was the tight-playlisted ROQ of the 80s.
 
Now at this point, record stores were religious temples. Chains littered the landscape, certainly in L.A. We not only had Tower, but the Wherehouse and Licorice Pizza and then Music Plus, where all records were always discounted. But if you were a true fan, you went to the indie shops. Aron's in West Hollywood, Rhino on Westwood Boulevard, my favorite Grammy 'n Granny on Gayley in Westwood. Because Grammy 'n Granny had the best promos. And I was one of their best customers, so they held the promos for me!
 
And when I walked in the clerks would talk to me about the new releases. There was a bin right in front of the store, and therein one day I saw the Cars' debut LP.
 
It turned me off. If you don't put yourself on the cover...
 
And I wasn't turned on by the woman in the picture, maybe she just wasn't my type, this did not look like a serious band, and then I heard them.
 
 
My girlfriend's parents were staying at La Costa. We drove down for the day. And on the way back, it was either KMET or KLOS, every Sunday night they'd play the complete side of an album. The industry hated it, this was the heyday of taping. But if you were a fan....
 
My BMW 2002 had a Blaupunkt in the dash and two rear deck mounted speakers. This was before the head unit was stolen and I upgraded, but even that setup pumped out a ton of sound. And the deejay gave a long intro and then dropped the needle.
 
Now the track was entitled "Good Times Roll," which was hard to fathom, since this was the moniker of a classic. But when the sound started pumping out of the speakers, this was a whole new kind of good times.
 
It sounded new. Infectious. It was loud without being in your face. I got it immediately. And that's oh-so-rare.
 
"Let them leave you up in the air
Let them brush your rock and roll hair
Let the good times roll"
 
Too much has been made of the Cars' lyrics, with totally different words, the tracks still would have hit, they were just that powerful. To what degree was that the result of Roy Thomas Baker's production...who knows? But he was a master, he'd done Queen.
 
But one thing was for sure, the band was in on the joke. They'd chosen the song's title intentionally. They wanted to have good times, but these were a new kind of good times. You could either get on board or not. But really, once you heard the sound you had no choice. I won't say it was like "I Want To Hold Your Hand," but on some level it was. There was no turning back, you got excited. This sound opened the channel for all kinds of new acts. And one thing's for sure, you had to turn it UP! And when you did, the good times played in your head.
 
Then came "My Best Friend's Girl," which at first hearkened back to the early sixties in sound, the track was totally different from "Good Times Roll"...and then this teenish song went through changes and had a great melody and...it wasn't the girl of the sixties, she had the nuclear boots, he wasn't pining for her, he knew he no longer had a chance, he was just telling the story, and pissed that she was now together with his friend. And there was even a guitar solo...who created this elixir of a mish-mash?
 
Even catchier was the third cut, "Just What I Needed." This was straight down the middle, it was an obvious hit, it was old, yet new. The Cars had what today's act don't, they knew how to meld sound, changes and a chorus to make a hit. You only had to hear "Just What I Needed" once. And, once again, they weren't feeding us pabulum. These were the cool kids commenting on what was going on, coming from the future back to the present.
 
The very next day I went back to Grammy 'n Granny. They still had two promo copies, this was before the almost instantaneous buzz began. I brought the album home and played the second side.
 
"You're All I've Got Tonight" was as catchy, as much of a hit as "Just What I Needed."
 
Even better was "Bye Bye Love." It was more intimate, akin to "I Want To Tell You" on "Revolver," with its descending riff. But even better was the way Ric uttered the words in the chorus..."bye, bye, love," after the bridge, they weren't quite sotto voce, but somehow less in your face than what had come before.
 
And then the album cut, "Moving In Stereo," the longest cut on the LP at 4:46, it wasn't made for the hit parade, but your bedroom, it was the song you ended up playing the most once you'd played the album a dozen times or so.
 
The Cars went from nobodies to A-list stars almost immediately. From nowhere to part of the firmament.
 
I bought the second LP, "Candy-O," the day it was released in the spring of '79. I just had to.
 
With the Vargas cover, I now understood the aesthetic, I got the cover of the debut.
 
You dropped the needle and you heard..."Let's Go."
 
The synth line alone puts the track over the top. The song was a tear, you went from zero to seventy instantly. And the concept was so rock and roll...LET'S GO! Take chances, explore the world, act, don't think. She likes the nightlife, take her hand and GO OUT!
 
But my favorite cut on "Candy-O" was "It's All I Can Do." It was so sweet, both in sound and message. It was a new piece in the puzzle.
 
"It's all I can do
To keep waiting for you
It's all I can do
It's all I can do"
 
How many times have you been in this situation? You're tapped, you've given it your all, it's their move.
 
And, once again, that synth!
 
Everything was so right. It's like they perfected it and pushed the faders up to drive your head just shy of explosion.
 
But, once again, it was the longest track, the album track, this time the very last cut, that got under my skin, that I kept playing.
 
Certain words stuck out..."uranium lover." The nuclear threat was emotionally greatest in the early sixties, this was almost an anachronism.
 
And the "museum directors"? How did this fit in?
 
