The Cars: Move Like This

The Cars: Move Like This

2011

Hear Music/Concord Music Group

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Blue Tip  2. Too Late  3. Keep On Knocking  4. Soon  5. Sad Song  6. Free  7. Drag On Forever  8. Take Another Look  9. It's Only  10. Hits


There's been a surprising trend in music lately, where long-defunct bands who seemingly ended their careers with shitty albums reunite to put out a from-out-of-nowhere record that's super representative and cleans up the band's legacy...In this category we find...



Beach Boys: That's Why God Made the Radio...



Devo: Something For Everybody...



Black Sabbath: 13...



...and the Cars: Move Like This...

The only thing surprising about this album is how surprisingly Cars-like it is...As soon as "Blue Tip" starts the sound is instantly recognizable...They've updated their sound but not too much...It's a little thicker but the vintage keyboard lines are there, as well as the almost-clean classic rock guitar tones...

Similarly, "Too Late" and "Sad Song" sound like they could have been outtakes from the "Shake It Up" album, which appears to be their default mode now...The only stylistic break is the heavy metal-ish "Keep On Knocking" which sounds so much like Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking in the Free World" that they might as well have called it "Keep On Knocking in the Free World."  You can sing the words along to it perfectly...Huh, don't know how they could missed that one...

Unfortunately bassist and co-vocalist Benjamin Orr couldn't attend the reunion, being dead and all, and his presence is sorely missed (his smoother vocals were always a good counterpoint to Ric's more idiosyncratic style), but his absence doesn't sink the album (although you can't help but think of how much better the synth ballad "Soon" would have been with Ben singing it...This song was made for his vocal style...)



Sure, "Move Like This" doesn't top "Candy-O" or their 1978 debut, but it sure as hell beats "Door to Door." As a Cars enthusiast this was exactly what I was hoping their reunion album would sound like...If they never put out another album, at least we can say the Cars went out on a high note...

So let's check out "Blue Tip" by the Cars...Enjoy...

The Cars: Anthology: Just What I Needed

The Cars: Anthology: Just What I Needed

1995

Elektra Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: Disc 1: 1. Just What I Needed  2. My Best Friend's Girl  3. Good Times Roll  4. You're All I've Got Tonight  5. Don't Cha Stop  6. Moving in Stereo  7. Take Me Now  8. Cool Fool  9. Let's Go  10. Candy-O  11.Dangerous Type  12. Double Life  13. Got a Lot on My Head  14. It's All I Can Do  15. Nightspots  16. Slipaway  17. That's it  18. Panorama  19. Gimme Some Slack  20. Don't Go to Pieces

Disc 2:  1. Touch and Go  2. Don't Tell Me No  3. Shake It Up  4. Since You're Gone  5. I'm Not the One  6. Cruiser  7. The Little Black Egg  8. Funtime  9. You Might Think  10. Drive  11. Magic  12. Hello Again  13.  Why Can't I Have You  14. Breakaway  15. Tonight She Comes  16. You Are the Girl  17. Strap Me in  18. Door to Door  19. Leave or Stay  20. Ta Ta Wayo Wayo


A big, fat double Cd in one of those thick ass old jewel cases...Before they learned how to make them slimmer...

This thing is actually pretty in-depth...Definitely missing a few key tracks that I would have put on here,  but this is probably all the Cars most people would need.  It gives an almost even overview of all their albums and in addition to the hits, it also includes album cuts and 12 unreleased and rare tracks that aren't included on their studio albums...I already went over most of this, so I'm just going to cover the stuff I haven't talked about yet...



From the band's 1977 demo, there's the early soft rock ballad "Take Me Now" and the rocker "Cool Fool."  I can see why they didn't pursue "Take Me Now," but I think with a little work "Cool Fool" could have sounded fine on their debut...It doesn't quite beat you over the head with its hooks like the other songs form their first album did, but I think the easygoing hard pop would have made a nice sleeper track...

We also get an early version of "Nightspots" a  song we all know from "Candy-O" but the version included here is an outtake from their first album...It's hard to believe this was recorded at the same time as "My Best Friend's Girl" or "Just What I Needed." It's a lot darker and ominous than anything on that record...I think it was a good call saving it for "Candy-O." It's weird not hearing keyboards on song, since it's the song's most recognizable feature...So empty...

"That's It" was the B-side from the "Let's Go" single. I like this song, it's nice, catchy 60's style pop.

