Shaking it Up with The Cars Trivia Quiz

Answer: United States

In 1977, The Cars was formed in Boston, Massachusetts. The five original members were Elliott Easton, Greg Hawkes, Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, and David Robinson. The first group of five stayed together until 1988. Their sound was a mesh of the times with guitar rock and the new punk, synthesizer pop.

Jaknginger played their self-titled first album, "The Cars" on repeat in the early '80s.

Answer: Behind the steering wheel

The studio created the album art, rejecting a cover drafted by the band's drummer, David Robinson. The woman is a model from Russia, Nataliya Medvedeva. Their second album, "Candy-O", had a drawing of a woman draped over a car.

Player pusdoc drove this question into the quiz.

Answer: My Best Friend's Girl

"My Best Friend's Girl" was first released as a demo in 1977, then appeared on the band's eponymous debut album in 1978. It reached number 35 in the US and number three in the UK. The very catchy refrain, "She's my best friend's girl/She's my best friend's girl/But she used to be mine" was added as an afterthought by Ric Ocasek, who stated that he never had this happen in his life but he assumed it was a relatable, common occurrence.

Player pusdoc has been humming along to this song for nearly 50 years.

Answer: To feed

The refrain says the singer needed someone to feed, someone to bleed; this sardonic rhyme is typical Cars. One of their earliest hits from their debut album, Ric Ocasek wrote this song but bass player Benjamin Orr performs the lead vocals. Supposedly Ocasek was living in the basement of a commune when he wrote it. The song was provided to Boston radio stations as a demo and built up a local following, which helped the band craft a deal with Elektra. The song nods to two other recordings - the opening riff is from "Yummy, Yummy" by the Ohio Express and the line "wasting all my time-time" reference the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray," which has a repeated "but I haven't got the time-time" lyric.

Player pusdoc orchestrated this question for Phoenix Rising.

Answer: You Might Think

From their album "Heartbeat City", the music video "You Might Think" took top honor. The other videos vying for the prize were Michael Jackson's "Thriller", Herbie Hancock's "Rockit", Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Every Breath You Take" by The Police.

In writing this question, jaknginger was shocked to learn "Thriller" didn't take the prize!

Answer: Good Times Roll

Released in 1979, the Ocasek-penned song was the first track on their debut album and their third single release. Often confused with the 1956 "Let the Good Times Roll" by Shirley and Lee, Ocasek deliberately made this song darker, in order to convey his thoughts of the rock and roll life. In a 2019 edition of "Rolling Stone Magazine", he was quoted as once saying "That was my song about what the good times in rock & roll really mean, instead of what they're supposed to be".
The song made it to 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and a live recording has been included on several compilation albums.

Phoenix Rising's leith90 rolled this little question into the quiz.

Answer: You Are the Girl

"Heartbeat City" was the first Cars' album not produced by Roy Thomas Baker. New producer Mutt Lange produced a contemporary masterpiece of swirling synthesizers and a driving rhythm section that made it a standout new wave album of 1984. The format suited both modern rock and adult-oriented rock stations. Of the six singles, "Drive" with lead vocals from Benjamin Orr, hit number three on the Billboard Hot 100, "You Might Think" reached number seven and "Magic" and "Hello Again" reached top 20 on the same chart. "Why Can't I Have You" wasn't released in all markets but reached 33 in the US. "Heartbeat City", the title track, was released instead in the UK and Australia where it charted in both places.

"You Are The Girl" was a 1987 single that reached number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100. However the album it was lifted from, "Door to Door", was The Cars least successful album, only reaching number 26 on the Billboard 200 Albums list.

Phoenix Rising's 1nn1 dropped this question into the quiz in a heartbeat.

Answer: Magic

Ric Ocasek was a lot older than many of his peers and band members and with his unusual frame - 6 ft 4, very thin and a hairpiece- he was not the obvious choice as a video star, but he took up the challenge of creating video pop art. MTV changed The Cars from being visually uninspiring into being visually charismatic. In the video of "Magic" Ocasek is seen walking on water in a swimming pool, while people express amazement from the sidelines. The rest of the band are not featured until the guitar solo. He also met his wife Paulina Porizkova on the set of a video shoot for "Drive".

Phoenix Rising's smpdit isn't 6ft 4, or very thin, and she has stupidly curly hair, but she has never featured in a video.

Answer: Drive

Live Aid was a benefit concert in aid of the ongoing famine in Africa; it was held simultaneously in London and in Philadelphia. The Cars performed the four tracks listed in the early evening in the John F. Kennedy Stadium. The Cars came on after Kenny Loggins and were followed by Neil Young. Earlier in the day, a video of children starving in Ethiopia had been shown, with the track "Drive'" being played over.

Smpdit didn't get to go to Live Aid, but did watch the show on television at the time.

Answer: Passed away in 2000

The five original members stayed together from 1976 when they formed until their first hiatus in 1988 which they called a breakup. In 2000 Benjamin Orr passed away from pancreatic cancer. In 2010 The Cars reformed but Orr was not replaced with bass duties shared between Easton and Hawkes. They recorded a new album, "Move like This" and then toured the US and Canada on a ten city tour. They disbanded after the tour concluded in 2011.

At their 2018 induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Scott Shriner from Weezer covered bass with the 'originals' covering their usual instruments. They performed four songs: "You Might Think", "My Best Friend's Girl", "Moving in Stereo", and "Just What I Needed".
Ric Ocasek passed away less than a year later.

This question brought to you by 1nn1 of Phoenix Rising.