WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040
Hey, everyone. This is Joe Millican, author of

00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:05.780
the book, Let's Go, Benjamin Orr and the Cars.

00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:09.480
And you are listening to my weekly mixtape with

00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:11.900
Brian Colburn. We had a lot of fun doing this

00:00:11.900 --> 00:00:26.350
one, so we hope you enjoy it. Let's go. Welcome

00:00:26.350 --> 00:00:28.969
to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that takes the

00:00:28.969 --> 00:00:32.210
classic mixtape approach to building a modern

00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:35.170
playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn. Joining

00:00:35.170 --> 00:00:37.950
me tonight as guest curator is Joe Millican,

00:00:38.049 --> 00:00:40.710
music journalist and author of the book Let's

00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:43.850
Go, Benjamin Orr and the Cars. Joe, thank you

00:00:43.850 --> 00:00:45.829
so much for joining me on My Weekly Mixtape.

00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:48.329
Brian, it's great to be here, man. I appreciate

00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:51.579
you inviting me on. This is a unique podcast

00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:54.640
you got set up here. So it's a little different

00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:56.619
than what I'm used to doing. So I'm looking forward

00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:58.820
to it. And I'm looking forward to having you

00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:01.520
on. But I'm going to start by asking you the

00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.239
same question I ask all of my first time guests.

00:01:04.459 --> 00:01:08.000
And that is, what does the word mixtape mean

00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:11.219
to you? Well, to be honest with you, mixtape

00:01:11.219 --> 00:01:15.420
means a lot to me because me and mixtapes and

00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:18.219
making mixtapes go way back. I think a lot of

00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:22.459
people who. are such music enthusiasts as we

00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:25.000
are, I think everybody has some kind of connection

00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.359
to a mixtape somehow. Either they made them themselves

00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:32.000
or somebody made one for them, that kind of thing.

00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:35.519
And I go way back. I mean, I literally was making

00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:38.939
mixtapes going back to when I was like 15 years

00:01:38.939 --> 00:01:42.000
old. And it's funny because the first mixtapes

00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:43.980
I used to make before I even had like a whole

00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:47.170
component stereo set up in my room. I used to

00:01:47.170 --> 00:01:50.469
actually make mixtapes off a boombox. I'd set

00:01:50.469 --> 00:01:53.049
up the radio dials on my boombox, and I'd put

00:01:53.049 --> 00:01:55.750
a blank tape in, and I'd press record and pause,

00:01:55.849 --> 00:01:58.189
and I would sit there and wait for a song to

00:01:58.189 --> 00:02:00.269
come on that I wanted or whatever I was doing

00:02:00.269 --> 00:02:03.189
at the time, and I'd record the song. The song

00:02:03.189 --> 00:02:05.329
would over, I'd press pause, and I'd sit there

00:02:05.329 --> 00:02:08.969
for a whole day working on tapes. But then I

00:02:08.969 --> 00:02:12.889
graduated to making my own mixtapes. I want to

00:02:12.889 --> 00:02:15.629
make a classic rock mixtape, or I want to make

00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:18.550
a... a jazz mixtape or whatever the case may

00:02:18.550 --> 00:02:22.349
be. And then I actually, like after showing a

00:02:22.349 --> 00:02:24.129
couple of friends of mine these tapes, I'm like,

00:02:24.189 --> 00:02:26.330
wow, I'd love you to make me one of those. I

00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:29.069
started making mixtapes for friends and I used

00:02:29.069 --> 00:02:32.710
to do it as Christmas presents for friends. And

00:02:32.710 --> 00:02:35.490
every year it built up and built up and built

00:02:35.490 --> 00:02:38.229
up. And at one point, this is going back to probably

00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:40.830
when I was in my late twenties, early thirties

00:02:40.830 --> 00:02:43.889
or whatever, I was making like 20 tapes a year

00:02:43.889 --> 00:02:46.680
for people. I'd have one going to go, oh, I got

00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.099
to have this song for this guy's tape. So I'd

00:02:49.099 --> 00:02:51.319
get all these tapes started. And as the year

00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:53.659
went on, I'd build them all up. And by the end

00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:55.560
of the year, I would have mixed tapes for my

00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:58.819
friends and family. So me and mixed tapes go

00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:03.719
way back. That is time dedication. Bravo. I absolutely

00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:06.560
love it. Yeah, a little crazy, but it was fun.

00:03:06.819 --> 00:03:09.000
Not at all. That's a gift that shows you were

00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.159
thinking about that person throughout the whole

00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:13.360
year. So I think that's the gift that keeps on

00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.580
giving. Absolutely. All right. Well, I'm extremely

00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:18.819
excited for tonight's episode because tonight

00:03:18.819 --> 00:03:22.259
we are talking about the music of the cars, a

00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:26.219
band who in no shock to anyone listening to me

00:03:26.219 --> 00:03:30.039
and who has heard any episodes before knows that

00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:34.639
the cars 1978 self -titled album is my favorite

00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:38.210
album of all time. So for me. I'm in trouble

00:03:38.210 --> 00:03:41.169
because I kind of want to choose all nine songs

00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:44.110
from the self -titled album because to me it's

00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:47.069
a masterpiece. But I'm going to do my best to

00:03:47.069 --> 00:03:50.129
represent music from across all of the band's

00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:53.530
albums because even though their self -titled

00:03:53.530 --> 00:03:56.550
is my favorite album of all time, albums like

00:03:56.550 --> 00:03:59.729
Candio and Heartbeat City are not too far behind.

00:03:59.750 --> 00:04:03.210
And I consider those two both front to back classics

00:04:03.210 --> 00:04:06.030
as well. So I'm going to have my work cut out

00:04:06.030 --> 00:04:08.699
for me tonight. Now, Joe, as someone who wrote

00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:11.560
a book detailing the life of Benjamin Orr, the

00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:15.599
band's bassist and co -lead singer, did you find

00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.040
it difficult to come up with a bank of songs

00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:21.360
to pull from for tonight's playlist curation?

00:04:22.019 --> 00:04:25.639
I think the only thing that was a little difficult

00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:28.759
in putting this together was, you know, you start

00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:31.300
writing songs down and making a list and all

00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:32.939
of a sudden you're halfway through that list

00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:34.990
and you're looking going. I got to start being

00:04:34.990 --> 00:04:37.050
really careful about what I'm choosing here to

00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:39.730
make sure I get a lot of my favorites on because

00:04:39.730 --> 00:04:41.990
there was just, even though they only did what?

00:04:42.170 --> 00:04:44.569
Including Move Like This, which happened later

00:04:44.569 --> 00:04:46.949
on, I think they only did like six studio albums.

00:04:47.209 --> 00:04:49.910
Yeah, it was six studio albums with Ben up to

00:04:49.910 --> 00:04:51.990
Door to Door and then Move Like This without

00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:54.680
Ben for the seventh. But there's still so many

00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:57.100
songs on every album. It's unbelievable. And

00:04:57.100 --> 00:04:59.319
I ran into the same kind of problem as you did

00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:01.639
with the debut album, because just about every

00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:04.199
song on that album still gets played on classic

00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:07.120
rock radio. So I very easily could have done

00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.779
that. My personal favorite's Candio, but it's

00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:11.879
more like a sentimental favorite. I kind of get

00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:15.360
it that the debut album is their best album.

00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:18.459
I mean, it's just from beginning to end. But

00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:20.839
Candio kind of slipped in as my favorite. Those

00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.199
are my top two. So, but really the only problem

00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.439
with me was, okay, I've got three slots left

00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:28.540
and I've got all these songs. Which ones do I

00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:30.879
have to take? So that was the only problem I

00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.279
had was trying to come up with what ones I was

00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:35.860
going to use. Well, hopefully you and I have

00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:39.740
some overlap here. So that way maybe we're helping

00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:43.879
each other out in a way. True. I wrote down a

00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:46.399
whole bunch of stuff because I assume that, you

00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.360
know, if you're a Cars fan, I think there's a

00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:51.660
lot of... standard songs that would be on just

00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:54.920
about anybody's car's mixtape. There's always

00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:57.000
going to be a few of those. So I had a feeling

00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.019
we'd probably run into a few duplicates along

00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:01.870
the way. That's for sure. Well, let's get down

00:06:01.870 --> 00:06:03.910
to business. Tonight, as I mentioned earlier,

00:06:04.209 --> 00:06:06.810
Joe and I will be curating the ultimate mixtape

00:06:06.810 --> 00:06:09.310
for the cars, and we'll use the old cassette

00:06:09.310 --> 00:06:12.310
deck approach. Joe, as the guest curator, will

00:06:12.310 --> 00:06:15.430
begin side A with his first song choice, and

00:06:15.430 --> 00:06:18.069
then I'll add a song that I feel best follows

00:06:18.069 --> 00:06:20.649
up his choice. We'll then flip -flop choosing

00:06:20.649 --> 00:06:23.870
songs until we've mapped out 10 songs for side

00:06:23.870 --> 00:06:26.949
A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial flip,

00:06:27.089 --> 00:06:30.189
only this time I'll kick things off. with Joe

00:06:30.189 --> 00:06:33.410
choosing second. Our overall goal for this episode

00:06:33.410 --> 00:06:37.870
is to craft the best Cars playlist possible through

00:06:37.870 --> 00:06:41.170
only 20 songs. At the end of the show, you can

00:06:41.170 --> 00:06:44.050
take our conversation to the next level by visiting

00:06:44.050 --> 00:06:47.670
the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com to give

00:06:47.670 --> 00:06:50.990
our final mixtape a listen via the embedded playlist.

00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:53.470
And if you like what you're hearing on the show,

00:06:53.790 --> 00:06:55.930
You can help me out by telling a friend about

00:06:55.930 --> 00:06:58.649
the show, leaving the show a five -star review

00:06:58.649 --> 00:07:01.670
wherever you're listening, or by becoming a Patreon

00:07:01.670 --> 00:07:06.490
mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape.

00:07:06.629 --> 00:07:09.129
And a few of our Patreon mixtapers chimed in

00:07:09.129 --> 00:07:11.470
with songs that they would kick off their car's

00:07:11.470 --> 00:07:13.689
mixtape with. And I want to give a shout out

00:07:13.689 --> 00:07:16.189
to some of these and maybe give you and I some

00:07:16.189 --> 00:07:19.410
food for thought. Sounds good. Jason Donchus

00:07:19.410 --> 00:07:22.269
said his path to the cars was via You're All

00:07:22.269 --> 00:07:25.029
I've Got Tonight because the Smashing Pumpkins

00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:27.930
covered it in the 90s on one of their box sets.

00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:31.990
But he would also consider Bye Bye Love, but

00:07:31.990 --> 00:07:34.470
would have to hope the other curator followed

00:07:34.470 --> 00:07:37.730
up immediately with moving in stereo because

00:07:37.730 --> 00:07:40.850
those songs need to be back to back. And he thinks

00:07:40.850 --> 00:07:44.720
that should be a law in most states. Ben from

00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.600
the Too Vague podcast said his pick will now

00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.699
and forever be Don't You Stop. And Sean Faust

00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:55.779
is torn between Good Times Roll or Since You're

00:07:55.779 --> 00:07:58.939
Gone. And finally, Cactus Pete chimed in with,

00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:03.100
off of Heartbeat City, Magic. And Joe, with that,

00:08:03.100 --> 00:08:05.220
I'm officially pressing the record button on

00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:08.019
our Cars mixtape and I'm passing the mic over

00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:11.519
to you. What song will you be using to kick things

00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:15.810
off tonight and why? Okay, so those are interesting

00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:17.790
choices you made, by the way. Somebody wanting,

00:08:17.949 --> 00:08:21.129
don't you stop. That's really, that's interesting.

00:08:21.470 --> 00:08:23.730
Yeah, that's certainly a deep cut off the self

00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:25.970
-title, but look, I'm all here for it. I feel

00:08:25.970 --> 00:08:29.370
it. I mean, that is a deep cut for sure. So that's

00:08:29.370 --> 00:08:32.529
interesting to hear that. I went more of a standard,

00:08:32.610 --> 00:08:35.350
in a standard direction, I guess. So I'm going

00:08:35.350 --> 00:08:38.070
to go with a little shameless self -promotion

00:08:38.070 --> 00:08:41.149
here, and I'm going to declare the opening song

00:08:41.149 --> 00:08:44.080
to be Let's Go. It's a great way to start. You

00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.039
know, it sounds like the beginning of something.

00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.960
Let's go. Let's start this thing up. So I thought

00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.080
that would be a good choice. Obviously, it's

00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:53.019
the title of my book, but that's not the only

00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:55.419
reason I chose it. I think it's just a great,

00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:59.279
upbeat rock anthem. And it's a jukebox favorite.

00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:02.279
And it was also the band's first top 20 hit.

00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.200
Even after that first album came out, they had

00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.659
several songs that were in the top 40. But nothing

00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:11.120
had cracked the top 20 yet. And Let's Go peaked

00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.759
at number 14 when it came out. So that's another

00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:15.899
little sidebar why I chose that. It happened

00:09:15.899 --> 00:09:19.519
to be like their first top 20 single. So I went

00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:22.720
with Let's Go to get it opened. Absolutely love

00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:26.600
the song. Really, it is the perfect opening song.

00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.559
And I'm glad you did that because in my heart

00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.049
of hearts, if I was going to start off. I would

00:09:34.049 --> 00:09:36.370
have to go with something from the self -titled.

00:09:36.409 --> 00:09:39.149
And if you did go with something from the self

00:09:39.149 --> 00:09:42.049
-titled album, I would have had a hard time immediately

00:09:42.049 --> 00:09:44.669
following up with a second one from the self

00:09:44.669 --> 00:09:48.029
-titled. So that makes my first song choice a

00:09:48.029 --> 00:09:51.570
little easier. But about the song Let's Go, Benjamin

00:09:51.570 --> 00:09:55.529
Orr on lead vocals, you get one side of this.

00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:58.340
Two headed monster. And I mean that in a good

00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:01.559
way, because you have two extremely competent

00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:05.620
and extremely talented lead singers in Benjamin

00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:09.759
or Enrico Kassick. And their voices are not so

00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:14.000
far removed that a first time listener to the

00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:17.539
cars. might not know that this band has two lead

00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:20.019
singers. And there's just something that there's

00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:23.440
this tonality about their voices that works so

00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:27.340
well together. And Let's Go is a very fun and

00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:30.559
exciting song. And it's one of the first ways

00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.399
my parents got me into the cars as well, because

00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:36.840
when I was growing up, one of my first record

00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:39.840
albums was Alvin and the Chipmunks' Chipmunk

00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:44.299
Punk. And on that album, they covered Let's Go.

00:10:44.850 --> 00:10:50.190
So as a kid, I became a fan. Yes, 100%. I'll

00:10:50.190 --> 00:10:53.029
have to dig that up. I did not know that. That's

00:10:53.029 --> 00:10:55.690
funny. I like that. You know what? Alvin does

00:10:55.690 --> 00:10:58.090
a good job of it. He's not no Benjamin Orr, but

00:10:58.090 --> 00:10:59.970
he's all right. He's all right. You know, you

00:10:59.970 --> 00:11:02.330
are right about there. It's funny because when

00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:04.690
this book came out, you know, I had a lot of

00:11:04.690 --> 00:11:07.570
Cars fans get a hold of me. Some who were already

00:11:07.570 --> 00:11:09.909
huge fans, other people that were just getting

00:11:09.909 --> 00:11:12.549
introduced to them. And I actually had some fans

00:11:12.549 --> 00:11:14.929
say to me, They thought Rick sang everything.

