Friday Night Record Party : The Cars: Heartbeat City

The Cars: Heartbeat City

1984

Elektra Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Hello Again 2. Looking for Love 3. Magic 4. Drive 5. Stranger Eyes 6. You Might Think 7. It's Not the Night 8. Why Can't I Have You 9. I Refuse 10. Heartbeat City

This album was huuuuge at the time...I remember driving around listening to this a few years back and my wife asked me if it was a greatest hits album... And it's true, like the debut album a large number of these songs were top 40 hits...If you were around in '84 there's a good chance that at least half of this album is permanently imbedded in your conscience, and that "You Might Think" video absolutely ruled the airwaves that year...

Here's a video of them winning the MTV Video award in 1984...They were up some stiff-ass competition..."Thriller"?!?!?!

Hey! This is supposed to be the MTV Video Awards!! Why isn't Bette Midler twerking?!?!?! Twerk, dammit! Twerk!!!

From their 1978 debut to 1981's "Shake It Up," the band had released an album every single year, but there was actually a bit of a gap between this and "Shake It Up." The big change here was the band switched producers for the first time...All their previous albums had been helmed by Roy Thomas Baker, but "Heartbeat City" was done by Mutt Lange, and his glossy fingerprints are all over this one...The minute you turn it on and hear those "Hello Again" gang vocals you know it's one of his productions...It has those same airy "Shouted-whisper" backing vocals from the Def Leppard and AC/DC albums he did...

The sound is very different, the guitars are still there but they're turned way down in favor of the keyboards and a big echoing drum machine, making it much more synth-pop than New Wave/Rock...It sounds like a ton of time was spent on the small details, every keyboard fill, every sound effect, every backing vocal is in perfect place...I mean, the Cars had always been a slick operation, but this thing takes perfectionism to a whole new level...

The album does seem awfully heavy on ballads though...On one hand I kind of miss the more rocking sound (especially on the couple of songs that actually do rock out a bit, like "Magic" or "You Might Think") on the other hand it's hard to fault the immaculate atmospheric pop of "Drive" and the title track...I think it works because the band never seems to be trolling for airplay...It all seems sophisticated, smart and innovative.

So yea, this was the Cars at their peak...few albums sum up their era as vividly as "Heartbeat City." It's as quintessentially 1984 as Mr. T Cereal...