The Cars band

VitaMan's Avatar
Lead singer died recently. A lot of affection for this band. Some interesting songs and a unique sound. Used for radio bumper music and sports talk music everywhere. How would you rate them ?
Never heard of them
boardman's Avatar
A little bit punk and a little bit grunge before either were a thing.
They were The Breakfast Club of pop at the time.

Meaningful, but not necessarily poignant, lyrics and an easily recognizable sound.
"Drive" was probably their biggest hit. My personal favorite was "Just what I needed"

Like The Cranberries they were probably about 10 years before their time.
VitaMan's Avatar
"Let's go" was a good one too.

610 sports radio used these all the time for bumper music.
Surprisingly former host Nick Wright is having a lot of success after leaving 610.
The Cars' music is easy for almost any group to enjoy. They're light-hearted, energetic, and on my go-to party playlist. Shake It Up is a fun song and video.
VitaMan's Avatar
Last night Astros Yankees game, some Cars bumper music "Just what I needed".
If only the game was as good....
pyramider's Avatar
Cars were a third rate band in the 80s.
Cars were a third rate band in the 80s. Originally Posted by pyramider
The Cars were named "Best New Artist" in the 1978 Rolling Stone Readers' Poll and won "Video of the Year" for "You Might Think" at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Their debut album, The Cars, sold six million copies and appeared on the Billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. As of 2001, the Cars had sold over 23 million albums in the United States.

Not bad for a "third rate" band.
VitaMan's Avatar
Last night mlb game, more Cars bumper music. Still played everywhere.
Don't worry, pyramider never has anything positive....he is negative all the way.
Almost all high volume posters are the same.
Chung Tran's Avatar
The Cars' music is easy for almost any group to enjoy. They're light-hearted, energetic, and on my go-to party playlist. Shake It Up is a fun song and video. Originally Posted by IndigoSky
"Shake it up" is cheezy as Hell. it has a certain earworm quality though.

Cars were a third rate band in the 80s. Originally Posted by pyramider
The Cars were named "Best New Artist" in the 1978 Rolling Stone Readers' Poll and won "Video of the Year" for "You Might Think" at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Their debut album, The Cars, sold six million copies and appeared on the Billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. As of 2001, the Cars had sold over 23 million albums in the United States.

Not bad for a "third rate" band. Originally Posted by Bowser98
he did say 80's, and your post confirms that. the Cars are like several other bands of that era, who struck Gold on their debut (Van Halen, Boston), then quickly lost momentum. they had a quirky charm, but when you peel back the layers, none of their members is a particularly adept singer, musician, or songwriter. the cheezy keyboards and quirky vocal sound get annoying fast.

I rate them a 6..