Back to Back Records: Heartbeat City by The Cars
Recently reading another article on this site which mentioned the Cars, I knew I had to write about this great album. The Cars were, and are, a pretty weird band. Just look at frontman Ric Ocasek's gaunt, goofy image, the simple album covers, or the super cheesey synth provided by Greg Hawkes. While they are probably known best as a New Wave band and their eponymous debut, The Cars' 1984 album, Heartbeat City, is easily my favourite, and a quintessential 80's album.
On previous albums, the Cars' sound was rooted in simple rock and roll structures, sometimes borrowing from 50's and 60s bubblegum pop, and given a unique spin with Ocasek's trademark stuttering delivery and Hawke's goofy keyboards. Here, the Cars enter the pseudo-space age of the 80's, with a massive production courtesy of Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who also produced Def Leppard's smash album, Hysteria. You will find a lot of similiarities between the two albums, particularily in the programmed drums and synth.
Heartbeat City really shines with this seemingly bizarre combination. It's like I Love Lucy drinking milkshakes on a space station imagined by Andy Warhol--exactly what the future sounded like in 1984. Music videos from this masterpiece feature freaks, 1980's cutting edge technology and even input from Warhol himself. And let's not forget Ocasek's bizarre lyrics, which he never explained. Unlike output by fellow 80's groups like the Talking Heads and the Police, the Cars always knew how to balance the poetic and artistic with accessibility.
The whole album clocks in at just under 40 minutes, with ten songs, making it a perfect length, and the simple structures don't demand handfuls of psychedelics or specific mindsets. And there's really a wide range of songs on here that go from driving to relaxing, and jolly to melancholy. And they've all got ingenious hooks that will keep them firmly rooted in your subconscious.
"Hello Again" kicks things off with computerized vocals and blasting synth. This is a very upbeat number, and a very strong start to the album. "Looking for Love" follows it up, taking it down a few notches for a ballad-esque song. Here Ben Orr takes over, offering his smooth delivery. "Magic" comes next, another up beat number with a hard hitting verse-chorus combination, before the album's gem, "Drive" comes on. These first four songs are a clever mix of the Cars' trademark upbeat bubblegum rock and down tempo rock. This combination provides a one-two punch, perfectly contrasting with each other, and making the resulting change in feel wholly welcome.
"Stranger Eyes" is my favourite track on here. Possibly due to its sense of urgency, its minor key or the fact that it feels kind of metal. Whatever it is, "Stranger Eyes" is a driving to the extreme, and may result in auto accidents if played in the car. Next up comes "You Might Think," which is probably the Cars' biggest hit off the album, and it's not hard to see why--it has an infectious chorus and hard hitting synth.
The last four songs are deceptively not top 40 material. "It's Not the Night" and "Why Can't I Have You" are not quite the upbeat material of the first side, but not without their merits. Those who venture past the first side's smash hits may well be rewarded by these more introspective numbers, especially the very low key "Why Can't I Have You." Never before, or since have Ric Ocasek's wacky vocals taken on a serious tone like this, and to much amazement, they actually work.
"I Refuse" is the weakest track of the album. Though it can't entirely be called filler, it nearly fails to fulfill its role. While the first six songs played off the contrast of hot/cold, extroverted/introverted, "Why Can't I Have You" and "It's Not the Night" bring the album down to a more serious note for the count. "I Refuse" is an unsuccessful effort to bring the pace back up to the upbeat territory, and lacks real hooks.
The title track follows, a brooding, low key number. At last, it makes sense where "I Refuse" comes into play: a bridge to the subtle, gently flowing outro that is "Heatbeat City." Having crested with "You Might Think," the last four songs see the wave retreating back into the sea, and "Heartbeat City" is that moment when the shore finally becomes visible. After gripping you for over half an hour, this is the Cars letting you go your merry way.
There's a really innocent feeling to the album, that often provides me relief from my usual diet of ultra mega fucking Satan death metal or sexually explicit gangsta rap. In my younger years, it always signalled the end of nights of partying with with my diabolical friends. Heartbeat City often found its way into my CD player at 4:30AM, after everyone had either left or passed out, because no one else really got into it, much less understood why I loved this album so much. I remember hearing this album quite a bit in my childhood, when my dad would play it at his house, or I'd hear the hits on the radio.
I have previously expressed my dislike for summer albums, but this is one that I like, though it might not be considered one. Every song is the perfect soundtrack to some aspect of the best summers of my life. "Magic" and "Hello Again" are great fits for the beach, or better yet, the pool at some summer girl's parents' condo, in the day or at night. "You Might Think" makes me think of late, late nights at someone's cabin on down by the lake. "Drive" is an all-too-fleeting sunset, with promises and hopes that will never be fulfilled, but nonetheless fill our lives with meaning. "Stranger Eyes" is for playing Knight Rider, driving home down Olde Stage Road after some party in the northern part of the Peninsula, with the radio towers blazing in the distance as you recall another perfect day. And having already mentioned waves on beaches, this would be a perfect accompaniment to a day at the beach (I'd say the Baileys Harbor beach, personally).
