Essential Songs – Rolling Stone

The Cars was the New Wave group with the purest heart of the Top 40, thanks to Ric Ocasek's vision of combining moody alienation and shiny hooks to a feeling of nervous hunger. The group joked that they should have called their surprisingly tight beginnings of 1978 The biggest hits of cars for a good reason, and they continued to roll out new models that were developed precisely throughout the eighties. Ocasek was also successful as a producer and solo artist and when the Cars came back with their brilliantly titled 2011 LP comeback album, More like this, they proved that they could compete with the many groups – from Weezer to No Doubt through the Strokes – that composed classical music in their long and scary shadow. Here is an essential list of Ric's best moments. Start shaking it … now.

"The daughter of my best friend" (1978)

One of Ocasek's earliest compositions, and one of his greatest creations, "My Best Friend's Girl", testifies to his love of rock and roll in the 50s, especially Buddy Holly and Carl Perkins, with his stiff guitar part, his childhood and his anguish juveniles. "Nothing in this song has happened to me personally," he said later. "I just thought that getting a girlfriend stolen was probably something that happened to a lot of people." The second single of the first album of the band, it is part of the Top 40, offering a new wave touch on the tropes of classic rock while Ocasek sails fun and surreal references to "blue eyes in suede And "nuclear boots". As he later recalled: "At one point, I realized that my words did not include the words" My best friend's daughter ". In the pen, she typed and added a chorus in the margin: "She is the daughter of my best friend / She is the daughter of my best friend / But she was mine." J.D.

"Moving in Stereo" (1978)

"Moving in Stereo" would already occupy a special place in the iconography of Gen-X, after his instrumental music recorded the infamous minute of 1982, thanks to an unusually slithery groove and an insinuating rhythmic part of the rhythm guitar . Fast Times at Ridgemont High where Judge Reinhold dreams of Phoebe Cates coming out of a pool. It has reappeared, usually parodically, in various soundtracks, including a recent Strange things trailer. Benjamin Orr sang the song lounge-lizard-y, but Ocasek (who wrote it with keyboardist Greg Hawkes, which made it the only song of the beginning of Cars, which was not written only by Ocasek) took over the torch after Orr's death. B. H.

"Just what I needed" (1978)

"Sometimes the right moment can be the hook itself," said Ocasek Rolling stone in July, explaining why he had insisted that Weezer use a click track on the 1994 Blue Album, which he had produced. "Just What I Needed" (written by Ocasek but interpreted by Benjamin Orr) is an obvious proof of this philosophy, with its heart-wrenching guitars scrolling to perfection; which, along with the ubiquitous synth riffs, is one of the reasons why Cars sounds like one of the first albums of the 1980s despite its release in 1978. A richer demo version of "Just What I Needed" – a song that Ocasek apparently would have written in the basement. a town in which he lived – broke the Cars in the first place where Boston radio started playing in 1977. B. H.

"Good Times Roll" (1978)

While it seems to share a feeling with a multitude of vintage rock and R & B tracks, "Good Times Roll" is moving away from the carefree atmosphere of, for example, the hit movie "Let the Good Times Roll" From Shirley and Lee in 1956. Sharp mid-tempo leg, deafening choruses and stylized vocals from Ocasek. Even at this early stage of Cars' career, Ocasek had already committed to instilling as many pop shots as he could. "It was my song about what really means good times in rock n roll, instead of what they're supposed to be," he said once. "It was kind of a travesty of good times, really. It was a bit like it was not a good time. " H.S.

"You are all that I have tonight" (1978)

Ocasek and cars have crossed a fascinating line between dazzling power and total strangeness; "You're all I have tonight" is in both places at once, with a lot of things in four minutes and 14 seconds, the voice of Queen-ly accompaniment (thanks, without no doubt, to a producer Roy Thomas Baker), a floppy drums intro, a scary keyboard looking like a harpsichord in the first verse and a monster chorus. The resonant voice of Ocasek and his hateful words have a certain nervous desperation that foreshadowed other unconventional protagonists; Billy Corgan looked completely at home with the song when the Pumpkins had covered it around 1995. B. H.