But one thing's for sure, the chorus became part of your DNA.
 
"She's a lot like you
The dangerous type
Oh, she's a lot like you
Come on and hold me tight"
 
Girls go for bad boys. But boys go for bad girls. They ogle them, they're fearful of interacting, they let them wrap them around their little fingers...before the girls move on.
 
"Dangerous Type" was a mental movie.
 
I'd love to tell you I loved "Panorama," but I didn't. It never revealed itself to me. And then I gave up. Each LP was getting worse. After three, I was done.
 
But "Shake It Up" was a return to form. I heard "Since You're Gone" all over the radio, same deal with "Shake It Up." But they were no longer my band, I'd ceded them to the masses, it was the same act, I'd seen the trick, now the band seemed to be playing to the audience. And after four albums in four years, the Cars seemed to know this too. So they waited two and a half years to release their next, "Heartbeat City," made with Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who we'd first seen credited on those Graham Parker LPs, as well as City Boys', and then he'd done "Back In Black" and the Def Leppard LPs and was the easy choice for best producer in the world, the one who'd come through, who'd deliver, didn't he rescue Foreigner from the dead, endless repetition?
 
I don't have to laud "Heartbeat City," you saw the singles on MTV when everybody was watching, the Cars were part of the firmament, they'd come back and conquered.
 
The follow-up, without Mutt, produced by Ric and Greg Hawkes, was almost an afterthought, times had seemingly surpassed the Cars. The band broke up, but Ric Ocasek stayed. He produced LPs, he was married to a supermodel, he never faded away, he was always in the conversation, until he died.
 
*
 
The shock was that he was 75. He didn't make it just after puberty. He'd paid his dues, that's why the Cars could emerge fully-formed, the players had so much experience the band's expertise was easy to showcase.
 
Now the strange thing is if you play the Cars' records today...you're shocked, too much old stuff you have to apologize for, you wonder why you once liked it, but not this music, it sounds as fresh as '78, '84, as a matter of fact it sounds even better. Radio always muffled the lyrics, now they stand out and their wisdom and insight and humor stick out. But even better is that sound, an amalgamation of the old and new filtered through a hit record sensibility, the Cars didn't want to stretch out and noodle, they wanted to get it right, in a compact fashion, anything unnecessary was excised.
 
Now unlike Eddie Money Ric Ocasek wasn't friends with everybody, he wasn't the life of the party, he suffered no fools, he spoke through his music, that was enough, it was less emotion than intellect, the tracks were all you got, the band members were not individual stars, all you got was this vision, unique in the landscape, direct and oftentimes ironic, it kept you guessing, but the music did not.
 
So what we're left with is not stories so much as the impact of the sound, which was indelible then...
 
And still is.
 
Bob Lefsetz
 
_______________________________________________________________________
 
This is an extra tough one for me. Ric and I have been friends since I was 17, when we formed a band together with Ben Orr, Greg Hawkes and a drummer named Ron Riddle. Jonathan Richman named our band Richard and the Rabbits and we played shows around Boston and the NE. We spent a few years recording stuff as well, and had a consistently great time working & playing together until I moved away from Boston before the birth of The Cars.
 
Ric was always genuine, unpretentious and quite fearless, both before and after massive fame. In his lyric writing, he didn't waste a syllable and was usually about 30% more surreal and off the beaten path than you'd expect. His knack for concise melodies backed by the unexpected chord in the right place was always there. He had a great balance of the satisfying/expected and the surprise twist all along. In The Cars, he found the focused vehicle for his writing and a combination of elements that worked beautifully. Greg's perfect keyboard sounds and parts were often the secret sauce that glued the tracks together.
 
In 1982, in the midst of The Cars' great success, Ric felt the urge to go out on more of a creative limb and recorded his first solo album, Beatitude. He called me up in Miami and asked me to come play guitar and keyboards on it, and I was happy to jump back up to Boston and work with him again. We had a ball - Ric would pick me up and drive me back to my hotel every night, treating me beautifully and still the same no nonsense, thoughtful guy I'd known as before. Success hadn't made him lazy, he was a prolific writer and eager to get to work.
 
We didn't see each other often over the last 15 years or so, but it was always a deep pleasure to reunite, never any distance between us. Thanks to the recently departed Paul Allen, my girl & I were treated to a trip to The Cars' induction into the R&R Hall of Fame last year, and it was amazing to sit next to my old friends and see them rightly honored as the fantastic band they were & hear them play one more time. That was the last time Ric & I had together, we hung out most of the night and it couldn't have been sweeter.
 
I share this Heartbreak City with many friends and loved ones of Ric's - all of us are in shock. Please take care of your heart, Bob, mine needs some mending right now.
 
Fuzzbee Morse
 
___________________________________________
 
You'd be hard pressed to find an American male between 45 and 55 years old that doesn't immediately transport back to that ICONIC scene in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" whenever the intro to "Moving in Stereo" is played. 
 
Lee Huddleston
 
___________________________________________
 
Sometime in 1972 I picked up two guys with guitars hitchhiking outside of Boston. I was in my first year of being a musician and had a great time chatting on the ride.  They had just had their first record released and they gave me a promo copy, which I still have. The record was by  Milkwood. Turned out to be Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr. RIP, Ric.
 
