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Stoneage
Yes he did, Dandy. But maybe, just maybe, we are talking about a different league here? Anyway, I was just trying to be helpful to the questioner here.
He seems genuinely bewildered over the fact that The Cars didn't "make it big in Europe". Whatever that means...

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treaclefingers

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loog droog
The Cars had some good songs, but I wouldn't rank them as one of the greats by a long shot.

Saw them once in concert. (My girlfriend liked them).

Would that make you the best friend then?

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DandelionPowderman

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Stoneage
Yes he did, Dandy. But maybe, just maybe, we are talking about a different league here? Anyway, I was just trying to be helpful to the questioner here.
He seems genuinely bewildered over the fact that The Cars didn't "make it big in Europe". Whatever that means...

Just pulling your leg, mate. The Cars weren't even "big" in the US. They only had three top 40 hits.

I liked them just the same. They had their own sound, in spite of all the obligatory 80s production glitz.

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DandelionPowderman

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Stoneage
Yes he did, Dandy. But maybe, just maybe, we are talking about a different league here? Anyway, I was just trying to be helpful to the questioner here.
He seems genuinely bewildered over the fact that The Cars didn't "make it big in Europe". Whatever that means...

Just pulling your leg, mate. The Cars weren't even "big" in the US. They only had three top 40 hits.

I liked them just the same. They had their own sound, in spite of all the obligatory 80s production glitz.

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grzegorz67


I remember enjoying them. JFK Stadium (?). I was 18 and watched the whole thing from start to finish - 16-17 hours. Noon BST with Status Quo to kick it off to 4.30am. The only bit I missed was Queen as we had dinner outside. Phil Collins played at BOTH stadia with a little help from Concorde.

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schillid
Anyone else ever noticed ...
The Cars lifted -- note for note and chord for chord -- the turnaround right after he sings "and she used to be mine" after the chorus in My Best Friend's Girlfriend from...
A turnaround on The Beatles White Album after Paul sings "If you want me to 'I will' ".

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frankotero
Lots of American bands don't seem to hit it big in Europe. Add to the list George Thorogood, Joan Jett and Cheap Trick. There's more I can't think of. These are people I want to see tour over here but avoid it. At least Alice Cooper is big in Germany and the UK, thankfully.

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Stoneage
Here is some statistics that, maybe, reveals why they never "made it" in Europe. They hardly never played there!
308 live gigs all in all. 285 in the US, 12 in Canada, 6 in Japan and 5 in Europe (1978/79).
[www.setlist.fm]

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Hairball
If anything, there might have been a delayed reaction to The Cars in Europe. I see several have mentioned the album Heartbeat City and the tune Drive, etc. from '84/85. While I enjoyed that album at the time, there was alot of '80's sheen involved with the production and it was probably my least favorite up to that point. Add to the fact they were being played incessantly on MTV by then (which probably helped their broader appeal), and it was a bit overkill. Their first two albums - self titled from '78 and Candy-O from '79 are their best imo, and were played all the time on the radio. I was in my mid-teens, and there was an edginess to those albums - they seemed to be breaking new ground with their quirky sound, and were unlike alot other bands of the time. Definitely more different than Kansas/Styx/Foreigner/Boston/Journey, etc. which dominated alot of rock radio stations at the time. Panorama from '80 and Shake it Up from '81 were also good albeit a bit inconsistent and not filled to the brim with memorable tunes as the first two albums were. Maybe it was the relatively long gap ibetween Shake it Up and Heartbeat City, but something sterilized them a bit and their songs veered toward friendly poppiness vs. the edgy new wave/pun5kiness of the earlier albums. As for what came after, I don't have a clue, but looking at their discography right now I see they released an album called Door to Door in '87. And looking at the tracklist, none of them are familiar to me - maybe it was the overkill of Heartbeat City ( and the sterilized live performance I saw c.'85) that ultimately turned me off. Coincidentally, I was living in England in '87, so that might be a reason I never heard anything about it. Maybe I'll give it a listen some day and something from it will jar my memory? And finally, I see they released an album in 2011...never heard about it and not gonna go there....

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FrogSugar

The true crime is that Van Halen hasn't played in Europe in OVER 20 YEARS!!!

