VIDEO REWIND: The Cars – "Bye Bye Love " (Live)

Power-pop brilliance.  The Cars excelled with smoldering, dark “Moving in Stereo”- type songs, and with killer chorus, blueprint-for-New Wave pop candy.  I love that this is live,  and really, really good, in a not-so-perfect way.  Harmonies, the late Benjamin Orr on bass reminding that Ric Ocasek wasn’t he only lead singer, and the great eight-bar solos from Elliott Easton on the guitar.  The Cars were best loved on record, and I have never talked to anyone who loved their shows in the 80’s.  But back in the late 1970’s, after the debut album, they were still nicely raw.

VIDEO: The Cars – "Bye Bye Love " (Live)

Power-pop brilliance.  The Cars excelled with smoldering, dark “Moving in Stereo”- type songs, and with killer chorus, blueprint-for-New Wave pop candy.  I love that this is live,  and really, really good, in a not-so-perfect way.  Harmonies.  The late Benjamin Orr on bass reminding that Ric Ocasek wasn’t he only lead singer. Great 8-bar solo’s from Elliott Easton on the guitar.  The Cars were best loved on record, and I have never talked to anyone who loved their shows in the 80’s.  But back in the late 1970’s, after the debut album, they were still nicely raw.

The Cars: Stop the universe! A new album coming May 10

The Cars in the studio

From 1978 through 1984, The Cars were huge. The skinny guy rocking the massive mullet – frontman Ric Ocasek –  and producer Roy Thomas Baker put together a self-titled debut album that stands as one of the best in rock history. A Mutt Lange-led Heartbeat City, closed their run of ubiquitous radio play and MTV stardom.
And then the band splintered. Bassist and singer Benjamin Orr died. The group, minus Ocasek, reformed as The New Cars, with Todd Rundgren recruited to front the band. It fizzled.
Now, after nearly 25 years, the original lineup has regrouped to make an album that less-the-subtly recalls the vibe of the glory days (listen to three cuts below). On Move Like This, The Cars recapture their classic sound, dominated by New Wave keyboards, snarly guitars and the hiccuping vocals of Ocasek.

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