John
 
___________________________________________
 
I remember the first time I heard them, when Jimmy Knight brought a stack of records over to Angie Guthrie's party (our friend with the cool mom). He also brought a Jackson Browne record, but that's a different fangirl freakout.  I remember dragging my mom to the Record Bar at the mall (after suffering through the obligatory JC Penney and Sears expeditions), trying to look cool while she paid for my record, bugging her to hurry up and GET HOME ALREADY so we could listen to it!!  That slim square bright yellow paper bag that one LP barely fit in, sort of mocking us for not buying more--then taking that record to friends' houses to play every chance I could, especially the friends whose parents worked evenings and had killer stereos. The Cars were a monumental presence in the soundtrack of my youth and Ric's passing just brings so many memories into sharp, poignant focus. Damn.
 
Tina Withrow
 
___________________________________________
 
Bob great piece. The Cars hit me as a young kid and immediately made me go out and buy the album. Which of course meant I had to ride my bicycle and save money to buy it.  And of course I played the album on my parents stereo. Literally it was that album, Devo and The Clash that made me become a record producer and songwriter.
R.I.P Ric
 
Johnny Vieira
 
___________________________________________
 
Their 2011 Move Like This is Good!
Listened to the CD  over and over again in my car.
Larry Green
 
___________________________________________
 
bob…….you made me want to buy all these recordings again!
Peter Noone
 
___________________________________________
 
I remember when the Cars first album came out and you are exactly right about it.  There was an album that was worth buying for the ENTIRE album.  I was not as cool as you - I bought it at Licorice Pizza.
 
Keep well, keep going - courage.
 
Adam Keller
 
___________________________________________
 
I'm surprised you didn't mention the final Cars LP, "Move Like This," from
2011.  It was really good, a return to form, especially the opening track
"Blue Tip," which should be on any Best-of-the-Cars playlist.  The album
had all of the original members except for Ben Orr (Ocasek did bass
duties).  Maybe you never got a chance to hear it.... it wasn't exactly
all over the place, sad to say.  But it deserved to be.
 
"Forget about reality, 'cause nothin' is the norm" - (Blue Tip)
 
Mike Blakesley
Former record store guy
 
___________________________________________
 
This piece inspired me to write about The Cars from a Canadian perspective:
 
I got to Kinney Music (soon to be WEA Canada, then Warner Music Canada) in 1978.  I was 25 and had been anointed the Elektra/Asylum/Atlantic Records label manager for Canada.  The Canadian quarterback. Think about those labels' rosters at that time.  Holy smokes.  Thought I had died and gone to heaven.
 
Atlantic was on a hellacious rock roll.  The Stones of course, Foreigner was huge, and you could feel AC-DC about to explode with the underrated Powerage, then Highway To Hell in '79.  Abba, Roxy Music, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson. And on and on.
 
Elektra/Asylum was only a few years from hitting the wall and the gutting of the executive suite and the roster, when Bob Krasnow was brought in with a big broom, sweeping out the detritus, and Don Henley and Tom Waits with it,  though that's another tale.  In '78 they were still riding high with The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, plus Joe Walsh and Warren Zevon were about to drop their big albums.
 
But god bless Mel Posner.  Mel would later have a solid run at Geffen but back then he was entrenched at Elektra, a key lieutenant and a great guy, running the International Department.  Very soon after I got the job Mel called with a crystal clear message:  we've got a new band from Boston called The Cars and this is THE ONE!  When Mel spoke, especially in that fashion, we listened.  The advance cassette, Elektra 6E 135, arrived soon after and it was just an explosion, a detonation.  The entire company lost its mind.
 
Late October '78, it might have even been Halloween night, The Cars played The Whisky in Los Angeles.  I was lucky to be there.  A total scene of course, Rodney holding court.  Elektra out in force in its home town.  Woodwork squeaks and out come the freaks, to quote Was Not Was, especially on Halloween.  A great memory.
 
The Canadian company never stopped running with that first album through all those singles and straight into Candy-O.  The first album did well in America obviously but we sold 750,000 copies in 18 months in Canada, a massive number, equal to 8 million plus in U.S. terms.  In those days we were always judged by our percentage of sales vs. America. We would be lauded  one day and flayed the next, but we punched way above our weight on 6E 135.  Canada flat out loved The Cars.  Two years later, on the release of Candy-O, the band headlined Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.  They swung by our building and I can remember Ric Ocasek hiding out in A & R man Gary Muth's office, finding a bit of quiet and calm before the never-ending media storm.
 
It's sad, sobering and hard to process that he's gone.
 
Kim Cooke
 
___________________________________________
 
Thanks Bob, The Cars was Ric Ocasek’s band, though I love each of the parts and how they contributed.
 
I inherited my older brother’s cassettes of The Cars when he "graduated" to AC/DC. I am 5 years his junior and am currently 48, so this was probably around 82. I picked up Heartbeat City on my own.
 
The song I picked in my wedding to dance with my bride was Ric Ocasek’s Emotion In Motion.
 
