Heartbeat City

Heartbeat City is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Cars. Released in 1984, it was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Picking up a positive commercial response, the Cars had many tracks getting airplay, and singles "Drive" and "You Might Think" in particular both became Top 10 hits. The album also received supportive reviews from several critics; for example, Robert Christgau stated that "the glossy approach the Cars invented has made this the best year for pure pop in damn near twenty, and it's only fair that they should return so confidently to form."

Background

Heartbeat City contains a total of five American Top 40 singles. Of these, "Drive" and "You Might Think" were also Top 10 hits, reaching the #3 and #7 positions, respectively. A number of songs from the album gained significant radio and TV exposure; most notably "You Might Think" and "Magic", which both received heavy airplay on MTV.

The lead vocal on "Drive" was performed by bassist Benjamin Orr. The song's video was directed by actor Timothy Hutton. It features Ocasek arguing with a troubled young woman played by model Paulina Porizkova. "Hello Again" had a video directed by the legendary Andy Warhol, who also appeared onscreen.

Heartbeat City (song)

"Heartbeat City" is a song by the American new wave band The Cars. The song, written by Ric Ocasek, appeared on the band's fifth studio album Heartbeat City, as the closing track.

Background

"Heartbeat City" was one of the four songs performed by The Cars during their performance on Live Aid in 1985, the other songs being "You Might Think", "Drive", and "Just What I Needed".

Original pressing of the U.S. and cassette version listed the title of "Heartbeat City" as "Jacki". This is likely because of chorus lyrics beginning with the line, "Oh Jacki / What took you so long".

Composition

The song is in the key of A minor, with a verse progression of A minor, D minor, and E minor. The synthesizer theme emphasizes the sevenths and ninths of the chords. There is a prechorus of repeating D minor and E minor, leading to the chorus, which is a two-chord sequence of F major seventh and a slash chord, G/F. There is an instrumental break which begins with a bass solo by Benjamin Orr, over a Dsus2 chord, followed by a guitar synthesizer solo by Elliot Easton over the verse progression. The third verse is not followed by a chorus; it repeats as the song fades.

The Cars

The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the new wave scene in the late 1970s. The band originated in Boston, Massachusetts in 1976, with singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter Ric Ocasek, singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, lead guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson.

The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and which would flourish in the early 1980s. Robert Palmer, music critic for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described the Cars' musical style by saying: "they have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend."

The Cars were named "Best New Artist" in the 1978 Rolling Stone Readers' Poll and won "Video of the Year" for "You Might Think" at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Their debut album, The Cars, sold six million copies and appeared on the Billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. As of 2001, the Cars have sold over 23 million albums in the United States.

The Cars (album)

The Cars is the eponymous debut studio album by the American new wave band the Cars. It was released on June 6, 1978 on Elektra Records. The album, which featured the three charting singles "Just What I Needed," "My Best Friend's Girl," and "Good Times Roll," as well as an abundance of radio hits, was a major success for the band, remaining on the charts for 139 weeks. It has been recognized as one of the band's greatest albums.

Background

Formed in Boston in 1976, the Cars consisted of Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, Elliot Easton, David Robinson, and Greg Hawkes, all of whom had been in and out of multiple bands throughout the 1970s. After becoming a club staple, the band recorded a multitude of demos in the late 1970s. Some of these songs later appeared in finished form on The Cars, such as "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl", while others were saved for a later release, such as "Leave or Stay" and "Ta Ta Wayo Wayo" (both of which later saw release on their 1987 album Door to Door.) The demos for "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl" were often played on Boston radio by DJ Maxanne Sartori, giving the band frequent airplay.