On the eve of September 15th, the music world was dealt with a double blow. Not even a full 48 hours since the passing of Eddie Money, we lost another legend. That man was Ric Ocasek. As lead singer and head songwriter of the Cars, Ocasek went on to pen some of the most catchy pop-rock/new wave songs of the decade.
Born Richard Octasek March 23rd, 1944, in Baltimore , Maryland, Ric and his family would eventually settle in Cleveland , Ohio . By age 16, Ocasek became fully obsessed with early rock n roll pioneers like Buddy Holly and the Crickets , Eddie Chochran, Elvis Presley and more. In the early 1970's Ric moved from Cleveland to Boston. Once settled , he began playing in a folk band called Milkwood with his friend Ben Orzechowski . The band released an album in 1973 titled How's The Weather? which failed to chart . After MIlkwood split, Orzechowksi and Ocasek remained together and would eventually form The Cars which were made up with keyboardist Greg Hawkes, guitarist Elliot Easton, and former Modern Lovers drummer Dave Robinson while Ric became the leader and rhythm guitarist . The Cars were inspired by proto-punk bands like the Velvet Underground , The Modern Lovers and Roxy Music . In 1978 when they signed to Elektra , they released their self-titled debut album which went multi-platinum and spawned hits like "Just What I Needed" "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Bye Bye Love" . They followed up their overnight success with 1979's Candy-O which spawned hits like the album title and the FM friendly hit Let's Go. In 1984, they scored the biggest rock album of the year with Heartbeat City and created such pop-rock classics like "Magic" and "You Might Think".
Later in his career, Ocasek became well-known as a studio producer . He helped now alternative rock icon Weezer with their iconic debut album The Blue Album from 1994, and their Green Album from 2001.
The last time we saw Ocasek and The Cars perform for the last time together was at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony . They delivered and played all their iconic songs and got a standing ovation. The best artists always leave us with an unexpected exit . However, we are grateful for the great music Ric Ocasek has left us .He defined a cassette generation and made the 80's the era we all want to relieve . Thank you Ric. Now if you excuse me , I'm gonna go find my MTV and my can of Aquanet .
