The Cars were in a peculiar position in 1987. After the huge success of Heartbeat City and some lesser success with various solo outlets, the band regrouped to work on a new album. Judging from the results, one could assume the band was torn between going back to basics or just throwing in the towel to give the people what they wanted, or assumed, from a Cars album. Door To Door is a strange beast - the first single, "You Are The Girl", was a shameless rewrite of "Tonight She Comes", a big hit from the Greatest Hits album that had some out a year prior, just slowed down a tad with some new lyrics slapped on. Not exactly a creative pinnacle.
In a complete turnaround, the second single, "Strap Me In", was a breath of fresh air, as the group shook off all the slick Mutt Lange/Roy Thomas Baker sheen they'd been shellacked in for years and delivered one of their rawer, rockier tracks, reminiscent of the Panorama era. The lyrical theme has changed somewhat - instead of Ric Wanting What He Can't Have, we now have songs about not only having it, but possibly regretting it, or settling in for the ride. Naturally, something as less slick and intriguing as "Strap Me In" tanked. After all, who wants to hear someone complain about being married to a supermodel?
Elektra wasn't about to give up on one of their biggest cash cows, however, picking the most Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary song in the entire Cars oveure as Door's third single. "Coming Up You" is almost sickly sweet, full of tinkly keyboards, shmoopy lyrics and, since he sang on their biggest ballad "Drive", Ben Orr vocals. Having said all that, I actually kinda like it and feel it should have been a much bigger hit than its paltry chart ranking reflects. I'm sure Elektra felt the same way.
But contrast it with "Strap Me In" or the album's title track, which is absolutely the thrashiest, punkiest song The Cars ever put to vinyl, and it's obvious Ric was having a serious identity crisis. Which Cars did he want to give us? The new, super-shiny plastic pop hits Cars or the New Wave/Suicide-influenced Cars of old? And what direction could The Cars go next?
Sadly, we'll never know. The Cars broke up just as "Coming Up You" was struggling up the charts, creating sort of a nice bookend for the New Wave era of the '80s.
"Strap Me In" peaked at #85 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks Charts in 1987. "Coming Up You" peaked at #74 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. "Door To Door" was not a single.
So of all the Cars solo projects (I haven't forgotten Greg Hawkes' 1983 effort - but it's mostly instrumental), whose do you think was the most successful? You'd think the main vocalist and songwriter, Ric Ocasek's, right?
Wellllll...yeah. While Ric's first stab at non-Cars success stumbled out of the gate, his second solo release, 1986's This Side of Paradise scored a #15 hit with "Emotion In Motion". But that same year, Benjamin Orr, Cars bassist and other vocalist (he sang "Drive" and "Just What I Needed" among others, 'membz?) released his first solo album, The Lace, and scored a sizeable ballad-y hit of his own with "Stay The Night".
Surprisingly, The Lace isn't half bad - it's very much a product of its time, a showcase of mid-80s radio-friendly rock in the vein of your Mister Misters, et al. I'm a particular fan of the second single, the very Cars-like "Too Hot To Stop", complete with appearances in the video from Hawkes and Cars drummer David Robinson. While not in the video, Cars guitarist Elliot Easton played on the album. There's just one thing missing...
That's right, no Ric. But hey, plenty of hot chicks with extremely feathered hair in flowing robes! And Ben's "dancing" shows why The Cars tended to stand still in place during live shows. Yikes.
Sadly, Orr died of pancreatic cancer in late 2000, effectively ending any chance for a full-fledged Cars reunion. But the band did come together once more after this solo effort to record their final album...which we'll look at next time.
"Too Hot To Stop" peaked at #25 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart in 1987.
The Lace has recently been re-released - you can pick it up at Amazon.
So, we've established that between writing every single Cars song (with rare exceptions of collaborations with keyboardist Greg Hawkes) and releasing a solo album that Ric Ocasek was very much the creative force behind the band. So who exactly was clamoring for solo projects from the other members?
Whether the public wanted them or not, every non-Ric Cars member with the exception of drummer David Robinson put out a solo disc in the 80s. And why not? The band had built up plenty of exposure and goodwill by 1985, with Heartbeat City putting them firmly at the top of the charts and on radio with five Top 40 singles from that album alone (hats off to them for getting a song as moody and dark as "Why Can't I Have You" in the Top 40 - talk about momentum). And they had to feel creatively stifled with Ocasek calling all the shots. So if opportunity presents itself, grab it, I suppose.