00:11:15.230 --> 00:11:17.190
There were actually some fans out there that

00:11:17.190 --> 00:11:20.330
didn't even realize that Ben also took lead on

00:11:20.330 --> 00:11:23.029
some of their songs. So it's really weird because

00:11:23.029 --> 00:11:25.409
they have a way. You're right. They do have a

00:11:25.409 --> 00:11:28.570
way of sounding alike. Because when I first started

00:11:28.570 --> 00:11:30.929
learning about and started researching the book,

00:11:31.029 --> 00:11:32.850
there were still a few times where I'm like,

00:11:32.889 --> 00:11:35.149
is that Rick or is that Ben? So they do have

00:11:35.149 --> 00:11:38.809
some similarities, but they also can go in the

00:11:38.809 --> 00:11:41.289
total opposite direction as well. You know, Rick

00:11:41.289 --> 00:11:42.950
has more of that. I'm going to say this word

00:11:42.950 --> 00:11:45.230
a lot during this whole episode, I know, but

00:11:45.230 --> 00:11:48.549
he's got that quirky kind of sound to his voice.

00:11:48.990 --> 00:11:52.389
Whereas Ben's more classic, more like a smooth

00:11:52.389 --> 00:11:55.570
crooner type of voice, almost in an Elvis kind

00:11:55.570 --> 00:11:58.909
of way. He's a little more smooth. And Rick had

00:11:58.909 --> 00:12:02.490
even said himself that when he wrote songs, he

00:12:02.490 --> 00:12:05.570
didn't even say, well, I'm writing this. Oh,

00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:08.490
that's Ben's. Oh, I'm singing this song. He actually

00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:10.690
brought the songs into the studio when they would

00:12:10.690 --> 00:12:12.929
both give it a go. And then he would say, oh,

00:12:12.970 --> 00:12:14.750
that's definitely you do that better. Or, you

00:12:14.750 --> 00:12:16.350
know, so they would kind of go back and forth

00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:18.929
in that way. So there's even a lot of demos out

00:12:18.929 --> 00:12:20.750
there where Rick ended up singing the song on

00:12:20.750 --> 00:12:22.590
the album. But there's a demo where Ben sings

00:12:22.590 --> 00:12:25.110
it and vice versa. So you're right. There's a

00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:27.169
lot of similarities to their voice. And sometimes

00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:30.269
it takes you a minute to realize who it is. But

00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:32.070
there's other times where they go in opposite

00:12:32.070 --> 00:12:35.070
directions as well. So pretty interesting give

00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:38.090
and take there. By all means. And what I'm going

00:12:38.090 --> 00:12:42.169
to do is I'm going to balance the Benjamin. or

00:12:42.169 --> 00:12:45.549
Rick Ocasek scale right now. And like I said,

00:12:45.570 --> 00:12:47.850
I am going to go to the first album and I'm going

00:12:47.850 --> 00:12:52.230
to follow up. Let's go with the band's ode to

00:12:52.230 --> 00:12:57.529
rock and roll excess and the lead track off of

00:12:57.529 --> 00:13:00.509
the bands. I'm a sucker for opening songs and

00:13:00.509 --> 00:13:02.990
the opening song on my favorite album of all

00:13:02.990 --> 00:13:06.309
time is good times roll. And I think following

00:13:06.309 --> 00:13:09.789
up, let's go. It's just perfect because good

00:13:09.789 --> 00:13:14.600
times roll. has that vibe about it that really

00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:18.279
describes everything the cars are. They're a

00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:20.320
little bit rock. They're a little bit punk. They're

00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.220
a little bit new wave. And they kind of mix it

00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:26.720
all together and craft a sound that completely

00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.860
ushered in a new era of music. And to me, this

00:13:30.860 --> 00:13:35.960
song is their hello to the world. If Hello Again

00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:38.559
on Heartbeat City is their reintroducing themselves,

00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.139
this was the first time they showed up at the

00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:44.200
door. And I mean, first song on my favorite album

00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:45.980
of all time. So, of course, I got to mention

00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:48.740
it first tonight. Good Times Roll from their

00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:51.279
self -titled. It makes a lot of sense. And, you

00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:53.419
know, I was actually considering Good Times Roll

00:13:53.419 --> 00:13:56.659
as well. Obviously, a great opening song, another

00:13:56.659 --> 00:14:00.039
anthem -like song. And Good Times Roll for me

00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:03.259
was actually the first Cars song I ever heard.

00:14:03.629 --> 00:14:06.570
And I remember, I can remember to this day, I'm

00:14:06.570 --> 00:14:08.909
in junior high school and I'm playing on my Babe

00:14:08.909 --> 00:14:11.889
Ruth baseball team. And I'm hitching a ride to

00:14:11.889 --> 00:14:14.769
a game with my assistant coach. And we got in

00:14:14.769 --> 00:14:18.470
his car and he plopped in an eight track tape

00:14:18.470 --> 00:14:22.389
of the first album. And Good Times Road came

00:14:22.389 --> 00:14:26.370
on and hearing that car horn sounding keyboard

00:14:26.370 --> 00:14:29.149
sound at the very beginning. And I just remember

00:14:29.149 --> 00:14:32.789
looking at it going, what the hell is this? Just

00:14:32.789 --> 00:14:36.509
a whole totally different sound. And you described

00:14:36.509 --> 00:14:38.830
it really well when you talk about how they blend

00:14:38.830 --> 00:14:41.610
elements of different styles. They're a little

00:14:41.610 --> 00:14:44.070
bit rock. They're a little bit new wave. They

00:14:44.070 --> 00:14:45.850
can even get a little punky. They're a little

00:14:45.850 --> 00:14:49.190
pop. So to me, the cars, all of these types of

00:14:49.190 --> 00:14:51.970
sounds, all kind of blended together. And I think

00:14:51.970 --> 00:14:54.330
that's what makes the cars so distinctive. I

00:14:54.330 --> 00:14:56.210
mean, you hear a car song, you know it's them.

00:14:56.350 --> 00:14:58.639
I mean, nobody sounds like them. And I think

00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.639
that's another reason why their music has been

00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.179
so enduring all these years. Because I mean,

00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:05.399
it's been so long since they even put anything

00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:08.659
out, but you still hear their music on TV commercials

00:15:08.659 --> 00:15:11.759
and radio spots. And it's still all over the

00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:13.179
place because I think their music's timeless.

00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:15.840
So I agree. That's definitely a good choice to

00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:19.519
kick off with, for sure. Well, now I'm throwing

00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.120
it back to you to follow up with track three.

00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:26.399
Okay. So I told you about how I go way back with

00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:30.809
making mixtapes. I'm not even sure why I developed

00:15:30.809 --> 00:15:33.669
this, but one thing I tried to do was when I

00:15:33.669 --> 00:15:36.029
was making a mixtape for, say, one particular

00:15:36.029 --> 00:15:39.529
band, I would take all the music I had by them,

00:15:39.549 --> 00:15:43.230
so all their albums, and I would want to put

00:15:43.230 --> 00:15:46.389
a little bit of everything on the tape. So I

00:15:46.389 --> 00:15:48.250
didn't want to go heavy and only put five or

00:15:48.250 --> 00:15:50.710
six songs from one album, but only do one from

00:15:50.710 --> 00:15:54.070
another. So I tried my best to kind of spread

00:15:54.070 --> 00:15:56.970
it out. And I also, for some reason, would not

00:15:56.970 --> 00:16:00.330
go from the band's first album to their third

00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:02.769
album, back to the second, over to their sixth.

00:16:02.950 --> 00:16:05.330
I would like start at the beginning. I'm going

00:16:05.330 --> 00:16:07.389
to take something off the first album. Then I'm

00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:09.210
going to take something off the second. And then

00:16:09.210 --> 00:16:10.830
I'm going to take something off the third. And

00:16:10.830 --> 00:16:13.809
I just have this routine I do. So I had to do

00:16:13.809 --> 00:16:17.220
it that way here. Obviously, I started with Let's

00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:19.700
Go, which is off the second album. So now I have

00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:22.320
to go back and revert to my old way of doing

00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.620
things and go back to the first album and start

00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:28.120
there, even though I know you had one. So the

00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:32.100
first album is really tough because I was actually

00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:34.139
going to try to cheat, but I didn't think I'd

00:16:34.139 --> 00:16:36.539
get away with it. Because to me, that whole side

00:16:36.539 --> 00:16:39.480
two is one song. You're All I've Got Tonight

00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:42.500
into Bye Bye Love into Moving in Stereo into

00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:44.950
All Mixed Up. It's hard to listen to those. Not

00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:47.850
hard to, but I oftentimes wouldn't listen to

00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:50.269
them separately because they all just flow together

00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:51.889
and you feel like you got to listen to them all

00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:56.750
at once. I actually have. I have ripped Bye Bye

00:16:56.750 --> 00:17:00.210
Love moving in stereo and all mixed up as a single

00:17:00.210 --> 00:17:03.210
track on my phone. I feel like You're All I've

00:17:03.210 --> 00:17:06.190
Got Tonight has a definitive ending, but the

00:17:06.190 --> 00:17:08.750
three songs that follow that up, I've always

00:17:08.750 --> 00:17:13.150
felt are one. complete piece between the three

00:17:13.150 --> 00:17:16.930
songs. I can't hear bye -bye love and not hear

00:17:16.930 --> 00:17:19.690
moving in stereo coming out of it. So I completely

00:17:19.690 --> 00:17:22.369
see where you're going with that. Yeah. And I,

00:17:22.430 --> 00:17:24.710
well, when I said I was going to try to cheat,

00:17:24.789 --> 00:17:26.789
I really didn't think he'd let me get away with

00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:30.589
counting four songs or three songs as one. So

00:17:30.589 --> 00:17:33.470
if I got to split them up, I decided to go with,

00:17:33.490 --> 00:17:35.410
it's hard to say what your favorite car song

00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:38.210
is, but this is arguably one of my two or three

00:17:38.210 --> 00:17:40.819
favorite car song. I went with Bye Bye Love.

00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:44.099
Just a great song and I love Ben's vocal in it.

00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.859
And, you know, I didn't know where this whole

00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:49.400
thing was going to go. So I had to make sure

00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:51.440
that I got that in as soon as possible because

00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:54.140
I'm trying to make sure I get most of my favorite

00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:57.720
songs in here somehow. So if I had to break it

00:17:57.720 --> 00:17:59.559
up, I figured that would be the first one to

00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:05.430
chip off. To me, that is power pop. perfection

00:18:05.430 --> 00:18:09.890
this is the side of the cars where when people

00:18:09.890 --> 00:18:13.089
listen to heartbeat city and they say oh my god

00:18:13.089 --> 00:18:17.450
the cars went pop they were never like this i

00:18:17.450 --> 00:18:20.490
always point back to bye bye love because that

00:18:20.490 --> 00:18:24.990
is the sound that they just enhanced a little

00:18:24.990 --> 00:18:28.809
bit more on heartbeat city so the power pop was

00:18:28.809 --> 00:18:33.029
always a signature of this band and that guitar

00:18:33.029 --> 00:18:37.029
work By Elliot Easton, the guitar solo in Bye

00:18:37.029 --> 00:18:41.769
Bye Love is so perfect, so musical and so underrated

00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:44.849
that it's probably one of the best songs on the

00:18:44.849 --> 00:18:47.750
album. And it wasn't a massive hit. It's played

00:18:47.750 --> 00:18:50.710
on rock radio, but it wasn't one of the lead

00:18:50.710 --> 00:18:53.930
singles from the album. So if it wasn't for stations

00:18:53.930 --> 00:18:57.869
in New York, like 1027 playing album sides like

00:18:57.869 --> 00:19:00.630
they did back when I was growing up, this song,

00:19:00.630 --> 00:19:04.509
I feel like got its. push on radio from those

00:19:04.509 --> 00:19:07.329
album sites because the second half of the car

00:19:07.329 --> 00:19:11.430
self -titled is an absolute masterpiece and following

00:19:11.430 --> 00:19:14.589
it up with track four just like patreon mixtaper

00:19:14.589 --> 00:19:17.369
jason donchus said at the top of the show the

00:19:17.369 --> 00:19:19.970
last thing i want to do is get arrested and i

00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:25.029
100 agree you cannot have bye -bye love and follow

00:19:25.029 --> 00:19:27.900
it up with anything Other than moving in stereo.

00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:31.380
So track four, I am following it right up with

00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:35.000
moving in stereo, showing a different side of

00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.140
Benjamin's voice. Benjamin's voice in Bye Bye

00:19:38.140 --> 00:19:43.319
Love is very upbeat, very lively. Perfect for

00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:46.640
the pop sensibility, even though the song had

00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:49.559
lyrics that might not have leaned that way. Substitution,

00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:52.440
mass confusion, clouds inside your head does

00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.720
not really sound like an upbeat, airy power pop

00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:58.839
single. However, the cars were able to make it

00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:01.920
work with that balance. Then you slide into moving

00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:05.359
in stereo and he drops into this lower register

00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:11.240
and it's very ethereal, very dark. brooding almost

00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:14.700
yeah and it's so perfect because it's a complete

00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:18.579
180 where you're taken to this whole other place

00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:23.000
musically but yet they really push and pull off

00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.519
each other so well so i have to follow up bye

00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:28.740
bye love with moving in stereo and then obviously

00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:32.660
if i don't mention it given my age at the time

00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:35.980
fast times at ridgemount high also cemented that

00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:40.130
song into my DNA in other ways other than musically.

00:20:40.369 --> 00:20:42.849
I'm in the same boat. I know exactly what you

00:20:42.849 --> 00:20:45.089
mean. And you're right about Bye Bye Love. I

00:20:45.089 --> 00:20:47.289
think because, yeah, it wasn't released as a

00:20:47.289 --> 00:20:50.589
single. And so I think that actually got some

00:20:50.589 --> 00:20:53.369
juice, if you will, was from getting played on

00:20:53.369 --> 00:20:56.549
FM radio. Because when that album came out, WBCN

00:20:56.549 --> 00:20:59.190
in Boston is what I would listen to when I was

00:20:59.190 --> 00:21:01.809
younger. And of course, they helped launch the

00:21:01.809 --> 00:21:05.269
cars. They were playing, you know, Maxanne Sartori,

00:21:05.450 --> 00:21:08.710
who was a famous DJ from Boston. She's iconic

00:21:08.710 --> 00:21:12.049
for helping Aerosmith get started. She also helped

00:21:12.049 --> 00:21:13.990
the cars get started. And I talked about it in

00:21:13.990 --> 00:21:17.670
my book about how before they were the band previously,

00:21:17.809 --> 00:21:20.710
they were called Captain Swing before they turned

00:21:20.710 --> 00:21:23.910
into the cars. And Bye Bye Love was actually

00:21:23.910 --> 00:21:26.309
a Captain Swing song. It was one of the few songs

00:21:26.309 --> 00:21:29.250
that they actually brought over into the cars.

00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:31.920
So I was hearing, I heard Bye Bye Love on the

00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.880
radio right when the album came out. And I think

00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:37.299
that's how it got its juice. Because, yeah, I

00:21:37.299 --> 00:21:39.759
still hear it on classic radio. And you were

00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.619
also right to mention Elliot's guitar solo on

00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:46.420
that song. About as precise and pristine and

00:21:46.420 --> 00:21:49.799
perfect as you can get, I think, for sure. All

00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:52.539
right. We are back to you following up Bye Bye

00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:55.960
Love and moving in stereo. We've already overlapped,

00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:00.000
so I'll be... Obviously, I had that set up as

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.400
one of my songs. Okay, so going back to my formula,

00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.900
so now I've taken a song from the first two albums,

00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:08.640
so now I have to go to the third album with Panorama,

00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:11.859
which is a very unique album, probably their

00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:16.339
most misunderstood album, I think, because even

00:22:16.339 --> 00:22:18.599
though Kandiyo was quite a bit different from

00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:21.599
the first album, the two were still kind of in

00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.799
the same vein. And with their third album, Rick

00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.779
consciously wanted to do something different.