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drewmaster

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Hairball
If anything, there might have been a delayed reaction to The Cars in Europe. I see several have mentioned the album Heartbeat City and the tune Drive, etc. from '84/85. While I enjoyed that album at the time, there was alot of '80's sheen involved with the production and it was probably my least favorite up to that point. Add to the fact they were being played incessantly on MTV by then (which probably helped their broader appeal), and it was a bit overkill. Their first two albums - self titled from '78 and Candy-O from '79 are their best imo, and were played all the time on the radio. I was in my mid-teens, and there was an edginess to those albums - they seemed to be breaking new ground with their quirky sound, and were unlike alot other bands of the time. Definitely more different than Kansas/Styx/Foreigner/Boston/Journey, etc. which dominated alot of rock radio stations at the time. Panorama from '80 and Shake it Up from '81 were also good albeit a bit inconsistent and not filled to the brim with memorable tunes as the first two albums were. Maybe it was the relatively long gap ibetween Shake it Up and Heartbeat City, but something sterilized them a bit and their songs veered toward friendly poppiness vs. the edgy new wave/pun5kiness of the earlier albums. As for what came after, I don't have a clue, but looking at their discography right now I see they released an album called Door to Door in '87. And looking at the tracklist, none of them are familiar to me - maybe it was the overkill of Heartbeat City ( and the sterilized live performance I saw c.'85) that ultimately turned me off. Coincidentally, I was living in England in '87, so that might be a reason I never heard anything about it. Maybe I'll give it a listen some day and something from it will jar my memory? And finally, I see they released an album in 2011...never heard about it and not gonna go there....

Interesting points, Hairball. I'm a huge Cars fan and next to the Stones they've probably been most important band in my life. I agree they got kind of a more sterile sound with Heartbeat City. Door to Door is pretty lame but there is an amazing, dreamy track on it called Go Away. And they're more recent reunion album has a fantastic, propulsive track called Blue Tip. I'd encourage you to check both of these out on YouTube. And finally, since you mentioned liking the edgy New Wave punkiness of their earlier albums, you really should check out Ric Ocasek's first solo album, Beatitude.

Drew

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dcba

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FrogSugar

The true crime is that Van Halen hasn't played in Europe in OVER 20 YEARS!!!

Well you have a suitable substitute : the Scorpions tour Europe regularly.

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LeonidP
The New Cars , w/ Todd Rundgren

They actually had a live album ... No Ocasek or Orr but rather w/ Todd Rundgren on vocals! It is pretty cool, they do Open My Eyes (rundgren/utopia/nazz tune) as well as a couple of new studio tracks.

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drewmaster

Interesting points, Hairball. I'm a huge Cars fan and next to the Stones they've probably been most important band in my life. I agree they got kind of a more sterile sound with Heartbeat City. Door to Door is pretty lame but there is an amazing, dreamy track on it called Go Away. And they're more recent reunion album has a fantastic, propulsive track called Blue Tip. I'd encourage you to check both of these out on YouTube. And finally, since you mentioned liking the edgy New Wave punkiness of their earlier albums, you really should check out Ric Ocasek's first solo album, Beatitude.

Drew

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Swayed1967

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drewmaster

Interesting points, Hairball. I'm a huge Cars fan and next to the Stones they've probably been most important band in my life. I agree they got kind of a more sterile sound with Heartbeat City. Door to Door is pretty lame but there is an amazing, dreamy track on it called Go Away. And they're more recent reunion album has a fantastic, propulsive track called Blue Tip. I'd encourage you to check both of these out on YouTube. And finally, since you mentioned liking the edgy New Wave punkiness of their earlier albums, you really should check out Ric Ocasek's first solo album, Beatitude.

Drew

I liked The Cars back in the day. Who didn't? But to everything there is a season, yeah? 'Blue Tip' is a solid track - it sounds like vintage Cars - but the world just doesn't really need that kinda music anymore, if you know what I mean. Sadly the same could be said of songs like Love Is Strong etc. etc.

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Elmo Lewis

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treaclefingers

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loog droog
The Cars had some good songs, but I wouldn't rank them as one of the greats by a long shot.

Saw them once in concert. (My girlfriend liked them).

Would that make you the best friend then?

I saw what you did there!