The Cars got me through the teen angst years while I tried to figure out girls. Their lyrics spoke to my intense shyness, and when I miraculously found my soulmate, Ric’s lyrics painted the picture my heart was pounding out.
 
I appreciate you and your perspective, and agree that their work continues to sound like it was created today, year after year.
 
PS. There isn’t a song I skip in their entire catalogue- The Cars through Move Like This, with Door to Door holding many of my favorite gems.
 
Jamie Rogerson
 
___________________________________________
 
Also, much like Howard Stern, Ric Ocasek had that one-of-a-kind look...just iconic in the 80s.  The tremendous talent, combined with the look, made him seem almost not of this world. 
 
....and the 2011 reunion album did not get enough play.  Even though it’s missing Benjamin Orr, it is a classic Cars album. 
 
It’s a shame....I don’t think I realized just how much The Cars music meant to me until the last couple days.  After the initial craze, you sometimes start taking certain bands "greatness" for granted.  I guess that’s the way it goes.
 
Rudy Falco
Asbury Park, NJ
 
___________________________________________
 
You’re spot on. Those first 2 Cars albums, in particular, sound as good today as ever. They sound so contemporary. Sharp, bright, punchy, cool, sleek, and forceful.
 
It’s  funny, in real time back in the late 70’s and through the 80’s - I I thought The Cars were a second-tier band. Not nearly as cool or important compared to all the British heavyweights like The Clash/The Cure/The Jam/U2 etc.
 
But you nailed it - they made fantastic, innovative, slyly edgy hit records. And now in 2019, those records sound way better than most of the more revered artists of the  80s & 90s.
 
It’s a big loss.
 
Jack Isquith
 
___________________________________________
 
Your tribute to The Cars and Ric was spot on.
A revolutionary band, all virtuosos.
And Ric wrote all the songs.
 
But it really was the sound that hooked us from the very first time you heard the Intro to “Good Times Roll.”
 
So thank you for mentioning Roy Thomas Baker:
 
...with totally different words, the tracks still would have hit, they were just that powerful. To what degree was that the result of Roy Thomas Baker's production...who knows? But he was a master, he'd done Queen.
 
Unlike Producers who came from the Arranging side, like Quincy Jones and Arif Marvin, Roy was an Engineer first.
He had recorded Free’s "All Right Now," which still sounds perfect today.
 
In just 1978 Roy produced the first Cars album, his fifth with Queen, Jazz ("Fat Bottomed Girls"), and Journey’s Infinity ("Lights", "Wheel In the Sky").  And then in ’79 he produced Candy-O, and Journey’s Evolution.
 
In that imaginary Producers Hall of Fame, Roy is in the pantheon.
And The Cars' albums that he produced is one of the major reasons why.
 
Thanks Roy, for all the great records.
Thanks Bob for reminding us how great they really were and are.
 
Hank Neuberger
 
___________________________________________
 
Fall of 1977 I was a senior in high school outside of Boston (Lincoln-Sudbury, where we had Paula Poundstone, the Johns from They Might be Giants in my class, and Mike Gordon from Phish a freshman - something was definitely up with that school). The demo of Just What I Needed was all over the air on WBCN, well before the album came out the following summer. Saw the Cars that fall at the Boston Music Hall opening for Robin Trower (an odd mix for sure, only to be topped following year my freshman year at Middlebury where they booked NRBQ opening for Aztec Two Step, but that's another story). Summer of 1978 my parents had moved to small town Minnesota, and went to the local record store and had to special order the debut. Guy looked at me like I had twelve heads, hoped for his sake that he ordered more than one as it just blew up.
Great band and a great column.
Best
Mike Wyatt
 
___________________________________________
 
In 1978 I was on tour with Genesis on the “Then There Were 3 Tour” (9 months in total) and one of the truck drivers from Edwin Shirley turned me onto The Cars, we had this album (cassette) in the cab and it was the final song on the album that we played and played and played as we toured through the UK and Europe….”Moving In Stereo”, the bottom end was amazing and keyboards something special and a touch of Eno.  When I got home for Christmas I got the album on vinyl dropped the needle and just turned the volume up through my hand made Turbosound speakers.  Something else.
 
Memories.
 
Sir Harry Cowell
 
___________________________________________
 
Right on. Here’s to a real visionary. The Cars first album really does sound brand new even today.
 
I also wanna raise a glass to Ben Orr, who had the great voice in The Cars -kinda like Dave Gilmour to Ric’s Roger Waters.
It was cool how Ric and Ben sounded similar -when I was a kid I guess I thought it was all Ocasek. Ric had the instantly identifiable weird hiccup, while Ben sounded like the confident rock star, even sang the pretty stuff like
"Drive". Between the two they gave The Cars that one distinct sort of voice. .
"Candy-O", though !
 