00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:30.539
It really took the record company by surprise,

00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:33.380
and they almost didn't want them to go forth

00:22:33.380 --> 00:22:35.660
with Panorama. They wanted them to actually re

00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:37.960
-record some other things because they weren't

00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:39.680
too sure about it. Because it's definitely a

00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.140
much different and darker kind of album than

00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:46.880
the other ones. So going through Panorama, I

00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.869
decided to go with the one single. from the album

00:22:49.869 --> 00:22:52.710
and the one that got some pretty good radio play,

00:22:52.809 --> 00:22:55.829
and that's Touch and Go. Touch and Go is such

00:22:55.829 --> 00:22:59.670
a unique song. It's hard to even describe, but

00:22:59.670 --> 00:23:03.029
it's such an offbeat song and it's so different.

00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:06.529
And the amazing thing is it still entered the

00:23:06.529 --> 00:23:10.089
top 40, even though it wasn't your typical rock

00:23:10.089 --> 00:23:14.559
song, pop song. chorus bridge solo you know it's

00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:16.779
a totally different kind of feel to it it's really

00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:20.539
mysterious and dark sounding it's a lot of offbeat

00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:23.400
time signatures so it isn't necessarily something

00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:26.519
that's conducive to radio but like i said it

00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:28.700
did get some radio play and it cracked the top

00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:32.900
40 it did number 37 um when panorama came out

00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:35.839
i think it's also there their least selling album,

00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:38.400
if you will. But it didn't go platinum. And it

00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:40.740
took a long time for people to get used to Panorama.

00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:44.079
But I do think it gets more respect now as the

00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:47.000
years have gone by. So instead of trying to go

00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.740
with one of the more offbeat cuts, I decided

00:23:50.740 --> 00:23:52.640
to go with the one single and went with Touch

00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.680
and Go. It's a great song. I feel like you hit

00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:57.900
the nail on the head. It is their most misunderstood

00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:00.680
album, and I would say their most underrated

00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:04.819
album, because there's a lot of angst and aggression

00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:08.359
in this album that you don't hear on. other cars

00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:12.420
albums. And this is where Rick's tongue in cheek

00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:15.240
lyrics have a little bit more of a sharp edge

00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:18.759
to them. They cut a little deeper and the music

00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:21.940
just kind of goes along with that lyric theme.

00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:25.859
And I actually understand why the band chose

00:24:25.859 --> 00:24:29.319
touch and go as the single from this album, because

00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:33.319
it is really the most musically digestible compared

00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:36.700
to some of the other songs like the title track.

00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:39.740
And give me some slack that are much more intense

00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:42.480
compared to the sounds that people were used

00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:46.579
to from the self -titled and Candio. So following

00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:51.039
that up for track six, I'm going to go in another

00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:53.980
direction. I'm going to stick with a Rico Kassick

00:24:53.980 --> 00:24:58.119
song, but I'm a sucker for album openers. And

00:24:58.119 --> 00:25:02.000
I think the boldest album open that the cars

00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:06.549
ever did was when they took a chance. and opened

00:25:06.549 --> 00:25:10.529
up an album with a power ballad. And that would

00:25:10.529 --> 00:25:15.809
be 1981's Shake It Up and the song Since You're

00:25:15.809 --> 00:25:19.789
Gone. One of my absolute favorite songs from

00:25:19.789 --> 00:25:22.789
then growing up. I can tell you right now, Wildwood,

00:25:22.829 --> 00:25:25.809
New Jersey. I was maybe four or five years old

00:25:25.809 --> 00:25:27.869
and they took me on the boardwalk and we played

00:25:27.869 --> 00:25:31.400
that game where... You would bet on a color and

00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:34.119
then someone would throw a beach ball into a

00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:37.420
wrestling ring of holes. And whichever color

00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:40.660
the beach ball landed in the hole, if you had

00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:43.700
your money on that color, you won a prize. Well,

00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:46.640
I had picked blue. The ball went into the blue

00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:50.359
hole. And I want a copy of The Cars, Shake It

00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:53.240
Up on vinyl. And I've had it ever since. And

00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:55.579
Since You're Gone was the first song I ever heard

00:25:55.579 --> 00:25:57.839
when I dropped the needle on that album. And

00:25:57.839 --> 00:25:59.819
I just fell in love with it. The opening snaps.

00:26:00.259 --> 00:26:03.119
The guitar, Elliot's guitar is so beautiful.

00:26:03.420 --> 00:26:06.880
It's distorted, but it's smooth. And it works

00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.859
so well. And you could feel the heartache in

00:26:09.859 --> 00:26:13.039
this song. And to open up an album whose lead

00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:17.819
single is so upbeat and happy. To have such a

00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:22.059
kind of crushing lyrical open is a bold move

00:26:22.059 --> 00:26:25.180
by the band and one that I think definitely needs

00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:28.700
to be recognized here. So I am following up Touch

00:26:28.700 --> 00:26:31.000
and Go with Since You're Gone from Shake It Up.

00:26:31.299 --> 00:26:34.180
That's a good choice. I'm taking notes as I go

00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:36.319
along here because, yes, that's one that I had

00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:38.980
picked. So that's a great choice. One thing that

00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:42.039
really amazed me about Regan's songwriting is

00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:45.609
how... He could create such a quirky, and there's

00:26:45.609 --> 00:26:49.170
that word again, atmosphere in his lyrics and

00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:53.509
the music. But somehow it's radio friendly. Because

00:26:53.509 --> 00:26:57.130
Since You're Gone was a hair shy of making the

00:26:57.130 --> 00:27:01.569
top 40 as a single. It peaked at number 41 when

00:27:01.569 --> 00:27:05.769
it came out. So, you know, to have such a quirky

00:27:05.769 --> 00:27:09.809
offbeat kind of song to be able to hit the charts

00:27:09.809 --> 00:27:12.730
and stay there for a while is really... A unique

00:27:12.730 --> 00:27:16.269
thing. And the guitar, Elliot, just seems to

00:27:16.269 --> 00:27:19.470
come up with these unique and precise guitar

00:27:19.470 --> 00:27:22.809
solos, which really seems to always tie everything

00:27:22.809 --> 00:27:26.130
together, no matter how offbeat a song might

00:27:26.130 --> 00:27:28.690
be by them. So yeah, I agree. That's a great

00:27:28.690 --> 00:27:31.069
choice. All right. Now we're throwing back to

00:27:31.069 --> 00:27:35.089
you to follow it up. Okay. So let's see. Going

00:27:35.089 --> 00:27:38.470
in my uniform direction here, I did something

00:27:38.470 --> 00:27:42.180
from Panorama. So the next album they did was

00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:45.880
Shake It Up. And, you know, I looked at Shake

00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:49.799
It Up and I decided to throw a little curveball

00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:52.880
in here. Or at least I think it's probably considered

00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:59.619
a curveball. I went with A Dream Away. This song

00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:04.400
is highly underrated to me. And it's just so

00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:08.700
dreamlike. And it just has this magical. kind

00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:11.779
of feel to it and it's like there's like a mystery

00:28:11.779 --> 00:28:16.200
about it and lyrically it what amazes me about

00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:20.299
this song is lyrically it just it seemingly makes

00:28:20.299 --> 00:28:23.460
no sense at all you know i've sat there and looked

00:28:23.460 --> 00:28:25.920
at the lyrics and read them i've tried to read

00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:28.619
it as a poem i've tried to read it as a story

00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:31.619
and you just can never quite put your finger

00:28:31.619 --> 00:28:34.319
on what the hell rick is really talking about

00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:37.410
in the song The way he blends things together.

00:28:37.490 --> 00:28:41.029
And even though these lyrics make no sense, it's

00:28:41.029 --> 00:28:43.589
seemingly perfect. The way they sound together,

00:28:43.750 --> 00:28:46.490
it's hard for me to fathom it. You know, to just

00:28:46.490 --> 00:28:48.930
read these lyrics and go, that absolutely makes

00:28:48.930 --> 00:28:51.670
no sense. But they're perfect. It's like I wouldn't

00:28:51.670 --> 00:28:54.950
change a word. So that always amazed me. And,

00:28:54.990 --> 00:28:58.309
you know, once again, he just takes such a quirky,

00:28:58.470 --> 00:29:02.400
offbeat song and turns it into a... A radio song.

00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:04.920
It somehow gets played on the radio, even though

00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:07.480
it's just a quirky thing. I guess you would consider

00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:10.700
that a curveball. And that is a curveball, definitely.

00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:15.700
And I like it because following it up, I have

00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:19.059
a curveball as well. So you're throwing a curve

00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:20.740
and I'm throwing a curve. Maybe that'll put us

00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:23.759
right back on track where we need to be. One

00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:27.730
thing I love about the cars. is the fact that

00:29:27.730 --> 00:29:30.349
they have two very competent lead singers. And

00:29:30.349 --> 00:29:33.750
something I'd like to do on each side of my Cars

00:29:33.750 --> 00:29:38.710
mixtapes is have a song that features both Rick

00:29:38.710 --> 00:29:41.009
and Ben as the lead vocalists. And there's not

00:29:41.009 --> 00:29:45.170
many in the Cars catalog. However, on Heartbeat

00:29:45.170 --> 00:29:49.150
City, one of the heaviest songs on the album

00:29:49.150 --> 00:29:53.910
is the incredible It's Not the Night, which includes

00:29:53.910 --> 00:29:58.599
both Ben and Rick. on lead vocals. This song

00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:02.880
is heavy. It's intense. It's a song about sweet,

00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.579
sweet revenge. And you feel it. You feel it in

00:30:07.579 --> 00:30:10.339
this song. And the fact that this song wasn't

00:30:10.339 --> 00:30:14.279
a single has always shocked me because it's one

00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.819
of the most powerful songs on Heartbeat City.

00:30:18.039 --> 00:30:21.720
And I know when you have songs like Magic, you

00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:25.559
might think, hello again. drive, all massive,

00:30:25.640 --> 00:30:28.420
massive hits. I can understand where it's not

00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:31.279
the night doesn't fit in with those, but across

00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:36.240
the entire chorus catalog, I can't have a mixtape

00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:40.019
without this one because of its uniqueness and

00:30:40.019 --> 00:30:42.839
rarity in the catalog of both singing lead on

00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:46.000
one song. So I am following up a dream away with

00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:48.940
it's not the night from heartbeat city. Wow.

00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:53.490
So we got back to back really deep cuts. That's

00:30:53.490 --> 00:30:55.950
really cool. And, you know, as I went along here,

00:30:56.150 --> 00:30:59.450
I was trying my best, consciously trying my best

00:30:59.450 --> 00:31:02.950
not to go too far one way. You know, I don't

00:31:02.950 --> 00:31:05.190
want to start throwing a curveball every other

00:31:05.190 --> 00:31:09.269
pitch, you know. And so I tried to, like, keep

00:31:09.269 --> 00:31:12.289
it balanced somehow. So after we both go with

00:31:12.289 --> 00:31:15.970
the curveballs, I said to myself, OK, so my last

00:31:15.970 --> 00:31:18.049
two songs have been Touch and Go and A Dream

00:31:18.049 --> 00:31:20.190
Away, which are both kind of really quirky car

00:31:20.190 --> 00:31:22.609
songs. So I was thinking I better go back to

00:31:22.609 --> 00:31:25.609
the mainstream a little bit. So I went to the

00:31:25.609 --> 00:31:27.529
next album. I have to shake it up, keeping in

00:31:27.529 --> 00:31:31.609
my order. And so I'm at Heartbeat City 2. And

00:31:31.609 --> 00:31:35.369
I decided to go with a radio -friendly track

00:31:35.369 --> 00:31:39.750
this time. And as one of your listeners had typed

00:31:39.750 --> 00:31:42.970
into you, I went with Magic. Nice. It's just

00:31:42.970 --> 00:31:46.069
a happy -go -lucky, upbeat, you know, summertime

00:31:46.069 --> 00:31:48.869
song. And I still have the visual of the video.

00:31:49.500 --> 00:31:52.299
Because the video was so huge on MTV when this

00:31:52.299 --> 00:31:55.579
album came out of Rick walking on water. It's

00:31:55.579 --> 00:31:58.440
like a pool, an underground pool setting, and

00:31:58.440 --> 00:32:01.460
Rick's walking on the water there. And also,

00:32:01.700 --> 00:32:06.259
I just love Ben Orr's badass bass lines on that

00:32:06.259 --> 00:32:10.059
song. I really love his deep bass on that track.

00:32:11.059 --> 00:32:13.920
So I decided to go a little mainstream and pick

00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:17.079
something off the radio. And so that's why I

00:32:17.079 --> 00:32:19.109
went with Magic. I didn't write down. I think

00:32:19.109 --> 00:32:22.269
Magic actually was a top 20 single. So I kind

00:32:22.269 --> 00:32:24.430
of went a little radio friendly this time and

00:32:24.430 --> 00:32:26.650
try to smooth things out a little with Magic.

00:32:26.869 --> 00:32:30.490
I think it's great. I love that track. If you

00:32:30.490 --> 00:32:32.690
go back and listen to my interview with Will

00:32:32.690 --> 00:32:35.930
Turpin of Collective Soul, we talk about how

00:32:35.930 --> 00:32:41.910
Magic from Heartbeat City is a influence to Collective

00:32:41.910 --> 00:32:45.009
Soul's song Hollywood. So if you ever listen

00:32:45.009 --> 00:32:48.339
to the song Hollywood. By Collective Soul. It's

00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:51.240
kind of their nod. To Rick Ocasek and the Cars.

00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:53.839
And this song. So I think that's a great one.

00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:58.559
I love this song. To me. That video. Was just

00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:01.759
part of the MTV revolution. As a kid seeing.

00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:05.240
This tall lanky guy. Just walking across a pool.

00:33:05.420 --> 00:33:08.859
Singing. It was so 80s. But it works so well.

00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:12.839
And Heartbeat City. my parents had a VHS of all

00:33:12.839 --> 00:33:16.259
the videos from it. And there were some strange,

00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:19.000
memorable videos during that time. That's all

00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:21.579
I'll say for now, because I have a feeling we'll

00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:24.740
touch on heartbeat city some more tonight. So

00:33:24.740 --> 00:33:29.380
closing out side a, the cars know how to end

00:33:29.380 --> 00:33:32.319
sides really, really well. And they know how

00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:36.779
to end albums really, really well. So this one

00:33:36.779 --> 00:33:40.519
is actually. easy for me to have a bank of songs

00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:44.200
just in and of itself of where to end because

00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:47.259
it's the end of a side and they know how to end

00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:50.619
strong so i'm at a toss -up right now between

00:33:50.619 --> 00:33:54.920
two closing songs both from the same album it's

00:33:54.920 --> 00:33:59.000
the side a and side b closer and i think i'm

00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:03.119
gonna lean towards the side b closer because

00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:06.960
i'm just feeling coming out of magic We need

00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:09.179
to talk about the dangerous type. I'm going back

00:34:09.179 --> 00:34:11.780
to Candio. I don't think they could have picked

00:34:11.780 --> 00:34:14.699
a better closer for that album. And it has such

00:34:14.699 --> 00:34:19.400
a tasty Elliot Easton riff that just drives with

00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:22.480
the kick drum as it's opening. And the song,

00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:26.800
again, has this pop sensibility. So when Letters

00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:31.059
to Cleo covered the song for the Crafts soundtrack

00:34:31.059 --> 00:34:35.079
in the 90s and added that layer of pop to it.

