That entire album speaks volumes about how persistence pays off for Boston. They were my hometown guys and everywhere you went, that entire album was spinning - mainly on cassette tho!
Still one of my favorite bands and albums. Yes, I have the Boston bias but I love these guys. The DJ story is true of so many bands that came out of Boston. WBCN and WCOZ were the tastemakers of the time. The Cars, J. Geils, Boston and even Aerosmith probably wouldn't have happened without that local radio support. Bonus points for the live video. It looks like it was filmed at the Rathskellar or one of those other great bygone Kenmore Square clubs.
These are my favorite kind of stories. I mentioned it upthread. but I was hoping/looking forward to some Boston people sharing their experience with the band.
This was my gateway record to punk, the heads up that there were different sounds out there. I sort of skipped over the other progressive stuff ( as Kickboy Face said, there is no such thing as new wave ) and went straight for The Clash and American punk and hardcore after this, but this band and album will always be special to me.
Never bought a Cars album but I have a distinctive memory of playing this on a juke box in a diner, just thrilled to see anything NEW among the hoary (and sometimes classic) records in the machine. Good stuff, but I'm still disappointed they didn't call their first greatest hits album "Used Cars" as they once threatened to do in an interview!
My favorite song by The Cars is “Drive” and “Just What I Needed” comes in second place. Honestly, I have only recently begun to appreciate this band, and that’s at least in past due to the fact that their music was ever-present throughout my childhood, so there’s a definite nostalgic effect these songs have on me now that I’m approaching 100 years old.
This record got a lot of jukebox play at the bar I misspent my youth at. "Just What I Needed" always woke the place up. As someone also closing in on 100, it makes me wax nostalgic too.
Kevin, Tomorrow night is my guitar lesson with the best guitarist of all time, Michael Gurley! Super excited!!! He is so nice!!!! I’ll let you know how it goes!
I was six when this came out, but I still remember it being played at home. By the time we got to Heartbeat City in ‘84 I was a few years older and I bought that - cassette - when it came out. They were MTV darlings. I also had graduated from listening to local radio stations to dialing into WBCN 104.1 out of Boston. As a kid from New Hampshire it felt like I was getting a signal from Saturn. Felt like we were backing the “home team.”
Daaaaaamn... Are you for real that it was 1978??? I could have sworn this was on regular radio rotation in the mid and late 80s! And maybe it was because it was so good, but.... daaaaaamn. 🔥
Such a great album!! There used to be a show, Don Kirschner's Rock Concert (Gen X'ers UNITE). The show usually had a couple of artists on; however, on one episode (very late 1979 or very early 1980), they dedicated the WHOLE episode to The Cars with - if memory serves correctly - Kirschner himself declaring The Cars "the future of rock and roll in the new decade" - or something like that.
That entire album speaks volumes about how persistence pays off for Boston. They were my hometown guys and everywhere you went, that entire album was spinning - mainly on cassette tho!
I was hoping a couple of Boston-based readers would chime in!
Still one of my favorite bands and albums. Yes, I have the Boston bias but I love these guys. The DJ story is true of so many bands that came out of Boston. WBCN and WCOZ were the tastemakers of the time. The Cars, J. Geils, Boston and even Aerosmith probably wouldn't have happened without that local radio support. Bonus points for the live video. It looks like it was filmed at the Rathskellar or one of those other great bygone Kenmore Square clubs.
Glad you brought attention to that video; it’s fantastic!
Had no idea Orr was the vocalist on this song. He is 🔥🔥🔥
These are my favorite kind of stories. I mentioned it upthread. but I was hoping/looking forward to some Boston people sharing their experience with the band.
This was my gateway record to punk, the heads up that there were different sounds out there. I sort of skipped over the other progressive stuff ( as Kickboy Face said, there is no such thing as new wave ) and went straight for The Clash and American punk and hardcore after this, but this band and album will always be special to me.
I love that this was the record that opened those doors for you!
One of my very favorite groups with one of my very favorite albums. This one is in regular rotation for me and constantly on my mixtapes of the past.
Far & away my favorite by the band. I have "Heartbeat City" somewhere, but it doesn;t get played nearly as often.
Never bought a Cars album but I have a distinctive memory of playing this on a juke box in a diner, just thrilled to see anything NEW among the hoary (and sometimes classic) records in the machine. Good stuff, but I'm still disappointed they didn't call their first greatest hits album "Used Cars" as they once threatened to do in an interview!
Lol. They totally should've done it.
My favorite song by The Cars is “Drive” and “Just What I Needed” comes in second place. Honestly, I have only recently begun to appreciate this band, and that’s at least in past due to the fact that their music was ever-present throughout my childhood, so there’s a definite nostalgic effect these songs have on me now that I’m approaching 100 years old.
This record got a lot of jukebox play at the bar I misspent my youth at. "Just What I Needed" always woke the place up. As someone also closing in on 100, it makes me wax nostalgic too.
😂
*part - Substack won’t let me edit my comment from the mobile app
Kevin, Tomorrow night is my guitar lesson with the best guitarist of all time, Michael Gurley! Super excited!!! He is so nice!!!! I’ll let you know how it goes!
Please do! I know you've been waiting awhile for this- I'm looking forward to hearing all about it.
MIND BLOWN....
Fantastic! I'm glad it went well. :)
I was six when this came out, but I still remember it being played at home. By the time we got to Heartbeat City in ‘84 I was a few years older and I bought that - cassette - when it came out. They were MTV darlings. I also had graduated from listening to local radio stations to dialing into WBCN 104.1 out of Boston. As a kid from New Hampshire it felt like I was getting a signal from Saturn. Felt like we were backing the “home team.”
For a little bit there, it felt like "Magic" and "You Might Think" were the only videos MTV was playing.
Daaaaaamn... Are you for real that it was 1978??? I could have sworn this was on regular radio rotation in the mid and late 80s! And maybe it was because it was so good, but.... daaaaaamn. 🔥
Time flies when you're having fun. :)
In Portland, this was still getting played relatively often in the mid-80s.
Incredible album, one of my favs.
Such a great album!! There used to be a show, Don Kirschner's Rock Concert (Gen X'ers UNITE). The show usually had a couple of artists on; however, on one episode (very late 1979 or very early 1980), they dedicated the WHOLE episode to The Cars with - if memory serves correctly - Kirschner himself declaring The Cars "the future of rock and roll in the new decade" - or something like that.