And if you get the chance to work with a songwriter like Jules Shear, dear God, you better grab it, especially if your only previous claim to fame was squiggly, brilliant guitar solos like Elliot Easton's. Easton teamed with Shear to write 1985's, Change No Change, and it was a mixed bag of barely there song sketches and momentary power pop brilliance. Por ejemplo...
First single "(Wearing Down) Like A Wheel" starts off promisingly enough, but then someone forgot to put a chorus in there. Whoopsie. Not the best foot to put forward to get people interested in your album.
Especially when you have much superior songs like "Shayla" hanging around. Here Jules' songwriting contribution really shines through, while Elliot puts on his best Elvis Costello mask. Why this wasn't the first single is one of those questions we'll have to ponder. But it wasn't, so Change No Change had its brief moment in the sun, then faded from view. Easton and Shear worked together later that decade in the power pop combo Reckless Sleepers, who put out an unjustly ignored album in 1988.
And of course, there was always that day job with The Cars to fall back on...or pervert the memory of...
"(Wearing Down) Like A Wheel" peaked at #36 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart in 1985. "Shayla" did not chart.
Change No Change is recently back in print - you can pick it up at Amazon or on
After relative public indifference towards Panorama's experimentation (while the album peaked at a respectable #5, it failed to chart a single any higher than #37), The Cars regrouped and retreated back to fizzy New Wave pop with 1981's Shake It Up, arguably the most calculated and least essential Cars album (yes, I'm counting Heartbeat City and Door To Door in making those pronouncements). For every crowning achievement like "Since You're Gone" or "Cruiser", there were kiss-ass concessions to Top 40 radio (title track, anyone?) and just plain filler ("Maybe Baby"). Be honest - when was the last time you put this CD on? Do you even own it on CD? However, with the success of the title track, The Cars were back on the hit racetrack.
Which made the brave, experimental nature of Ric Ocasek's first solo album, 1982's Beatitude all the more surprising. Since he wrote all The Cars' songs, it would have been quite easy for Ocasek to keep in that creative vein, crank out a few more radio-friendly hits and bank all the proceeds for himself. Thankfully, this was not the path trodden.
Wellllll, except for that lead-off single. Alright, you got me. "Something to Grab For" is basically Cars-by-numbers (yes, Ric wants again wants something he can't have!), save for the stop/start beat of the chorus, vaguely reminiscent of Panorama's "Touch & Go". Unfortunately, it fared just about as well on the charts as that ill-fated single, despite a moody video played to death by MTV.
Two more singles were released to try to shore up the project - "Jimmy Jimmy" was a departure, since it focused on someone other than the narrator (!), in this case the boredom of disaffected Reagan-era teens, with the line "Nobody's gettin' off" summing it all up. The electro-pulse of the track is quite different than the Cars sound, emphasizing the dancier aspects of the song.
The third single, "Prove" sank without a trace, save for some dance chart action, but don't feel too badly. Ric ramped up The Cars yet again and produced one of the most successful rock albums of the 80s, Heartbeat City. But the solo thing appealed to other band members, too...as we'll see tomorrow.
"Something To Grab For" peaked at #47 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart in 1983. "Jimmy Jimmy" peaked at #25 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and at #60 on the Club Play Chart in the same year.
Beatitude is out of print, but you can find used copies on Amazon and other Ric Ocasek tunes on
While this shambles its way across the country, embarrassing itself in half-empty sheds nationwide (as Molly Shannon's Marcy Darcy would say, "Don't even get me started!"), what better time to devote a week to the real Cars, the New Wave darlings who didn't necessarily want to be New Wave. This week, we'll focus on the band's lost gems, alongside some lost solo projects along the way.
Why not begin with my favorite Cars album, Panorama? The Cars' third album was their most challenging, mostly jettisoning the band's trademark happy skip/shuffle Crickets bounce and peppy melodies for a darker, more aggressive tone. Gone were the handclaps and shiny background singalongs, replaced by David Robinson's increasingly synth-aided drums (by Heartbeat City he'd be drummer in name only) and Greg Hawkes' menacing keyboards while Elliot Easton's always-innovative guitar solos and Ric Ocasek's Iggy Pop meets Buddy Holly vocal theatrics stayed pretty much the same, with a few minor tweaks.
