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Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Thu May 18, 2017 10:09 am
by negative1
check out : the cars - lets go (monitor mix)

https://soundcloud.com/rhinorecords/the ... -1/s-ZqXoh

slightly different take, more instrumentals, and notice benjamin orr misses singing some of his lines.

later
-1

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Thu May 18, 2017 1:20 pm
by ABOATES
negative1 wrote:
Rubellan wrote:I don't know how many times I'm supposed to buy these albums. These are the same remasters from last year (which were a bit too loud) with the extra tracks tacked on. I may just get the bonus tracks from iTunes since I bought the box last year. I'm definitely not buying the CD again.


these are way more rock oriented than anything.

heartbeat city was more pop, and same with the album after that.

maybe ric ocasek was somewhat new wave, but i have NEVER once thought of these albums, or this group as new wave.
they can dress the part, but that doesn't mean they sound it.

later
-1

Huh, that seems weird to me. Maybe I am older than some folks here...but when the The Cars first came out, they were certainly considered New Wave. One of the bigger mover and shakers in America along with Blondie, Devo, Talking Heads and others. Greg Hawkes' looks and synths were a big part of that.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Thu May 18, 2017 1:24 pm
by cork
The cars were brilliant.

Very under rated band.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 6:59 am
by MissingPersons
ABOATES wrote:Huh, that seems weird to me. Maybe I am older than some folks here...but when the The Cars first came out, they were certainly considered New Wave. One of the bigger mover and shakers in America along with Blondie, Devo, Talking Heads and others. Greg Hawkes' looks and synths were a big part of that.


Talking Heads were as different as day and night sound-wise with The Cars. The only thing they had in common was David Byrne's and Ric Ocasek's geeky vocals, and that's the reason both were classified as "New Wave". Talking Heads were always leaning towards a "World Music" direction. The Cars had more Hard Rock influences (Elliot Easton's guitar solos) but added more Synths into the mix, unlike bands REO Speedwagon or Boston. Otherwise, if their music was less Synthy AND Ben Orr did all the lead vocals, I'd bet they'd belong in the Boston/REO realm.

Blondie also, were different than both, being more Punk Rock than New Wave (at least in their first two albums).

Among those, only Devo were a little bit closer to The Cars' sound, but even more electronic and geekier than the latter.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 7:02 am
by MissingPersons
cork wrote:The cars were brilliant.

Very under rated band.



I love The Cars, but not underrated per se. That's crazy to say, they had a bunch of Multi-Platinum records...such a band can't be called underrated.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 9:29 am
by ABOATES
MissingPersons wrote:
ABOATES wrote:Huh, that seems weird to me. Maybe I am older than some folks here...but when the The Cars first came out, they were certainly considered New Wave. One of the bigger mover and shakers in America along with Blondie, Devo, Talking Heads and others. Greg Hawkes' looks and synths were a big part of that.


Talking Heads were as different as day and night sound-wise with The Cars. The only thing they had in common was David Byrne's and Ric Ocasek's geeky vocals, and that's the reason both were classified as "New Wave". Talking Heads were always leaning towards a "World Music" direction. The Cars had more Hard Rock influences (Elliot Easton's guitar solos) but added more Synths into the mix, unlike bands REO Speedwagon or Boston. Otherwise, if their music was less Synthy AND Ben Orr did all the lead vocals, I'd bet they'd belong in the Boston/REO realm.

Blondie also, were different than both, being more Punk Rock than New Wave (at least in their first two albums).

Among those, only Devo were a little bit closer to The Cars' sound, but even more electronic and geekier than the latter.

Yes very different...but as we all know, New Wave was/is not a homogeneous genre. I agree that The Cars were slightly closer to the classic rock sound then, say, Remain in Light era Talking Heads. Of course, one could say that Little Creatures was fairly conventional and not very "New Wave" sounding. For me, New Wave was as much about attitude, style, and presentation as it was the music. I am one who does not subscribe to the idea that all New Wave had an identifiable sound. I think you kind of know it when you see it kind've deal and I think early Cars fit the bill. I think The Knack was New Wave. I think Echo and the Bunnymen were New Wave (although they are labelled post-punk) but those two bands could not be more differnt. Anyway...it's all good. I thought the Cars were OK. Nothing major to me, but they had a few cool tunes. I think Panorama is their most New Wave sounding record.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 5:35 am
by ABOATES
telekon3 wrote:Back in the late 70's the record companies and the bands themselves were guilty of falsely marketing Power Pop as New Wave. I hated Power Pop until about 15 years ago, because I felt duped by the record companies and the bands. Back in the late 70's, except for used record stores, the mall record stores sold albums that were sealed in plastic and if the record wasn't being played on the radio you had nothing to go by except the artwork and photos on the album cover. These Power Pop albums were fashioned with a strong New Wave look and style when most of these bands were merely Pub Rock, Glitter, Power Pop, or Garage Rock bands. Some of these bands received some popularity by the middle of the road music listeners that thought real New Wave like, Ultravox and Gary Numan were just too weird. Power Pop bridged the gap and transition from Rock to New Wave for most of America.