spuggard
 
___________________________________________
 
I got to know and work with Ric musically and professionally when I was Director of A&R at Elektra Records in the early 2000's, and he was my neighbor in NYC. Our VP of Rock A&R was let go (the second in my tenure) and it was announced by our CEO Sylvia Rhone that Ric had been hired to take his place, making him one of my bosses, with an office just feet away from mine.
In an area of the business full of surreal creative/business encounters/relationships with people you grew up idolizing and listening to, this was on an entirely different level. There were only a few of us left in the A&R department that would report to him (this was leading up to the Elektra/Atlantic merger) and we had no idea what to expect. We watched movers and decorators slowly bring loads of his personal, modern furniture to decorate his office, rather than the standard company fare. The office then sat furnished but unoccupied for weeks as we wondered if/when he would ever show. And then one day, quiet and unannounced, in walked Ric, straight into his office, just sitting there.
I conjured up the confidence to walk in and introduce myself. I was a huge fan of The Cars as a kid, having borrowed all the records from my older brother, and grew to appreciate them even more over time as a fan of music and being in the business. I expressed this as well as how big of a fan I was of his production, including his work with Bad Brains, which he appreciated. One thing lead to another and the conversation turned to what part of NYC each other lived, when we learned we were neighbors, just yards away from each other, me at 18th and Irving and Ric at 19th and Irving. He then said straight faced to the few of us that would report to him, with the look of a rock star mixed with someone that had done it all in the business and had no F’s left to give, that "I don't need to be here."
 
And he wasn’t much at all after that, preferring to work from his home instead of the corporate label office. But how cool was it to be able to talk music with him, and drop off music and demos at his home, right around the corner from mine, and bump into him on the block, Paulina too, walking our dogs or on the way somewhere.
 
I moved out of the neighborhood a few years ago but often return and always think about Ric and his family when I walk by his home, feeling blessed to have made his acquaintance the way I did. And now that’s where he passed.
 
Steve Tramposch
 
___________________________________________
 
The only article I ever wrote that Jann Wenner ever noticed was a cover story I did on The Cars in 1984 for the old Record magazine.  I had known the band since '78 when my favorite Warner promo man Nick Panaseiko snuck me into the El Mocambo for their first show in Toronto (months after the Stones immortalized the place).  It was beyond oversold.  The debut was so hot that summer, stores were sold out. For weeks.  I was just a punk rock kid at the paper so I didn't get to review the show. I think.  But I do remember writing somewhere that Ocasek had "all the stage presence of a praying mantis".  Yet the tracks were untouchable and they could execute.  Went to the dressing room.  Talked to Hawkes.  Shook Ocasek's hand. Went on to  Interview Roy Baker specifically about The Cars.  I did some stories on them around Candy-O which is a better album now than it was 40 years ago.  I pissed on their live show a little harder because they were an arena band now and Ocasek just didn't share anything on stage.  And he wasn't thrilled with what I had to say especially about some of the fill they used in the live mix.
 
Then it got too arty and less relevant until Heartbeat City and I picked up the assignment.  I was living in New York so I flew to Boston to interview 'the band' and then back to New York for Ocasek who went on a rant about how the four other members would be still be fucking around at Berklee if it wasn't for him.  Or something like that.  On the record.
 
That night I was at Area with Steve Rubell and my fiance and Ocasek was there and gave me a rare smile that said "I hate rock writers but you've been hanging around so I threw you a bone."  Ultimately a complicated guy who did not suffer fools like me. But with thanks to Ocasek  the resulting story was noticed by Wenner.
 
Thirty five years later and everyone from that moment at Area are gone.
 
But I still treasure that debut album which stands as the Pet Sounds of the 70s.  Candy-O isn't too far behind.
 
And Bob, good point about Ocasek not making it until well into his 30s.  The age thing was tamped down back in the day.
 
Now, this many years later, its Ocasek's tenacity that is part of his legacy.  Never give up kids.
 
I'll always love The Cars for my time with them a couple of lives ago.
 
Jonathan Gross
 
___________________________________________
 
That was really great Bob. I was in Boston when The Cars broke. Had the red vinyl first single before the album was released. I was in a comedy group called “Boston Comedy Network”. We opened for The Cars at an MIT Friday afternoon “beer blast”. Elliot wasn’t yet wearing a toupe. I did my Bryan Ferry impression as part of our show. Ric came up afterwards and told me how much he liked my Ferry impression. That always stuck with me....BTW: My CA license plate read “BMWS UGH” lol
 
Michael Fremer
 
___________________________________________
 
Fantastic! Panorama is a grower though!
 
Tim Tolbert
 
___________________________________________
 
I waited impatiently for two straight days to get your take on Ric’s passing. You did him great justice in his own light, just as you did for Eddie Money.
 
As an eleven and twelve year old boy, I really didn’t distinguish new wave from rock-n-roll as this is what was on the rock radio station as I shot hoops in the backyard.
 
I loved The Cars… my earliest thoughts of fawning over girls at my young age are tied up in these songs… My Best Friend’s Girl… The Dangerous Type… Bye Bye Love… these songs got me through and are imprinted on my soul…
 
You can’t fully appreciate the song Candy-O without listening to the pre-cursor: Shoo Be Doo… with headphones on, it’s scary as it builds and leads up to the title cut… “ride around in your cadium car…”
 
You were also spot-on about The Cars being an amalgamation of styles in a compact fashion… the flat-out rock-a-billy guitar solos against the new wave synth beds and rock drumming… wow… I didn’t even know what I was listening to at the time, but now, in hindsight, it’s absolutely genius.
 
