Posted on 09/16/2019 7:44:33 AM PDT by rktman
Ric Ocasek, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame singer whose popular new-wave band, The Cars, left a profound impact on rock music, was found dead in his New York City apartment on Sunday, a police spokesman said. Ocasek was 75.
Ocasek's estranged wife, Paulina Porizkova, found him unresponsive Sunday afternoon at his home in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood, sources told the New York Post, adding that he apparently died of natural causes.
The Cars' self-titled 1978 debut album was a smash hit, boosted by singles including "Just What I Needed." The album helped lead the way for new wave's influence on rock music throughout the following decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Yep, he’s another one in the Dead Pool. I’m amazed he’s made it this far.
He’s exactly 10 years older than me...............
Ocasek made some great music. RIP.
Ozzie has some bizarre gene that let him drink as much as he does. He had his blood tested. He really should be dead.
You know, for some reason growing up, I’ve always thought the group The Cars made the song Cars.
He hadn’t ditched his 2nd wife yet.
Condolences to family and friends of Ric Ocasek. R.I.P., sir. Thanks.
Ditto. I really liked The Cars music. As I remember it, it was just plain fun music. Maybe not the defining rock of the Rolling Stones or AC/DC, not the rock-with-a-message of U2 (until they went completely bonkers)... I’ll admit I really only followed them through their first 3 or 4 albums or so... I just looked them up and their later work is unfamiliar to me.
whos next ¿?
Wealth, fame, popularity. Fun.
Anyone who marries a Victoria Secret model, has achieved special status in my eyes.
Bear in mind that Mick Jagger was pretty much the same age as Ocasek and yet he and the Stones were already considered dinosaurs when The Cars were breaking out. Who knew back in 1978 that the Rolling Stones were still in their early period!
Anyway, The Cars have always been one of my favorite bands. I came of age during their short run. I was just hitting puberty when their debut album came out and I got married the year of their last record ("Door to Door"). In between was high school and four years in the Marine Corps.
They only put out five proper albums but each of them could have been another band's Greatest Hits album. Pretty much everything they put out was catchy and radio-friendly. There was a time during 1978 when you could turn the dial on any FM radio dial and come across a Cars song playing. That first album was that good. Every track could have been a hit. Their follow up "Candy-O" was almost as good, marred only by that experimental "shooby-doo" track. That track did not age well. But most everything else did - the music of The Cars sounds just as fresh today as it did back then.
After the Cars, Ocasek put out some really good solo stuff that's worth checking out. I would put his "This Side of Paradise" up there with any Cars album.
Ocasek then went on to work with a lot of other bands and projects including most notably Weezer (of "Buddy Holly" fame).
They were a wonderful group. I can’t believe he’s gone.
Saw the Cars in Buffalo late 70’s I’m guessing. Had some fine music.
Good god that kid is queer as a $3 bill, and Ric looks like an old woman.
That’s your comment about someone who just died? How freakin’ shallow can you get?
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