The Car's Debut Album, 1978
To be honest, at sixteen, I was in a haze at the end of the crazy, bell-bottomed, experimental 70s. Even so, The Car's self-titled debut album stuck out like a sore thumb. That I even noticed was saying something in my case. I was hanging on to the end of Led Zeppelin's reign.
There wasn't anything like this type of "New Age Rock," or very little at the time. This was a breakthrough album for the soon-to-be genre. Rock and roll, for the most part at the time, was struggling, and the end of disco was beginning. This left a gap for The Cars to step in. Perfect timing!
The production on The Car's debut album was polished, the songwriting was succinct and tight, and the arrangements were refreshing. The use of synthesizers in particular. Of course, you had Ric Ocasek's voice, which lent itself to the quirky, catchy, rock-laden tunes. Ocasek didn't look like anyone else either. He was acceptably odd.
The Car's lyrics were memorable as lyrical hooks too. Remember these lines? "Suede blue eyes," "Let them brush your rock and roll hair," or "Lifes the same, except for my shoes," "Shaking like tremolo," "You think you're so illustrious, you call yourself intense," "You've got your nuclear boots and your drip dry glove. When you bite your lip, it's a reaction to love a ove, a ove." It made you think, do I bite my lip? Is that true? I don't want to give anything away! I could go on, but you get the point. Brilliant lyrics and odd delivery from Ric made these songs winners.
Besides Van Halen's debut in the pure rock world, The Car's debut was the only album to pull me away from my Zeppelin obsession. That and that my older brother played "Bye Bye Love" on bass in the room above my head while I was trying to nap! Those lower frequencies permeating the walls made it hard to ignore the great bass line in that tune.
Nobody did it like The Cars. They stayed with rock and roll's roots while simultaneously being pioneers in new wave. They straddled the fence between the two genres like no one else. This is why their debut album was such a huge hit. I wouldn't have even noticed if it didn't have strong rock elements.
Many years after its release, the only other new wave album I've ever listened to was The B52's. An incredible album in the genre. Short of that, new wave didn't exist for me. Just not my cup of tea. By the way, the model on the album cover was Nataliya Medvedeva, (good luck saying it).