Thanks for appreciating Ric and The Cars, you didn’t let me down (I knew I wasn’t wrong about them).
 
Phil in Detroit
 
___________________________________________
 
Yo Bob,
 
Yeah, as a child of the MTV era, and the youngest extended family member of all boys (and one girl), music was a huge part of our lives.  My oldest cousin always had a cool car with an insane stereo system.  The girl cousin was a punker, but I think I got most of my punk influence during our skateboarding/surfing days (from day one I guess you could say).  Anyway, I dug the cars and we had the albums floating around the house.  Timeless shit by all means.  Who cares what they're saying?  It's the melody and the emotion of the singer.  Words are more important than the message.  I appreciate a great sound system, but I also dig listening to the earbuds on a bike ride.  RATM?  The Police?  In your ears?  That shit is untouchable when the sun is shining.  Anyway, these guys like Bowie and, whomever really, killing themselves with cigarettes?  Are you kidding me?  It ain't that enjoyable.  The brilliance of Bowie brought to an end for cigarettes?  Hey, sex, maybe a drug like heroin (I guess, I've never done it), but nicotine?  But I digress. 
 
Health Note:
 
You know when you hear of a 90+ year old telling the secret of their longevity?  They say something like, "I ate watermelon every day".  Well, it ain't the watermelon that keeps them alive, it's the fact that they aren't eating chips and cookies and soda every day.  The watermelon, apple, orange, or whatever, is just to keep you off the garbage.  Simple, but elusive if you're a slave to the calories/salt/sugar.
 
Chris Flesher
 
___________________________________________
 
My first taste of the Cars was riding home on a Sunday night from Niagara Fall with my parents and older brother back to T.O. and on came My Best Friends Girl. I went out that week to buy the debut and after listening to it again tonight remembered every song word for word.. I played it to death. I bought Candy-O and loved it just as much. The cross between rock and new wave was a sound that was fresh. You never got guitar rock and synth-pop together in one band.. The Cars broke the mold..
 
Michael DiStasi
 
___________________________________________
 
RIP Ric Ocasek. Was a lad of 13 when my cool 20-something neighbor told me about a new band from Boston who would be hitting big, then I spent the summer and following months listening to the record and hearing the singles and album tracks on KMET, KLOS...even KDES when I’d go out to Palm Springs to my grandparents’s place for occasional weekends. Couldn’t escape it, and didn’t want to.
 
Very best.
 
Craig Turner
 
___________________________________________
 
I was a freshman at BU in ‘79 and flying from Logan to Buffalo. The Cars were at my gate. All signed my Econ text book (the only only I’ve kept.) I sat next to Ric while waiting for the flight and he couldn’t have been any nicer. Telling stories about the road and saying that the in El Paso was the craziest.  I think they "jumped the shark" a bit with Magic but that first album is like Tapestry. Every cut is a classic!
 
Gary Sender
 
___________________________________________
 
It’s funny you mention ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ in relation to The Cars.
It’s not ‘Good Times Roll’, but, rather, ‘Just What I Needed’ that, as far as I’ve observed over the decades, may be the only popular song that totally lifted the chord changes from The Beatles’ breakthrough hit. Listen again and you’ll hear. I can’t imagine that I’m the only one who’s noticed but I’m the only one I know who has.
 
'Great artists don’t borrow, they steal'. Well stolen, Ric, and here’s to a life well lived.
 
Eric Bazilian
 
___________________________________________
 
And speaking of  "I Want To Hold Your Hand"… It's the same chord progression they used in the verses of Just What I Needed.
 
James Sadler
 
___________________________________________
 
Thank you for writing about Ocasek and The Cars. I was eagerly awaiting your take.
 
But you said something everyone else is saying, as well, which is distressing.
 
In every Ocasek obit and memorial, The Cars' third album is quickly dismissed.
Which is feeling like the Old Guard Gatekeeper White Rock Guy Writer narrative. They all wrote their negative consensus opinion when the album was released, and no one has ever gone back and listened to it again because: Narrative.
 
Like you, I was there from Day One with The Cars, but as a 13-year old girl Top 40 pop music fanatic who knew from the first listen how different, refreshing and wonderful that Cars sound was.
The second album sounded like the first album, which was fine. It was just what we needed.
 
But Panorama was The Shit because they finally walked new ground.
Not worried about hits, just making a rock record for themselves. And it was awesome.
The only hit single from it was Touch & Go and it was/is GLORIOUS!
Easton's guitar solo?!? EASILY in the Top 5 all-time great guitar solos that made the Top 40. And a stellar solo by ANY parameter.
Considering the complexity and beauty of Touch & Go it's shocking that it even MADE it into the Top 40, which was already constricting in the wake of what The Cars wrought.
 
Panorama rocked harder, weirder and deadlier than the previous 2. Which is why it wasn't "a hit."
And it's odd how not repeating the same formula for the third time was held against them at the time. And no one has ever revisited the record to reassess.
 
