Magic by the Cars

I adore the Cars. Though, as it often is with songs in my head, this one isn't the end-all-be-all of awesome songs by an artist I adore. If I had a more refined shuffle feature in my unconscious mind, I would probably mainly be playing songs from their first, fucking brilliant self-titled 1978 album, which evidently has now gone platinum six times over. 1984's Heartbeat City was a decent record, though I will say that Benjamin Orr (may he rest in peace) was best as a bassist and not as the front man. It's not at all that he was a bad singer (Just What I Needed, from the first record, is excellent), it's that Drive veers dangerously close to schmaltzy blue-eyed soul territory. But never mind, "Magic" is a cute enough number, and this album wasn't anything close to the abysmal shark jump that band members Greg Hawkes and Elliot Easton made in forming the New Cars in 2005 with Todd Motherfucking Rundgren replacing Ric Ocasek on lead vocals.

Do not even get me started on how wrong it is to reform the Cars without Ocasek, Orr, and drummer David Robinson. I have a serious axe to grind with any band who reforms decades after their heyday for the payola, particularly when crucial band members don't participate (see Journey sans Steve Perry). For that matter, I'm similarly irked by bands that stay together well passed their relevance for the payola (the quintessential example being the Rolling Stones, who haven't produced a song worth a dime since the late '70s but grossed close to $500 million on their last world tour). Wow, now who's veering dangerously away from the point?

Artist: The Cars
Year: 1984
Rating: Warm