The Cars were an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. Members of the band were singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson. The band originated from Boston, Massachusetts, and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977.

The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synth-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and which would flower in the early 1980s. Most of the singles included an Elliot Easton guitar solo, with the sound filled out by Greg Hawkes's synthesizers and the harmonies of Orr, Easton, Hawkes, and Robinson. Lead vocals were split, with Ric Ocasek singing 60% of their songs, and Benjamin Orr taking the remaining 40%. Two of their best-known songs, "Just What I Needed" and "Drive", were sung by Orr. While Ocasek was the sole lyricist and main songwriter for the band, Orr would act as frontman in live appearances.fact: date=June 2008

The band broke up in 1988, and Orr's death in 2000 dashed any hopes for a full reunion. Easton and Hawkes joined with Todd Rundgren in 2005 to form a spin-off band, The New Cars, which performs classic Cars (and Rundgren) songs alongside new material on tour.

Early years

Before The Cars, the members of the band began coming together in several early forms. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr were the first to meet, at a party in Columbus, Ohio, and they began performing as a duo, covering rock 'n roll classics as well as performing their own material. They refused to perform the Top 40 hits club owners expected to hear from a young band. After deciding that Boston would be a better place to break into the music business, Ocasek and Orr relocated there. It was there that they met Greg Hawkes, who had studied at the Berklee School of Music, and the three, along with lead guitarist Jas Goodkind, were the first to work together in a folk band called Milkwood. They released an album titled How's the Weather in 1972 that failed to chart.

After Milkwood, Ocasek and Orr formed the group Richard and the Rabbits, whose name was suggested by Jonathan Richman. They were a local club band for a while. Soon after, Hawkes temporarily left Ocasek and Orr and joined up with groups including Orphan, a soft-rock band, and Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture, a musical comedy act in which he played a variety of instruments. Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr then performed as an acoustic duo called simply Ocasek and Orr at the Idler coffeehouse in Cambridge. Some of the songs they played became the underlying music in early Cars songs.

Later, Ocasek and Orr teamed up with future Cars guitarist Elliot Easton (who had also studied at Berklee) in Cap'n Swing. Though they were slowly becoming more experienced musicians, Cap'n Swing still had a long way to go before developing a professional image. Record labels were turned off by the band because they said they looked "too weird." Cap'n Swing also featured drummer Kevin Robichaud and a jazzy bass player, which clashed with Ocasek's more rock and roll leanings. Benjamin Orr acted as frontman, did not play an instrument, and sang the bulk of Cap'n Swing's demos. Ocasek soon got rid of the bass player, the keyboardist, and the drummer and decided to form a band that better fit his style of writing. Since one of the major complaints from the major record labels was that Ben Orr didn't do anything except stand there and sing, they decided he should hold something, thus he took over bass guitar duties. Kevin Robichaud was replaced by David Robinson. Robinson said that he should really have a regular job instead, and that the Cars would be his last band. Best known for his career with the Modern Lovers, Robinson had also played in DMZ and the Pop! It was Robinson who came up with the name "The Cars," which led to automobile-related puns. Ocasek said of the name, "It's so easy to spell; it doesn't have a 'z' on the end; it's real authentic. It's pop art, in a sense."