00:34:35.289 --> 00:34:39.369
It made the song reinvigorated again for a whole

00:34:39.369 --> 00:34:43.889
new generation. And that's because the cars already

00:34:43.889 --> 00:34:47.130
had pop sensibility and letters to Cleo just

00:34:47.130 --> 00:34:50.650
put their little bit of a spin on it and reinvented

00:34:50.650 --> 00:34:53.289
it. But they didn't reinvent the song because

00:34:53.289 --> 00:34:57.690
the songs pop nature was already there. And I

00:34:57.690 --> 00:35:00.309
love the lyrics to this song. I love the guitar

00:35:00.309 --> 00:35:05.039
work in it. And it's, again, a perfect. for either

00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:09.679
a side or an album. So Closing Outside A, Dangerous

00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:13.000
Type from Candio. That's a great track. And you

00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:14.519
know, I'm learning something. You learn something

00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:16.920
new every day because I didn't know that Letters

00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:19.179
to Khalil covered that song. So I've already

00:35:19.179 --> 00:35:20.900
made a note of it. I'm going to go check it out

00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:23.380
for sure. Oh, it's great. And they were a very

00:35:23.380 --> 00:35:25.639
good Boston band. So obviously they felt the

00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:28.280
car's influence. That's really cool. Yep, I had

00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:31.480
Dangerous Type as one of my songs listed. I agree

00:35:31.480 --> 00:35:33.599
with that. That's a great choice. Absolutely.

00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:36.840
All right. Well, there you have it, folks. Side

00:35:36.840 --> 00:35:40.159
A of our ultimate mixtape of the cars, which

00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:44.139
kicked off with Let's Go, Good Times Roll, Bye

00:35:44.139 --> 00:35:49.019
Bye Love, Moving in Stereo, Touch and Go, Since

00:35:49.019 --> 00:35:52.699
You're Gone, A Dream Away, It's Not the Night,

00:35:52.940 --> 00:35:57.980
Magic, and Dangerous Type. Head over to MyWeeklyMixtape

00:35:57.980 --> 00:36:00.960
.com to hear all the songs we've discussed in

00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:04.340
this mix through the playlist embedded on the

00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:08.000
episode page. Now, Joe, we've been talking about

00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:09.719
your book on and off throughout the night so

00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:12.900
far, but I guess my first question, what made

00:36:12.900 --> 00:36:15.480
you gravitate towards writing a book specifically

00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:19.320
about Benjamin Orr and not the Cars as a whole?

00:36:20.250 --> 00:36:22.269
When you think about the members of this band,

00:36:22.369 --> 00:36:25.630
all the members have led really unique and interesting

00:36:25.630 --> 00:36:30.349
musical careers. Yeah. So I'll make it as brief

00:36:30.349 --> 00:36:33.210
as possible, explaining how I came up with the

00:36:33.210 --> 00:36:35.889
idea to write or how it came about, because it

00:36:35.889 --> 00:36:39.570
actually happened by happenstance. So we're going

00:36:39.570 --> 00:36:41.750
back quite a ways now because it took me a long

00:36:41.750 --> 00:36:43.469
time to put this book together because I was

00:36:43.469 --> 00:36:45.610
kind of doing it in my spare time. You know,

00:36:45.630 --> 00:36:48.070
I'm a full time job. I got a family and I can't

00:36:48.070 --> 00:36:49.750
just sit in my office and write a book eight

00:36:49.750 --> 00:36:52.429
hours a day. So it actually like and do all the

00:36:52.429 --> 00:36:54.349
interviews I did and stuff. And of course, Ben

00:36:54.349 --> 00:36:56.429
was no longer with us, like couldn't interview

00:36:56.429 --> 00:36:58.929
him. So what's the best thing to do? Interview

00:36:58.929 --> 00:37:02.130
as many people who knew him as possible. So this

00:37:02.130 --> 00:37:04.369
is a very long, grueling process. And people

00:37:04.369 --> 00:37:06.809
think I'm exaggerating when I say this, but I'm

00:37:06.809 --> 00:37:10.079
not. The book literally took me a decade to complete.

00:37:10.340 --> 00:37:13.260
So it was a long time coming. But going all the

00:37:13.260 --> 00:37:15.280
way back to the beginning of them. So I was already

00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:18.139
a music journalist and a freelance writer. But

00:37:18.139 --> 00:37:20.480
all my writing, all my music writing revolved

00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:23.599
around local newspapers and a couple of rock

00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:26.440
magazines. So when I decided I finally wanted

00:37:26.440 --> 00:37:29.260
to tackle a book, I had a short list of ideas

00:37:29.260 --> 00:37:32.139
that I was thinking about doing. And so this,

00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:34.980
to give you an idea, this goes back to the original

00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:39.159
social media MySpace. I had a MySpace account

00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:42.139
and on it, I listed my personal information,

00:37:42.420 --> 00:37:45.199
said that I was a music writer from Boston, listed

00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:47.460
some of my favorite bands. I listed The Cars

00:37:47.460 --> 00:37:51.360
as one of my influences. Well, a female fan of

00:37:51.360 --> 00:37:55.579
The Cars saw my MySpace page and sent me a message

00:37:55.579 --> 00:37:58.260
and said, you should write a book about Ben -Hur.

00:37:58.710 --> 00:38:01.710
And exactly what you said earlier, I went back

00:38:01.710 --> 00:38:04.570
to her and said, well, why would I write about

00:38:04.570 --> 00:38:07.349
Ben? Why wouldn't I want to just write about

00:38:07.349 --> 00:38:10.369
the cars in general? And her only reply was,

00:38:10.610 --> 00:38:12.949
I think you should just investigate it. A lot

00:38:12.949 --> 00:38:15.389
of people don't know about Ben and what he did

00:38:15.389 --> 00:38:17.730
in his life. I think you should take a look at

00:38:17.730 --> 00:38:21.769
it. So I did. I investigated Ben, did some research,

00:38:21.909 --> 00:38:24.530
and I found out some things about him that I

00:38:24.530 --> 00:38:28.510
didn't know, such as. He's originally from Cleveland,

00:38:28.690 --> 00:38:30.829
which is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of

00:38:30.829 --> 00:38:33.750
Fame. So I thought that was pretty cool. I also

00:38:33.750 --> 00:38:37.809
learned that he was a childhood star in his town,

00:38:37.969 --> 00:38:40.309
if you will. Ben started playing instruments

00:38:40.309 --> 00:38:43.230
when he was like 12. He started out as a drummer.

00:38:43.670 --> 00:38:47.090
And then by 17, he was a guitar player. And he

00:38:47.090 --> 00:38:49.710
actually was fronting his own band in Cleveland

00:38:49.710 --> 00:38:52.489
at age 17. The band was called the Grasshoppers.

00:38:52.769 --> 00:38:55.460
So this is like in the mid 50s. So here's this

00:38:55.460 --> 00:38:58.219
teenage kid fronting his own band. Well, there

00:38:58.219 --> 00:39:01.280
was a TV show in Cleveland back then, a music

00:39:01.280 --> 00:39:04.119
television show that was called Beat. And it

00:39:04.119 --> 00:39:06.559
was kind of like Cleveland's version of American

00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:09.380
Bandstand. They brought in professional musicians

00:39:09.380 --> 00:39:11.719
who had the hit of the day and they would lip

00:39:11.719 --> 00:39:14.519
sync their songs. So it was just like that same

00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:17.019
format as American Bandstand. The only thing

00:39:17.019 --> 00:39:19.880
different that Upbeat did was when they would

00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:22.440
go to and from commercials, they would have a

00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:25.679
house band there. that would play music to come

00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:28.699
in and out of commercials. And the house bands,

00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:31.119
they would go into the city of Cleveland and

00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:33.099
find local bands that they thought were good

00:39:33.099 --> 00:39:36.579
to be on the show, to do the intros and outros.

00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:41.179
And Ben's band was chosen. So this kid's 17 years

00:39:41.179 --> 00:39:43.679
old. He's not even out of school yet. And he's

00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:45.840
fronting a band and he's on like a nationally

00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:48.460
televised. And the show ended up being nationally

00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:51.340
syndicated until the early 70s. So it was seen

00:39:51.340 --> 00:39:54.239
in like 60 cities across the country. And I'm

00:39:54.239 --> 00:39:56.300
thinking to myself, this kid was like a star.

00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:59.360
And this was like 15 years before he even met

00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:01.960
Rick. So I learned all these things about him.

00:40:01.980 --> 00:40:04.320
Like, oh, my God, this kid was a rock star in

00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.159
his hometown before he even thought about being

00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:09.739
a member of the cars. So these types of things,

00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:12.179
that's what helped it for me right there. I just

00:40:12.179 --> 00:40:14.460
said, I got to tell this guy's story. So that's

00:40:14.460 --> 00:40:17.219
how I decided to write about Ben. I just thought

00:40:17.219 --> 00:40:20.960
his early life was really cool. And he worked

00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:24.019
hard and met Rick in Ohio. They went through

00:40:24.019 --> 00:40:26.000
a lot together. A lot of people might think that

00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:28.739
it's easy to become a rock star. These guys toiled

00:40:28.739 --> 00:40:31.960
away in bars for like 10 years, starving to death

00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:34.820
before they ever even got a sniff of a record

00:40:34.820 --> 00:40:38.159
deal. Awesome. Well, piggybacking off what you

00:40:38.159 --> 00:40:41.420
were talking about. A lot of Cars fans aren't

00:40:41.420 --> 00:40:44.239
even familiar with the Crosby, Stills, Nash &

00:40:44.239 --> 00:40:48.679
Young or America -esque sounding pre -Cars band

00:40:48.679 --> 00:40:52.719
called Milkwood, which featured Ric Ocasek and

00:40:52.719 --> 00:40:55.840
Benjamin Orr. It's an album that I've been trying

00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:58.559
to get my hands on a CD reissue for for years.

00:40:58.659 --> 00:41:01.539
I just can't find it. If you're lucky enough

00:41:01.539 --> 00:41:05.239
to stumble across the vinyl in a used bin, please

00:41:05.239 --> 00:41:07.559
pick it up and let me know about it, obviously,

00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:10.070
because I've been... Long searching for this

00:41:10.070 --> 00:41:13.469
one. But if you go on YouTube, there's a song

00:41:13.469 --> 00:41:16.309
on there called Dream Traitor, which I'll embed

00:41:16.309 --> 00:41:19.449
over at the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com.

00:41:19.989 --> 00:41:23.670
Even though the band as a whole isn't what people

00:41:23.670 --> 00:41:27.030
expect to hear when someone mentions the cars,

00:41:27.289 --> 00:41:31.329
I, for one, hear the foundation of the cars being

00:41:31.329 --> 00:41:35.710
laid down in a song like Dream Traitor. Yeah,

00:41:35.710 --> 00:41:38.659
you know, I'm going to be totally honest. I never

00:41:38.659 --> 00:41:41.159
really clicked with the Milkwood album. I'm not

00:41:41.159 --> 00:41:43.820
saying it's bad. And I know what they were doing.

00:41:43.980 --> 00:41:48.079
I mean, this is like 1971 or so when they were

00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:50.780
doing the whole Milkwood thing. And in that early

00:41:50.780 --> 00:41:54.659
70s thing, the whole acoustic coffee houses,

00:41:54.780 --> 00:41:57.480
like you said, the Crosby, Stills, Nass kind

00:41:57.480 --> 00:42:00.500
of feel, that was huge at the time. And these

00:42:00.500 --> 00:42:02.559
guys had already been, Rick and Ben had already

00:42:02.559 --> 00:42:05.619
been together for a decade trying to make it.

00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:08.619
So that was big at the time. And they were in

00:42:08.619 --> 00:42:11.619
Boston, tons of coffee houses in Boston. Actually,

00:42:11.659 --> 00:42:14.579
Rick and Ben performed as a duo for a while,

00:42:14.739 --> 00:42:17.440
just the two of them playing acoustic guitars.

00:42:18.059 --> 00:42:21.460
So they tried to jump on that train, if you will.

00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:24.539
That whole acoustic vibe was just big at the

00:42:24.539 --> 00:42:27.179
time, and that's why they did it. But it was

00:42:27.179 --> 00:42:31.159
short -lived, and it wasn't too long before Rick

00:42:31.159 --> 00:42:34.139
decided to strip it all down and go back to being

00:42:34.139 --> 00:42:37.809
a straight -up rock band. I don't... possessed

00:42:37.809 --> 00:42:40.449
that milkwood album i've seen it a couple of

00:42:40.449 --> 00:42:43.710
times um and the times i've seen it the price

00:42:43.710 --> 00:42:46.469
tag was too rich for me yeah it's too rich for

00:42:46.469 --> 00:42:49.250
me if i like the album i just i'm like i can't

00:42:49.250 --> 00:42:51.849
do this i mean you can find copies that on ebay

00:42:51.849 --> 00:42:53.849
people are asking for like a couple hundred bucks

00:42:53.849 --> 00:42:57.750
for a copy of that album um so it is rare and

00:42:57.750 --> 00:43:00.090
i guess they shouldn't say i wouldn't want to

00:43:00.090 --> 00:43:03.010
have it but i haven't gone out of my way And,

00:43:03.050 --> 00:43:05.070
you know, it's funny because Rick and Ben both

00:43:05.070 --> 00:43:07.130
kind of cringe a little when they look back on

00:43:07.130 --> 00:43:09.809
the Milkwood thing. But don't get me wrong, just

00:43:09.809 --> 00:43:11.670
because I don't like it doesn't mean somebody

00:43:11.670 --> 00:43:14.550
else won't. And I've talked to plenty of Cars

00:43:14.550 --> 00:43:18.309
fans who love that Milkwood album. So that's

00:43:18.309 --> 00:43:21.010
only one man's opinion. Of course, it reminds

00:43:21.010 --> 00:43:25.170
me of the way people feel about Billy Joel's

00:43:25.170 --> 00:43:28.269
pre -Billy Joel project, Attila. So it's kind

00:43:28.269 --> 00:43:31.090
of along that same line. It's just not what they're

00:43:31.090 --> 00:43:34.789
used to hearing. So 100 % I get that. Yep. And

00:43:34.789 --> 00:43:37.650
here we are in 2023 in a world that unfortunately

00:43:37.650 --> 00:43:42.329
no longer has Rick and Benjamin in it. Just curious,

00:43:42.530 --> 00:43:47.139
in 2007. Elliot Easton and Greg Hawks got together

00:43:47.139 --> 00:43:50.219
with Todd Rugren and performed as the new cars.

00:43:50.739 --> 00:43:54.320
Do you think a one -off tour celebrating the

00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:56.519
band's legacy? Obviously now that they're both

00:43:56.519 --> 00:43:59.199
past would be in good taste because I'm not going

00:43:59.199 --> 00:44:03.739
to lie. I was half debating including their song.

00:44:03.840 --> 00:44:06.039
Not tonight with a little asterisk next to it

00:44:06.039 --> 00:44:08.639
in my bank of songs for tonight, because you

00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:11.639
had Elliot, you had Greg and it really felt like

00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:16.059
a long lost car song. I don't know. Having never

00:44:16.059 --> 00:44:18.840
seen the original lineup live, I almost wish

00:44:18.840 --> 00:44:22.760
that this lineup of 2007 would get together and

00:44:22.760 --> 00:44:25.599
maybe do a celebration of the band's music for

00:44:25.599 --> 00:44:29.099
one more run. I would welcome it. I really would.

