You hear a lot of talk about "gateway drugs", substances which start you out on a path that leads you into more serious addictions. In music, the most potent gateway drug I ever encountered was the 1978 debut LP by The Cars.
My attention was initially drawn to the album courtesy of my obsession with all things Queen related. The connection here being with producer Roy Thomas Baker, who'd just worked on this debut and who had previously enjoyed a renowned relationship with Freddie and the boys. A favorable review in CREEM magazine got me intrigued enough to seek out the record and add it to my still meager, embryonic vinyl collection.
At the time, I was getting a bit fed up with a lot of the other, more "mainstream" bands I was listening to. As I've mentioned at least once before, I was tired of buying albums only to have one decent song on it and the rest just tired old boogie-woogie rehash drek. So many of the AOR bands of the time fit that mold. I was primed for something fresh and that's what I got with The Cars.
This album turned out to have far more than one or two good songs on it. The opening trifecta of Good Times Roll, My Best Friend's Girl & Just What I Needed was enough to leave your head spinning. If that was the end of it there, I'd have considered the album a hit. But it's not and the good times keep rolling right to the very last song. There's just nothing less than an A+ song on this album.
But it wasn't just the stellar songwriting that was key here. Stylistically, it was completely fresh and modern. The production on this record glistened like the sheen of a streamlined new auto, fresh from the factory floor. It was build tight and smooth and futuristic, but with a retro flair and classic rock 'n' roll rebel attitude. For a naive Ontario boy in 1978, someone who'd been noticing all the press in the music magazines concerning this new "punk" and "new wave" music, it was a siren call. It beckoned me off the path of the mainstream and pointed me towards more exotic and unusual sounds.
The clincher came when The Cars were booked to host an episode of NBC's Friday night music staple, The Midnight Special. In an unprecedented move, the producers gave The Cars carte blanche to curate the episode and book whomever they liked. Taking full advantage, they stacked the show with the likes of Iggy Pop, Lene Lovich and, most mind shattering of all, New York's premier bad boys, Alan Vega & Martin Rev, aka SUICIDE!
After this, the floodgates were opened and my musical attention swung decidedly into the left field. All bets were off at this point as I dove into every extreme of alternative music I could unearth. No matter how far afield I've gone in my explorations, however, I always look back to the first Cars album as the one that set me on that journey in earnest. I got in touch with their world and never looked back.
My attention was initially drawn to the album courtesy of my obsession with all things Queen related. The connection here being with producer Roy Thomas Baker, who'd just worked on this debut and who had previously enjoyed a renowned relationship with Freddie and the boys. A favorable review in CREEM magazine got me intrigued enough to seek out the record and add it to my still meager, embryonic vinyl collection.
At the time, I was getting a bit fed up with a lot of the other, more "mainstream" bands I was listening to. As I've mentioned at least once before, I was tired of buying albums only to have one decent song on it and the rest just tired old boogie-woogie rehash drek. So many of the AOR bands of the time fit that mold. I was primed for something fresh and that's what I got with The Cars.
This album turned out to have far more than one or two good songs on it. The opening trifecta of Good Times Roll, My Best Friend's Girl & Just What I Needed was enough to leave your head spinning. If that was the end of it there, I'd have considered the album a hit. But it's not and the good times keep rolling right to the very last song. There's just nothing less than an A+ song on this album.
But it wasn't just the stellar songwriting that was key here. Stylistically, it was completely fresh and modern. The production on this record glistened like the sheen of a streamlined new auto, fresh from the factory floor. It was build tight and smooth and futuristic, but with a retro flair and classic rock 'n' roll rebel attitude. For a naive Ontario boy in 1978, someone who'd been noticing all the press in the music magazines concerning this new "punk" and "new wave" music, it was a siren call. It beckoned me off the path of the mainstream and pointed me towards more exotic and unusual sounds.
The clincher came when The Cars were booked to host an episode of NBC's Friday night music staple, The Midnight Special. In an unprecedented move, the producers gave The Cars carte blanche to curate the episode and book whomever they liked. Taking full advantage, they stacked the show with the likes of Iggy Pop, Lene Lovich and, most mind shattering of all, New York's premier bad boys, Alan Vega & Martin Rev, aka SUICIDE!
After this, the floodgates were opened and my musical attention swung decidedly into the left field. All bets were off at this point as I dove into every extreme of alternative music I could unearth. No matter how far afield I've gone in my explorations, however, I always look back to the first Cars album as the one that set me on that journey in earnest. I got in touch with their world and never looked back.
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