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The New Cars | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
Genres | Rock, power pop, new wave |
Years active | 2005–2007 |
Labels | Eleven Seven Music |
Past members | Elliot Easton Greg Hawkes Todd Rundgren Kasim Sulton Prairie Prince |
The New Cars were a band formed in 2005 by two of the original members of the 1970s/1980s new wave band the Cars. The band was composed of original Cars members Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes, along with vocalist/guitarist Todd Rundgren, bassist/vocalist Kasim Sulton, and drummer Prairie Prince. The band performed the Cars' songs, some new material, and selections from Rundgren's career.
In 2005, rumors began circulating that Easton and Hawkes would be teaming with Todd Rundgren in a new Cars lineup, with Rundgren replacing the Cars' original vocalists Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr. The rumors turned out to be true, with the revamped lineup calling themselves the New Cars. Two regular Rundgren collaborators, bassist Kasim Sulton and drummer Prairie Prince, replaced bassist Benjamin Orr and drummer David Robinson in the new lineup. Robinson, who had retired from the music industry years before, was invited to join the group but amicably declined. Ocasek, who had opted out of any possibilities of a reunion, gave his blessing to Easton and Hawkes, saying, "I want Elliot and Greg to be happy." On April 17, 2006, when Ocasek appeared on The Colbert Report and was asked if there was anyone he wanted to put "on notice", he answered "Todd Rundgren".
On March 20, 2006, the New Cars released a new original single, "Not Tonight", on Eleven Seven Music. On May 9, 2006, they released an album " It's Alive! ", also on Eleven Seven Music. The album contained 18 tracks, consisting of 15 live recordings (12 classic Cars songs, the new single "Not Tonight", and 2 Todd Rundgren songs), plus 3 new original studio tracks.
Rundgren referred to the project as "an opportunity... for me to pay my bills, play to a larger audience, work with musicians I know and like, and ideally have some fun for a year".
In 2010, all four still-living original members of The Cars reunited for a new studio album and tour. [1]
The band's first tour, the summer Roadrage Tour with Blondie kicked off May 12, 2006, in Mississippi.
The spring leg of the 2006 tour had to be cut short because Easton had broken his collarbone on June 5 [2] and was playing in great pain. Despite the fact the accompanying album had sold only 16,000 units, a winter leg of the tour ran from November through early December. The tour, titled Road Rage Winter Tour was a theatre tour of venues which were much smaller than their previous arena tour.
The New Cars played their last concert in September 2007. Rundgren resumed his solo career, and his 2009 solo tour featured Kasim Sulton, Prairie Prince and Greg Hawkes as members of his backing band. A later Rundgren tour in 2010 featured band members Kasim Sulton and Prairie Prince. Rundgren joined Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in 2012. In 2010, Hawkes and Easton reunited with surviving Cars members Ric Ocasek and David Robinson for an album and tour. [1]
Several years later, when Rundgren was asked how, looking back, he would characterize his time with the New Cars, he replied "Bittersweet. You know, we all put a lot of effort into it, but we got practically nothing out of it but aggravation." [3]
Date | Album | Label |
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May 9, 2006 | It's Alive! | Eleven Seven Music #4607000512 |
Date | Single | Label |
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March 20, 2006 | "Not Tonight" | Eleven Seven Music |
Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince is an American drummer and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group The Tubes, was a member of Jefferson Starship from 1992 to 2008 and has worked with a wide range of other performers as a session musician.
The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes (keyboards), and David Robinson (drums). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, and Ocasek was the band's principal songwriter and leader.
Door to Door is the sixth studio album by American new wave band the Cars, released on August 25, 1987, by Elektra Records. The album was produced by frontman Ric Ocasek, with additional production by keyboardist Greg Hawkes. Three singles were released from the album, though only "You Are the Girl" reached the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 17. Door to Door became the Cars' lowest-charting studio album, peaking at number 26 on the Billboard 200, and within a year of its release the band would break up.
