Could a Cars reunion be in the cards? Todd Rundgren need not apply.

http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/more ... &csort=rec


Cars's Greg Hawkes neutral on reports of a reunion
Posted by Mark Shanahan July 20, 2010 01:06 PM



Those rumors about a Cars reunion? They might be true, and then again, they might not be. Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes was coy when we asked if he and frontman Ric Ocasek, guitarist Elliot Easton, and drummer David Robinson are about to "Let the Good Times Roll" again. (Bassist Ben Orr died in 200.)

"I hate to be vague, but I really can't say," said Hawkes, even as he acknowledged that a recent picture of the band rehearsing was posted last week on Facebook. "It's a crazy world," said Hawkes. The Cars released their last LP in 1987 ("Door to Door") and broke up a year later.

Since then, Ocasek has had success as a producer; Easton has worked as a hired gun, playing with the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revisited; Robinson runs an art gallery in Rockport; and Hawkes plays occasional ukulele shows, the next one being July 29 at Club Passim. (Easton, Hawkes, and Robinson also teamed with Todd Rundgren on The New Cars a few years back, but that seems to be in the rearview mirror now.)

Obviously, they'd have to get a replacement for the late Ben Orr. If Paul Rodgers isn't touring with Bad Co, perhaps he could-- What am I saying??

I think a Cars reunion would be great, although Ben Orr's vocals would definitely be missed. I just remember The Cars' breakup as seeming abrupt at the time - 1988. They'd put out the Door To Door album in Summer 1987, toured and then...see ya!

I won't hold my breath for a Cars reunion, but I think they're a group that made some great new wavish pop back in the day.

And it doesn't hurt that they're from Boston, either.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hwE0slNd3Y[/youtube]

That's interesting news about The Cars' members working together again. I hope something positive results from this.



However, the reporter was somewhat sloppy with the facts. Orr died in 2000, and Robinson was not involved at all with The New Cars; the drummer with The New Cars was Prairie Prince, formerly of The Tubes, Journey, and the 90's-revamped version of Jefferson Starship, among others.

If Ben Orr had died in 200, he never would have been in The Cars.

I remembered reading a Boston paper in the mid-90s and it said that Aerosmith's then-manager Tim Collins tried to reunite the band, even going so far as to arrange a group therapy meeting like the ones Aerosmith had.

If it was true, it didn't work.

Then again, Aerosmith eventually got tired of Collins' manipulations and fired him. Still, if The Cars had gotten back together again then, Ben Orr would have been a part of it.

Oh, what could have been....

The Cars did reunite-but not musically-around 1997 or so. I think they did some sort of retrospective interview about their career. It was a one-off gathering kinda like the one the classic Genesis lienup did w/ Gabriel back in 1998. I remember reading it in Goldmine and I still have the issue where The Cars were the feature and it was great stuff. It kick-started full rumours, but Ocasek's lack of interest squashed that.
This reunion would be fantastic-The Cars are one of the best US bands ever, and Elliot Easton is one of the most creative, talented and underrated guitarists ever.

Prairie Prince is still a part time member of The Tubes & (I believe) Jefferson Starship. As far as I can tell, PP takes the best paying gig at any moment. Can't blame him, he's a killer drummer.

To this day I have a hard time believing that Easton lowered himself to participate in the Creedence without Fogerty scam. Guess a guy has to make a living, though.

They're back together. Someone else beat me to the news.

Bumping my own thread for self-aggrandizing reasons.

Carry on..