the cars

Sept 18, 2022: BBC Music: How Ric Ocasek and The Cars shaped the sound of pop
Ric Ocasek of The Cars died on Sunday, aged 75. To mark his passing, we look back at how the band created one of the best debut albums of all time.

Sept 18, 2019: BBC: ​How Ric Ocasek and The Cars shaped the sound of pop
The band’s sound – which fused power pop, new wave and classic rock – managed to sound both like pop music of the past and pop music of the future, and immediately won them a huge following. But what seemed like an overnight success was more than 10 years and several bands in the making.

“With The Cars, you had this band with a sparse rhythm section and a unique singer in Ric Ocasek, but when the harmonies kicked in, it was a wall of sound. They came at a time when rock radio really needed some freshening up.”  --The Cars record producer Roy Thomas Baker (1999)