"Heartbeat City" album - 1984 ~~ "Heartbeat City" Web Site

album - 1984

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

Ric Ocasek, The Meadowlands. July 1984. Frozen Fire: The Story of The Cars.

In the height of the 80's, The Cars' most successful album, "Heartbeat City", was released. It was an combination of experimental new sounds and styles noticeable in every song, on both singles and album songs. This album also introduced a new producer, Robert John "Mutt" Lange (now famous for his marriage to Canadian pop singer Shania Twain), who was a perfectionist in every sense when it came to producing. He co-produced the album with The Cars.

"Heartbeat City" gave fans some of the most popular Cars songs of all time including "You Might Think", "Magic", "Hello Again", and "Drive". Now classics, at the time these songs had a new sound as the 80's was becoming more electronic. The Cars' had no problem fitting into this new era of music that also included the sounds of new groups like Duran Duran and Culture Club. This was also a breakthrough year for the Cars in music videos as they went on to release some of the most creative image to correspond with their newest collection of hits.

The singles mentioned above all had something unique to go with them and Heartbeat City is also the longest running Cars album with a total of five singles for 1984-85. The first "You Might Think" (b/w "Heartbeat City") needs no introduction, and can best be describes besides its incredible video. "Magic" followed, and became another classic. The next, "Hello Again" was one of their strangest songs as it's B-side was a remix of the song that was mainly only music and sound effects. It was also remixed on a 12-inch single. "Drive" (b/w "Stranger Eyes") stands out the most on this album because it was the Cars' "token lite song" - the one you always here on soft rock stations, yet they never play any of the Cars' other songs. But ironically, "Drive" became the Cars' highest ranking single at #3 because of this extra exposure, but it seemed that no one really knew what that song was about. Unlike most ballads, "Drive" was not a love song, as Ric Ocasek commented, "I thought it was kinda weird for a single. It was all two, three chords and droning; the subject matter was kind of depressing". In fact, it was originally scheduled to appear on Ric's solo album "Beatitude", but was changed to "Heartbeat City" since it sounded better being song by Ben Orr, whom Ric admits to have always had a better-trained singing voice than he has. The last single was the not-so-well-known, "Why Can't I Have You?" which is also considered a rarity because its 45 record contained the B-side, "Breakaway" that was not on the album. Both songs resurfaced again on the Cars' Anthology in 1995, along with the other hits from this and the rest of their albums.

In 1984, the Cars set out on their most elaborate and also, their most successful tour. They stage was decorated with cut-out shapes in bright colors that is said to symbolized the confidence The Cars finally had in themselves. Also on stage was a giant red Ferris wheel called "the video monster" since instead of seats, it had TVs attached to points that showed various revolving images. That year, the Cars toured with Wang Chung as their opening act, as seen here in this actual ticket from the "Heartbeat City" tour in 1984. Another opportunity to see The Cars in concert was "The Cars: Live 1984-1985" on video. It was taken from an actual concert with effects edited in and was on this same set. The Cars perform their classic hits as well as Ric Ocasek's solo single, "Jimmy Jimmy."

'Heartbeat City' Tour concert ticket

With that, "Heartbeat City" definitely deserves the acclaim it received during 1984 and 1985. Everything about this album was a big production from its colorful stage set to its fold-out record jacket featuring the 1972 painting "Art-o-Matic Loop di Loop." The Cars even performed at the 1985 Live-aid concert. However, their appearance was one of many conveniently left out when VH-1 decided to show eight hours of a sixteen hour concert in 1995, but Cars fans will remember the infamous arrival of Phil Collins from London right in the middle of the Cars' segment, quickly diverting media coverage. And while Phil was not shown flying in during the Cars' set on the Live-Aid DVD, it only included two of the four songs they performed: "Just What I Needed" and "Heartbeat City." Before that, they also did "You Might Think" and "Drive". The Cars also appeared on the season finale of Saturday Night Live, performing "Magic" and "Drive". Claiming that several original tapes were lost or non-existent, other artists segments were cut or deleted as well on the 2004 release.

However, even though everything from the "Heartbeat City" era seemed to be perfect, relationships among the band members were not always so. In a rather disturbing article, "Chasing the Cars" in "Record" magazine (August 1984), Ric Ocasek was interviewed and revealed that it was he who was saddled with most of the work that went into the production of this album. Ric made it clear that even though he is considered the "leader" of the Cars, he didn't want to stand in the center of the group. "I don't want it to be the Ric Ocasek band," he said and was particularly offended when the reporter wanted an "honest-to-goodness Cars feature" and not "another Ric Ocasek story." After all, Ric was the only one being interviewed this time. However, he did make sure to mention that each member of the Cars was important. "If one was gone, there'd be no Cars. And considering all the bands that come and go, we do get along as a band." But the problems surrounding the band continued to mount, leading to rumors of their future break-up.

*Thanks for Alan Prager for the scan of the "Heartbeat City" Tour concert ticket.

Check out the music videos from "Heartbeat City..."

Heartbeat City - A Site About The Cars
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Heartbeat City - A Site About The Cars

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