On how he felt when Elektra Records approached him about doing a solo album: “I got pretty nervous there for a while… you know, ‘cause I’d never done anything like this before, so I wanted to do a good job and when they asked me to do it I said sure I’d do it, but then shortly there afterward I got a little nervous. (chuckles)” — interview with Scott Muni, Line One radio program, November 1986.
Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr… their names will forever be entwined in the annals of music history. These two very talented men pooled their considerable gifts and created one of the first ‘new wave’ rock bands to hit the airwaves… and the industry has never been the same.
Some fans get pretty serious about trying to determine which of these two artists deserved more ‘credit’ for the success of the band, dividing themselves into “Team Ric” and “Team Ben.” In this episode, Dave and Donna take a (fairly tame) look at what each man brought to the table, from before The Cars and beyond.
Also in this episode, Donna’s various confessions move Dave to tears, we get a tweet from Donald Trump, and listeners are treated to Dave doing a ‘river dance’ in his clogs as he returns from the bathroom. Oh yeah, and don’t miss Donna’s first attempts at 1. playing a sound clip and 2. public humming.
Listen here:
UPDATE (March 14, 2018): All episodes are now available on Youtube! Listen, subscribe, and share. Check us out at bit.do/nightthoughts
Some things for you to do…
There tends to be a lot of high emotion and misunderstanding surrounding the fan vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but is it really THAT big of a deal? In this episode, Dave and Donna attempt to keep things real by discussing how the voting process works, how the band has fared in the past and The Cars’ likelihood of being inducted on their third nomination, and how the members themselves seem to feel about the whole shebang.
In the meantime, the fan vote is open until December 5th. Click here to go to the RRHOF website and cast your vote for our boys!
Have a thought to share yourself? Email us at nightthoughtspodcast@gmail.com and give us an earful! And don’t forget to check out our new youtube channel for easy listening.
Here’s the link for Episode 14:
UPDATE (March 14, 2018): All episodes are now available on Youtube! Listen, subscribe, and share. Check us out at bit.do/nightthoughts
“Friday the 13th” tends to be a frightening day in the annals of superstition, so Dave and Donna face it head-on by addressing what may well be the scariest element of The Cars’ history: The New Cars. Haha!
Tune in as we discuss the pros and cons of the venture, how the band members felt about it, and our impressions of the music that came from it. And what might have happened if Doug Powell had been chosen to lead the band instead of Todd Rundgren?
We also talk with a record number of callers (4!), including a surprise visit from closet Cars fan, Kermit the Frog!
Couple of announcements:
Unfortunately, the audio quality of this episode succumbs to the curse of the night and slowly deteriorates toward the end of the recording. Damn you, blogtalkradio! Or… did Todd Rundgren hack the show? Well, hopefully you can get enough out of it to enjoy our discussion. We had a blast!
UPDATE (March 14, 2018): All episodes are now available on Youtube! Listen, subscribe, and share. Check us out at bit.do/nightthoughts
On remastering the Cars’ catalog: “The technology of recording… and the way people approach bass these days… is so different than it was in the 80s… didn’t have the finite things that some of the new technology has, so I was practically shocked by how much more clarity and bass… On all these albums I was like, ‘I can’t believe how good Ben’s playing the bass.’ It’s like, you can hear every bass thing going on. And that was… to me like… a whole new force, so remastering was a really good idea.” — Ric Ocasek, August 17, 2017
September 8, 1947 – October 3, 2000
sweetpurplejune 