1978
A year which heralded the arrival of two albums which
would kill the 70s sound. Two albums and bands that would set the blueprint for
the 80s. Both completely fresh and timeless. Both contained multiple staples of
FM / Classic Rock radio. And both are self-titled releases, too. I’m speaking
of course about Van Halen and The Cars.
Van Halen became the hard rock band of choice for my
generation. They were THE band that blasted out of car cassette decks in high
school parking lots and cruising down whatever drag the teens cruised down to
see and be seen. Yeah, we liked the classics – Zeppelin, Skynyrd, etc. but Van
Halen was our band.
The
formula itself wasn’t new – guitar [or in some cases like the Doors keyboards],
bass, drums and lead singer was a rock and roll staple. But from the needle
drop on Runnin’ With the Devil Van Halen sounded different. This was NOT
Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or the Who.
This didn’t sound like anyone who came before. One might say they’re related to
the Beck-Ola [Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Mickey Waller] Jeff Beck Group. But
as original as Jeff Beck is [was], they still wear their influences pretty
heavily. On Van Halen, only the cover songs [Ice Cream Man, You
Really Got Me] seemed even related to anything that came before. And maybe I’m
On Fire. That’s a tough trick – usually for the first album or two a band
wears its influences. Van Halen seems to come from outer space somewhere. Eddie
Van Halen said he was heavily influenced by Eric Clapton but there is almost nothing
on this record that sounds anything like the blues or even Cream. The rhythm
parts, the solo [2:05 – 2:20], the runs [right side 2:38 – 2:47] and the
closing 16 seconds of Ice Cream Man may touch on blues scales, however, Eddie’s
sound is so unique with the pinch squeals and dive bombing vibrato with the
“whammy bar” that this doesn’t sound like anything Clapton or Jimmy Page or
even the incredible Jeff Beck would do. Well would do THEN. Beck later sorta
copied Eddie and then became a master of using the volume knob and vibrato arm
to prove why he is the best guitar player on the planet. [Since he is buried
here on Earth, I stand by my statement.] However, I freely admit that Edward
Van Halen may have been the most influential guitarist ever.
Let’s add to that. David Lee Roth is [was] one of the most charismatic front men in the history. He had the looks to go with that and really he’s a good singer. Would that personality get old after 14 days on a tour bus? Hell yes. But for that 90 minutes on stage, I’m sure he was must see entertainment. *
I think Alex
Van Halen is credited as a very good drummer and Michael Anthony hold the whole
thing down. Is he bass playing simple sometimes? Sure. But because of what
Eddie is doing, Anthony doesn’t want to play John Entwhistle against that.
That’s too busy. Lock down with the drums, keep it simple.
Credit
where credit is due, too: Michael Anthony and Eddie do great background vocals.
Van Halen didn’t sell 10 million of their debut album selling only to guitar nerds. People bought Van Halen because it sounded different – and because Van Halen put the fun back into rock. Van Halen is a pure party rock record. Young folks gathered in parks, around cars, in living rooms and on patios passing around joints, drinking squat bottles of Budweiser and ‘hanging’ and few would say no to the mighty Van Halen on the stereo.
The
other sounds like nothing else album is The Cars.
The
band the Cars may have defined the term New Wave for a lot of people in middle
America. The album had two top 40 singles [Just What I Needed and My
Best Friend’s Girl] and an almost Top 40 [Good Times Roll stalled at
# 41] so they got onto Top 40 radio. You’re All I’ve Got Tonight, Bye Bye
Love and Moving In Stereo were played on FM radio like they were top
40 singles [at least here in DFW]. Moving In Stereo got another boost
when it was featured in Fast Times At Ridgemont High [though it was not
on the soundtrack] in 1982. All the males know what scene I’m referring to:
“Doesn’t anybody fucking knock?!?”
And
yes, Talking Heads had already had their debut out and would drop More Songs
About Buildings And Food about a month after the Cars debut but Talking
Heads did not have the ‘Pop’ sensibilities of the Cars. Psycho Killer
may be catchy as hell but for shear pop, My Best Friend’s Girl stomps
all over it.
Talking Heads do not have two lead vocalists. Yes, Ric Ocasek’s vocals may occasionally sound robotic and feel so out of place on anything like a hit single. He’s obviously not a handsome man [the local paper may have described him as ‘a mantis-like figure]. But the man had a gift for writing a pop hook like no one’s business. [There are are rare examples of ‘just okay’ Cars songs: I’m In Touch With Your World on this record, Lust For Kicks and Got A Lot On My Head on Candy-O, Leave Or Stay on Door To Door.]
But
the Cars was a band put together to maximize Ocasek’s songs. Ocasek adds rhythm
guitar though sometimes wonders if his amp is even turned on. Elliot Easton on
lead guitar adds the colors and the exclamation points, the lightning and the
counterpoints that themselves become hooks that grab the listeners ear. Did
Ocasek have that little riff that opens My Best Friend’s Girl? Maybe.
