The Cars (part 1)

Long ago, I posted a bunch of WAY cool Cars rarities (don't worry, they will turn up here as well), but
never did I post their original albums.....I think it'll be ok to do so now, after all, these are 30 year old discs....

I liked The Cars, one of my best friends HATED them....."They are ripping off Roxy Music!", he would say....now, he and I both LOVED Roxy Music, BUT......the Cars didn't "rip them off"......The Cars took the basic Roxy sound/concept, tightened it up and made it far more accessible, and took it to the bank. How do you blame someone for THAT? My Junior year of high school, one could literally not turn around without hearing a track from "The Cars" or "Candy-O", and for good reason.....they were two of the greatest albums of the late 1970's......

So, in this part, we'll focus on the studio efforts (with thorough critique, coz I was really into the first three albums), and we'll follow that up (whenever I feel like it) with a slew of boots, demos, alt versions....if you missed em the first time, and this is a band you enjoy, PLEASE don't miss that stuff at least, some of it is quite rare and you will be SORRY if in 2019 you are asking me to reup the links (by now you should know I won't do it)

OK, here's how this will work.....thanks to John N, we have "The Elektra Years", with the original LP's as they were originally released.....the first file contains "The Cars", "Candy-O", and "Panorama", one file/one disc, a wonderful way to package this. The next file will contain the (lesser, but still OK) "Shake It Up", "Heartbeat City" and (ugh) "Door To Door"...anyway, it's a neat little package of six LP's into two files, I'll have some comps with some rarities next, then on to MY stash of Cars rarities, which will freak you out!

OK..."The Cars" came out, as I said, my junior year of high school....YES, they did wear the Roxy Music influence on their sleeves, but Roxy were YEARS ahead of their time, the Cars were RIGHT ON TIME....man, that first album.....really, every track is a classic....."Just What I Needed", "Best Friend's Girl" and (MY faves) "You're All I've Got Tonight" and "Bye Bye Love".....but there is not ONE dog on this total 5-star effort

"Candy-O" came out a year or so later....it is DAMN NEAR as good... still Roxy derivative, down to the Vargas cover art, but loaded with great songs, not a loser here either....."Let's Go", "Double Life", "Lust For Kicks", "The Dangerous Type", "Since I Held You"......oh fuck it, it's all great too.....Roxy fans (Roxy was MY favorite band of all so I can make this statement), GET THE FUCK OVER IT...the Cars nicked Roxy's groove and took it to the bank, they were, for a while, the ultimate "hip" band, AND dominated commercially.....

Unfortunately, they had no more "classic" material in them....."Panorama" is "just" OK, I do enjoy the (oh, irony, the Roxy-like) title track, "Touch and Go", and a few others, but these Cars were running out of gas. "Shake it Up" continues the trend downward, the title track is (just) OK, and though a lot of people like "Heartbeat City" ("Drive", "You might Think", etc) there was nothing original here, either....the less said about "Door to Door" the better IMO (note: they would release another phenomenal single, "Tonight She Comes", which wasn't on any of there LP's but will appear on one of the comps.

OK, The Cars were a great band for a couple of albums at least.......they headed toward suckville later on, but still had a knack for a hook or two.....I'll never argue that they WERE derivative of Roxy Music, but, honestly, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG with being derivative of one of the greatest bands of all time? The Cars did it up right, and the first 2.5 albums still sound phenomenal. What more could you ask for?

So, pay attention to how these are bundled, it's not exactly the norm, but I'm sure you'll get it.....wait until the next couple of posts when we get to the GREAT stuff (lives stuff, alternate mixes, you will love it!)


THE CARS-01 Good Times Roll/02 Best Friends Girl/03 Just What I Needed/04 I'm In Touch With Your World/05 Don't Cha Stop/06 You're All Ive Got Tonight/07 Bye Bye Love/08 Moving In Stereo/09 All Mixed Up

CANDY-O-10 Let's Go/11 Since I Held You/12 It's All I can Do/13 Double Life/14 Shoo Be Doo/15 Candy-O/16 Night Spots/17 You can't Hold On Too Long/18 Lust For kicks/19 Got a Lot On My Head/20 Dangerous Type

PANORAMA-21 Panorama/22 Touch and Go/23 Gimme Some Slack/24 Don't Tell Me No/25 Getting Through/26 Misfit Kid/27 Down Boys/28 You Wear Those Eyes/29 Running to You/30 Up and Down

(Understand, these three albums are in ONE file, albeit in two parts!....same for the NEXT three albums!)

SHAKE IT UP-01 Since You're Gone/02 Shake It Up/03 I'm Not the One/04 Victim of Love/05
Cruiser/06 A Dream Away/07 This Could be Love/08 Think It Over/09 Maybe Baby

HEARTBEAT CITY-10 Hello Again/11 Looking For Love/12 Magic/13 Drive/14 Stranger Eyes/15 You Might Think/16 It's Not the Night/17 Why Can't I have You/18 I Refuse/19 Heartbeat City

DOOR TO DOOR-20 Leave or Stay/21 You Are the Girl/22 Double Trouble/23 Fine Line/24 Everything You Say/25 Tato Wayo Wayo/26 Strap Me In/27 Coming Up You/28 Wound Up On You/29 Go Away/30 Door To Door

Again, these last three discs are in ONE FILE, which is split into TWO PARTS......it's easy if you think about it!