RIP Ric Ocasek

HeyMikey

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Yeah, saw that earlier. Sucks. I really loved the Cars back in the day. Saw them a couple times. RIP Rick.
 

walrus

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Oh, that sucks! The first album by The Cars had a lot of great songs, and definitely a unique sound at the time... RIP.

walrus
 

crank

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Edgy and poppy at the same time.

I saw The Cars in the 80's and they were possibly the tightest band I have ever seen. Great blend with Ric's chunky simple SG rhythm guitar, Ben Orr's smooth bass lines, Greg Hawkes melodic keyboard hooks and Eliot Easton's super fast, super cool, super clean licks. Robinson is a powerful drummer as well. Most everything was simple, but so well put together.

RIP Ric.
 

Alan_M

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Ouch. Wasn't prepared for this one. Such a great artist. RIP Mr Ocasek.
 

D30Man

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Man that sucks.. He was a great artist and also a hell of a producer.. Produced Weezer's first album among many others..
 

adorshki

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Man that sucks.. He was a great artist and also a hell of a producer.. Produced Weezer's first album among many others..
"Huh!", never knew that.
But yeah the Cars were definitely a welcome new flavor back in the days when AM radio was still what most uh, cars, came with...and AM top 40 was still a "thing".
Where I first heard Tom Petty and the Police, too.
 

JF-30

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"Huh!", never knew that.
But yeah the Cars were definitely a welcome new flavor back in the days when AM radio was still what most uh, cars, came with...and AM top 40 was still a "thing".
Where I first heard Tom Petty and the Police, too.

He produced Guided By Voices - Do The Collapse. The first two Cars albums were great albums.
 

Quantum Strummer

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Ocasek produced a ton of bands, my own fav album of these being Rock For Light by Bad Brains. It's a punk/reggae mashup, a lot rawer & heavier sounding than The Police but still in the same general territory.

When I first heard The Cars they sounded to me kinda like Television but with more obvious melodic hooks. They got a ton more airplay (and album/single sales) too. :)

-Dave-
 

walrus

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Also, the two vocal styles of Ocasek and the also sadly deceased Benjamin Orr really made each song sound different, depending who sang.

Quick story - when their first album came out I was in college and working at a record store. The manager and I got the front door off of a VW bug and put it in the store and put the albums on it as a display. Tried to make it look like the model (Natalya Medvedeva) was looking out of the door, but I'm not sure it worked.

That album sold like hotcakes (with or without our display)!

walrus
 

Quantum Strummer

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That album sold like hotcakes (with or without our display)!

That album got the A-list label push, not to mention the Roy Thomas Baker (then riding high via Queen) production. Baker's production style was heavy handed IMO but certainly stood out on the radio.

-Dave-
 
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