08/06/2025
47 years ago…The Cars released their debut album.
ON THIS DATE (47 YEARS AGO)
June 6, 1978 – The Cars: The Cars is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5 (MUST-HAVE!)
# Allmusic 5/5 stars
# Rolling Stone (see original review below)
LISTEN/BUY
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The Cars is the eponymous debut album by The Cars, released on June 6, 1978. It reached #18 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart, and was ranked #4 on Billboard's "Top Albums of the Year" chart for 1979. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album #279 in its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.
"This time we were seriously out to make a record"
~ Ric Ocasek
One of the things this debut 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.
The first single, "Just What I Needed" was well-received by 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.
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."
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ORIGINAL ROLLING STONE REVIEW
The first sound you hear on "Just What I Needed," the single from the Cars' debut album, is the repeated thump of bass notes against the short, metallic slash of guitar. It's a magnificent noise: loud, elemental and relentless. But the Cars -- the best band to come out of Boston since J. Geils -- aren't interested in simply travelling the interstates of rock & roll. They'll go there for the rush, but they prefer the stop-and-go quirks of two lanes. Before "Just What I Needed" is over, guitarist Elliot Easton has burned rubber making a U-turn with his solo, and Greg Hawkes' synthesizer has double-clutched the melody. Leader Ric Ocasek once sang that he lived on "emotion and comic relief," and it's in this tension of opposites that he and his group find relief (comic or otherwise) between the desire for frontal assault and the preference for oblique strategies. This is the organizing principle behind not only the single but the entire LP, which is almost evenly divided between pop songs and pretentious attempts at art.
The pop songs are wonderful. (Besides "Just What I Needed," they include "My Best Friend's Girl" and "You're All I've Got Tonight.") Easy and eccentric at the same time, all are potential hits. The melodies whoosh out as if on casters, custom-built for the interlocked but constantly shifting blocks of rhythm, while Ocasek's lyrics explode in telegraphic bursts of images and attacks ("You always knew to wear it well/You look so fancy I can tell"). Neither Ocasek nor bassist Ben Orr have striking voices, but by playing off the former's distant, near-mechanical phrasing against the latter's sweet-and-low delivery, the band achieves real emotional flexibility.
As long as the Cars' avant-garde instincts are servicing their rock & roll impulses, the songs bristle and -- in their harsher, more angular moments ("Bye Bye Love," "Don't Cha Stop") -- bray. The album comes apart only when it becomes arty and falls prey to producer Roy Thomas Baker's lacquered sound and the group's own penchant for electronic effects. "I'm in Touch with Your World" and "Moving in Stereo" are the kind of songs that certify psychedelia's bad name. But these are the mistakes of a band that wants it both ways -- and who can blame rock & rollers for that?
~ Kit Rachlis (September 21, 1978)
TRACKS:
All songs written and composed by Ric Ocasek, except where noted.
Side one
1 Good Times Roll - 3:44
2 My Best Friend's Girl - 3:44
3 Just What I Needed - 3:44
4 I'm in Touch with Your World - 3:31
5 Don't Cha Stop - 3:01
Side two
1 You're All I've Got Tonight - 4:13
2 Bye Bye Love - 4:14
3 Moving in Stereo (Greg Hawkes, Ocasek) - 4:41
4 All Mixed Up - 4:14