In general, I think the American version of New Wave was a tad bit on the more traditional side than European versions. Of course, as soon as I say that, I think of Devo, The Residents, The B-52s, Talking Heads...etc...but, yes, power pop such as The Knack and The Romantics was certainly the more popular side of NW in the U.S.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 10:33 am
by MissingPersons
What about The Vapors or XTC? They were more on the Power Pop side, but they were more successful in the UK than the States. OK The Vapors managed to score a US Top 40 hit with Turning Japanese, but it wasn't as huge as it was in the UK. XTC are almost unknown in the States.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 1:30 pm
by ABOATES
Certainly The Vapors were power pop..I don't know if I would call XTC power pop..I suppose some of their earlier stuff might kind've be in that ballpark. Senses Working Overtime ...etc... Not sure what our topic of discussion is here... I guess my general theme is that English bands or Euro bands in general seemed to have a sophistication and style that perhaps most U.S. bands did not have...hence the "more conventional" tag. I could never see bands like Kraftwerk, Ultravox, Japan, China Crisis, or Depeche Mode coming from the U.S. Something about the cultural differences...perhaps influences growing up...not sure why this was... but then you do have very uniquely weird bands like Devo and The Residents that could only have originated in the U.S. I do think it's fair to say that the U.S. was much slower to embrace new music than Europe. The airwaves were still dominated by Journey, Styx, and Bon Jovi well into the late 80s. Hard to imagine Depeche Mode's track People are People being top 40 in the U.S. in 1984. That was when I first discovered them myself. Yet, they had already had a string of hits in the U.K. I heard People are People before I'd ever heard of Just Can't Get Enough..and I was clued in...read Trouser Press, had seen Devo live in 1980 and Talking Heads in 83. Further, it's even crazier that Autobahn was a hit here in 1975. As always, rules never apply and exceptions permeate when it comes to art and music.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2017 1:52 am
by MissingPersons
Oh let's not forget Berlin. They sound way too Euro, like Ultravox or Kim Wilde, but not only they're American...they had more success in the States than UK or EU even before Take My Breath Away.

And Wang Chung as well were in the same realm as Ultravox, China Crisis, Talk Talk, etc. but they were also bigger in the States. My guess is MTV helped them gain attention by the time, as it happened with People Are People obviously.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2017 7:36 am
by ABOATES
MissingPersons wrote:Oh let's not forget Berlin. They sound way too Euro, like Ultravox or Kim Wilde, but not only they're American...they had more success in the States than UK or EU even before Take My Breath Away.

And Wang Chung as well were in the same realm as Ultravox, China Crisis, Talk Talk, etc. but they were also bigger in the States. My guess is MTV helped them gain attention by the time, as it happened with People Are People obviously.



Very good point about MTV. I think you are right that they played a HUGE role in who became popular and who did not. That very well may have been the driver in which bands became known in the U.S. and which did not. Certainly when I think of how I heard of bands like The Vapors, Blue Nile, Depeche Mode, Icehouse, Classix Nouveaux, Buggles etc etc etc...it was on MTV. not even to mention how much DEVO was on there...

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2017 12:41 pm
by MissingPersons
Blue Nile on MTV? Blue Nile were another story though. They weren't even popular in the UK (no UK Top 40 hits at all), and they were more like a cult band and more "serious" than the rest of the Synth-Pop guys.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2017 6:42 pm
by negative1
to me, until heartbeat city, the cars were never played on top 40 and pop stations in the US.

all the songs from all their previous albums, were only played on the album rock stations.

both of them would play the hits, but also deep album cuts, that were never singles...


so that's why to me the cars were only a rock band, because they were marketed like that here in the US.


after heartbeat city, they were pure pop, and only top 40 stations played them. even soft rock, and adult contemporary
played 'drive'..... but most stations never played hello again, only you might think...


later
-1

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2017 8:59 pm
by MissingPersons
Shake It Up was also Poppy. Apart from Since You're Gone which was more on the Rockier side, but the rest were definitely Pop.

Re: The Cars remasters

PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 4:53 am
by ABOATES
MissingPersons wrote:Blue Nile on MTV? Blue Nile were another story though. They weren't even popular in the UK (no UK Top 40 hits at all), and they were more like a cult band and more "serious" than the rest of the Synth-Pop guys.

Oh yes, Stay received quite a bit of airplay in the early days. I remember it distinctly...everyone dressed in white. It stood out and was the reason I bought their album.