"We're going" (1979)

Ocasek did not keep all his good songs for himself. He gave this 1979 single, about a free-spirited girl who will not settle down, to bassist Benjamin Orr to sing. The song, with clapping of hands, a futuristic synth line and a mastery of the double guitar, became their first hit of the Top 20 and the first single of their second album. Candy-O. The band again worked with Queen's producer Roy Thomas Baker, but Ocasek said they had tried a harsher approach than their first album. "Well, some of the things on this first album that we thought were a little smoother, we mitigated the second, as on the background voices," Ocasek said. "On the second album, it was easier to say, 'Roy, let's not do the multi-track harmonies this time." P. D.

"Candy-O" (1979)

"We started out by wanting to be an electric and direct rock, and that turned into a more artistic thing," Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes said of how the band had tweaked his sound. At the beginning. Example: "Candy-O." The song takes only a few elements – an icy impulse from New Wave, a stripped structure, a blues-like structure and boldly abstract lyrics – and transforms them into two-a-half minutes of pop captivating minimalist. Benjamin Orr tells the main character "I need you" (a line originally sung under the name "fortissimo") in the midst of a flood of cryptic images ("Purple hum, matching cards / Razor lights you'll bring / Everything to prove you're on the move … "), like Hawkes' sci-fi arpeggios and Elliott Easton's guitar on the squeaky guitar, came out of the mix. No simple love song, the end result sounds more like the product of a dark fixation, which partly explains why the recovery of Melvins in the song, dating from 1989, seems perfectly adapted. Ocasek provided a hint as to the troubling atmosphere of the song when he once said about the title: "The" O "means" odious "." H.S.

"Dangerous type" (1979)

Ocasek uses repetition for maximum impact in "Dangerous Type": it passes through the four-line hook 10 times in four and a half minutes. The mastery of the architecture of pop music by Ocasek sometimes let him pause. "I'm sometimes cold about what's going on," he said. Rolling stone in 1980. But, he continued, "we are not what you call a free jam form group. We try to be precise and precise, but that does not make our music "rigid" or "calculated". My way of writing songs – even if she seems overly obsessed with form and structure – moves me as much as soul music can be at someone else's . " E.L.

"Shake It Up" (1981)

The Cars made a detour a little more experimental with their LP 1980 Panorama, but they were back in their incredibly smooth comfort zone with 1981 Shake it, especially his title track. "Yes, the big return to pop," Ocasek told himself at the time. "Shake It Up" is the best evening jam from Cars' "New Wave" series, a simple and irresistible melody sliding along a scary keyboard line. "I'm not proud of the lyrics of" Shake It Up, "Ocasek later said. Surprisingly, given the breeze and rejection of the song, the Cars worked hard on the song for years before reaching a version they liked. And it was a good thing that they do. "Shake It Up" peaked at number two on the charts. J.D.

"I'm not the one" (1981)

"I'm not the only one" was a deep cut of Shake it, never one, but he became so loved by fans, he was included in the 1985 of Cars The biggest tubes. This is the ultimate combination of Ocasek: Doom and Darkness, wrapped in a pop melody. "My taste was always looking for that mix, even in the sixties," Ocasek said. Vanity Fair 'Marc Spitz. "I was obviously a big fan of Dylan, but my other favorite band was the Velvet Underground. I've always chosen the left side of the brain of music too. I loved the Velvet Underground and carpenters. "I'm not one" also made a memorable appearance in the movie Adam Sandler Billy Madison, in the scene where he receives a valentine from his principal. R. S.

"Jimmy Jimmy" (1983)

While Ocasek was successful with the Cars, he was exploring a darker and more personal vibe on his first (and best) solo album, Beatitude. "Jimmy Jimmy" is at the cutting edge of the discs that Ocasek has produced for artists such as Bad Brains, Suicide or Romeo Void. He gave up Beatitude early 1983, in the time interval between Shake it and City of heartbeat. "Jimmy Jimmy" opts for an extremely suicidal electronic pulse, while Ocasek tells the story of a troubled teenager who does not want to go home and take out the trash. ("Are you depressed or something like that?" "You seem to be spaced out.") It's only been a small snap of MTV, but it's the best moment of Ocasek's solo work. R. S.

