"This time we were seriously out to make a record," said Ric Ocasek about the production of The Cars' self-titled debut album. One of the things this first album is known for is that it was recorded in only 12 days in London. Queen's former producer, Roy Thomas Baker, produced this album and would go on to produce The Cars' next three albums as well.
listeners before it was even released. As a demo tape recorded in Ric Ocasek's basement, it became a popular request on Boston radio stations which is what first got the Cars' noticed. It also led to the release of two more singles once the album was released. The next single "My Best Friend's Girl," (b/w "Moving In Stereo"),
is also known for it's early demo version. This song was performed during The Cars' appearance on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" was shown on a first-season episode of VH-1's "8-Track Flashback" which featured new wave bands including the Police and the Pretenders. The final single was "Good Times Roll" which tells more than just what's sung on the surface, like reliving times of your life, both good and bad. Another notable song wasn't a single, but became popular as it was one the Cars always played in concert. "You're All I've Got Tonight" was the last song they sang at every show. Not because it was a powerful song with an air with the desperation that should have been love, but the Cars also used the lyrics to justify their accomplishments. It was their way of letting their audiences know that even with all their fame, they always tried to remain humble.
In 1999, the Cars first album was reissued as "The Cars Deluxe Edition" which is the original album, as well as demo versions of all the songs and previously unissued tracks.
Two other songs from this same era were unknown until now. Both done with Benjamin Orr singing lead, the ballad "Take Me Now" and "Cool Fool", the one song co-written by Ric Ocasek and Elliot Easton, can now be heard on The Cars' Anthology. Occasionally, Greg Hawkes would co-write songs with Ric, including, "Moving In Stereo", "This Could Be Love", "It's Not the Night", and ""Go Away" on future albums.
Becoming more and more recognized, The Cars became the subject of several critics' reviews. But since critics were always quick to place things in certain categories, they didn't know what to do when The Cars came along. Their image included wearing black, while, and red outfits (suggested by David Robinson), and the introduction of the trendy "skinny ties" which became more popular as the 80's went on. They never considered themselves to be trendsetters, but it happened anyway. This didn't even go over well with their own art department who ruined David's album cover concept. The black-and-white inside sleeve was supposed to be the front of the album cover instead of some woman behind a steering wheel. A color photo of The Cars was used as the back cover, but it was dark and seemed to try to hide them from view. Even though The Cars usually restricted pictures of themselves to back covers and inside sleeves, later photos were brighter and more flattering.
As with all new groups, The Cars began touring as opening acts for already famous groups. Because of their limited funds, David began designing stage sets made from discarded signs and other junk from automobile dealerships.
He even designed their original logo. On stage, The Cars acted as serious as they looked by simply standing and playing their music and usually remaining in shadows. They never went in for all that ridiculous jumping around that is typical of most rock groups in concert. This annoyed critics, but The Cars were never ones to give into the media. As Ric Ocasek once stated, "The thing that throws people is that we don't do the moves and we don't prod the audience like other bands. We are not show business characters. We're totally capable of playing our instruments and material but, on the other hand, we don't want to be pretentious; so you get this feeling that the Cars are cold. What it really is is that the Cars don't want to teach the audience anything. We don't want to teach them how to react. We want to set up a mood on the set and, basically allow people to field it as they want without getting some fake show."
Their musical career was taking off, so not only did the Cars give their first concerts in 1978, but they also made their first television appearances. Clips from various music shows are currently hard to come by, and can only usually be seen when they are included in a TV special. This was the case when "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl" were shown on VH-1 as part of their "Seven Days of 70's" (August 1996) a few times. But do note that when VH-1 aired it's "Seven More Days of 70's" in March 1997, Cars' songs were nowhere to be seen.
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