THE CARS: Headed for enshrinement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (finally)
The third time was the charm for The Cars to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, having been been nominated in 2015 and '16.
Founding members Benjamin Orr and Ric Ocasek met in Cleveland before re-locating to Boston to form the band in the mid-'70s with Greg Hawkes, Elliot Easton and David Robinson.
Elliot Easton on it taking three nominations for The Cars to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
"I didn't get too worked up over it. I thought if we get in it'll be really nice. You know, the fan vote thing, as many people know, it really amounts to one actual vote. So, I wasn't too concerned about getting enough fan votes or anything like that. But, for whatever reason, you know, they decided to put us in this year. I don't know why they do and why they don't or who sits on the board, but I'm glad that they finally decided to have us in."
One of only a handful of New Wave artists to be enshrined, The Cars are known for a synthesizer-heavy sound on such hits as "Just What I Needed," "My Best Friend's Girl," "Good Times Roll," "Let's Go," "Candy-O" and "Drive."
Greg Hawkes says Just What I Needed defines the sound of The Cars. OC:..
"It sort of had kind of what I think of the classic Cars elements. It's got those like little clicky guitars [SFX], which a lot of Cars' songs had. And, it was heavy and it had synths in it. Ben [Orr] did an awesome vocal. It's funny, when Ric [Ocasek] first played me his demo of that song, even then there was something like unique about it and even to me I thought, 'Wow, this song could be a hit.' And then much to my surprise it was.
Elliot Easton on the contribution of The Cars to the musical landscape:
"One of the things that I'm proudest of is that the music has held up so well. And I think one of the reasons for that is both musically and lyrically -- that there's a sense of irony or a look at the dark side of things that is not necessarily is in common with a lot of other '80s music."
Their self-titled debut album sold six million copies and stayed on the Billboard chart for 139 weeks.
They broke up in 1988 and reunited in 2010 for a new album and tour, but are once again on hiatus.
Ben Orr died from pancreatic cancer in 2000. They'll be inducted by Brandon Flowers of The Killers, and they will perform.
Elliot Easton on writing a Rock Hall induction speech:
"I think I'll probably write something nice. I wouldn't want to wing it because I wouldn't want to forget anybody, you know, have any, you know, sort of oversight of somebody that should be credited or thanked or something like that. So I'll probably take a little bit of time and write something down."
This year's ceremony is Saturday in Cleveland. Being inducted alongside The Cars are The Moody Blues, Dire Straits, Nine Simone, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Bon Jovi.
Highlights will air on HBO on May 5th.