00:44:29.219 --> 00:44:31.420
You'd be surprised. And I didn't realize this

00:44:31.420 --> 00:44:35.460
until once the book came out and I had Cars fans

00:44:35.460 --> 00:44:39.500
and Ben fans coming to me and approaching me

00:44:39.500 --> 00:44:41.840
about how I put the book together and stuff.

00:44:42.099 --> 00:44:44.900
A lot of people... Didn't like the fact that

00:44:44.900 --> 00:44:47.719
they tried to do that. But there's a lot of Cars

00:44:47.719 --> 00:44:50.599
tribute bands out there, like right now. Yes.

00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:54.179
And they do a great job. So if it's okay for

00:44:54.179 --> 00:44:56.739
tribute bands to do their thing and you like

00:44:56.739 --> 00:44:59.300
hearing them, you know, recreate the Cars music,

00:44:59.500 --> 00:45:03.360
what's wrong with having actual legendary musicians

00:45:03.360 --> 00:45:06.260
put something like that together? And I mean,

00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:09.699
if Greg and even David Robinson, who I know wasn't

00:45:09.699 --> 00:45:12.480
in the new Cars, and Elliot, if they were...

00:45:12.679 --> 00:45:16.900
wanted to do it and felt like it was a fair representation,

00:45:17.460 --> 00:45:20.659
why wouldn't you want to see it? I mean, I'm

00:45:20.659 --> 00:45:23.639
not trying to say that Todd Rundgren is going

00:45:23.639 --> 00:45:28.079
to personify Rico Kasich, if you will, but Todd

00:45:28.079 --> 00:45:31.219
Rundgren's a legend. I mean, he's one of my all

00:45:31.219 --> 00:45:33.719
-time favorite musicians. I would welcome it

00:45:33.719 --> 00:45:36.719
if they tried to do it again. I don't see any

00:45:36.719 --> 00:45:38.800
harm in it at all. You know, it's paying tribute.

00:45:39.179 --> 00:45:41.829
No tribute, man. You know, it's because you love

00:45:41.829 --> 00:45:44.750
them and you want to continue to keep their music

00:45:44.750 --> 00:45:47.630
alive and share it with everybody. So I'd be

00:45:47.630 --> 00:45:50.030
totally up for that. That was a great band, too.

00:45:50.110 --> 00:45:52.889
Never mind the Drummer Prairie Prince, who was

00:45:52.889 --> 00:45:55.829
an original member of the Tubes. I mean, you

00:45:55.829 --> 00:45:59.389
got some class A musicians there wanting to recreate

00:45:59.389 --> 00:46:02.849
that stuff. So I would welcome it. I really would.

00:46:03.050 --> 00:46:07.039
Same here. Well, now we are flipping the tape

00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:09.280
over to Side B, and I'm going to kick things

00:46:09.280 --> 00:46:12.079
off. And again, I think I might have mentioned

00:46:12.079 --> 00:46:14.980
this before tonight, but the Cars self -titled

00:46:14.980 --> 00:46:19.099
album is my favorite album of all time. And being

00:46:19.099 --> 00:46:22.619
I get to pick the first song for Side B, I thought,

00:46:22.619 --> 00:46:26.440
what more perfect way to start off Side B than

00:46:26.440 --> 00:46:29.300
with one of the band's most thunderous songs.

00:46:30.039 --> 00:46:33.260
The song that started Side B on their self -titled

00:46:33.260 --> 00:46:36.960
album, You're All I've Got Tonight. Patreon mixtaper

00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:39.599
Jason Donch has talked about the Smashing Pumpkins

00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:43.239
cover that took place in the 90s. And I'll just

00:46:43.239 --> 00:46:47.079
say this. Smashing Pumpkins did a great job rocking

00:46:47.079 --> 00:46:51.380
this song out. However, the Cars version was

00:46:51.380 --> 00:46:55.619
heavier. David Robinson's drums are like thunder

00:46:55.619 --> 00:46:58.559
on that original version. There was something

00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:00.980
about the reverb that they added in the drum

00:47:00.980 --> 00:47:04.659
sound that they achieved on this album that made

00:47:04.659 --> 00:47:09.280
the song feel so massive that even the smashing

00:47:09.280 --> 00:47:12.980
pumpkins, which are inherently a heavier band,

00:47:13.260 --> 00:47:16.440
not sound as heavy as the cars. So kicking off

00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:19.780
side to you're all I've got tonight. That's a

00:47:19.780 --> 00:47:22.099
great choice. And you know, I'm going to have

00:47:22.099 --> 00:47:24.239
to shift because guess what I was going to pick

00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:28.659
next? You're All I've Got Tonight. You're All

00:47:28.659 --> 00:47:30.920
I've Got Tonight was going to be my next choice.

00:47:31.840 --> 00:47:35.099
Just a straight up classic rock radio song. I

00:47:35.099 --> 00:47:36.840
mean, you know, how can you go wrong with it?

00:47:36.980 --> 00:47:39.059
And like you said, it's a great opener for side

00:47:39.059 --> 00:47:42.500
two of that album. And so the four songs on side

00:47:42.500 --> 00:47:44.900
two that I feel are all one, I knew eventually

00:47:44.900 --> 00:47:46.539
it was all going to happen. They were all going

00:47:46.539 --> 00:47:50.610
to fall into place. So I'm going to have to switch.

00:47:50.730 --> 00:47:52.969
That's a great choice, obviously. I mean, that's

00:47:52.969 --> 00:47:56.610
what was up next for me. So I had mentioned to

00:47:56.610 --> 00:47:58.489
you, I've already said it a few times, how I

00:47:58.489 --> 00:48:00.949
tend to go album to album to make sure I cover

00:48:00.949 --> 00:48:04.210
everything. Well, my last choice was from Heartbeat

00:48:04.210 --> 00:48:07.530
City. So the next album was Door to Door. And

00:48:07.530 --> 00:48:11.289
I took a hard look at it. And I decided in the

00:48:11.289 --> 00:48:14.769
end to not choose anything from Door to Door.

00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:18.219
But not because I didn't think anything was worthy

00:48:18.219 --> 00:48:22.559
of being on a mixtape, but because Door to Door

00:48:22.559 --> 00:48:24.900
was a tough album for them. There was already

00:48:24.900 --> 00:48:27.219
a lot of bad blood going on between the band

00:48:27.219 --> 00:48:30.000
members or some of the band members. The writing

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:33.539
was on the wall already that the band was probably

00:48:33.539 --> 00:48:36.539
not going to survive much longer. I mean, they

00:48:36.539 --> 00:48:38.719
ended up doing a very short tour for Door to

00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:41.659
Door. It just didn't last very long. And they

00:48:41.659 --> 00:48:43.920
had kind of taken a different approach by then.

00:48:44.269 --> 00:48:47.030
In earlier Cars albums, Rick would come in with

00:48:47.030 --> 00:48:50.150
a batch of songs, but the rest of the band would

00:48:50.150 --> 00:48:52.929
have a say. You know, whether it be changing

00:48:52.929 --> 00:48:54.909
the music a little bit, maybe not necessarily

00:48:54.909 --> 00:48:57.469
the lyrics. The lyrics were all Rick. But the

00:48:57.469 --> 00:49:00.250
rest of the band members would add to the mix

00:49:00.250 --> 00:49:03.289
and they would create and re -record things once

00:49:03.289 --> 00:49:06.010
they got in the studio. Well, by the time Door

00:49:06.010 --> 00:49:08.469
to Door came around, for lack of a better way

00:49:08.469 --> 00:49:10.190
of saying it, the Cars had pretty much turned

00:49:10.190 --> 00:49:12.530
into a dictatorship by then. Rick was pretty

00:49:12.530 --> 00:49:14.780
much leading the show. He was writing everything.

00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:17.099
He was writing all the music. As a matter of

00:49:17.099 --> 00:49:19.199
fact, when they entered the studio to do Door

00:49:19.199 --> 00:49:22.460
to Door, he already had demo songs on a tape,

00:49:22.579 --> 00:49:24.300
and he was pretty much saying, here, learn this.

00:49:24.679 --> 00:49:26.840
So the other guys in the band weren't really

00:49:26.840 --> 00:49:29.559
able to give their two cents anymore by this

00:49:29.559 --> 00:49:32.559
point. So because of those reasons, I just felt

00:49:32.559 --> 00:49:36.119
like too many truly iconic car songs were going

00:49:36.119 --> 00:49:38.300
to get left off the list, even if it's just one.

00:49:38.880 --> 00:49:41.360
So I had a couple of songs in mind for Door to

00:49:41.360 --> 00:49:43.719
Door. And if we were picking today and I was

00:49:43.719 --> 00:49:46.800
picking 20 songs, a song from Door to Door would

00:49:46.800 --> 00:49:48.320
have made it. And I probably would have went

00:49:48.320 --> 00:49:51.300
with the title track, Door to Door. It's an upbeat,

00:49:51.500 --> 00:49:54.260
fast song. It was almost like a punky kind of

00:49:54.260 --> 00:49:56.880
song. Whereas the other songs on the album are

00:49:56.880 --> 00:49:59.619
a little more wishy -washy, if you will. They

00:49:59.619 --> 00:50:01.440
were kind of getting away from the hard rocking

00:50:01.440 --> 00:50:04.920
sound. It was almost like a country western kind

00:50:04.920 --> 00:50:07.849
of feel in a couple of the songs. So I don't

00:50:07.849 --> 00:50:10.590
dislike the album, but it's definitely my least

00:50:10.590 --> 00:50:14.010
favorite. So I decided to go by door to door

00:50:14.010 --> 00:50:17.250
and not include anything. So naturally, I would

00:50:17.250 --> 00:50:19.989
go back to the first album again. But seeing

00:50:19.989 --> 00:50:21.949
as though you just pick something off the first

00:50:21.949 --> 00:50:24.449
album, I'm going to go away from the first album

00:50:24.449 --> 00:50:26.789
and I'm going to go back to Candy O. Because

00:50:26.789 --> 00:50:29.809
it's, I mean, maybe not as many iconic songs

00:50:29.809 --> 00:50:32.829
as on the first album, but Candy O is just full.

00:50:33.389 --> 00:50:36.150
of hook -laden rock songs that you just can't

00:50:36.150 --> 00:50:40.869
go wrong with. So I decided to go with, as one

00:50:40.869 --> 00:50:44.369
song, Shoo -Bee -Doo into Candy -O. So the reason

00:50:44.369 --> 00:50:49.289
I did this is I really like how it has the quirky

00:50:49.289 --> 00:50:52.809
part of Shoo -Bee -Doo where it shows Rick at

00:50:52.809 --> 00:50:55.949
his quirky finest. And then it goes right into

00:50:55.949 --> 00:50:59.789
the polar opposite of Ben singing Candy -O. So

00:50:59.789 --> 00:51:03.780
it goes from this fast, quirky... punky kind

00:51:03.780 --> 00:51:07.780
of thing. And it just kind of segues into a more

00:51:07.780 --> 00:51:11.460
smooth crooning kind of sound with Kandiyo with

00:51:11.460 --> 00:51:13.960
Ben doing almost like his Elvis impersonation

00:51:13.960 --> 00:51:16.860
kind of thing. But I just think I like the way

00:51:16.860 --> 00:51:21.000
the quirky and the smooth, cool Ben going back

00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:23.880
to back. And you would think the polar opposites

00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:26.940
wouldn't allow it to mesh, but it somehow still

00:51:26.940 --> 00:51:30.239
does. And like I said, to this day, it amazes

00:51:30.239 --> 00:51:32.989
me how Rick could make such quirky music. and

00:51:32.989 --> 00:51:35.489
have it be so popular and get on the radio and

00:51:35.489 --> 00:51:37.929
have people love it. So you had already chosen

00:51:37.929 --> 00:51:40.769
Dangerous Type. I had that listed too as one

00:51:40.769 --> 00:51:43.210
of my songs. So trying to pick one that, you

00:51:43.210 --> 00:51:45.090
know, I went with Let's Go for the first go around.

00:51:45.349 --> 00:51:48.110
So I went with Shoo -Bee -Doo and Candy -O for

00:51:48.110 --> 00:51:51.110
this pick. Absolutely love it. And like I told

00:51:51.110 --> 00:51:56.909
you on side A, I have ripped on my phone Bye

00:51:56.909 --> 00:52:01.119
Bye Love moving in stereo and all mixed up. I

00:52:01.119 --> 00:52:05.920
also have ripped on my phone Double Life, Shoo

00:52:05.920 --> 00:52:09.760
-Bee -Doo, and Candio as a single track because

00:52:09.760 --> 00:52:14.420
when I hear the opening of Double Life, I can't

00:52:14.420 --> 00:52:17.119
not hear Shoo -Bee -Doo coming out of it. And

00:52:17.119 --> 00:52:20.980
Shoo -Bee -Doo almost feels like this Pink Floyd,

00:52:21.420 --> 00:52:26.300
psychedelic, just acid trip in the middle of

00:52:26.300 --> 00:52:29.699
these two other rock songs. And it's so perfect.

00:52:30.480 --> 00:52:33.000
Because it doesn't make sense in between those

00:52:33.000 --> 00:52:35.719
two songs. And that was what the cars were so

00:52:35.719 --> 00:52:39.420
good at. And Candio, you're right. Ben hits this

00:52:39.420 --> 00:52:43.679
Elvis -like delivery where he's almost crooning

00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:48.260
the song. And it really fits so perfectly against

00:52:48.260 --> 00:52:51.159
that backdrop, which was, again, that punkier

00:52:51.159 --> 00:52:55.480
side of the power pop of the cars. So following

00:52:55.480 --> 00:52:59.659
that up in track three, I'm going to take. The

00:52:59.659 --> 00:53:01.820
heaviness of Candio. Because there is a little

00:53:01.820 --> 00:53:04.199
bit of a heft to it. And I'm going to crank it

00:53:04.199 --> 00:53:06.880
up. And I'm going to follow you chronologically.

00:53:07.739 --> 00:53:11.239
Because we have. Self titled and Candio. I'm

00:53:11.239 --> 00:53:13.800
going to follow your playbook here. And go to

00:53:13.800 --> 00:53:17.920
Panorama. And I'm going to go with. My favorite

00:53:17.920 --> 00:53:20.599
song on the album. That wasn't released as a

00:53:20.599 --> 00:53:23.679
single. Should have been. But the band I feel

00:53:23.679 --> 00:53:26.079
like made up for it. Because in the 90's they

00:53:26.079 --> 00:53:29.829
included it. on the Just What I Needed 2 CD Rhino

00:53:29.829 --> 00:53:32.670
set. So they basically admitted that maybe it

00:53:32.670 --> 00:53:36.829
was a hit in waiting. And it's the hefty Don't

00:53:36.829 --> 00:53:42.989
Tell Me No. Wow. To me, that song shows the rock

00:53:42.989 --> 00:53:47.989
side of the cars the way It's Not the Night does

00:53:47.989 --> 00:53:50.550
it on Heartbeat City. And it's an element of

00:53:50.550 --> 00:53:52.550
the cars that I wanted to make sure I touched

00:53:52.550 --> 00:53:56.230
on both sides. So I knew whatever side had It's

00:53:56.230 --> 00:53:58.599
Not the Night, The other side would have to have

00:53:58.599 --> 00:54:01.199
Don't Tell Me No or vice versa. I wanted to make

00:54:01.199 --> 00:54:04.320
sure I split up those songs on each side because

00:54:04.320 --> 00:54:07.800
every side of every Cars mixtape I've made growing

00:54:07.800 --> 00:54:10.840
up had to have a little bit of the heft. And

00:54:10.840 --> 00:54:13.760
I feel like It's Not the Night for side A and

00:54:13.760 --> 00:54:16.980
Don't Tell Me No for side B makes that happen.

