The Cars

The Cars were an American new wave band, one of the most popular to emerge out of the early punk scene in the late 1970s. They hailed from Boston, Massachusetts and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977 (1977 in music).

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The band's members were Ric Ocasek (born Richard Otcasek), the band's principal songwriter, rhythm guitarist, and part-time lead singer; Benjamin Orr (born Benjamin Orzechowski), bassist and part-time lead singer; Elliot Easton, lead guitar and backing vocals; David Robinson, drums and backing vocals; and Greg Hawkes, keyboards, saxophone, guitar, and backing vocals. The nucleus of the group was composed of guitarists Ocasek and Orr.

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The Cars successfully bridged the gap between the guitar-oriented rock of the 1970s and the synth-oriented pop of the early 1980s. While most of the singles included an Elliot Easton guitar solo, The Cars' sound was defined much more by Greg Hawkes' synthesizers and the huge harmonies of Easton, Robinson, and Hawkes behind Orr's and Ocasek's lead vocals.

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The band's hits dominated the charts for over nine years; their most successful albums were 1978's The Cars, which featured hit "Just What I Needed," and 1984's Heartbeat City, which included four Top 20 singles: "Magic," "Drive," "Hello Again," and "You Might Think,"

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which also won the MTV Video of the Year Award (see 1984 in music). "Drive" gained particular notability when it was used in a video of the Ethiopian famine prepared by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and introduced by David Bowie at the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium.

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After the resulting period of superstardom and another hit single ("Tonight She Comes"), the Cars released their last album Door to Door in 1987, but it failed to approach the success of their previous albums. The Cars announced the group's break-up in February 1988 (1988 in music). In the late 1990s, rumors circulated of a Cars reunion, but Orr's death of pancreatic cancer on October 3, 2000 put an end to them.

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Starting in late 2004, The Cars hit song "Just What I Needed" was played in Circuit City television ads.

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New wave: The term "New Wave" has been used to describe several movements in art. These include:...

1970s: This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. For an in-depth article on the cultural and social trends of the decade, please see The Seventies...

Boston, Massachusetts: Boston is the capital and the largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city is also the county seat of Suffolk County. It is the unofficial capital of the region known as New England as well as one of the oldest and wealthiest cities in the United States, with an e...

The Cars related Images and Photos (experimental)

Disney's Cars - The King Cutout	The Cars Cape Cod Coliseum 1980	Cars	Cars
Cars - 2 (One Sheet)	Hot Cars	Train Cars	Cars 2 Decals
Muscle Cars	Bumper Cars	Girls & Cars II	Cars - Old Cuban Car