The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, it consisted of Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), and David Robinson (drums). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, and Ocasek was the band’s principal songwriter.
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. 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.
1 – Drive – 1984
2 – You Might Think – 1984
3 – Shake It Up – 1981
4 – Hello Again – 1984
5 – Emotion in Motion (Ric Ocasek) – 1986
6 – Tonight She Comes – 1985
7 – Magic – 1984
8 – Just What I Needed – 1978
9 – Let’s Go – 1979
10 – Stay the Night (Benjamin Orr) – 1986
11 – You Are the Girl – 1987
12 – Touch and Go – 1980
13 – My Best Friend’s Girl – 1978
14 – Since You’re Gone – 1982
15 – I’m Not the One – 1986
16 – Good Times Roll – 1979
17 – Why Can’t I Have You – 1985
18 – Something to Grab For (Ric Ocasek) – 1983
19 – It’s All I Can Do – 1979
20 – True to You (Ric Ocasek) – 1986
21 – Jimmy Jimmy (Ric Ocasek) – 1983
22 – Strap Me In – 1987
23 – Heartbeat City – 1985
24 – Sad Song – 2011
25 – Cruiser – 1981
26 – Connect Up to Me (Ric Ocasek) – 1983
27 – Victim of Love – 1982
28 – Coming Up You – 1988
29 – Double Life – 1979
30 – Don’t Tell Me No – 1980
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