The Cars – The Cars

Strange that in the car-crazy USA it was not until the mid-70s that a band came up with the idea of calling themselves The Cars. The group around lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek was founded in 1976 in Boston. When their debut album was released in 1978, Ocasek, Greg Hawkes (keyboards), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass, vocals) and David Robinson (drums) were already in their mid-twenties to early thirties, something like musical late bloomers. But almost nobody noticed that, because optically they would almost all have gone through for five years younger.. 

In 1978 the term 'New Wave' was just beginning to establish itself and the Cars were also thrown into this pot, which wasn't quite correct in terms of style, as the band actually played a rather stunning 'Power Pop' right from the start. Their first album was a tremendously successful debut, taking both the USA and the UK by storm. The hits of the album were "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl". They were joined by "Good Times Roll', "All Mixed Up" and "Moving In Stereo", but at least three more band classics 

They certainly sounded like the big city they came from, but had little of the nervous eccentricity of their New York colleagues Talking Heads. Starting with the simplicity of "I'm in Touch With Your World" (which came closest to the early Talking Heads), "Don't Cha Stop" or "Bye Bye Love", through the single hits mentioned at the beginning, to almost epic pieces like "You're All I've Got Tonight" (bad lyrics! ), "Moving in Stereo" and the final, ever-increasing "All Mixed Up", every single piece here is a jewel.