I don’t think I’m an entertainer. I never think, Wow, I can’t wait to get the crowd moving. Some of my favorite bands never moved an inch. | | | | Ric Ocasek (right) driving the Cars circa 1978 (with guitarist Elliot Easton and bassist Benjamin Orr).
(Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images) | | | | | | “I don’t think I’m an entertainer. I never think, Wow, I can’t wait to get the crowd moving. Some of my favorite bands never moved an inch.”
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| | rantnrave:// The CARS were rock's Schrödinger's cat, simultaneously classic rock and new wave, then and now, hot and cold, dead and alive, commercial and SUICIDE. They were an impossible band. It still amazes me that "MOVING IN STEREO" is played on classic-rock radio, which no matter how many times I hear it in that context and no matter how often I think about it while those synthesizers swirl through my tremolo brain, makes no sense (its dazed and confused association with JUDGE REINHOLD and PHOEBE CATES notwithstanding). It also still amazes me that "Moving in Stereo," written by RIC OCASEK and sung by BENJAMIN ORR, was the second-to-last song on side 2 of the Cars' debut album, like no big deal, we've gotta throw *something* on at the end of the album, right? Why not one of the greatest classic rock songs that ever will be (once someone invents that radio format, that is)? Also, why don't we just tack on "ALL MIXED UP" after that? Ocasek, who was the primary architect of all of that, and of the decade of greatness that followed, died Sunday in New York. It was unclear, as of late Sunday night, if he was 70 or 75 (respect to the 30somethings of early new wave!). About the same age as AEROSMITH's STEVEN TYLER, BOSTON's TOM SCHOLZ and the J. GEILS BAND's PETER WOLF. The '70s rock and roll giants of my native Boston. And he made every one of them sound like the old world. He was the future. A new waver and electronic music aficionado who understood the power of pop and knew exactly how to access it. (You really had to be there, with a radio tuned to a radio station like WBCN, to understand what a crazy breath of fresh air the Cars were at the time.) He drove Boston (the city, definitely not the band) toward a better future. On later Cars albums, he would lead the band deeper in all of those directions, while regularly landing on indelible pop singles from "TOUCH AND GO" and "MAGIC" to "SINCE YOU'RE GONE" and "DRIVE." He was even more prolific, outside the band, as a producer, where his early clients included anti-pop legends SUICIDE and the BAD BRAINS (and ROMEO VOID, for whom he produced exactly one song—this one). Among his later clients were WEEZER (yet another classic weird-pop debut), LE TIGRE and NO DOUBT. Like so many pop gods who came before and after, he had a strange idea of what exactly pop is. I love this exchange from a 2011 NEW YORK TIMES Q&A: Interviewer: "In 2003, you became the head of A.&R. for ELEKTRA RECORDS. At the time, your old bandmate DAVID ROBINSON said: 'Ric’s idea of a commercial group is Suicide. I can only assume he misunderstands the job description.'" Ocasek: "That’s 100 percent accurate." Among the bands he brought to Elektra were the BLACK KEYS and DEVENDRA BANHART. The label passed on both. He didn't seem to particularly care; he was content, by all accounts, to go on doing his thing and let the rest of the world go on doing its thing. Whenever the twain met, heaven. RIP... TL;DR version: He was the greatest new wave classic rocker who ever lived... (Postscript: Do most people even know the Cars had two lead singers? Ocasek and Benjamin Orr—who died in 2000—were longtime best friends who whose voices were two sides of the same coin, Orr flipping it on its warmer side and Ocasek on its icier side, the difference often being a subjective call. WIKIPEDIA helps here)... RIP also to EDDIE MONEY, who flirted with a career as a New York cop before turning into a workingman's classic rocker with strong R&B/soul roots and a post-ROD STEWART rasp. This is a great '70s single. This is a great '80s single. There were more. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| | | let them leave you up in the air |
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| "You can't be loved by everybody. I know that, and I've really come to accept it. That denial of love, in fact, eases my mind," says Ric Ocasek | | |
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| Recorded in Syncro Sound, a studio The Cars purchased in 1981, this interview contains a great deal of evidence suggesting The Cars would eventually break up and that Ric would start to focus on producing. Besides the more obvious snippets about his role as the leader of the group and tension within the band, there are stories about his dislike for the limelight and his love of electronics. | | |
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| 1999 was the year of the Teen Queen. What does it mean for those of us who grew up both revering and rejecting this feminine ideal? | | |
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| While many music rights holders, songwriters and industry trade groups support changes sought by ASCAP and BMI in order to have one simplified decree to cover both performance rights organization for a transitional period culminating with its expiration, a few of the other music industry players with a big stake in the issue are either silent for now, urging caution, missing in action altogether, saying it’s not the right time for changes, or outright telling the Dept. of Justice to let the... | | |
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| It's hard to write a hit. But from the moment he had one, the critics savaged Eddie Money. | | |
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| Common stereotypes overlook the roles that blacks and women have played in shaping a uniquely American genre. | | |
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| Vince Gill's new album, "Okie," reclaims a derogatory label that was used to shame Dust Bowl migrants. | | |
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| When Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy announced their joint "Hella Mega" tour earlier this week, many quick-witted industry observers noted that the three artists have something in common beyond their status as three of America's biggest rock bands: They're all managed by Crush Music. | | |
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| The world's biggest streaming service announced that it will "no longer count paid advertising views" in its charts, but they will still show up in the public view-counter. | | |
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| We polled 45 music writers to rank the definitive LPs of the 21st century so far. Read our countdown of passionate pop, electrifying rock and anthemic rap -- and see if you agree. | | |
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| | | let them brush your rock and roll hair |
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| Services pay out wildly different rates. | | |
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| MUSIC • TECHNOLOGY • POLICY |
| Following is an interview with a reader who is an independent publisher about how they view the future for songwriters and independent publishers in the streaming upside down world to the right of the decimal place. The publisher requested to remain anonymous. | | |
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| On September 11th, 2001, Jay Z released his sixth studio album, "The Blueprint." An undisputed classic, "The Blueprint" is often regarded as one of the best albums of all time. "The Blueprint" revitalized Jay Z's career. | | |
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| When they set out to film a concert at Folsom Prison, Mexican stars Los Tigres del Norte took on Johnny Cash's spiritual legacy -- and the challenge of their career. | | |
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| What the singer-songwriter has learned by creating what she calls “slow music.” | | |
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| I'm super excited to share this week's essay with you; it's chock-full of my higher-level takeaways and questions from my two-week trip to Mumbai and my experience at the All About Music conference. | | |
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| Something was being killed outside the cabin. I lay very still and completely alone, eyes wide open to the new-moon night that pressed in through the windows. The yipping of coyotes close by must have awakened me, and the sound was intensifying. Suddenly, a strangled, high-pitched scream broke out of the scrum of noise. Probably a jackrabbit. The shriek rose higher still, then cut off. | | |
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| Supposedly outdated content formats like LPs and print allow consumers -- and marketers -- to go beyond the masses. | | |
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| Patti Smith and Liz Phair memoirs, Questlove's cookbook and more highly anticipated music books coming out this fall. | | |
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| On VR's doubters: "It's a boring question. Can there be soul in technology? Yes!" | | |
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