00:54:17.420 --> 00:54:20.619
That's very interesting because, you know, when

00:54:20.619 --> 00:54:23.380
I was going through all this, you know, I'm like,

00:54:23.440 --> 00:54:26.079
okay, I can't take a lot from Panorama, but I

00:54:26.079 --> 00:54:28.320
got to take a couple. And that was one I didn't

00:54:28.320 --> 00:54:31.960
take. Really? Yeah. But that's cool. I think

00:54:31.960 --> 00:54:33.920
it's very interesting because now you've got

00:54:33.920 --> 00:54:35.920
me thinking. Now it's like, oh, wait a minute.

00:54:36.019 --> 00:54:38.579
Oh, he's right. I should have probably given

00:54:38.579 --> 00:54:41.880
that more attention. So I really like that choice.

00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:45.219
That is a great pick. And I really like how it's

00:54:45.219 --> 00:54:47.920
starting to seem like we were both trying to

00:54:47.920 --> 00:54:51.420
create a balance. I want to do some curveballs

00:54:51.420 --> 00:54:54.880
and some deeper cuts. but you don't want to go

00:54:54.880 --> 00:54:57.340
too far that way and like not lose interest,

00:54:57.500 --> 00:55:00.380
but you got to keep it balanced. You know, they

00:55:00.380 --> 00:55:02.860
got to have some of the hits in there too. And

00:55:02.860 --> 00:55:05.360
you're going to make me kind of change gears

00:55:05.360 --> 00:55:08.360
again. Cause if I'm going in my chronological

00:55:08.360 --> 00:55:11.420
order, after picking something from candy, yo

00:55:11.420 --> 00:55:15.139
panorama would be next for me. So now it's taking

00:55:15.139 --> 00:55:18.960
a panorama song. I got to go past that. And I

00:55:18.960 --> 00:55:22.480
am going to go to, um, I want to go back to shake

00:55:22.480 --> 00:55:26.030
it up. Nope. Okay, here's where I'm going. I'm

00:55:26.030 --> 00:55:28.670
going to go to Heartbeat City. All right. I picked

00:55:28.670 --> 00:55:31.510
one Heartbeat City song so far, and that was

00:55:31.510 --> 00:55:35.809
Magic. So this song, I really went back and forth

00:55:35.809 --> 00:55:39.670
about this because if I was going to be the only

00:55:39.670 --> 00:55:42.570
person listening to this tape, I probably would

00:55:42.570 --> 00:55:46.170
have left this song off. Not because I don't

00:55:46.170 --> 00:55:49.429
love it and not because it's not iconic. You

00:55:49.429 --> 00:55:51.840
just hear it a lot. And there's other songs that

00:55:51.840 --> 00:55:53.699
I think piqued my interest a little bit more.

00:55:53.840 --> 00:55:55.760
So there's other songs I would have went with.

00:55:56.079 --> 00:56:01.559
But I'm going to pick Drive. And to me, it wouldn't

00:56:01.559 --> 00:56:04.380
seem right to have this mixtape without Drive

00:56:04.380 --> 00:56:08.639
because it was their biggest hit. It reached

00:56:08.639 --> 00:56:12.280
number three on the Billboard album chart. And

00:56:12.280 --> 00:56:14.739
I think it was only the second or third song

00:56:14.739 --> 00:56:17.760
that got into the top ten of theirs. So it was

00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:20.849
their highest charting song. I wouldn't say most

00:56:20.849 --> 00:56:23.750
popular song, but probably most well -known song.

00:56:24.030 --> 00:56:26.070
I mean, when that song came out, you weren't

00:56:26.070 --> 00:56:28.489
just hearing it on, you were hearing it on rock

00:56:28.489 --> 00:56:31.030
stations. You were hearing it on pop stations.

00:56:31.190 --> 00:56:34.969
You were hearing it on AM radio, like adult contemporary

00:56:34.969 --> 00:56:38.030
stations that like, you know, 60 -year -olds

00:56:38.030 --> 00:56:42.250
listen to. So I think if you're, say you're talking

00:56:42.250 --> 00:56:44.989
to a 70 -year -old woman who has never heard

00:56:44.989 --> 00:56:47.469
the Cars before, she might have heard Drive.

00:56:47.710 --> 00:56:50.659
Oh, I remember that song. When the band was in

00:56:50.659 --> 00:56:53.639
the studio recording this album and it came time

00:56:53.639 --> 00:56:58.860
to do Drive. So I did a couple of exclusive interviews

00:56:58.860 --> 00:57:01.420
with David Robinson, the drummer. And he said

00:57:01.420 --> 00:57:04.559
something that amazed him about Ben was he didn't

00:57:04.559 --> 00:57:07.320
have to prepare to do anything. Like they all

00:57:07.320 --> 00:57:09.539
go into the studio and he would just be like

00:57:09.539 --> 00:57:11.699
having a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette.

00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:14.320
And they were like, OK, you ready? Oh, yeah,

00:57:14.340 --> 00:57:16.860
I'm ready. And like, you ready? And like these

00:57:16.860 --> 00:57:19.610
guys used to like really have to prepare. And

00:57:19.610 --> 00:57:22.730
like get focused mentally and do whatever they

00:57:22.730 --> 00:57:26.489
had to do to get ready to record. Ben was nonchalant.

00:57:26.969 --> 00:57:30.789
David Robinson called it his Frank Sinatra persona.

00:57:31.550 --> 00:57:34.909
He said when they went to record Drive, he told

00:57:34.909 --> 00:57:36.550
me, he's like, I'm telling you the honest to

00:57:36.550 --> 00:57:39.369
God truth. Ben was sitting there smoking a cigarette

00:57:39.369 --> 00:57:42.070
and they said, you ready to record Drive? And

00:57:42.070 --> 00:57:44.590
he said, yep. And he went in there and he did

00:57:44.590 --> 00:57:48.449
it in one take. No overdubs. No want to try it

00:57:48.449 --> 00:57:51.780
again. No, let's do a couple of tracks and see

00:57:51.780 --> 00:57:54.639
what sounds better. He did that in one take.

00:57:54.880 --> 00:57:57.619
He put a cigarette down. He went in there. He

00:57:57.619 --> 00:58:00.039
sang it. He walked back out, picked a cigarette

00:58:00.039 --> 00:58:03.300
back up, and like it was nothing. And David Robinson

00:58:03.300 --> 00:58:06.099
said it was like the most amazing thing to see

00:58:06.099 --> 00:58:09.599
this guy, how he just did it so effortlessly.

00:58:09.940 --> 00:58:13.360
So that little story always pops into my head

00:58:13.360 --> 00:58:16.300
whenever I talk about drive or hear drive. So

00:58:16.300 --> 00:58:18.420
for all those reasons, I just, I couldn't leave

00:58:18.420 --> 00:58:21.480
it off. You don't have to defend that song one

00:58:21.480 --> 00:58:24.579
bit. There's a reason why 6am has covered it.

00:58:24.679 --> 00:58:27.699
There's a reason Kavo has covered it. There's

00:58:27.699 --> 00:58:30.099
a reason that they put out a symphonic version

00:58:30.099 --> 00:58:33.159
of the song recently with the original track

00:58:33.159 --> 00:58:36.460
and it became a hit all over again. There's a

00:58:36.460 --> 00:58:39.000
reason why it's been featured in countless movies.

00:58:39.260 --> 00:58:45.179
The song's iconic. It's the defining Cars hit.

00:58:45.800 --> 00:58:48.380
Because it is their highest charting song. And

00:58:48.380 --> 00:58:51.619
there's absolutely nothing wrong with going with

00:58:51.619 --> 00:58:54.820
the crowd pleasers. Especially because that brings

00:58:54.820 --> 00:58:59.019
a lighter side. A complete 180 from the Don't

00:58:59.019 --> 00:59:02.619
Tell Me No. It shifts gears and kind of resets

00:59:02.619 --> 00:59:06.539
the palette for me to bounce off of. And one

00:59:06.539 --> 00:59:08.719
thing I wanted to do on both sides was kind of

00:59:08.719 --> 00:59:11.719
create a balance with my picks. And on side A.

00:59:12.250 --> 00:59:15.349
I used It's Not the Night as a heavy song, but

00:59:15.349 --> 00:59:19.710
I also used it as a song where both Ben and Rick

00:59:19.710 --> 00:59:23.809
sang lead vocals. And I want to make sure I include

00:59:23.809 --> 00:59:27.429
that on side B as well. And I'm going to include

00:59:27.429 --> 00:59:31.929
that by going back to Candio. And I'm going to

00:59:31.929 --> 00:59:36.369
go with the power pop perfection of Since I've

00:59:36.369 --> 00:59:40.849
Held You. If Bye Bye Love was the car's self

00:59:40.849 --> 00:59:44.369
-titled, hey, here's where the car's power pop

00:59:44.369 --> 00:59:48.510
origins came from, its logical follow -up is

00:59:48.510 --> 00:59:52.239
Since I've Held You. beautiful vocals, their

00:59:52.239 --> 00:59:55.539
voices bouncing off each other. Elliot Easton's

00:59:55.539 --> 00:59:58.679
lead guitar over the end of the song when they're

00:59:58.679 --> 01:00:02.039
just going, it's been a long time and he's just

01:00:02.039 --> 01:00:05.739
wailing the lead. It is probably one of the most

01:00:05.739 --> 01:00:08.500
underrated songs in the band's entire discography.

01:00:09.019 --> 01:00:12.460
And I'm shocked. It wasn't an absolute smash

01:00:12.460 --> 01:00:15.780
single from this album. I am absolutely shocked

01:00:15.780 --> 01:00:20.619
because it's all I can do. The song after it

01:00:20.619 --> 01:00:24.019
did get traction. But I think Since I Held You,

01:00:24.059 --> 01:00:26.880
as much as I love both songs, is just in another

01:00:26.880 --> 01:00:31.199
universe. So a deep cut, maybe. I don't think

01:00:31.199 --> 01:00:33.360
it should be, though. So I am following up Drive

01:00:33.360 --> 01:00:36.239
with Since I've Held You. Wow. And you know,

01:00:36.440 --> 01:00:39.119
that is considered a deep cut. I mean, I consider

01:00:39.119 --> 01:00:41.539
it a deep cut. But I'm telling you, you're giving

01:00:41.539 --> 01:00:43.880
me some things to think about. Because I had

01:00:43.880 --> 01:00:47.380
that on my list of Kandiyo songs. I don't think

01:00:47.380 --> 01:00:50.940
it made my final list. But it was on there. It

01:00:50.940 --> 01:00:52.960
was on there. And you're right. It is a very

01:00:52.960 --> 01:00:57.239
underrated song. The guitar solo was just masterful.

01:00:57.500 --> 01:01:00.420
I tell you, those first two albums, man. Okay,

01:01:01.099 --> 01:01:02.980
let's just go back and forth between the first

01:01:02.980 --> 01:01:06.440
two albums. I mean, if we were going to be lazy

01:01:06.440 --> 01:01:08.119
about it, you probably could have gotten away

01:01:08.119 --> 01:01:10.800
with it. And made a great argument for it, too.

01:01:10.920 --> 01:01:13.360
No one's going to argue any song off the first

01:01:13.360 --> 01:01:16.460
two albums. Absolutely. That's a really good

01:01:16.460 --> 01:01:18.889
choice. So with that, Joe, we're back to you

01:01:18.889 --> 01:01:22.670
for track six. Okay, so I know that these songs

01:01:22.670 --> 01:01:25.650
belong together and we can't really do that,

01:01:25.769 --> 01:01:29.349
but I got to make sure that I get all mixed up

01:01:29.349 --> 01:01:33.429
in there. It's like a perfect ending to not just

01:01:33.429 --> 01:01:36.510
side two, but the album as a whole. And I think

01:01:36.510 --> 01:01:39.349
it's the band's masterpiece. I think that whole

01:01:39.349 --> 01:01:42.929
side just goes together so seamlessly to me.

01:01:43.429 --> 01:01:46.980
And I just had to make sure. that all mixed up

01:01:46.980 --> 01:01:50.360
gets on there. Ben's vocal is incredible. That

01:01:50.360 --> 01:01:53.619
little embellishment saxophone from Greg Hawks

01:01:53.619 --> 01:01:57.599
at the end of the song, it just seems like just

01:01:57.599 --> 01:02:01.360
a perfect fade out to this album. And it's just

01:02:01.360 --> 01:02:04.320
one of my favorite car songs. Like I've said

01:02:04.320 --> 01:02:07.619
multiple times, that whole second side, making

01:02:07.619 --> 01:02:10.619
sure that gets in there, we've got them all from

01:02:10.619 --> 01:02:14.219
that side too. By all means, every mixtape my

01:02:14.219 --> 01:02:17.679
father made. Of the cars had all four of those

01:02:17.679 --> 01:02:21.280
songs somewhere. They never not made it. And

01:02:21.280 --> 01:02:24.400
I'm glad that that continues tonight. I love

01:02:24.400 --> 01:02:27.639
the fact that you brought up the underrated saxophone

01:02:27.639 --> 01:02:31.179
solo by Greg Hawks, because it really comes from

01:02:31.179 --> 01:02:33.719
out of left field because it's not like saxophone

01:02:33.719 --> 01:02:37.360
was all over this album. And it seems like it's

01:02:37.360 --> 01:02:39.739
coming from out of left field. But when you listen

01:02:39.739 --> 01:02:44.360
to the song, it's such a. cinematic ending to

01:02:44.360 --> 01:02:47.800
this album it really feels like a movie climax

01:02:47.800 --> 01:02:53.380
musically so i love the pick obviously say no

01:02:53.380 --> 01:02:58.119
more about the album of course i love it so following

01:02:58.119 --> 01:03:00.860
that up for track seven you explained at the

01:03:00.860 --> 01:03:03.760
beginning of the side that you weren't going

01:03:03.760 --> 01:03:06.039
to go to door to door but because some of the

01:03:06.039 --> 01:03:10.130
songs that you've chosen were on my list That's

01:03:10.130 --> 01:03:12.969
leaving me a little room to go to door to door

01:03:12.969 --> 01:03:17.670
and acknowledge one song just because I've been

01:03:17.670 --> 01:03:20.730
covering it for years with my group, Colburn

01:03:20.730 --> 01:03:24.269
and Company. I love the song. Again, I get to

01:03:24.269 --> 01:03:27.449
pick a song that includes both Rick and Ben singing.

01:03:27.610 --> 01:03:31.409
So it keeps that piece of the puzzle going. And

01:03:31.409 --> 01:03:34.190
it is kind of a sad song because it is their

01:03:34.190 --> 01:03:38.420
last top 40 hit. And I'm going to go with You

01:03:38.420 --> 01:03:41.219
Are the Girl from Door to Door. Now, on Move

01:03:41.219 --> 01:03:45.380
Like This, Sad Song did reach number 33 on the

01:03:45.380 --> 01:03:48.400
rock songs chart. But when we're talking about

01:03:48.400 --> 01:03:52.980
top 40 hits, You Are the Girl is the final Cars

01:03:52.980 --> 01:03:57.820
top 40 hit. And there's a bittersweet part to

01:03:57.820 --> 01:04:00.710
that. The video, they were still trying to go

01:04:00.710 --> 01:04:04.610
for the Heartbeat City stuff in 1987 when Heartbeat

01:04:04.610 --> 01:04:07.690
City was several years earlier. And the music

01:04:07.690 --> 01:04:10.449
video scene had changed at that time because

01:04:10.449 --> 01:04:12.809
it was a lot of your hair bands were coming to

01:04:12.809 --> 01:04:16.889
proximity in 1987. Your Motley Crue's, your Guns

01:04:16.889 --> 01:04:19.909
N' Roses, the music video landscape was changing.

