For the first four or five years of his life, Sam was obsessed with Cars. Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc Hudson, Cruz Ramirez, Francesco Bernoulli, Finn McMissile... he had all the toys, knew all their names, watched the films over and over and over again.
I kind of miss those characters now, even though I was sick of them at the time. Strange how that goes.
After last week's post on The Motors, it seemed inevitable that I would check out bands called The Cars. Yet despite the inextricable link between pop music and driving, there were less contenders than I expected...
THE CARS #1
A reliable Volkswagen to start us off (I wouldn't do them the insult of making an Audi comparison), these German cars got together in 1966 and released a number of singles, both on their own and in collaboration with Scottish singer Kenny MacCaskill, formerly of The Fleets. In 1972, they changed their name to Revolver... so we could well see them back here again one day.
THE KARS #2
One for Ernie, methinks - from Uganda in 1969, some Bantu folk music that apparently made minor ripples in Europe too.
THE CARS #3
Boston New Wave band formed in 1976, led by Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, unfairly maligned by those who only remember them for their synth-driven 1984 hit Drive, re-issued the following year as a charity song for Band Aid, raising a further £160,000 for St. Bob's coffers.
The Cars were so much more than Drive suggests, and they put out a fine selection of tunes prior to that, most notably this little power pop gem from 1978. Despite the double-whammy of Drive, this one remains their highest UK chart placing...
THE KARS #4
AKA the Kane and Regan Show, these New Zealand KaRs "create songs to inspire young and old alike."
CARS #5
From Connecticut, via the Camp of Bands, here's some folky lo-fi Cars from 2014...
CARS #6
CARS #7
"I made this for school. Thanks." reads the blurb from this 17 year old Bandcamper in 2022. Judged on that basis, it ain't half bad.
Who's gonna drive you home tonight?
#3 but only if it is that song not the other one.
ReplyDelete#4 to #6 are terrible. Will let #7 off as it was for a school project.
Not familiar with #2 but not sure they are a real group. Quick research suggests it is Benny Kalanzi, a Ugandan musician and academic based in Germany or Switzerland who churned out a series of "authentic music of old Africa" albums under different names in the 1960s and 1970s.
As always, I bow to your expertise / knowledge / research skills.
DeleteIf Amusements Minor is anything to go by, you'll have a small window of watching all the Cars films again when Sam realises being a kid is better than being grown up, and wants to watch all the old stuff again one more time, for nostalgia. Embrace that spell when it comes!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going through a similar phase myself right now, reading all the old comics I bought as a kid. (Sadly I long since sold the originals, so now I'm forking out for high-priced reprints... but they're worth every penny.)
DeleteSnap, actually.
DeleteI can't vote for any of them. I particularly despise #7
ReplyDeleteNot one of your students then?
DeleteI legitimately call myself a fan of no. 3. I have everything they ever released, and I saw them in 1984. It’s one of my first shows and a great childhood memory. - Brian
ReplyDelete