"Slip Away" was a "Candy-O" outtake that was given to Ian Lloyd who released it as a single in
1979...This is the Ian Lloyd version...

 ..and this is the Cars take...

Hard to believe they gave this away. Out of all the unreleased songs on here, this is probably the highlight. Blends in with all the other hits nicely...

"Don't Go to Pieces" was the b-side of "Don't Tell Me No" single. Pretty catchy b-side with great melodic guitar playing juxtaposed with a choppy riff...Can't really picture it on "Panorama" (too bright and poppy) but it's a good b-side...

 "Little Black Egg" and "Funtime" are cover songs. Ric and Ben's vocals were removed and the backing tracks were used for Bebe Buell's "Covers Girl" ep. They sound really comfortable with "Little Black Egg," which is odd, because the original is such a druggy 60's garage rock song, yet it suits their style... The "Funtime"  cover gives the track a more sleek 80's dance rock backing than the Iggy Pop's thudding horror-show original...This song has always reminded me of  the "Monster Mash" for some reason...Maybe it's the Dracula reference...Iggy comes out on top as the more interesting vocalist, but Benjamin Orr does a pretty decent job actually...

"Breakaway" was the b-side to the "Why Can't I Have You" single. Nothing too outstanding, but it is a solid "Heartbeat City" outtake. I would have gladly traded "It's Not the Night" for this...Might have livened up side two of that album a bit...



"Tonight She Comes" was originally released on "The Cars Greatest Hits" album that was came out in 1985. Not actually a "rare" track per se, since the greatest hits album is still available everywhere, but it never appeared on any of their studio albums. I can remember hearing this on the radio growing up but not so much anymore...Alright song, you kind of get the feeling they're edging into adult contemporary though...

"Leave and Stay" and "Tata Wayo Wayo" are 1977 demos, but they're placed at the end to help represent "Door to Door," since the songs were re-recorded for that album...This is a good call...The "Leave or Stay" smokes the "Door to Door" version, but as far as "Tata Wayo Wayo" goes I actually really like the "Door to Door" version...Don't see why it often gets singled out as a low-point...

So there ya go...Even though others have been released before and since, no other Cars compilation even comes close to topping this one...Listening to it gives you a greater appreciation of the band and almost everything in the two-and-a-half hour running time is great...

...So let's check out "Cruiser" by the Cars...Cruise Away...

The Cars: Door to Door

The Cars: Door to Door

1988

Elektra Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Leave or Stay  2. You Are the Girl  3. Double Trouble  4. Fine Line  5. Everything You Say  6. Ta Ta Wayo Wayo  7. Strap Me In  8. Coming Up You  9. Wound Up on You  10. Go Away  11. Door to Door


Hmm, the Cars winning streak seems to have ended...After five top-notch albums of crisp new wave and classic rock they lose their momentum and stall out on "Door to Door."

You know there's a problem right away with opener "Leave or Stay," it doesn't sound bad or anything,   there's actually some energy in the verses, but where is the chorus?  Once you drop all semblance of experimentation and give yourself over 100% to slick pop it usually helps to have a hook or something...Turns out this was actually a re-recording of an decade demo (which was later released on the 1995 "Cars Anthology: Just What I Needed" compilation)...And comparing the lean rock of the demo just highlights the problem with "Door to Door's" overly slick, yet murky production...

 "You Are the Girl" comes along and you think things are going to turn around...It has a bit of an overly-comfortable adult contemporary vibe, but it redeems itself with a catchy chorus and interestingly subdued instrumentation.

"I might have gotten a bad impression form the first song,  but this might turn out to be another good Cars album, " you start thinking to yourself, but then the big, bloated heavy metal song "Double Trouble" comes along and dashes all your dreams...

From there on out it's very hit or miss..."Ta Ta Wayo Wayo" is alright...It's got some energy at least and a fun rocking feel...I very much like the keyboards on this track, and "Strap Me In" is able to summon up a little of the dense, mysterious atmosphere that "Heartbeat City" excelled at. I also find the chorus of "Go Away" to be very lovely. On the other hand there's so many slow mushy track like "Coming Up You" and "Wound Up On You" sequenced one after another, that it's hard to keep my eyes open...

 By the end of the album you've kind of resigned yourself to the blandness when suddenly the title track comes along and it's about 60 bpm's faster than everything else! The record finally creates some spark, spirit and heat! I wish they would have explored this speedy, punk-influenced direction a bit more, but unfortunately the album ends here...