Ocasek's lyrics for the Cars can mostly be pared down to a one sentence logline - Ric wants something he can't have, whether it's affection, a girl, acceptance, etc. I mean, just look at some of the opening lines on most of the songs on Panorama:
I'm gonna get what's comin' to me All I need is what you got I wanna shake like Liguardia It's my party, you can come(well, consider the song's title, "Don't Tell Me No") Do you have to be so hard to get?
Ric definitely stuck to a theme with the Cars - that would change after this album. But we're getting ahead of ourselves...
Panorama's first single, "Touch & Go" was a perfect summation of this theme, but its start/stop faux reggae beat prevented it from reaching any higher on the charts than a puny #37. Two follow-up singles, "Don't Tell Me No" and "Gimmie Some Slack" failed to chart. But the album's true teasures are its bookends, the fantastic opening title track and the album's closer, "Up And Down".
"Up And Down" is one of those shoulda-been tracks that had the potential to be an AOR monster, alongside "Moving In Stereo" and "Bye Bye Love". But alas, it was not meant to be, as Panorama eventually faltered, leaving the Cars shaken up (har), wondering what the next move would be.
But first, Ocasek had a few things to get off his chest. We'll deal with that next Monday.
"Panorama" and "Up And Down" were not released as singles.
* All songs are for sampling purposes only. If the album is currently in print, you'll see an Amazon link to purchase it. Supporting artists is a good thing, since labels are run by soulless whores. I KEED! Sorta. Look, if you like it, and it's in print, support 'em. If you're the artist or copyright holder, a quick e-mail to me will bring the song down ASAP. But compliment my writing first.
* Don't e-mail me asking me to repost dead links or to send you a song you can't find. Believe it or not, I have a life outside my blogging. I KEED! But don't do it.
* One more, and this is a biggie -- do NOT hotlink directly to my audio files and post them on your site, big shot. That's just disrespectful, rude, and a theft of my hard-earned bandwith.
Now, get readin', get downloadiN', and play nice. I loves me some comments. Bring it!
The Cars were in a peculiar position in 1987. After the huge success of Heartbeat City and some lesser success with various solo outlets, the band regrouped to work on a new album. Judging from the results, one could assume the band was torn between going back to basics or just throwing in the towel to give the people what they wanted, or assumed, from a Cars album. Door To Door is a strange beast - the first single, "You Are The Girl", was a shameless rewrite of "Tonight She Comes", a big hit from the Greatest Hits album that had some out a year prior, just slowed down a tad with some new lyrics slapped on. Not exactly a creative pinnacle. 
In a complete turnaround, the second single, "Strap Me In", was a breath of fresh air, as the group shook off all the slick Mutt Lange/Roy Thomas Baker sheen they'd been shellacked in for years and delivered one of their rawer, rockier tracks, reminiscent of the Panorama era. The lyrical theme has changed somewhat - instead of Ric Wanting What He Can't Have, we now have songs about not only having it, but possibly regretting it, or settling in for the ride. Naturally, something as less slick and intriguing as "Strap Me In" tanked. After all, who wants to hear someone complain about being married to a supermodel?
Elektra wasn't about to give up on one of their biggest cash cows, however, picking the most Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary song in the entire Cars oveure as Door's third single. "Coming Up You" is almost sickly sweet, full of tinkly keyboards, shmoopy lyrics and, since he sang on their biggest ballad "Drive", Ben Orr vocals. Having said all that, I actually kinda like it and feel it should have been a much bigger hit than its paltry chart ranking reflects. I'm sure Elektra felt the same way. 
Surprisingly, The Lace isn't half bad - it's very much a product of its time, a showcase of mid-80s radio-friendly rock in the vein of your Mister Misters, et al. I'm a particular fan of the second single, the very Cars-like "Too Hot To Stop", complete with appearances in the video from Hawkes and Cars drummer David Robinson. While not in the video, Cars guitarist Elliot Easton played on the album. There's just one thing missing...
.
And if you get the chance to work with a songwriter like Jules Shear, dear God, you better grab it, especially if your only previous claim to fame was squiggly, brilliant guitar solos like Elliot Easton's. Easton teamed with Shear to write 1985's, Change No Change, and it was a mixed bag of barely there song sketches and momentary power pop brilliance. Por ejemplo...
Which made the brave, experimental nature of Ric Ocasek's first solo album, 1982's Beatitude all the more surprising. Since he wrote all The Cars' songs, it would have been quite easy for Ocasek to keep in that creative vein, crank out a few more radio-friendly hits and bank all the proceeds for himself. Thankfully, this was not the path trodden.