But Easton added that little trill the ends each chorus. [Easton admitted in a Musician
article he unconsciously lifted it from the Beatles I Will. If you
steal, steal from the best right?] The fill lines that run between the choruses
in Just What I Needed, how Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes find the way to
leave each other space and how Easton rips off a solo so perfect. memorable and
hummable it becomes yet another hook. [This is a link to Rick Beato’s What Makes This Song Great
breakdown of Just What I Needed. Rick Gets very technical musically but his
love and enthusiasm just so infectious you can overlook SOME of that.]
Easton
IS the secret weapon of the Cars. He plays just the right amount and he plays
to fit the song. He doesn’t do the run up the neck and weedely weeddely wee
wee wee to draw attention to himself like other guitar players. It’s almost
egoless but he takes the challenge to fit something that is perfect for
whatever the song seems to be asking for. Even on the songs he is allowed some freedom
[a lot of the longer songs on Shake It Up] Easton seems to find a spot
that feels right and sticks there. At the end of Cruiser [a favorite],
he seems to take pleasure reenacting the guitar duel from the Beatles The
End. If you recall or don’t know, each of the Beatles took a line; in order
they are Harrison, McCartney and Lennon. You can tell when John Lennon plays
because its not pretty but rather he “makes it move and howl.” And Easton has the
chops to pull that kind of thing off.
Greg
Hawkes may have been the most important add. [I forgive the moustache on he
inner sleeve that makes him look like Walter Becker’s cousin.] The last to join
this incarnation, he had worked with Ocasek and Orr in a previous band. Hawkes
was Ocasek’s unofficial left hand, officially cowriting three album tracks and
one b-side and appearing prominently on
Ocasek’s two 80s solo LPs. The album is keyboard heavy but nothing the keyboard
like Jon Lord’s B-3 with Deep Purple or Emerson Lake and Palmer. Not Roxy Music
or Brian Eno. This is a totally new sound. Maybe Electric Light Orchestra but they
are not used the same way. The sounds on Moving In Stereo are not like
anybody that I have heard used synthesizers up to that point.
And then there is the late, great Ben Orr. To call Orr the Yang to Ocasek’s Ying sells Orr short. The bass player with looks with a great rock voice. Ocasek’s voice was great for some things but there is a warmth in Orr’s voice that adds depth and breadth that Ocasek’s reedy voice can not. For example, Bye Bye Love might have been fine with Ocasek singing but it seems hard to imagine him pulling off that little pre chorus semi whispered bit [“It’s an orangey sky / Always it’s some other guy / It’s just a broken alibi…”] without it sounding corny or warble-y. It’s Orr’s voice that fits down in the lower ranges on Moving In Stereo and All Mixed Up. There’s a smoothness inn Orr’s voice that was the reason that he sang the Cars biggest hit, 1983’s Drive. Even though Orr sang fewer songs as the Cars progressed Orr’s counter balance to Ocasek is sorely missed on 2011’s Cars ‘reunion’ Move Like This. [Orr died in 2000 of cancer] **
Again
to give credit where credit is due, drummer David Robinson holds the whole
thing together. He’s not flashy or powerful but he plays tasteful fills – can you
imagine You’re All I’ve Got Tonight without his fills and that galloping
beat coming out of the choruses? And Don’t Cha Stop is just the first example
of Robinson being asked to hold the beat one way while guitars and/or vocals do
something totally different [see Since You’re Gone on Shake It Up
or Panorama’s Touch And Go].
The
backing vocals by all of the band members are spectacular. How much producer
Roy Thomas Baker [who also did Queen’s albums 1973 – 1976 including A Night
At the Opera] influenced or helped with is open to speculation. But they
sound amazing and add another hook to the songs.
For
all the airplay and love it has received The Cars has only sold 6
million albums. But to this day no band sounds like the Cars. Obviously The
Cars is not as rousing or as much of a good time party record as Van
Halen. Yet both are albums that one could put on with almost any group of
people and no one would complain.
* I was thinking last night about the difference between
the Roth and the Hagar albums. With 5150 and Sammy’s arrival, it seemed
that the sound of the band changed – more than just a new vocalist. The sound
of the DLR years is very midrange heavy, like someone draped a towel over the
tweeter of your speakers. As soon as 5150 hits the platter, it’s a very
bright album. One might say that the bass has been castrated or at the very
least put on a taunt leash. But Eddie’s guitar seems the be more room miked
than a mic placed three inches from in front of his cabinet. And the kick drum
sounds like it’s hitting a cardboard box – there’s no boom to it. [This may be
an 80s thing – I just checked some of my tracks for OU812 and For
Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and OU seems to sound similar but the bottom is
back on F.U.C.K.]
