Wednesday, March 23: Rock Birthdays

Happy Birthday today  (March 23) to Ric Ocasek. He’s 67. The rocker is best known as a lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter for The Cars.

The surviving members of The Cars reunited in 2010. A new album called ‘Move Like This’ was released in 2011 followed by a small tour.  The Cars formed out of Boston, Massachusetts in 1976 emerging from the new wave scene. The classic lineup featured Ocasek along with singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, lead guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Gregg Hawks, and drummer David Robinson. The band was named "Best New Artist" in 1978 Rolling Stone magazine readers poll. Their debut album was a major success, selling 6 million copies with songs like "Just What I Needed", "My Best Friend's Girl", and "Good Times Roll". It spent 139 weeks on the Billboard chart. In 1984, The Cars won "Video of the Year"  for the song "You Might Think" at the very first MTV Video Music Awards.

A new Cars box set The Cars: The Elektra Years: 1978-1987 was released on March 11. I've always been a big Cars fan and hope they go out and tour again soon. I've never gotten to see the band live, just Ric Ocasek solo. The Cars rock!