The Cars

~ Group

Wikipedia

The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), and David Robinson (drums). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, and Ocasek was the band's principal songwriter and leader.

The Cars were at the forefront of the merger of 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer-oriented pop that became popular in the early 1980s. Robert Palmer, music critic for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described the Cars' musical style: "They have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend."

The Cars were named Best New Artist in the 1978 Rolling Stone Readers' Poll. The band's debut album, The Cars, sold six million copies and appeared on the Billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. The Cars had four Top 10 hits: "Shake It Up" (1981), "You Might Think" (1984), "Drive" (1984), and "Tonight She Comes" (1985). The band won Video of the Year for "You Might Think" at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.

The Cars disbanded in 1988. Orr died in 2000 from pancreatic cancer. In 2007, Easton and Hawkes joined Todd Rundgren and others to form the offshoot band The New Cars. The surviving original members of the Cars reunited in 2010 to record the band's seventh and final album, Move Like This, which was released in May 2011. Following a short tour in support of Move Like This, the band once again went on hiatus. In April 2018, the Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and reunited to perform at the induction ceremony. It was the band's final performance with Ocasek, who died on September 15, 2019, of cardiovascular disease.

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Discography

Album

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1978The CarsThe Cars4.523
1979Candy‐OThe Cars3.6518
1980PanoramaThe Cars3.259
1981Shake It UpThe Cars3.2510
1984Heartbeat CityThe Cars4.3526
1987Door to DoorThe Cars47
2011Move Like ThisThe Cars2.355

Album + Compilation

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1985The Cars Greatest HitsThe Cars4.3518
1995Just What I Needed: The Cars AnthologyThe Cars3
2001Shake It Up and Other HitsThe Cars1
2002Complete Greatest HitsThe Cars49
2002The Very Best of The CarsThe Cars2
2005The EssentialsThe Cars1
2008Greatest Hits & MoreThe Cars1
2008Heartbeat City / The CarsThe Cars2
2010Original Album SeriesThe Cars1
2014Studio Album Collection: 1978–1987The Cars1
2016The Elektra Years: 1978–1987The Cars3
2016Moving in Stereo: The Best of The CarsThe Cars4

Album + Live

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
2006The Cars Unlocked: The Live PerformancesThe Cars2
2015The Westwood One Concert, 1986The Cars1
2017Live at the Agora, 1978The Cars1
2019Moving in Stereo (live)The Cars2

Single

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1978Good Times RollThe Cars1
1978Just What I Needed / I’m in Touch With Your WorldThe Cars3
1978My Best Friend’s GirlThe Cars2
1979It’s All I Can DoThe Cars1
1979Let's GoThe Cars1
1981Shake It UpThe Cars1
1982Since You’re GoneThe Cars2
1984DriveThe Cars3
1984Hello AgainThe Cars2
1984Magic / I RefuseThe Cars1
1985Why Can’t I Have You / BreakawayThe Cars1
1985I’m Not the OneThe Cars1
1985Tonight She ComesThe Cars1
1987You Are the GirlThe Cars1
2011Sad SongThe Cars1
2018Drive (symphonic version)The Cars2
2021The Cars at Live Aid (Live at John F. Kennedy Stadium, 13th July 1985)The Cars1

EP + Compilation

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
2005Rhino Hi‐Five: The CarsThe Cars1
2008Classic TracksThe Cars1

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