The Cars were one of the most successful new wave bands to emerge in the post punk era of the late 1970s. Many new wave groups employed the stripped down textures of punk to produce "progressive" rock without the bombast and heavy production that at the time typified bands with musical, rather than commercial, aspirations. The Cars, on the other hand, were a straight-ahead rock and roll band. Baltimore native Ric Ocasek was raised on pop radio and enamored of early rockabilly but decided to become a songwriter after discovering Bob Dylan and the Incredible String Band in the mid 1960s. He met Ben Orr in high school; the duo formed their first band in Ann Arbor, where Ocasek had relocated to attend college. Instead of attending classes Ocasek and Orr basked in the garage rock scene and formed a proto punk duo, which Ocasek remembers as a "wreck your equipment kind of band," that played a handful of gigs with the legendary MC5. The pair became bored with the idiom and moved to Boston, where they played as a folk duo called Milkwood that was good enough to receive a record contract in 1973.
After several years they felt another format change was in order and recruited local musicians to fill out the lineup of the Cars. Their primary influences were the Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, and Lou Reed; thus, their music had a certain detached and ironic tone. However, under the surface there were good-natured references to earlier rock styles that never came off as pretentious. Ocasek had a natural sense for well-crafted pop hooks and wasn't afraid to use them. As a result the Cars were the most radio-friendly of the new wave bands, and their electric keyboard-driven sound and aloof vocal style became staples of the new 1980s pop. Ocasek was recognized for captivating turns of phrase that were often as engaging as his hooks; lines like "You always knew to wear it well/You look so fancy I can tell" were refreshing deviations from tired pop formulas.
Though their multi-platinum debut album was released in 1978, the Cars were truly a band of the 1980s in that they deftly employed unconventional media to promote their songs. "Moving in Stereo" was featured in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High and brought the band to an audience beyond pop radio (and many of them will forever connect the song to images of Phoebe Cates in a red bikini). They were also quick to explore the then-new format of the music video to ensure heavy rotation on MTV; the surrealistic video for "You Might Think" won the MTV Award for Best Video in 1984 and is still considered one of the best videos of all times.
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Bob Dylan, Velvet Underground, Blondie, Iggy Pop, David Bowie
Must Haves:
 "You're All I've Got Tonight"
"Just What I Needed"
"Moving in Stereo"
"You Might Think"
"Shake It Up"
The Foo Fighters, the Killers, the Strokes, Tears for Fears, Talking Heads
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