"Door To Door" album - 1987 ~~ "Heartbeat City" Web Site

album - 1987

Kimberly's My Marissa: Home Again in Oak Branch Woods

Not one of The Cars' most well-known albums, "Door to Door," released in 1987, was their last album consisting of new material. However, after the phenomenal success of "Heartbeat City", many people would have expected the Cars to try to outdo themselves with their next album, but that wasn't the purpose of "Door to Door." As Elliot Easton once said, "It's understood that you want to come back with something even better, but to keep repeating that to yourself is a non-constructive activity. From the very first album, when we had no idea if our music would be accepted, it was not a contrived thing. Whatever the expectations are for the record came from within." This album was different. It was, as Ric Ocasek stated, "...very loose and spontaneous. It took half the time." He also described it as "a more live-sounding record. There were no outsiders except and engineer, all of us pitching in, a pure Cars project."

"Door to Door" released three singles that not too many casual listeners know about including the most common of the three "You Are the Girl", the automotive double-entendre "Strap Me In", and the light-pop sounding "Coming Up You." All the songs on "Door To Door", including the singles, were unique. Each had a distinctive sound including the country-sounding "Everything You Say", the slow ballads, "Wound Up On You", and "Fine Line", and the upbeat love song "Go Away". This album also contained two songs that were demos from 1977, and the original versions of "Leave Or Stay" and "Ta Ta Wayo Wayo" can now be found on The Cars' anthology.

In 1987, the Cars made their final television appearances performing songs from "Door To Door". One of which was was on "Saturday Night Live" where they sang "Strap Me In" and "Double Trouble." This was true with the Cars' "Door To Door" tour as they often gave concerts to half-empty arenas and just couldn't draw in the crowds as they did just a few years back. But fans say that these shows were some of the best the Cars ever gave.

'Door To Door' Tour concert ticket (Meadowlands)

'Door To Door' Tour concert ticket (Springfield Civic Center)

But unfortunately, some shows ended up being cancelled as the Cars' career came to an end. Pictured here are two tickets from the "Door To Door" tour in 1987. As shown on the one from October 30 at the Meadowlands, one-hit-wonder Icehouse was the opening act. The other ticket is not too much later from November 19 was at the Springfield (New Jersey) Civic Center.

The Cars. 1984. Frozen Fire: The Story of The Cars, page 113.

Around this time, there were several rumors of interpersonal battles between members of The Cars which stemmed from the "Heartbeat City" days. And though their conflicts seemed to have been cleared up by the release of "Door To Door", Elliot Easton recalled what it was like back then, "You had all the band members living under the same roof when they're used to having their own space, so tell me there won't be any differences in eight months. We're all different, and it comes together in a heavy brew, a volatile mixture, but that's responsible, I think, for a lot of the unique qualities of the band. Among ourselves, the band never ended. The subject never came up." Ben Orr commented, "I understand that there was some bad press going around, but I didn't feel it ever got to the point where it was going to be the end of the band. We never had any of those shouting matches. You've really got to love the people you work with, and I think there's a certain amount of love still left". But, even so, in 1988, the Cars did come to an end. After giving some of their best performances for less than crowded audiences, and declining in popularity as the style of music in the 80's started to change (for the worse), The Cars ended their musical career quietly. And even today, members including Ric Ocasek, still insist that it was indeed personal conflicts that also tore the band apart. And after almost a decade since having driven off, it's still unknown whether or not The Cars will ever get back together for a reunion and say "hello again."

*Thanks for Alan Prager for the scans of the "Door To Door" Tour concert tickets.

Check out the music videos from "Door To Door..."

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