History Music / TheCars

They took a break in '82; Ric and Greg released solo albums. They reunited in '83, and after eight months of studio tweaking with producer Creator/RobertJohnMuttLange, released ''Heartbeat City'' in early '84. With this album, they nearly completely ditched their PowerPop tendencies and instead went for high-energy, synth-laden high-tech but still rocking {{New Wave|Music}}. Five songs were Top 40 hits, the ballad "Drive" was their highest-charting hit at #3 (Music/{{Prince}}'s "Let's Go Crazy" kept them from #1), and MTV put the videos for "You Might Think", "Magic", and "Drive" into heavy rotation. They performed at Live Aid, and were superstars... [[FifteenMinutesOfFame for about two years]].

On October 3, 2000, Ben died of pancreatic cancer at 53. Ric continued his solo career, and in 2010, he put together a set of songs that he really liked. A call with Elliot led to a reunion, and ''Move Like This'' was released in May 2011. Greg and producer Jacknife Lee filled in on bass. ''Move Like This'' is a return to the sound of the first two albums. In 2018, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On September 15, 2019, Ric died of atherosclerosis at 75.

* NewSoundAlbum: Two in the span of two years — ''Panorama'' found them shifting from power pop-inflected new wave to frantic, Music/TalkingHeads-esque post-punk, while ''Shake It Up'' is bouncy, shiny SynthPop.

--->Let's turn on the TV and [[Franchise/StarTrek relate to Spock]]

** Ric Ocasek himself produced ''Door to Door'' and many albums by other bands, during and after his time with The Cars. Credits include Music/BadReligion's ''The Gray Race'', Music/BadBrains' ''Rock For Light'', Music/NadaSurf's ''High/Low'', The Pink Spiders' ''Teenage Graffiti'', and most notably, Music/{{Weezer}}'s ''[[Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum Blue Album]]'' and ''[[Music/WeezerTheGreenAlbum Green Album]]'', and ''Everything Will Be Alright In the End''.

** Ric Ocasek himself produced ''Door to Door'' and many albums by other bands, during and after his time with The Cars. Credits include Music/BadReligion's ''The Gray Race'', Music/BadBrains' ''Rock For Light'', Music/NadaSurf's ''High/Low'', The Pink Spiders' ''Teenage Graffiti', and most notably, Music/{{Weezer}}'s ''[[Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum Blue Album]]'' and ''[[Music/WeezerTheGreenAlbum Green Album]]'', and ''Everything Will Be Alright In the End''.

* RecordProducer: Ric produced ''Door to Door'' and many albums by other bands, during and after his time with The Cars. Credits include Music/BadReligion's ''The Gray Race'', Music/{{Weezer}}'s ''Blue'' and ''Green'' self-titled albums, and The Pink Spiders' ''Teenage Graffiti''. [[Music/{{Queen}} Roy Thomas Baker]] produced the first four albums, and Creator/RobertJohnMuttLange produced ''Heartbeat City''.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Zig zagged with "My Best Friend's Girl". While the protagonist doesn't actively do anything to try and split them apart and ultimately lives and let's be, he does seem to at least have some attraction to his former lover.

They released a best-of in '85, with one new song, "Tonight She Comes". They took another break in '86; Ric, Ben, and Elliot released solo albums. They reunited in '87. ''Door to Door'', produced by Ocasek, brought them back to their roots as an early New Wave band with a lot of {{Punk|Rock}} influences. They tried to get away from the mechanical sounds of their previous albums, but they didn't make it. Critics panned it, and sales were modest, nothing compared to ''Heartbeat City''. The tour was difficult, with the band drifting apart and a lot of empty seats at each venue. It was enough to give Ric a [[HeroicBSOD nervous breakdown]], and so The Cars broke up for what appeared to be the last time in February 1988. 1995's best-of and rarities collection ''Just What I Needed'' was intended to be the final nail in the coffin. But the band-members remained friends, ready to reunite any time Ric was ready.

[[caption-width-right:330:The Cars in 1979, from the inside cover of ''Candy-O''. Left to right: Benjamin Orr, Ric Ocasek, Greg Hawkes, David Robinson, Elliot Easton]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Ric, in both voice and looks. Especially on his less-cynical songs like "Victim of Love" and "Magic". He practically [[UrExample invented]] the de facto "dork rock" look that took off in the '90s.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Ric and Ben. Not ''entirely'' heterosexual for at least one half of the partnership but they knew each other since high school and were very, very close. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P1QYxMjRnc Silver]] from ''Nexterday'', Ric's first solo album released after Ben's death, is about Ben, and the ''Move Like This'' album is dedicated to him.

-->Let's turn on the TV and [[Franchise/StarTrek relate to Spock]]

They recorded some demo tapes, which caught the ear of WBCN DJ Maxanne Sartori, giving them national exposure and leading to a deal with Creator/ElektraRecords. They went to London in early 1978 to record their first album with producer Roy Thomas Baker, who had previously worked with Music/{{Queen}}. He gave The Cars' songs the same lush multi-tracked vocal arrangements heard on "Bohemian Rhapsody", and this became a signature of their work.

* AnimatedMusicVideo: The video to "You Might Think" was an early use for CGI by putting the band and model Susan Gallagher into an animated world and intemperate some of the lyrics [[VisualPun quite literally]]. The result not only netted the video an MTV Music award, but put the creators behind it, Charlex, into the spotlight and built upon their SignatureStyle of animation.

* AnimatedMusicVideo: The video to "You Might Think" was an early use for CGI by putting the band and model Susan Gallagher into an animated world and incorporating some of the lyrics into VisualPuns. The result not only netted the video an MTV Music award, but put the creators behind it, Charlex, into the spotlight and built upon their SignatureStyle of animation.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Ric and Ben. Not ''entirely'' heterosexual for at least one half of the partnership (see BiTheWay above) but they knew each other since high school and were very, very close. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P1QYxMjRnc Silver]] from ''Nexterday'', Ric's first solo album released after Ben's death, is about Ben, and the ''Move Like This'' album is dedicated to him.

* BiTheWay: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci7z6_auVQA Ric.]]

* CoolShades: Ric often wears sunglasses in live performances, music videos and interviews. Elliot and Ben also wear sunglasses on occasion.

* CoolShades: Ric. Elliot and Ben on occasion.

* ConspicuousCG: The music video for "You Might Think". Justified that it was in 1984; CGI was relatively new at the time, and it is one of the first music videos to use CGI.

Ben died of pancreatic cancer in 2000; he was 53. Ric continued his solo career, and in 2010, he put together a set of songs that he really liked. A call with Elliot led to a reunion, and ''Move Like This'' was released in May 2011. Greg and producer Jacknife Lee filled in on bass. ''Move Like This'' is a return to the sound of the first two albums. In 2018, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ric died on September 15, 2019, of atherosclerosis; he was 75.

One of the most successful American {{New Wave|Music}}[=/=]PowerPop bands, and a pioneer in distilling the various strains of New Wave into something both progressive and accessible.

''She never wears her shoes''

[[caption-width-right:330:Left to right: Ben, Ric, Greg, David, Elliot]]

* StageNames: Ben shortened his last name from Orzechowski.

Ben died of pancreatic cancer in 2000. Ric continued his solo career, and in 2010, he put together a set of songs that he really liked. A call with Elliot led to a reunion, and ''Move Like This'' was released in May 2011. Greg and producer Jacknife Lee filled in on bass. ''Move Like This'' is a return to the sound of the first two albums. In 2018, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ric died on September 15, 2019, of unknown causes; he was 75.