Benjamin Orr was an American musician. He was best known as the bassist, co-lead vocalist, and co-founder of the band the Cars. He sang lead vocals on several of their hits, including "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go", "Moving in Stereo", and "Drive". He also had a moderate solo hit with "Stay the Night".
Healing is Todd Rundgren's ninth studio album, released in 1981. The album's themes are spirituality and the human condition, something Rundgren had touched on many times in earlier works but never with the consistency exhibited here as every track explores a different aspect. The back cover image of the album shows the caduceus and a Qabalistic Tree of Life each overlaid by a treble clef, reflecting Rundgren's linking of his spirituality and music.
Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid membership known as Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Most of the members in this early incarnation also played on Rundgren's solo albums of the period up to 1975. By 1976, the group was known simply as Utopia and featured a stable quartet of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox. This version of the group gradually abandoned progressive rock for more straightforward rock and pop.
Elliot Easton is an American musician who is best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the American new wave band the Cars. His melodic guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. Easton has also recorded music as a solo artist, and has played in other bands. He is a left-handed guitarist. In 2018, Easton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.
Nearly Human is a 1989 album by the rock musician Todd Rundgren, released by Warner Bros. Records. It was his first release in four years, although he had been active as a producer in the intervening years. Many of the album's songs deal with loss, self-doubt, jealousy and spiritual recovery. It was also the first collaboration between Rundgren and Michele Gray, a singer and ex-model who helped to organize the sessions. Gray sang backing vocals, both on the record and on subsequent tours, and the pair later married.
Rachel Haden is an American musician and one of the triplet daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden and Ellen David.
Gregory A. Hawkes is an American musician who is best known as the keyboardist and founding member of the American new wave band the Cars. Hawkes is credited with helping popularize new wave and synth-pop in American popular music as a member of the Cars.
Kasim Sulton is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States. As a solo artist, Sulton hit the Canadian top 40 in 1982 with "Don't Break My Heart".
It's Alive! is the only album released by The New Cars. The album features fifteen live tracks, twelve of which are songs known as being performed by the original Cars. The remaining two, "I Saw the Light" and "Open My Eyes", were popularized by New Cars member Todd Rundgren. The album ends with three new studio tracks, recorded especially for this release.
The Road Rage Tour was a concert tour co-headlined by The New Cars and Blondie in the North America in 2006.
"You Might Think" is a song by American rock band the Cars from their fifth studio album, Heartbeat City (1984). The track was written by Ric Ocasek and produced by Mutt Lange and the Cars, with Ocasek also providing the lead vocals.
Bruce McDaniel is an American musician and record producer currently living in New Orleans.
"All Mixed Up" is a song by the Cars and the final track on their 1978 self-titled debut album. It was written by bandleader Ric Ocasek.
"Candy-O" is a song by the American rock band the Cars, the title track of their 1979 album Candy-O. Written by Ric Ocasek, the song was not based on a real person. The song features a prominent guitar solo by Elliot Easton and lead vocals by bassist Benjamin Orr.
Move Like This is the seventh and final studio album by American rock band the Cars, released on May 10, 2011. It was their first since 1987's Door to Door, and the only one without bassist and vocalist Benjamin Orr, who had died of pancreatic cancer in 2000.
The Cars North American Tour Spring 2011 is a set of eleven concerts in the United States and Canada featuring the newly reunited American band The Cars. Announced in April 2011 prior to the release of the band's album Move Like This, the concerts feature material from Move Like This and from the band's 1970s and 1980s albums.
Doug Howard is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He is best known for his work as a performing/recording musician and occasional co-writer with groups, and artists such as Touch, Stun Leer, Todd Rundgren, Utopia and The Edgar Winter Group. He also played the role as the singing narrator "Songster" in the 1987 live production of the Masters of the Universe Power Tour based upon the Mattel He-Man series action figures. Howard is also the managing partner of Lodestar Entertainment, LLC, a music and video licensing, and publishing company based in New York. He is the paternal grandson of American songwriter Joseph E. Howard.