The Cars

The Cars biography

There is more than one artist with this name: 1) The Cars are a popular American new wave/power pop band that formed in 1976, after going through several different incarnations. The band was founded in Boston, Massachusetts and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977. The band originally consisted of David Robinson (drummer), Benjamin Orr (singer/bassist), Ric Ocasek (singer/rhythm guitarist), Elliot Easton (lead guitarist), Greg Hawkes (keyboardist). During their career, they have released seven albums: The Cars (1978), Candy-O (1979), Panorama (1980), Shake It Up (1981), Heartbeat City (1984), Door to Door (1987) and Move Like This (2011). The first five of these albums all were certified platinum by the RIAA, and their self-titled debut was one of the best-selling albums of the 1970s, remaining on the Billboard album charts for over a year. They experienced a second wave of popularity in 1984 with the album Heartbeat City and the popular MTV staples"You Might Think," "Magic," and "Drive," the last of which was their highest-charting single, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1985, the group released a greatest hits album, which contained "Tonight She Comes", a mega-hit that reached #1 on the Billboard 'Top Rock Tracks'. However, after that peak, they vanished from the public eye and worked on solo projects, and released one final album, Door to Door, before breaking up in early 1988. Benjamin Orr died of pancreatic cancer in October 2000. Guitarist Elliot Easton played in a surf music group and joined a touring act called Creedence Clearwater Revisted with ex-members of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Lead vocalist Ric Ocasek married supermodel Paulina Porizkova not long after The Cars' breakup and has since become a prolific producer, working on albums by such diverse artists as Bad Brains,Weezer, Guided by Voices and No Doubt. He has also released a number of solo albums, including 2005's Nexterday. Greg Hawkes and Elliot Easton have recently teamed up with Todd Rundgren and his rhythm section as The New Cars; they have released a live album and are currently touring. Ocasek gave the band his support but otherwise is not involved. The remaining members reunited in 2010 to record a new album, titled Move Like This, which was released on May 10, 2011. The first single from the album was Sad Song. It was released to radio on March 1, 2011. (Source Songfacts) 2) Cars is an experimental group from the UK consisting of Patrick Farmer and Pascal Nichols.