The Cars

The Cars were a popular American New Wave band, fronted by Ric Ocasek, that emerged out of the early punk scene in the late 1970s. They hailed from Boston, Massachusetts and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977 (1977 in music).

The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synth-oriented pop then becoming popular, and which would flower in the early 1980s. While most of the singles included an Elliot Easton guitar solo, The Cars' sound was defined much more by the distinctive and instantly recognizable vocals of chief songwriter/rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek and bassist/sex symbol Benjamin Orr. The sound was filled out by Greg Hawkes' synthesizers and the huge harmonies of Easton, David Robinson, and Hawkes. The band's hits dominated the charts for over nine years; their most successful albums were 1978's The Cars, which featured the hit "Just What I Needed," 1979's Candy-O, which featured the hit "Let's Go", and 1984's Heartbeat City, which included four Top 20 singles: "Magic", "Drive", "Hello Again" and "You Might Think", which also won the M...