01:04:19.949 --> 01:04:23.369
And I feel like this song didn't do well because

01:04:23.369 --> 01:04:26.369
of that landscape and had the band picked a song

01:04:26.369 --> 01:04:31.170
like Double Trouble. Another Ben -led vocal with

01:04:31.170 --> 01:04:34.889
that hard rock scene happening. I feel like Double

01:04:34.889 --> 01:04:37.030
Trouble might have made more of an impact, but

01:04:37.030 --> 01:04:39.650
I'm going to go with You Are The Girl to follow

01:04:39.650 --> 01:04:42.090
up all mixed up. That's an interesting choice

01:04:42.090 --> 01:04:45.369
for sure. That's a great song. It really is.

01:04:45.530 --> 01:04:47.969
And you know, I think by the time Door to Door

01:04:47.969 --> 01:04:50.690
came out, like I mentioned, there was some turmoil

01:04:50.690 --> 01:04:53.429
going on in the band, and they were kind of losing

01:04:53.429 --> 01:04:58.579
some momentum by then. And I think... The record

01:04:58.579 --> 01:05:00.940
label didn't put a lot of money into the promotion

01:05:00.940 --> 01:05:04.500
of it. It was a very short tour. And I think

01:05:04.500 --> 01:05:06.760
it wasn't too long after that album was released

01:05:06.760 --> 01:05:09.019
and the tour finished that they kind of announced

01:05:09.019 --> 01:05:11.400
that they were breaking up. So I just think it

01:05:11.400 --> 01:05:13.780
was kind of like, I hate to say it, but it was

01:05:13.780 --> 01:05:16.039
almost like the end of the road. It seemed like

01:05:16.039 --> 01:05:19.099
for the band at the time. So I think that's why

01:05:19.099 --> 01:05:22.059
door to door kind of gets overlooked. But, you

01:05:22.059 --> 01:05:23.780
know, I am glad that you picked something from

01:05:23.780 --> 01:05:26.369
it because I was feeling kind of guilty. That

01:05:26.369 --> 01:05:28.650
I said, you know, I had a door to door. I was

01:05:28.650 --> 01:05:30.269
going to pick the title track just because I

01:05:30.269 --> 01:05:33.230
thought it was a harder driving song. It had

01:05:33.230 --> 01:05:35.909
some rock elements to it. But that's a really

01:05:35.909 --> 01:05:37.869
cool choice. I'm glad you picked something from

01:05:37.869 --> 01:05:41.010
door to door. OK, so, you know, you talked a

01:05:41.010 --> 01:05:43.710
little bit before about what I thought about

01:05:43.710 --> 01:05:47.289
the new cars and if that was disrespectful or

01:05:47.289 --> 01:05:50.610
not, that kind of thing. So this kind of in a

01:05:50.610 --> 01:05:53.730
way almost goes hand in hand with that. And I

01:05:53.730 --> 01:05:56.750
really struggled with this one for a while, going

01:05:56.750 --> 01:05:59.409
back to that same premise of, look at all these

01:05:59.409 --> 01:06:01.570
songs that I haven't picked that are just iconic.

01:06:01.710 --> 01:06:04.690
How can I pick this kind of off -the -wall or

01:06:04.690 --> 01:06:07.429
curveball kind of song when all these legendary

01:06:07.429 --> 01:06:10.269
songs are still out there? But I'm going to do

01:06:10.269 --> 01:06:13.489
it. And I was inspired by you talking about the

01:06:13.489 --> 01:06:17.650
new cars. So I went and picked a song from the

01:06:17.650 --> 01:06:20.849
one album they did without Ben, Move Like This.

01:06:21.500 --> 01:06:24.860
Came out in 2011. The band didn't even try to

01:06:24.860 --> 01:06:28.539
replace Ben. Greg Hawks did some bass work. And

01:06:28.539 --> 01:06:30.880
the man who produced the album, I didn't really

01:06:30.880 --> 01:06:34.360
know of him before that. But his name is Jack

01:06:34.360 --> 01:06:36.800
Knightley. I guess this guy is a bass player,

01:06:36.880 --> 01:06:39.420
too. So they didn't even want to try to replace

01:06:39.420 --> 01:06:41.559
Ben. They just like, well, you can play bass.

01:06:41.639 --> 01:06:45.340
You do it kind of a thing. And, you know, I get

01:06:45.340 --> 01:06:47.820
mixed reviews from Cars fans. There's some Cars

01:06:47.820 --> 01:06:49.380
fans out there. Ben's not there. They don't even

01:06:49.380 --> 01:06:51.320
want to give it a try. And then there's other

01:06:51.320 --> 01:06:53.460
Cars bands that say, well, if it's the Cars and

01:06:53.460 --> 01:06:55.800
it's Rick, I'm going to listen to it. So it kind

01:06:55.800 --> 01:06:58.219
of gives mixed reviews. And I don't know if you've

01:06:58.219 --> 01:07:01.619
heard the album. Oh, I have. I really like Move

01:07:01.619 --> 01:07:04.719
Like This. I do, too. I'm not going to say I

01:07:04.719 --> 01:07:08.179
love every song on it, but I think it's got some

01:07:08.179 --> 01:07:10.519
really good stuff on it. I really like the fact

01:07:10.519 --> 01:07:13.539
that they did that. And, you know, they released

01:07:13.539 --> 01:07:16.519
a single from it. It's probably the one song

01:07:16.519 --> 01:07:19.179
that was heard the most from it. Part of the

01:07:19.179 --> 01:07:23.659
reason why I chose it. But to me, this song sounds

01:07:23.659 --> 01:07:27.440
like it could have been like an extra song from

01:07:27.440 --> 01:07:30.059
the Shake It Up sessions that never made it onto

01:07:30.059 --> 01:07:32.719
the album. It sounded like a car song to me.

01:07:32.800 --> 01:07:36.179
And it's blue tint. Nice. I really love the song.

01:07:36.280 --> 01:07:38.699
They put a little video with it. And I thought

01:07:38.699 --> 01:07:43.869
the video was really creative and cool. I know

01:07:43.869 --> 01:07:45.090
there's some people out there that are going

01:07:45.090 --> 01:07:46.590
to be like, well, you're not putting this in.

01:07:46.630 --> 01:07:48.349
These are all, you know, what about this Ben

01:07:48.349 --> 01:07:50.610
song? What about, I mean, obviously, I mean,

01:07:50.650 --> 01:07:53.530
we can pick 60 songs probably if we wanted to,

01:07:53.610 --> 01:07:56.349
to put on a mixtape. But I just, I wanted to

01:07:56.349 --> 01:07:59.090
give a tip of the cap to the guys, you know,

01:07:59.090 --> 01:08:02.789
doing that one last album. And I just, I think

01:08:02.789 --> 01:08:05.429
it was really well done. And I do like the fact

01:08:05.429 --> 01:08:07.789
that they didn't even try to replace Ben. They

01:08:07.789 --> 01:08:10.269
just said, you know, Ben Spirit's with us. I

01:08:10.269 --> 01:08:13.389
got a batch of songs. you know it wasn't too

01:08:13.389 --> 01:08:15.690
long after that unfortunately that rick is no

01:08:15.690 --> 01:08:18.149
longer with us so now i look back on and i'm

01:08:18.149 --> 01:08:20.390
like thank god that they did that album because

01:08:20.390 --> 01:08:22.170
i think it's got some really good songs on it

01:08:22.170 --> 01:08:24.409
so i went with bloom tip there's a curveball

01:08:24.409 --> 01:08:27.149
for you thank you because i'll tell you right

01:08:27.149 --> 01:08:30.689
now had you not gone with blue tip for track

01:08:30.689 --> 01:08:34.140
eight That was going to be my track nine as a

01:08:34.140 --> 01:08:37.220
tip of the cap to this era. So you and I are

01:08:37.220 --> 01:08:40.220
lockstep on it. That's my favorite song on the

01:08:40.220 --> 01:08:42.800
album. The first time my father and I put that

01:08:42.800 --> 01:08:44.659
CD and I ended up going and getting the Best

01:08:44.659 --> 01:08:47.439
Buy version because it had some extra demos at

01:08:47.439 --> 01:08:50.279
the end. And I wanted to have the extras because

01:08:50.279 --> 01:08:53.800
I'm that big of a Cars geek. But we listened

01:08:53.800 --> 01:08:56.060
to Blue Tip. And as soon as the song was over,

01:08:56.140 --> 01:08:58.270
my father said. Rewind it. Let's hear that one

01:08:58.270 --> 01:09:00.310
again. He goes, that's vintage cars right there.

01:09:00.369 --> 01:09:03.829
And it is. And I believe it deserves a spot on

01:09:03.829 --> 01:09:06.829
this discussion. And that means we each have

01:09:06.829 --> 01:09:11.149
one song left to close things out. And I have

01:09:11.149 --> 01:09:13.909
a wide slate because we have now touched on every

01:09:13.909 --> 01:09:16.250
single Cars album at some point in this discussion.

01:09:16.770 --> 01:09:20.329
And I can, with no guilt, go right back to my

01:09:20.329 --> 01:09:23.149
favorite album of all time. and pick one of the

01:09:23.149 --> 01:09:25.829
few songs on it that we didn't talk about. And

01:09:25.829 --> 01:09:28.350
I'm kind of torn right now because I still have

01:09:28.350 --> 01:09:31.270
two more on my list. I have My Best Friend's

01:09:31.270 --> 01:09:33.630
Girl, which my band, Colburn & Company, covers

01:09:33.630 --> 01:09:36.369
all the time. But I am going to go with a crowd

01:09:36.369 --> 01:09:39.090
favorite. I've talked about it several times

01:09:39.090 --> 01:09:41.710
because of the fact that they named a greatest

01:09:41.710 --> 01:09:44.369
hits after the song. It is one of the band's

01:09:44.369 --> 01:09:48.529
most beloved, well -known hits, Just What I Needed.

01:09:48.729 --> 01:09:52.590
Oh, from the original album. It to me was one

01:09:52.590 --> 01:09:55.590
of the songs that if you go see a cover band

01:09:55.590 --> 01:09:57.229
and they're like, we're going to play some cars.

01:09:57.729 --> 01:10:00.609
That's usually the one they go to. Sister Hazel

01:10:00.609 --> 01:10:04.050
did a fantastic cover of it. It's just a wonderful

01:10:04.050 --> 01:10:07.670
song. And again, it shows everything I love about

01:10:07.670 --> 01:10:10.350
the cars. It's rock. It's pop. It's got a little

01:10:10.350 --> 01:10:12.529
bit of a punk edge to it. It's got a little bit

01:10:12.529 --> 01:10:15.689
of a new wave edge to it. And for my contribution

01:10:15.689 --> 01:10:18.680
to the night. I feel like I'm kind of giving

01:10:18.680 --> 01:10:22.760
you a nice way to close wherever you want. Because

01:10:22.760 --> 01:10:24.880
you said your favorite album is Candio. Maybe

01:10:24.880 --> 01:10:26.899
you'll pick something from that. Maybe you'll

01:10:26.899 --> 01:10:29.680
throw a curveball in there. But I got to touch

01:10:29.680 --> 01:10:32.079
on the self -titled One Last Time tonight with

01:10:32.079 --> 01:10:35.859
Just What I Needed. That's a great pick. It really

01:10:35.859 --> 01:10:40.220
is. To give you another really quick story kind

01:10:40.220 --> 01:10:43.680
of related to my book. So when the Cars got elected

01:10:43.680 --> 01:10:45.840
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018,

01:10:46.539 --> 01:10:49.119
I went to Cleveland. I went to the ceremony.

01:10:49.720 --> 01:10:52.699
Six months after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

01:10:52.699 --> 01:10:55.399
ceremony, my book came out. So it was really

01:10:55.399 --> 01:10:58.439
good timing. So when I went to Cleveland for

01:10:58.439 --> 01:11:01.640
the Rock Hall ceremony, I actually went and visited

01:11:01.640 --> 01:11:04.920
Ben at his resting place. That was like my final

01:11:04.920 --> 01:11:08.680
stop of my trip. And a person who helped me with

01:11:08.680 --> 01:11:11.689
the book had also come with me. She was like

01:11:11.689 --> 01:11:13.710
my promotions person and helped me a lot with

01:11:13.710 --> 01:11:16.010
the book. She was also with me on this Cleveland

01:11:16.010 --> 01:11:19.170
trip. Her name is Donna. So at the end of the

01:11:19.170 --> 01:11:22.149
trip, I wanted to go visit Ben. So we went to

01:11:22.149 --> 01:11:26.270
the cemetery to visit Ben. And I sat there and

01:11:26.270 --> 01:11:29.390
my book wasn't out yet. It was a done deal, but

01:11:29.390 --> 01:11:31.029
it was in the process. So it wasn't going to

01:11:31.029 --> 01:11:34.329
be out for another six months. But I just chatted

01:11:34.329 --> 01:11:36.489
with Ben a little bit, had my moment with him.

01:11:37.430 --> 01:11:40.899
And as I'm getting ready to leave. I was like,

01:11:40.960 --> 01:11:43.619
so Ben, give me a sign, man. You know, let me

01:11:43.619 --> 01:11:46.420
know that you know I'm here or anything like

01:11:46.420 --> 01:11:48.899
that. And, you know, I looked up and like there

01:11:48.899 --> 01:11:51.399
was like a brush of wind and the trees kind of

01:11:51.399 --> 01:11:53.800
blew. I kind of looked up and I'm like, well,

01:11:54.000 --> 01:11:56.479
all right, I'll take that as, you know, that

01:11:56.479 --> 01:11:59.840
is the sign. We went back to the car. We got

01:11:59.840 --> 01:12:03.220
in the car to leave. Donnell was driving. She

01:12:03.220 --> 01:12:06.880
turned the car engine on. And I swear to God

01:12:06.880 --> 01:12:10.859
on my grandmother's grave. She turned the car

01:12:10.859 --> 01:12:15.680
on and right on cue. It was on an FM radio station

01:12:15.680 --> 01:12:19.020
in Cleveland and right on cue. As soon as she

01:12:19.020 --> 01:12:21.300
turned the car over, no end of a commercial,

01:12:21.500 --> 01:12:25.619
no radio DJ speaking. The first words out of

01:12:25.619 --> 01:12:28.380
the car speaker were, I don't mind you coming

01:12:28.380 --> 01:12:32.140
here and wasting all my time. I kid you not.

01:12:32.619 --> 01:12:36.460
Wow. I included this little story in the book.

01:12:36.880 --> 01:12:39.420
And if there wasn't somebody with me as a witness,

01:12:39.659 --> 01:12:41.720
I probably wouldn't even have talked about it

01:12:41.720 --> 01:12:43.359
or put it in the book because people would be

01:12:43.359 --> 01:12:45.180
like, you're full of shit. No one's going to

01:12:45.180 --> 01:12:50.260
do that. I had a witness and that came on. We

01:12:50.260 --> 01:12:54.420
looked at each other and I just got chills throughout

01:12:54.420 --> 01:12:57.619
my body and I couldn't even react. I started

01:12:57.619 --> 01:13:00.420
laughing out loud. I didn't even know what to

01:13:00.420 --> 01:13:03.279
think or say. I started stacking my hands on

01:13:03.279 --> 01:13:06.239
the dashboard going, I swear to God that happened.

01:13:06.920 --> 01:13:11.039
Wow. That is absolutely awesome. And if you hadn't

01:13:11.039 --> 01:13:13.340
picked that song, it's what I was going to pick.

