Haven't seen this posted here. Apparently Ric O. is back and they have an album coming out in May. Definitely sounds like the old Cars. I'll be there if they tour, never got to see 'em. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fpJQWGA1O8s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I guess the elephant in the room can't be avoided: The Cars or Animal Collective?
I like it..a lot actually. Sounds like old cars mixed with a little bit of Devo. But when you lose a main member of the band like The Cars did..it will never sound exactly the same. I'm wondering if Ric O will now sing lead on all those other songs that Ben Orr sang, or if they'll just not play those songs. its definitely cool..very very 80's sounding though. Thanks for posting
I'd like to think I listen to a good amount of The Cars, but I didn't realize there was even a handful of songs where this was the case, certainly not more than one or two that would have been played in a live setting. Am I way off here?
They were my first concert ever... just after the second album came out and they were beginning their first headline concert tour.
Well Animal Collective, duh. Actually The Cars with Ocasek should be MILES better than this "New Cars" crap with Todd Rundgren (no disrespect to Rundgren but Ocasek IS the Cars). Freak - Orr sang a lot, probably about half, on the first album. He didn't sing as much as on Candy-O and then of course there was "Drive" off Heartbeat City. Some of my favorite songs by them were sung by Orr including "Just What I Needed", "All I Can Do", and "All Mixed Up" (backed with "Living in Stereo").
Wow, had no idea he sung those songs you listed. I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I guess I wouldn't be able to tell live either then.
I actually went back to look at it and Orr sang lead on more Cars songs than I originally thought; here is all the songs that Ben Orr sings lead on: The Cars Just What I Needed Bye Bye Love Moving In Stereo All Mixed Up Candy-O Let's Go Since I Held You It's All I Can Do Candy-O You Can't Hold on too Long Panorama Don't Tell Me No Down Boys You Wear Those Eyes Running to You Shake It Up Cruiser This Could Be Love Think it Over Heartbeat City Drive Stranger Eyes It's Not the Night Door to Door Who cares as this album really sucked but according to Wikipedia, Orr sings lead on songs 3, 5, 8, and 10. So it looks like that every Cars album featured him singing on at least 3, sometimes up to 5 songs. Some of his songs, I could definitely tell that it was NOT Ocasek singing, but there are others you really have to pay attention to (like "Let's Go"). Funny story - a good friend of mine that I used to work with was telling me that when he was in high school, that this was The Cars heyday with albums like Shake It Up and Heartbeat City. At any rate, he had a buddy who absolutely refused to believe that anyone else in the band besides Ric Ocasek was singing on Cars songs. When my friend asked him about "Drive", his response was that it was still Ocasek singing but they decided to have Orr lipsync for the video. And according to my friend, he was dead serious about that assertion, lol!
Wow. If that's true, they sounded pretty similar. You're saying "just what I needed" and "I like the night life, baby" were sung by two different artists? I had those two back to back on a cassette in high school and I always thought both were Ocasek. Oh, and my favorite cars song: with a cameo from Andy Warhol, for the "Art" experts in the other thread, no less. (and just showing how cheesy early MTV was... Of course now, it's exponentially worse.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4tKC6OV7Hs
Not bad, but a little tame. Would be better if it weren't so long. Did sound like the cars though, but also did sound a bit like Devo. They could have done worse. Don't tase me, bro.
Thanks! I hadn't heard this before, but it sounds like classic Cars, which is groovy. I hope they tour and come to Texas, because they put on a great show. Maybe you'll get your chance to see them. -
Absolutely two separate lead singers- but Ocasek wrote almost every song of theirs except Greg Hawkes. I don't know how many times I've had people go "Who???" when I've listed my top 10 favorite guitarists of all time and among Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, Gregg Allman, and Steve Howe I mention Elliott Easton. No one, I mean, no one can ever figure out who he is until they look him up. But Elliott Easton has created some of the most memorable guitar solos of all time, and he's my #1 favorite in this category: Touch and Go Tonight She Comes You're All I've Got Tonight Shake It Up It's All I Can Do Just What I Needed Dangerous Type
"Let's Go" is the song with "I like the nightlife baby" in it. Orr sings both songs you mentioned. "Let's Go" and "Just What I Needed".
I like it. Sounds a lot like the 80's Cars. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. (see AC/DC) It's a proven fact that is is physically impossible to be in a bad mood while listening to The Cars.
So this album came out a couple of weeks ago. I think it's great. Anyone else hear it? FYI, the Best Buy version has 3 extra songs.
I picked up a copy of it last week. I love the fact that it sounds like something straight out of the 80's. It's still modern enough to fit in with the various bands like The Killers who have tried to emulate their sound. The 2 tracks that jumped out at me were "Keep On Knocking" and "Take A Look". Ric Ocasek still sounds great.
Their first three albums were much better than their next two, and album number six was pretty much ignored by everyone.