And it's the ONLY Cars record I listen to all the way through on a regular basis because it's the only one that feels like an unfettered rock band, rather than a  hit-making machine.
Which is what they returned to with the 4th and subsequent albums.
No shame to that, and bless 'em for all those amazing hits!
 
But during all the memorial respect for Ocasek and The Cars, sure would be nice if Panorama could get even a tiny bit of retrospective respect.
 
Thanks for inspiring a rant,
Toby Weiss
 
___________________________________________
 
You've gotta give Panorama another chance.  Of their 3 initial albums it was the least immediate but when you revisit it how can you not love Touch & Go, Gimme Some Slack, the sublime Misfit Kid, Down Boys, You Wear Those Eyes and Running To You?  Maybe just not your cup of tea but in hindsight this one stands up to the 1st 2 as a stone cold classic in my book and The Cars (along with Heart) were one of my absolute favorites all through High School.
 
Leigh Lust
 
___________________________________________
 
One thing I noticed the first time I played that first album: those first three songs were exactly the same length, 3:43 if I recall correctly. It was like they'd found a magic formula.
 
(That's what the label said, anyway; it also occurred to me that might be a joke.)
 
Anthony Saunders
 
___________________________________________
 
At 14 you couldn't tell me I wasn't the biggest Cars fan there was. I mean, I knew every word to every song. I had created scrapbooks dedicated to them and had a major crush on Ric (when it seemed like everyone else was crushing on Ben Orr). That year I went to my first concert ever, The Candy-O tour at The Spectrum in Philly. However once there I felt totally deflated. I looked around at the 10,000 people in attendance and thought to myself, how can this be?  I'm their number one fan, how am I just another face in the crowd? I hated that feeling. I said, I don't want to be someone just sitting in the audience, I want to be someone who makes these things happen. I want to be in the music business! Long story short, by 21 I was already a VP at Def Jam Records and I've been on this crazy ride ever since. I thank The Cars for setting that fire under me. It changed my life. Rest peacefully Ric.
 
FAITH NEWMAN
 
___________________________________________
 
I remember clearly the first time I heard that first album - summer camp in Connecticut - and how fresh and different, yet overly familiar the songs sounded. My mind was blown. That first listen made them my favorite band for years. Thanks for writing this.
 
Danny Cooper
 
___________________________________________
 
I remember hearing “Just What I Needed” for the first time, sitting in the back seat of my friend’s boat of a car, with his Jenson Triaxles (the Holy Grail!) making it happen.  The Cars were next-up in a musical era that was an embarrassment of riches, with bands inventing new ways to write, play and arrange.  Little did we know that the golden age was beginning its decline for rock and rollers. 
 
Ben Orr’s delivery was distant and disconnected like Devo, but couched in rough guitars, melody and harmony that made up this irresistible spoonful of angular sugar that a Beatles-reared, Elton John-nurtured and Led Zeppelin-transformed teen could only find thrilling and completely irresistible. My friends and I often talk about those bands that you recognize within four bars of a song.  The Cars are one of those, and Ric Ocasek was a giant that the world has scarcely appreciated.
 
Funny note:  My high school band got a gig playing a spring quad festival at Northeastern University that following May.  I was blond and baby-faced but no threat to Ben Orr, but after we finished "Just What I Needed" this cute coed came up and asked me "Are you guys the Cars?"  I’ve regretted my flustered response ever since.  Peace.
 
Ted Doyle
 
___________________________________________
 
Ric produced tracks for HANSON.
 
Walter Sabo
 
___________________________________________
 
It was either in late 1979 or early 1980 and I was a professional tennis player trying to make it playing satellite tennis events throughout Europe. A friend from New Zealand had recently joined the tour - he was recently in the US when their album dropped and he could not stop raving about the Cars. When we heard that they were coming to Amsterdam for a show we hopped a train from Deventer in Holland to get to Amsterdam to see them at a tiny club. There were only about 50 people there and I was unfamiliar with their songs. I will never forget the performance. I was hooked. What a band. Such fantastic songs.
 
coopert
 
___________________________________________
 
Roy Thomas Baker knew how good The Cars were and then we all did. Their first two albums were non-skip albums. They sounded like they looked and looked like they sounded. Ric was smart and he knew Ben could sing his most treasured songs better. Elliot may be one of the most underrated guitar players ever and David and Greg were perfect pieces of the puzzle. After Candy-O they continued to make good records sprinkled with a few great songs, ie Touch and Go, You Might Think, Drive...etc. MTV transitioned The Cars from the 70’s to the 80’s. They never lost their audience or their appeal. Ric made a solid solo record with Emotion in Motion and True to You. He produced, mentored and inspired younger musicians. Thankfully he lived to see his band get the recognition they deserved with their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. He was a rock star that will be missed.
 
Jeff Sacks
 
___________________________________________
 
Ric Ocasek’s passing has truly moved me.
 
If you were a keyboard player growing up in the 80s, The Cars gave you a reason to exist. I still remember learning Greg Hawkes’ synth solo on "Just What I Needed" for my high school cover band. Was there a cooler riff to play in a rock band? For me it was the first time I felt as needed as the guitar player.
 