01:13:13.560 --> 01:13:16.039
Oh, so now I feel hard. You know what? Can I

01:13:16.039 --> 01:13:21.000
pull my choice? Now I feel guilty. It's okay

01:13:21.000 --> 01:13:23.500
because I still can pick something else. But

01:13:23.500 --> 01:13:26.100
when you said that, I'm like, okay, he's picking

01:13:26.100 --> 01:13:28.720
that song, but I got to tell this story. I'm

01:13:28.720 --> 01:13:31.619
so glad you did. That's amazing. I love it. It

01:13:31.619 --> 01:13:34.680
was probably the most surreal moment of my life.

01:13:35.149 --> 01:13:37.250
And like I said, I wouldn't tell the story if

01:13:37.250 --> 01:13:40.229
I didn't have a witness. Well, I am so sorry

01:13:40.229 --> 01:13:43.270
I stole that thunder. But now you get to encore

01:13:43.270 --> 01:13:46.529
with the last pick of the evening. So what are

01:13:46.529 --> 01:13:49.149
you going to close out this amazing Cars mixtape

01:13:49.149 --> 01:13:53.489
with? You know, it's really tough. So you're

01:13:53.489 --> 01:13:55.409
saying we haven't picked Best Friend's Girl,

01:13:55.569 --> 01:14:00.949
have we? No, we have not. So I had just what

01:14:00.949 --> 01:14:03.729
I needed and Best Friend's Girl down to the final

01:14:03.729 --> 01:14:06.329
two. But now I'm sitting there saying, do we

01:14:06.329 --> 01:14:08.529
want to end it with two songs from the first

01:14:08.529 --> 01:14:11.989
album? Or do I try to want to end it with a curveball?

01:14:12.670 --> 01:14:14.750
I think I'm going to end it with a curveball.

01:14:15.470 --> 01:14:18.470
All right. Because this is all tied together

01:14:18.470 --> 01:14:22.510
because of my book. And it's not a cards book,

01:14:22.649 --> 01:14:24.869
even though the cards are obviously throughout

01:14:24.869 --> 01:14:27.829
the whole thing. It's really a Ben book. It's

01:14:27.829 --> 01:14:30.369
a book about Ben's life. And, you know, writing

01:14:30.369 --> 01:14:33.329
this book has really changed my life. I've met

01:14:33.329 --> 01:14:36.229
so many people and it created so many other avenues

01:14:36.229 --> 01:14:39.970
for me that this book journey has just been something

01:14:39.970 --> 01:14:42.649
that I never, I thought once the book came out,

01:14:42.710 --> 01:14:45.710
you know, I'd sell some copies and it would just

01:14:45.710 --> 01:14:47.810
fade into oblivion and that would be the end

01:14:47.810 --> 01:14:50.470
of it. But to this day, five years after it's

01:14:50.470 --> 01:14:53.109
come out, I'm still meeting people. I still have

01:14:53.109 --> 01:14:55.430
people reach out to me. I have people reach out

01:14:55.430 --> 01:14:57.550
to me and go, you know, I just read this book

01:14:57.550 --> 01:15:00.220
you wrote about Ben. I knew Ben when we were

01:15:00.220 --> 01:15:02.279
kids. I really wish you interviewed me for this

01:15:02.279 --> 01:15:04.380
book. I would have had some great. So to this

01:15:04.380 --> 01:15:07.399
day, people are approaching me, talking to me

01:15:07.399 --> 01:15:09.939
about the book, things they know that I didn't

01:15:09.939 --> 01:15:12.500
know, all kinds of things like that. So this

01:15:12.500 --> 01:15:14.579
book, it's been more than just writing a book.

01:15:14.659 --> 01:15:17.699
It's really been an unbelievable adventure. So

01:15:17.699 --> 01:15:21.359
in saying that, to end it with a curveball, I

01:15:21.359 --> 01:15:26.439
want to pick an unreleased song that was on the

01:15:26.439 --> 01:15:30.600
Double Anthology. And it's a song called Fun

01:15:30.600 --> 01:15:34.380
Time. And it's a cover song of an Iggy Pop song.

01:15:34.699 --> 01:15:37.539
And there's a little story behind it. So they

01:15:37.539 --> 01:15:40.159
recorded this song during the Shake It Up sessions,

01:15:40.199 --> 01:15:43.340
but it didn't make the final cut. They had enough

01:15:43.340 --> 01:15:46.479
original songs, so it didn't make the final cut,

01:15:46.560 --> 01:15:49.300
but it did end up on that compilation. Fun Time.

01:15:49.979 --> 01:15:52.859
So the cars are at the peak, you know, and they

01:15:52.859 --> 01:15:55.909
have their own studio in Boston. And a lot of

01:15:55.909 --> 01:15:58.170
bands and musicians, famous musicians who came

01:15:58.170 --> 01:16:00.689
into town, they would go and visit the cars in

01:16:00.689 --> 01:16:03.489
their studio. So Iggy Pop was in town doing a

01:16:03.489 --> 01:16:06.130
show at the Paradise. Some of the guys in the

01:16:06.130 --> 01:16:08.909
band went to the show. They invited Iggy back

01:16:08.909 --> 01:16:12.689
to their, they called it the Playhouse, invited

01:16:12.689 --> 01:16:15.289
Iggy back to their studio. Everyone's hanging

01:16:15.289 --> 01:16:18.130
around and partying. And the cars said, we want

01:16:18.130 --> 01:16:21.510
to, here's a song we're doing for you. So they

01:16:21.510 --> 01:16:24.149
did it in front of Iggy. They played this song.

01:16:24.560 --> 01:16:28.560
And Ben did his best Iggy impersonation of Funtime.

01:16:28.899 --> 01:16:31.779
And at the end of the song, Iggy was like, holy

01:16:31.779 --> 01:16:36.319
crap, man, you sound more like me than me. It's

01:16:36.319 --> 01:16:40.779
a really fun song. It's Ben at his coolest and

01:16:40.779 --> 01:16:44.359
just being a rock star. And I don't think there's

01:16:44.359 --> 01:16:46.979
a lot. If you don't own that anthology, there's

01:16:46.979 --> 01:16:48.699
no way of hearing this song. I mean, obviously,

01:16:48.779 --> 01:16:50.859
if you Google it, you can go online here. But

01:16:50.859 --> 01:16:53.420
if you don't know that this song is in existence.

01:16:54.220 --> 01:16:57.000
I've had a lot of people get that anthology and

01:16:57.000 --> 01:17:00.539
say, I never heard this song before. So I decided

01:17:00.539 --> 01:17:03.199
to end it with a curveball in honor of Ben and

01:17:03.199 --> 01:17:06.979
putting fun time in there. Well, knowing my love

01:17:06.979 --> 01:17:09.640
of cover songs to anybody who listens to this

01:17:09.640 --> 01:17:12.840
show, The Car is covering a song that was written

01:17:12.840 --> 01:17:18.520
by Iggy Pop and David Bowie. What a perfect exclamation

01:17:18.520 --> 01:17:23.239
point on this amazing mixtape, which... For Side

01:17:23.239 --> 01:17:27.539
B, we are on fire here. It kicked off with You're

01:17:27.539 --> 01:17:32.760
All I Got Tonight, Shooby Doo, Into Candio, Don't

01:17:32.760 --> 01:17:37.800
Tell Me No, Drive, Since I Held You, All Mixed

01:17:37.800 --> 01:17:42.920
Up, You Are the Girl, Blue Tip, Just What I Needed,

01:17:42.939 --> 01:17:47.460
and Fun Time. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com

01:17:47.460 --> 01:17:50.180
to hear all the songs we've discussed in this

01:17:50.180 --> 01:17:54.000
mix. through the playlist embedded on the episode

01:17:54.000 --> 01:17:57.340
page. Now, Joe, if somebody wants to pick up

01:17:57.340 --> 01:18:00.159
a copy of your book, how can they get in touch

01:18:00.159 --> 01:18:02.680
with you and where can they find it? Well, there's

01:18:02.680 --> 01:18:05.119
really two ways. I mean, it's available on Amazon.

01:18:05.659 --> 01:18:08.399
Plug in the title of the book, you know, Let's

01:18:08.399 --> 01:18:10.439
Go, Benjamin Orr and the Cars, and you can go

01:18:10.439 --> 01:18:12.920
through Amazon and pick it up. I also have a

01:18:12.920 --> 01:18:16.560
website for the book. It's really simple, benorrbook

01:18:16.560 --> 01:18:19.680
.com. You can go there and there's a link that

01:18:19.680 --> 01:18:21.359
will bring you right to the publisher. You can

01:18:21.359 --> 01:18:23.939
order it directly from the publisher. I also

01:18:23.939 --> 01:18:26.619
want to let people know that I also offer personalized

01:18:26.619 --> 01:18:30.119
copies of the book. So some people come directly

01:18:30.119 --> 01:18:34.279
to me and I personalize a book for them. I have

01:18:34.279 --> 01:18:36.560
a couple of little extra book promotional goodies

01:18:36.560 --> 01:18:39.140
that I include with my orders. So if somebody

01:18:39.140 --> 01:18:41.300
wanted to come directly to me to get a personalized

01:18:41.300 --> 01:18:44.439
copy, they could just find me on Facebook. So

01:18:44.439 --> 01:18:46.680
if someone goes to Facebook and just plugs in.

01:18:47.079 --> 01:18:49.600
let's go Benjamin or on the cars, my Facebook

01:18:49.600 --> 01:18:52.539
page will pop up. So if they want to get a personalized

01:18:52.539 --> 01:18:55.600
copy from me, they can come to me for it. If

01:18:55.600 --> 01:18:57.340
they don't want to bother with that and just

01:18:57.340 --> 01:18:59.659
want to go through the publisher or Amazon, you

01:18:59.659 --> 01:19:02.920
can find it online anywhere. Fantastic. And word

01:19:02.920 --> 01:19:05.880
is on the street that while it's not the cars,

01:19:06.000 --> 01:19:07.779
there's another book you're currently working

01:19:07.779 --> 01:19:10.260
on. Why don't you tell the listeners a little

01:19:10.260 --> 01:19:12.079
something about that and when they can expect

01:19:12.079 --> 01:19:14.800
to hear more? Well, the publisher was happy with

01:19:14.800 --> 01:19:17.720
the numbers of the first books. You know, I was

01:19:17.720 --> 01:19:20.420
a first time author and considering it was a

01:19:20.420 --> 01:19:22.760
niche book and I did all the promotion myself,

01:19:23.060 --> 01:19:25.520
the publisher was really happy. So they approached

01:19:25.520 --> 01:19:27.739
me about a next book. I gave them a list of ideas

01:19:27.739 --> 01:19:30.279
and talked about it a lot. Well, actually, a

01:19:30.279 --> 01:19:33.899
Cars book was considered, but I felt like I needed

01:19:33.899 --> 01:19:37.260
to go in a different direction. So I am writing

01:19:37.260 --> 01:19:40.060
a book about my sentimental favorite musician

01:19:40.060 --> 01:19:44.600
is Joe Perry of Aerosmith. So Aerosmith is my

01:19:44.600 --> 01:19:47.050
sentimental favorite band. They're not necessarily

01:19:47.050 --> 01:19:50.010
the band I listen to more than any other band

01:19:50.010 --> 01:19:52.569
anymore. But when I was in junior high school,

01:19:52.810 --> 01:19:56.189
that was the first band that really got me crazy

01:19:56.189 --> 01:19:58.909
about music. So Aerosmith was always, and I'm

01:19:58.909 --> 01:20:01.390
from Boston, and they're a Boston band. But Joe

01:20:01.390 --> 01:20:04.329
Perry has always been something a little extra

01:20:04.329 --> 01:20:06.789
for me. The way he looked, the way he plays,

01:20:07.050 --> 01:20:09.270
everything about him, he's just like Joe Cool

01:20:09.270 --> 01:20:12.170
to me. So Joe Perry has always been my favorite

01:20:12.170 --> 01:20:14.880
artist. I include that on my list, but I didn't

01:20:14.880 --> 01:20:16.560
think that they would want to do it because he

01:20:16.560 --> 01:20:19.100
did put out an autobiography about 10 years ago.

01:20:19.199 --> 01:20:21.520
But I told him about a different approach I wanted

01:20:21.520 --> 01:20:24.359
to take and they agreed with it. So that's what

01:20:24.359 --> 01:20:27.060
I'm doing. So I'm doing a biography about Joe

01:20:27.060 --> 01:20:29.279
Perry. Obviously, there'll be a whole bunch of

01:20:29.279 --> 01:20:31.520
Aerosmith stuff in it, too. And that's the whole

01:20:31.520 --> 01:20:33.600
reason he's famous. But that's what I'm working

01:20:33.600 --> 01:20:36.119
on now. It'll probably go to press maybe another

01:20:36.119 --> 01:20:38.720
year or so. I'm kind of in the middle of it now.

01:20:39.180 --> 01:20:41.699
And there's a lot of research, a lot of interview

01:20:41.699 --> 01:20:44.609
chasing. and all that kind of stuff. So I'm kind

01:20:44.609 --> 01:20:47.090
of knee deep in it as we speak. But I'm hoping

01:20:47.090 --> 01:20:49.930
in the next year or so, it'll be ready to submit.

01:20:50.310 --> 01:20:52.829
So it's a little ways down the road, but that's

01:20:52.829 --> 01:20:54.710
what I'm working on now. It'll be a biography

01:20:54.710 --> 01:20:57.630
about Joe Perry. Fantastic. And I guess when

01:20:57.630 --> 01:21:01.329
that time comes, we will do the ultimate Aerosmith

01:21:01.329 --> 01:21:04.590
mixtape here at My Weekly Mixtape. Joe Millican,

01:21:04.770 --> 01:21:07.069
this has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you

01:21:07.069 --> 01:21:09.590
so much for joining me tonight. It's been a real

01:21:09.590 --> 01:21:11.770
pleasure. I think we came up with a pretty cool

01:21:11.770 --> 01:21:14.710
list. I'm sure it gives a lot of people things

01:21:14.710 --> 01:21:16.649
to talk about. Well, how can they put this on

01:21:16.649 --> 01:21:19.250
and not include this, you know? But I mean, that's

01:21:19.250 --> 01:21:21.289
what it's all about, right? Everyone's got their

01:21:21.289 --> 01:21:24.489
own taste, their own opinions. Hopefully we gave,

01:21:24.489 --> 01:21:26.729
you know, good enough descriptions why we chose

01:21:26.729 --> 01:21:30.409
the things that we chose. And closing out with

01:21:30.409 --> 01:21:33.170
that song, Fun Time. This was really a fun time.

01:21:33.930 --> 01:21:36.289
Likewise, man. Thank you again. And remember,

01:21:36.390 --> 01:21:39.510
Mixtapers, you can find my weekly mixtape on

01:21:39.510 --> 01:21:43.090
all the social haunts at My Weekly Mixtape. You

01:21:43.090 --> 01:21:45.770
can also head to myweeklymixtape .com to check

01:21:45.770 --> 01:21:49.069
out the full catalog of My Weekly Mixtape episodes.

01:21:49.350 --> 01:21:51.409
If you like what you're hearing on the show,

01:21:51.630 --> 01:21:54.050
please do me a favor and tell a friend about

01:21:54.050 --> 01:21:56.729
the show. Leave the show a five -star review

01:21:56.729 --> 01:21:59.329
wherever you're tuning in, or consider becoming

01:21:59.329 --> 01:22:02.750
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash

01:22:02.750 --> 01:22:06.590
myweeklymixtape. That's all for this week. Thanks

01:22:06.590 --> 01:22:09.289
again for listening. Until next time, enjoy the

01:22:09.289 --> 01:22:09.529
tunes.