This is the first Cars album from 1978. It sounded fresh then, and parts of it still sound interesting, but there is something about this record that bothers me. I don’t know what it is– I can’t put my finger on it. It’s like they knew too much exactly what they were doing. There is no element of chance.
07
Dec
06
DJ Farraginous 
I always liked this album, even though it was cheesy and incredibly popular, but I never bought it until just a couple years ago when I found a used copy of the LP for $1, which is about what it was worth it to me to buy an album that I already knew all the songs from them all having been played on the radio forever. Yeah, the whole thing definitely seems sort of cynically contrived or something, but man, you can’t deny the catchiness of the songs, the crispness of the production, the fact that all of the songs sound like a car’s engine, or “motorik” to use the music snob term. I keep thinking about looking for other Cars albums, but I don’t know if I’ll ever buy another one, I mean, why bother? Except for maybe the one where all the song titles were stolen from Buddy Holly songs..
That one guy, the singer, I think, is like 8 feet tall, isn’t he? Isn’t he the tallest man ever or something?
Yeah, it was great that Fred Gwynne was able to resuccitate his career after always being typecast in Hollywood following his time in The Munsters..
Whenever I think about that guy I laugh, because it reminds me of when Keith was talking about Iggy (Morningstar) and complaining that Iggy took his name from Iggy Pop. “He does’t even look like Iggy Pop,” Keith said. “He looks like that fucker in the Cars.”