Can The Cars even be considered The Cars without Ric Ocasek?

[Maddy McCall]

I don't think so. I was invited to a concert later this spring to see Blondie and The New Cars.

But Ric Ocasek is no longer with The Cars. Guess who's standing in as new front man.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
.
.
Todd Rundgren. I shit you not.
http://www.flashenhanced.com/carsblondie/

This is one concert I won't attend.

[TK421]

1. Not a good replacement...what the hell are people thinking?

:crazy:

[Floogeldy]

2. I saw them on television . . .

. . . . And they were fucking GREAT! :)

[jpgray]

3. Ah Rundgren isn't that bad

He had at least two good singles with the Nazz.

[Floogeldy]

4. Open My Eyes and Hello It's Me

Ding ding ding ding??????

[jpgray]

5. Yep

And his production for the Sparks' "Official" debut anticipated everything the Cars did anyway. :P

[misanthrope]

9. What about...

..."We Got To Get You A Woman" and "I Saw the Light?"

[Floogeldy]

12. A bit different.

Those two songs were done by Todd, solo; not with Nazz. :)

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. It always looks like you are applauding your posts...and it cracks me

up every single time. :hi:

[Floogeldy]

25. Heh heh

I'm glad you're laughing. I'm applauding everybody's posts. :)

[Maddy McCall]

11. Todd isn't bad, but he isn't Ric.

I just can't do it. :(

[salin]

13. psssssssst

still waiting to hear the good news you promised me :D

[Maddy McCall]

16. Check your inbox.

:hi:

[jpgray]

14. I understand

I was never a big Cars fan (great singing and playing, though), so I'm probably not the best person to pass judgment on the new Cars anyway. And I would go just for Blondie anyway.

:P

[Squeech]

6. Yup

These are spiffy new 21st century cars, with fuel cell technology and flywheel braking and all that.

And seriously, don't think Rundgren is just some sort of irony-impaired pop lightweight. He's one of the most sardonic observers of both the romantic sphere (e.g. "Can We Still Be Friends") and the greater world (e.g. the Swing to the Right album with his band Utopia, full of diatribes against the then-new Reagan administration). I think you should reconsider checking them out in concert.

[asthmaticeog]

7. It gets weirder...

I read that Kasim Sulton from Utopia and Prarie Prince from the Tubes will be replacing Ben Orr and David Robinson, respectively, as Orr is, last I checked, STILL DEAD, and Robinson apparently knows a shaky idea when he hears it.

So with both of the band's actual songwriters out of the reunion, yeah, I think skepticism is wise, though I *will* give it a chance. I've eaten plenty of crow before, and if it's decent, then OK, it's decent. I just seriously doubt it.

[Maddy McCall]

10. Are you going to see them?

They open the "Road Rage" tour in Tunica, MS. My best friend is dying to go, but I think I'd rather spend my money on a concert in which at least the majority of the original members are still with the band.

No desire to see Blondie.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. No. Without Ric, AND the late Ben Orr.

[YankeyMCC]

15. The Cars were the first rock bank I was a fan of

so I'm sorry I have to say No.

I wont say if the band calling themselves "The New Cars" is any good, I haven't heard them. I don't think I'm doing it conciously but I guess on some level I'm avoiding hearing or seeing them. They may or may not be a good band but they're most certainly Not the Cars.

[Maddy McCall]

17. Yep...my sentiments exactly.

:hi:

[Lady Effingbroke]

19. I do not care for these "new and improved" bands that seem to inevitably

spring from the ashes of the old band, sans dead former members (of course) as well as those still living who refuse to take part (Creedence Clearwater Revisited, anyone?).

Oh, yeah, Elliot Easton played guitar in CCRevisited. Still not the original CCR, though, no matter how you slice it - no John Fogarty, hellooo!

[Radio_Guy]

20. Not a good replacement IMO

Then again, I didn't think Phil Collins was going to be a good replacement for Peter Gabriel in Genesis...until I heard him. So I guess I'll have to hear Rundgren with the Cars to make a fair assessment.

[bbernardini]

21. Blasphemy. Rundgren is a genius. One of my top two musicans, along with...

Frank Zappa.

[Floogeldy]

22. I thought it was interesting when . . .

. . . Todd produced a Grand Funk album. I think his voice is in the backup vocals and chorus in "The Loco-Motion." :)

[long_green]

23. Answer, no. That's like the Miracles without Smokey.

nm

[kwassa]

24. They need to finance their retirement, so I hold no grudges ...

The Cars were a clever novelty act, somewhat like a B52s Lite, with some nice catchy pop tunes. Success ruined them, like many bands. Egos.

The music business being as brutal as it is, I don't care how these has-been acts perform, as long as they can create a live show with some craft to it. The norm in this business is the one-hit wonder, so they had done better than most. At least they had a body of work.

Bottom-line: they need the money. Including Todd.