Ric’s music has hooks and wit and heart and grit. And part our collective youth just left with him.
 
Thanks for the music, Ric. It truly was just what this guy needed.
 
Jon Regen
 
___________________________________________
 
Ric was truly one of a kind. I know he recently got into the hall, but I still don’t feel like this guy ever got the recognition he deserved. Here’s a little known demo from a side project of his a few years back that never saw the light of day, but now seems like the perfect time, an eerie send-off written by the man himself (about himself, with tongue planted firmly in cheek).
Tonight!
Casey Geisen
 
___________________________________________
 
Still have Ric's email in my inbox from October 2013 re a possible Weezer collaboration w my friend producer/mixer Ken Allardyce (in Glasgow at the time hangin' with Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey). Unfortunately we didn't get to work with Ric who went on to produce Everything Will Be Alright in the End, the ninth studio album by Weezer and his third collaboration with the band. In that email I congratulated him for his book: Lyrics & Pros and expressed interest in his artwork.  It was an honor to know him. A renaissance man, Ric Ocasek now making music w his buddies in heaven.
RIP RO -- March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019
 
Claris Sayadian-Dodge
 
___________________________________________
 
The band I was managing for Bruce Lundvall’s Manhattan label (and A&R’d by Bruce Garfield) wanted Ric to produce their album. I met Ric at a rehearsal for the MTV Awards and told him about the band. He wrote down the address to send the demo. When he handed me the address, he said, “Dear, I promise you I will listen to it." (PS he didn’t produce it, but he did call me "dear").
 
I can’t remember the first song I ever heard on a Walkman. I can mos def remember the second one I heard - and played, over and over and over again. I was sitting on a beach chair at the top of a walk street hill in Manhattan Beach, looking at the ocean and listening to, "Good Times Roll".
 
Janie Hoffman
 
___________________________________________
 
I was 16 years old when The Cars debut album hit. Living in Milwaukee, we had AOR rock stations. All my friends listened to Skynyrd, Zeppelin, The Eagles and, of course, Boston.  It was a daily offering that was inescapable.  Think of the Dazed and Confused movie soundtrack.  In the mid-late 70’s and being 15-16 years old, we had no other options.  College radio hadn’t hit yet. MTV wasn’t even a zygote. Punk rock was a London/New York thing where the only access we had to it was seeing photos in Creem Magazine. And good R&B was mainly underground. Disco wasn’t an option - until we got drunk on Old Style beer and wanted to dance with girls.
 
And then The Cars hit.  And very few of my friends would give them a listen.  But for me, it opened a door. Made me wonder what else was out there.  It piqued curiosity.  I first heard “Just What I Needed”.  And then came “My Best Friend’s Girl”.  After that, I rushed out to by the album.  The Cars first album was meant to be played start to finish.  Peaks and valleys. The look. The leather. The horizontal striped shirts.  What was this?  None of my friends would give it a listen. They absolutely refused.  I brought the album to my best friends’ beer and maddog party.  I showed it to him.  He held it, then threw it against the wall and screamed “I ain’t playing no fucking punk rock!”.  I was devastated.  This was my friend.. but I suddenly saw the line being divided right there. 
 
The Cars opened the door for me and I imagine for many others.  They made it ok to immediately accept something different.  More challenging.  The Police were right around the corner.  Local radio even played Split Enz.  I would surf the record stores for hours and hours curious about what was out there but not being played in Milwaukee, WI.  All because of The Cars. 
 
John Hauser
Milwaukee, WI USA
 
___________________________________________
 
Ric was my neighbor. He lived directly behind us for as long as I’ve been in my apartment, so about 16 years.
 
The Cars were inescapable growing up. Seems rude to say but... their music never did it for me. But Paulina sure did. And if there was ever a relationship that proved the Joel - Brinkley truism that talented guys can be with the absolute hottest women....
 
My wife & I saw Ric in our neighborhood all the time. Even every time we voted as we went to the same polling station.  (We didn’t see her often enough.  But she was around.)
 
As I said, the Cars never did it for me but... Ric Ocasek was so unfailingly nice at every interaction, to every person... a kind, smart, funny, genius who would crack up the cashier at our local deli... it made me revisit The Cars
 
And then I got the joke.
 
The Cars are about those subtle interactions. Between real human beings. There’s cleverness everywhere.
 
Ric personified them and now I miss my neighbor
 
Love you Bob,
Lee T. Guzofski


 

 

 

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LFS

LFS 58

Posted
Posted

I was thinking the same thing - The Cars hit the ground running - along w The Police and Dire Straits. Debut albums were great - in some cases their best work. Then there was Supertramp's Breakfast - about the same time. They were almost the same age as the aforementioned - but they started making albums much earlier - bad albums. So there is something to be said for late bloomers. Anyway .... 

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utee94

utee94 15869

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Posted

Yeah we've had threads about our favorite whole albums, beginning to end, rather than just the singles.  And The Cars The Cars is regularly mentioned as one of the best ever.  It's certainly one of my favorites, along with Boston and a handful of others I'm forgetting right now.

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