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List of songs recorded by the Cars. The Cars were an American rock band who recorded 89 songs during their career, of which included 86 originals and 3 covers. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, the group consisted of singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter Ric Ocasek, bassist and singer Benjamin Orr, lead guitarist Elliot ...
SongWriter (s)Original ReleaseLead Vocal (s)Ric OcasekBenjamin OrrRic OcasekRic Ocasek"Breakaway"Ric OcasekB-side of "Why Can't I Have You"Ric OcasekRic OcasekBenjamin Orr- 4 min
- 1979
- Andrew Unterberger
- “Just What I Needed” (The Cars, 1978) Yes, The Cars wrote countless Perfect Pop Songs. But there’s Perfect Pop Songs, and there’s pop songs that deserve a Nobel prize.
- “Drive” (Heartbeat City, 1984) The first big ballad for The Cars, a risk that paid off with their biggest chart success, a No. 3 hit in September 1984.
- “Since You’re Gone” (Shake It Up, 1981) The Cars almost always went for the kill with their singles, but for whatever reason — maybe exhaustion after four albums in four years — they let off the throttle a little with Shake It Up‘s “Since You’re Gone.”
- “Moving in Stereo” (The Cars, 1978) It never needed Phoebe Cates. I mean, it certainly never hurts a song to soundtrack one of the most famous scenes in teen movie history, but “Moving in Stereo” made the Fast Times at Ridgemont High sequence eternal, just as much as the other way around.
- “Candy-O” Look, every feeling and thinking Cars fan loves “Candy-O” but me particularly, because I’m a sucker for a Ritchie Blackmore Egypto guitar riff.
- “Just What I Needed” Like the debut’s opening track, “Just What I Needed” utilizes a wily hit song formula, namely this idea of starting sparse and small and then rattling in with all the noise, clouds parting, fans partying.
- “Good Times Roll” Bit of a laid-back T. Rex “Bang a Gong” vibe to this one, but that’s to set us up for the most magical Cars moment of the catalog, and that would be the closing punctuation of the chorus with the vaulted choral “Good times roll!”
- “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” You’d never know it given how perennial it is on classic rock radio, but this cantankerous rocker was never issued as a single.
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- Annie Zaleski
- 'Just What I Needed' From: 'The Cars' (1978) On a near-perfect debut album, the Roy Thomas Baker-produced "Just What I Needed" was a near-perfect song. The Cars' entry on the Top 100 Classic Rock Songs list succeeds because of its tension – do the lyrics express love or disdain for a beauty?
- 'Drive' From: 'Heartbeat City' (1984) By Heartbeat City, The Cars had shed most of the wiry, nervous energy that marked their early albums, in favor of commercial-friendly sounds and neon-hued keyboards.
- 'Moving In Stereo' From: 'The Cars' (1978) It seems somehow wrong to separate "Moving In Stereo" from "All Mixed Up," since the songs blend together seamlessly on The Cars (and were often played that way on the radio).
- 'All Mixed Up' From: 'The Cars' (1978) The Cars were always more diverse than people gave them credit for. Exhibit A: "All Mixed Up," the final song on their debut LP.
- 2 min
- Jon Dolan,Patrick Doyle,Brian Hiatt,Christian Hoard,Elias Leight,Rob Sheffield,Hank Shteamer
- “My Best Friend’s Girl” (1978) One of Ocasek’s earliest Cars compositions, and one of his greatest, “My Best Friend’s Girl” showed his love for Fifties rock & roll, particularly Buddy Holly and Carl Perkins, with the song’s wiry guitar part and youthful sense of infatuation and angst.
- “Moving in Stereo” (1978) Already the sexiest song the Cars would ever record, thanks to an uncharacteristically slithery groove and an insinuating rhythm-guitar part, “Moving in Stereo” would hold a special place in Gen X iconography, after its instrumental soundtracked the infamous moment in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High where Judge Reinhold fantasizes about Phoebe Cates rising from a swimming pool.
- “Just What I Needed” (1978) “Sometimes good time can be the hook itself,” Ocasek told Rolling Stone in July, explaining why he insisted on Weezer using a click track on 1994’s Blue Album, which he produced.
- “Good Times Roll” (1978) Though it seems to share a sentiment with a slew of vintage rock and R&B tunes, “Good Times Roll” distances itself from the carefree mood of, say, Shirley and Lee’s 1956 hit “Let the Good Times Roll” with its hard-edged midtempo strut, blaring backing vocals, and Ocasek’s stylized singing.
The discography of the American rock band the Cars includes seven studio albums, eight compilation albums, four video albums and 26 singles. Originating in Boston in 1976, the band consisted of singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek, singer/bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes, and drummer David Robinson.
1. Good Times Roll. 21M plays. 3:46. 2. My Best Friend's Girl. 17M plays. 3:44. Just What I Needed. 60M plays. 3:46. 4. I'm in Touch with Your World. 840K plays. 3:32. 5. Don't Cha Stop. 1M plays....