I bought this out of the used records bin at FYE for about three bucks, which I'd say is a fair price for this...I really only hold onto it for the two or three tracks I like and for the sake of completeness...I hardly ever spin this, and listening to it again today doesn't change my opinion much...It's okay as far as generic 80's shoulder-pad music goes, but for the Cars this is subpar...Even the album cover is ugly...They always had great album covers! Something was wrong and the band broke up shortly after this album...Too bad...

Let's check out "Door to Door" by the Cars...

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...

...or "Where's the Beef?" ads...

When I listen to this it's hard not to revisit those distant summer vacations spent playing Atari and taping "Magic" off the radio...

So let's bust out that old cassette again and check out "Magic" by the Cars...

The Cars: Shake It Up

 The Cars: Shake It Up

1981

Elektra Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Since You're Gone  2. Shake it Up  3. I'm Not the One  4. Victim of Love  5. Cruiser  6. A Dream Away  7. This Could Be Love  8. Think It Over  9. Maybe Baby


 I remember looking at the cover of this 8-track a million times as a kid and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the girl was holding...I finally concluded it was some sort of futuristic phone or something...

I picked up the album years later and had to slap my forehead and say to myself, "Duhhhh...It's a cocktail shaker!" Damn, I'm dumb sometimes...It says what it is right in the album title....Oh well...

Hey, look what I found in my closet! It's my old jean jacket from 1981!

Let's take a closer look at the buttons on it...

Oh yea...My old Reagan/Bush '81 button...This was the same year Ol' Jelly Beans took office...

That's right! In 1981 the Iranian Hostage Crisis ended and the hostages got to come home!

MTV also debuted in 1981...Which was a good place to view the Cars new video "Shake It Up."

This song lets you know they've gone back to straight-up pop after the dark detour they took on "Panorama."  There's no way this song doesn't brighten your day...Quick, clippy, catchy...It also reminds me of "Kings Lead Hat" by Brian Eno...

After a single that strong, it didn't matter if the rest of the album was trash or not...It had to be a hit...Fortunately, the single was no fluke, and the album still sounds like a 40 minute slice of 1981 top 40 radio preserved on vinyl, but with all the "Endless Love" and REO Speedwagon edited out...



Lots of good new wave pop here...I think I'm going to have to pick "Cruiser" as the best track though...It's noticeably more rocking than the surrounding songs, but there's so many neat, interlocking guitar parts...Benjamin Orr is at his coolest singing here...

I also never hear it mentioned as a stand-out, but I've always liked album-closer "Maybe Baby."  The Cars' music is often a bit emotionally cold, but I don't know...There's something sort of rewarding and triumphant about it when it hits the chorus...

It was one of those albums that seemed a bit disposable when I first heard it, but it ended up being one of my most-listened to Cars albums...It feels like there's actually quite a bit of substance beneath the bright façade...Any collector of 80's albums should seek this out...

I dunno...Let's stop talking about it and let's check out "Maybe Baby" by the Cars. Enjoy...

The Cars: Panorama

The Cars: Panorama

1980

Elektra Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Panorama  2. Touch and Go  3. Gimme Some Slack  4. Don't Tell Me No  5. Getting Through  6. Misfit Kid  7. Down Boys  8. You Wear Those Eyes  9. Running to You  10. Up and Down



This one tends to get a little overlooked...Hell, I overlooked it...I can remember going into the Hale Drug Store and seeing this in the cheap-o spinner rack in the late 90's  and thinking to myself "Huh? I never heard of this one..."

So it's the odd Cars album that I have almost no nostalgic connection to, but I enjoy it just as much as their other, more popular releases...

First off, this is the Cars album to play last at night...Maybe 3 am or so...When the sky is roughly the same color as the album cover...Instead of expanding their sound they make it darker and more claustrophobic...The metronomic drum pulse and the blackhole guitars of the opening title trackwill suck you right in if you're in the right frame of mind, and the off-kilter ska of "Touch and Go" is going to keep you there...Spooky, arty pop from a top 40 band? I love 1980!

