As a casual fan of the Cars, my return to the road -- with Sirius-XM at the ready -- has been an educational experience. And I think these three YouTube comments on this clip just about say it all:
I took The Cars for granted back in the 80s. Now, decades later, I realize how unique they were in the music world.
There was nothing but excellent musicians in The Cars. Each and every one of them. What sounds like clicky, simple, direct songs, have multitudes of treasures to find within them on a musical level.
The synth really adds emotion to the song. No one wrote pop songs like the Cars.
"It's All I Can Do" was so good it stalled at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Who remembers this should-be classic Cars video? Co-directed by Andy Warhol and Don Munroe and featuring downtown "it" girl Diane Brill, John Sex (with pet boa constrictor), a young Gina Gershon and Warhol assistant Benjamin Liu in drag (as Ming Vauze) -- and Andy himself as the bartender -- "Hello Again" just might be the most quintessentially mid-80s New York City video of all time!
This entry from "The Andy Warhol Diaries" confirms it was as big an ordeal for the Pop artist as you would expect -- and that he likely had nothing to do with the actual directing (natch!):
March 29, 1984
It was raining and snowing out and this was the day we had to film all day doing the Cars video for their song “Hello Again” at the Be-Bop Cafe on 8th Street. Benjamin [Liu] came in drag to pick me up for shooting. He was going to be in it, too.
I had to be a bartender and wear a tux. The crowd of extras looked like the old Factory days -- Benjamin in drag, and a bald-headed mine in a Pierrot outfit, and John Sex with this snake. And then there was Dianne Brill with her big tits and hourglass figure. The Cars were cute.
They finally got to my part at 8:00 and I had to sing a song but I couldn’t remember the words. And I had to mix a drink while I was doing it, and with my contacts on I couldn’t see the Coke button on the soda dispenser.
And that meant being face to face with the Cars for a while, and it was hard to talk to them. I didn’t know what to say. I finished at 9:15. One of the kids gave me a ride home.
If anyone knows who the guy with tits as big as Dianne's is, please let get in touch!
Like just about everyone of a certain age, I was very saddened to hear about the passing or Ric Ocasek. (And it didn't help that it happened a couple days after we lost Eddie Money.) Hadn't realized the Cars frontman was quite as old as he was -- I didn't know anyone was as up there as Debbie Harry! -- but am heartened to read from everyone who knew him he was every bit as good a guy as he seemed to be. RIP.
In a classic case of "the American public is stupid," the far-superior follow-up to "Shake It Up" stalled at No. 41 on the Billboard charts. But with lines like "You're so trachea-ress" and "the moonlight ain't so great," it remains one of their best songs ever. (The video's a classic, too.)
I was always a loyal yet casual Cars fan, but apparently I was so casual that I didn't realize bassist Benjamin Orr actually sang lead on some of the band's biggest -- and dare I say best -- singles, including "Just What I Needed," "Drive" and "Let's Go," which I heard the other night and had forgotten was so good. It's my understanding that Ric Ocasek, whom I thought sang lead on everything, had some sort of beef with Orr -- and only reformed the band well after Orr was dead and buried. (He succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2000.) But if this is the case, I'm curious why Ocasek actually wrote this gem of a song, yet let Orr sing lead on it. Whatever the case, enjoy!
Was always a casual fan of the Cars -- thought they had a handful of really good singles, none better than "My Best Friend's Girl" -- but never bought any of their albums. Anyone wanna tell me 30-some years later I was wrong to just be a "best of" man?
