The Cars. Best American "Pop" band?

[flume]

no need to joust penile swords over it...more of an appreciation note that The Cars did put a lot of elements together that worked a treat.

-production values that set trends for many sounds to follow

-integration of "dangerous" synth sounds into a guitar rock formula that made "new wave" palatable to rock-dudes

-the aforementioned EEaston put a lot of thought into tone, phrasing and voicing his parts - one of the few soloists that grab me - but the riffs are just as catchy. And Candy O has some riffs that flirt with doomy evil. Which speaks to me still.

-packaging and style - at the time they pushed the edge, and when you consider what rock radio/video was playing at the time, it took a fair amount of nerve and vision to present themselves as they did.

So yeah...I like them.

[jiml]

EE is a monster player, better studio band though.

[Tone_Terrific]

^
Like that. Catchy stuff.

Pop? Sure, if it sells, it's pop.

[jb_abides]

Originally Posted by art_z

Can't think of anyone that comes close, maybe CCR.

Elliot has played in both

Originally Posted by Phoebe

I always thought the Cars were a simple kind of great.

YES!

[Elmer]

I don't know that I'd call them the "best American pop band", but the Cars were (and still are) one of my favorite bands.

Elliot Easton defined (to me) what 80's "new wave" guitar was all about, he played some of the catchiest riffs and solos of that era. Several of his solos on the first few albums (The Cars, Candy-O, Panorama) contain some of my absolute favorite guitar phrases. The solo in "Touch and Go" still makes me smile every time I hear it, it is just so perfect in the context of that song.

[rwe333]

Originally Posted by Smakutus

Nahhh they weren't... They sounded good musically live but the problem was they just stood there and couldn't sing back up vocals to save their lives. I saw them in 84 and on all the new tunes you could tell they flew in backing vocals and sounded good, but on all the older songs the back ups sounded kinda bad. I still enjoyed the show.

Jeff

Sure they improved over the years, but their early tours behind there big first record were a notorious farce. They simply couldn't cut it live... Pretty much universally panned...
No Cars hater here, was just the case early on... Elliott's a lovely player, Ocasek a fine writer, Orr a cool singer, wonderful synth sounds, etc... Course the New Cars were strong live with the likes of Runt and Prairie Prince.

[AaeCee]

Originally Posted by Elmer

I don't know that I'd call them the "best American pop band", but the Cars were (and still are) one of my favorite bands.

Elliot Easton defined (to me) what 80's "new wave" guitar was all about, he played some of the catchiest riffs and solos of that era. Several of his solos on the first few albums (The Cars, Candy-O, Panorama) contain some of my absolute favorite guitar phrases. The solo in "Touch and Go" still makes me smile every time I hear it, it is just so perfect in the context of that song.

That's it exactly.....their music always brings a smile. Even the etherial 'Drive' isn't devoid of hope. Agree about those tasty Elliott Easton riffs throughout the catalog. My personal fave is the simple yet effective opening riff on 'Let the Good Times Roll'.

[marvelboy_04]

the beatles? they had so many hits!

[mattmccloskey]

Originally Posted by dlguitar64

Beach Boys

THE best and truly most 'american' of all pop/rock and roll bands ever. Of course I would argue that they influenced pop music and pop culture more than any other musical icon in the 20th century as well, but that's another thread.

[freedom's door]

The first two Cars albums are two of the greatest pop/rock records of all time IMO.

[BMF Effects]

Two words...

Cheap. Trick.

[banjoze]

Beach Boys? Chicago?

Both seem bigger than The Cars to me..

[robelinda2]

New Kids On The Block??


Kidding!

[Z_Zoquis]

The Cars were OK. I love the early stuff. Not so much the mid 80's output. I think Blondie were a better band overall with a longer list of great tunes.

[Steeltoe]

The Cars first album came out in '78, like Petty. I think of them as a '70s band, that continued on with a lot of success into the 80's.
They were considered a New Wave band, whereas The Heartbreakers were
straight up rockers.
I saw them play The Roxy for their debut album tour. While they didn't move around much-Ocasak was virtually frozen-they were impressive nonetheless. Everyone left the club rather "wowed".