The keyboard line on "Gimme Some Slack" is one of my favorite moments in the Cars' discography, poppy and dissonant...I get the vibe that they purposely avoided the easy pop hits and took a more unexpected route...I think you could do that back then...They put out an album every single year during this time, so if they went a year without ruling the radio it wasn't such a big deal..."Let's Go" was probably still playing and they would come out with "Shake It Up" the following year, so what was the harm, really? And I'm going to stand by my opinion that "You Wear Those Eyes" is the Cars' best ballad...I'm sorry "Drive," but "You Wear Those Eyes" nails that stormy, midnight feel so well...

But yea...A lot of this flies right past you the first listen or two, but now I love it all..The only song that's never grown on me is "Down Boys," which isn't horrible or anything, it's just that the melody and performance is somewhat pedestrian...I have to admit I tune it out sometimes...

 But overall, this is another good one...They put out one fine album after another during this period, so let's check out "Touch and Go" by the Cars. Enjoy...

The Cars: Candy-O

The Cars: Candy-O

1979

Elektra Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Let's Go  2. Since I Held You  3. It's All I Can Do  4. Double Life  5. Shoo Be Doo  6. Candy-O  7. Nightspots  8. You Can't Hold on Too Long  9 Lust for Kicks  10. Got a Lot on My Head  11. Dangerous Type


Yay! I like candy! Here are pictures of some of my favorite candy...

 Yorkie! I can still remember when I first ran across these in a World Market or something...I was ultra confused why girls weren't allowed to eat it...What would happen if one did? Was I secure enough in my masculinity to eat it?

 Mr. Melons! That's what they used to call me High School! (Shed tear...)

...and how could I forget good ol' Tupla Nutkicks? But my favorite of all is the Cars' 1979 album, Candy-O!!

Now that was a segue! Every time I see this record I have this compulsion to assume Benjamin Orr's mechanical baritone and sing "CANDY-OOO..."  I've never not done it...

This is probably my personal favorite Cars album...Certainly the one I listen to the most..It helps that there are almost no overplayed radio hits, besides "Let's Go" but it's also the band's best song, so radio can play it all day for all I care...

This seems more legitimately "New Wave" than the debut...Greg Hawkes' keyboards are more prominent and the hooks more cold and robotic...They also seem okay with the fact that there was no way they could top the non-stop perfect pop hits on the debut so it feels a bit more insular and quirky...It has a lot of personality...

I'm partial to "It's All I Can Do"...Do they play that on the radio? I've never heard it, but tell me it wouldn't sound great coming out of the speakers of your 1978 Camaro as you're cruising around pulling a few tabs with your special lady...

A song I think should be held in higher regard is "Lust for Kicks," with a  dinky organ sound so late-70's awesome that it reminds me of something off  Elvis Costello's "This Year's Model." "Double Life" is another one I'm always pleased to hear...I'm crazy about the lovely backing vocals...Almost too poppy for commercial radio if that makes sense... Also be sure not to miss the driving, strobing title track...Sleek and Modern...Like I said, 1978 Camaro...

 

The other day when we were discussing Captain Beefheart's "Safe As Milk" I was all hopped up declaring 1967 as the greatest year for albums...But really, I hold 1979 in that same high esteem...Most of my all-time faves come from this year...Let's check out some of the other great records you would have found on the "New Releases" rack at your local record store, all shiny,  shrink-wrapped and hot off the presses back in 1979... 

The Clash: London Calling

Joe Jackson" Look Sharp!


Elvis Costello: Armed Forces



Stiff Little Fingers: Inflammable Material



Cheap Trick: At Budokan



Roxy Music: Manifesto (Fuck you! I like this album...Especially the cover...)



Squeeze: Cool For Cats



The Fall: Live at the Witch Trials



Dave Edmunds: Repeat When Necessary



Nick Lowe: Labour of Lust



Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures



Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps



Devo: Duty Now For the Future



Talking Heads: Fear of Music

 
The Damned: Machine Gun Etiquette



Wire: 154



Gang of Four: Entertainment...

Dang, I gotta give this up...Looking at the complete list of 1979 releases there are about 30 others of roughly the same caliber as the ones listed above... ("One Step Beyond" by Madness, the first album by the Specials, "A Different Kind of Tension" by the Buzzcocks, ":Mirrors" by Blue Oyster Cult....the list goes on and on and on...) Screw 1967!! 1979 was hands down the greatest year for music ever!!! These are all records I play just about every Friday Night...

Hey!!  Today is Friday Night! Let's check out "It's All I Can Do" by the Cars! Let's Beer!