"The New Cars"

[Rokkr]

Rundgren is actually the perfect choice if Ocasek refused to join them. He's always been the best pop chameleon of them all.

Whether people like it or not, at least the clip I saw of them doing Let the Good Times Roll sounded like the Cars, not a Cars tribute band. People that go to their shows will likely have never seen the band, just heard their recordings and they probably won't be disappointed. That's pretty much all that counts.
Ocasek will bring in some money from performance royalties, so he makes out too.

As for their new song; mediocre really. Still sounded pretty much like the Cars though.

And Prairie Prince IMO has always been one of the most underrated drummers around.

[patchyfogg]

[quote][i]Originally posted by djcraig[/i]
<br>I've got a better idea. Let's put together a group consisting of Danny Bonaduce, Leif Garret (after he gets out of jail), Shawn Cassidy and Christopher Knight.

We'll call them The New Sex Pistols!
[/quote]

Off the top of my head, I think that Mr. Todd "Not Liv's Baby Daddy" Rundgren produced a Shaun Cassidy album.

To Ric's credit, he said that he is fine with this--especially given that he sleeps on a bed of money given his songwriting royalties and supermodel wife's bank account.

[Hondo]

I like the first single, can't help but wonder how much this collective unit has left in the creative tank, bear them no malice for calling themselves "The New Cars", and would go to the show if the ticket was a freebie or my wife insisted. What the hell, it beats a blank.

[Panorama]

Well Coop41 was nice enough to email me yesterday and say that he had a pair of tickets to the Blondie / New Cars show that he could not use and wanted to know if I would like them, and of course I said yes. Me and the wife went to the show.

Blondie played for about 80 minutes -- all the hits. I didn't know how old Debbie harry is, but I googled her and she will be 61 in July. They sounded pretty good. The drummer is awesome! Debbie engaged the audience.

The New Cars played for about 2 hours -- all hits. Opened with Hello Again, and continued with (not in any order) Candy-O, Drive, Good Times Roll, Moving in Stereo, All Mixed Up, You Might Think, Just What I Needed, Let's Go, Dangerous Type, Shake It Up, You're All I've Got Tonight, Bye Bye Love, Not Tonight. They also played about 4 Todd Rundgren songs which everyone in the audience seemed to like.
http://thenewcars.com/index.cfm/pk/view ... pid/405242
This appears to be the same set list if memory serves - they have not posted the set list from 5/17/06 yet.

http://thenewcars.com/index.cfm?pk=view ... =195&pn=15
http://thenewcars.com/index.cfm?pk=view ... =198&pn=17
The stage set had a couple of large metal circles around Greg Hawkes, and the drummer Prairee Prince, ala these photos.

http://thenewcars.com/index.cfm?pk=view ... =197&pn=18
They had 4-5 white screens that they showed still and video clips at various ponts during certain songs -- it was pretty cool.

Elliott Easton is awesome and looked very happy to be playing cars songs again. Greg Hawkes is thin, wore a skinny tie, and looked to be wearing Vans sneakers - the black and white checkered version -- he also appeared to be having a blast. Todd Rundgren sang the Cars songs more in Todd "style" than in Ric "style" which I would have appreciated it a little better if he stuck to the proper inflections, but it was better than not having them tour. Kasim Sultan was great on the bass and sang Drive --- did a pretty nice job of it. I was totally impressed with the drummer Prairee Prince.

Over all a pretty great night -- I'm glad the ticket was free, and I would have loved it more with Ric Ocasek, but Ric didn't want to tour. It really was pretty awesome to see Elliott and Gregg playing live.

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"Photography with a Vision"
http://www.cooganphoto.com

[coop41]

Cool, glad you had a good time, don't know how I missed this post. Sounds like a blast!

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/htik.png" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>

[Randall Roq]

My wife got tickets for my birthday...I was surprised how much fun this turned out to be.

Everyone had a great time AND Todd actually interacted with the audience.

[djcraig]

I am glad that those who enjoy this refitted version of The Cars are enjoying it, I really do. More power to ya.

After watching the videos links so kindly provided in the above posts, I realize why I won't be able to match the level of some people's enthusiasm for The New Cars.

I just can't see Rundgren, the purveyor of melodic, feel good, 70's rock (most of which I like) as the lead singer in one of the groundbreaking bands that brought the "New Wave" mentality to the mainstream.

New Wave was the antithesis of the "Have A Nice Day", "I'm OK, You're OK" attitude that permeated pop music for much of the 70's. To me, one of the major messages of New Wave was, "I'm NOT OK and life is NOT a frickin' bowl of cherries all the time". New Wave cloaked itself in darkness, disenchantment and detachment.

While I appreciate each of these genres independently, combining their elements creates a strange melange.

Todd, the former 70's Flower Child, posing as frontman for a band of dark, New Wave icons is like mixing oil and vinegar. To me, It's like The Doors with David Cassidy at the helm. Todd's singing, which is fine in it's own right, just can't match the spookiness and reticence of a Ric Ocasek.

Of course, it's my own small minded perception and prejudice that frames things that way. Those that have more flexibility in their outlook on this band are probably reaping benefits I have yet to aspire to. So while I may be limiting myself, that's where I am.

It does look like, in an attempt to create a New Wave image, Todd took his hair coloring tips from Debbie Harry. The black locks underpinning a thick shock of overbleached, fright wig hair is as disturbing as his attempt to fit in as a New Wave Hero.

[Panorama]

Hey, ummm, we'll put djcraig in the "Undecided column" [:D][;)]

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"Photography with a Vision"
http://www.cooganphoto.com

[Randall Roq]

Wow djcraig...you gonna be okay man?

Hey I was the biggest Cars fan...no one's claiming this is THE Cars those days are long long gone. I wanted a fun night out and I got it. This can no more screw with the legacy of the group than Ocasek's tedious solo albums.

Don't buy a ticket, sit have a glass of wine, relax, you'll see in a day or two you'll forget all of this.

After all did Beatlemania (the show) have any lasting impact on the Beatles?

And...that David Cassidy/Doors thing actually sounds kinda cool. [:)]

[djcraig]

OK guys, I'll take the gun out of my mouth and try not to fret about it.

Thanks for your messages.

[Randall Roq]

Would my macho image that I've worked so hard to cultivate be damaged if I offered djcraig a hug right now?

Come on man let's have an Afterschool Special moment.

[AMPCARSFAN]

Great posts....don't forget to vote....The New Cars poll on Heartbeat City @

http://dreamvalley-mlp.com/cars/newcars.html#poll

thanks!!

[Panorama]

I just found the videos for Panorama and Touch And Go:

Panorama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mlqVRDTVmo

Touch And Go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIe3Fc4bWuI

I haven't seen these in like 20 years or so.

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"Photography with a Vision"
http://www.cooganphoto.com

[siouxmoux]

New Cars New Material.
Not Tonight - Warm - More
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... 4A4D778F7B

http://geeklinks.net/ttvm - Where Tech TV Lives On.