"Magic" (1984)

"Magic" is the second single of the quad platinum of Cars City of heartbeatand it is perfectly designed for radios. Everything here is both brutal and elegant: a huge three-string guitar riff and a punchy keyboard hit catch the listener's attention; a second guitar twists in the distance; the bass jumps happily to the support; Ocasek sings staccato, drill lines, not wasting a syllable; the choruses flare gently behind all that. The Cars spent six months in England working City of heartbeat, perfecting the mixture of elements. "It seems contradictory that you can work on something for 12 hours to capture spontaneity," said guitarist Elliot Easton, "but here we go until it sounds live – or alive." E.L.

"You could think" (1984)

The first single of the 1984 LP of Cars City of the heart rhythm, Under the impulse of Mutt Lange, producer of AC / CD and Def Leppard, "You Might Think" is another immediate hit, Ocasek transforming a frightening obsession into MTV's bubblegum. The video of the song remains an experimental classic of form, winning the video award of the year at the 1984 VMA, where she was beating "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Although its clever use of computer animation was striking at the time, the band was a bit too hot to the idea of ​​a miniature Ocasek appearing in the clip that stalking the object of his affection, interpreted by the model Susan Gallagher. In the oral history of Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum I want my MTV, director Chris Stein remembered presenting the idea to the group. "I met the Cars and told them," The group is in the medicine chest, then on a bar of soap and Ric is a fly ", and one of them said : "Why do not we all play shit?" The toilet bowl? "It was the attitude that prevailed." J.D.

"Drive" (1984)

The Cars have made a name for themselves with a pop guitar well watered, but their biggest success in the United States is actually this melancholy ballad loaded with synths. Recorded by Ocasek and sung by bassist Benjamin Orr, "Drive" reached number three of the Hot 100 in 1984. Lange's production here is swoony and spacious, with percussive percussions that punctuate a cloud of keyboards. All these drum sounds were played on a computer, according to an interview with The Chicago Tribune, then introduced into the tracks as samples. The success of "Drive" was perhaps predictable. This piece is masterfully vague and poses a series of rhetorical questions that make it perfect for, well, any what: "Who will you pick up when you fall? Who will hang up when you call? / Who will pay attention to your dreams? / And who will clog your ears when you cry? "Drive" had an impact on Ocasek outside the music: when shooting the video of the single, he met the model Paulina Porizkova, who played in the clip, and they were married in 1989. This track sounded in a way that Ocasek was not always comfortable with. "I heard the London symphony do [it]", He said in a 1997 interview," and it was weird. " E.L.

"Tonight, she's coming" (1985)

The Cars had already released five albums and consolidated their legacy in 1985, when Elektra released their The biggest tubes LP. The group chose to include a new song in the release, "Tonight She Comes," a discreet and contagious synthesizer that Ocasek had planned to keep for himself. "I was recording my solo album," said Ocasek later, "and it was one of the songs I had not used in the past." 39, solo album at that time It was like a single that we all just got together. The biggest tubes The compilation proved to be the right choice: the song became a hit of the Top 10, one of their best singles of its kind. The inflamed guitar solo of Elliot Easton impressed Steve Vai so much that he transcribed it for Guitarist magazine in 1986, and even interviewed Easton about it. P. D.

"Emotion in Motion" (1986)

Ocasek has not been as successful as a solo artist, though he himself has made several quality albums. But this delicate single from his 1986 album This side of paradise, which is part of the Top 15., can hold its own with any air of cars. Sober and pretty, with a voice full of soul, it is a tender ballad without guard in which he promises thanks and a dedication to a new love. He began his relationship with Porizkova at the time. The ardent melody of the song and the sweet words of devotion reflect a sense of romantic happiness that everyone could envy. J.D.

"Free" (2011)

Twenty-four years after their previous album, the Cars found themselves in 2011 for what would be their last. The bass singer Benjamin Orr had died in the meantime, a huge loss, but in many ways, the sound of Cars was perfectly preserved. This is nowhere more obvious than "Free". Above the applause of hands and laser-beam synths, Ocasek delivers well-spoken words about time travel and out of "your dark world". The piece seems at once playful, serious and impeccable. , not to mention deeply catchy. "It took more life than I thought," Ocasek said. Rolling stone & # 39;David Fricke des Cars is back this year. "A lot of bands are reforming, doing stuff and it's shit. I know it's not shit. And people are good. They have always been.