Cars were one of my favorite bands in high school. I loved "Just What I Needed," and so many other of their great songs. His art is also great. RIP. God bless. Prayers to his family and friends.
The very first band I saw in concert... way back in 1980. XTC opened for them. Who knows if they were good or bad? Between the sound cranked at over 100 decibels and the contact high from all the brown and green "sense" in the air (heck, I was 16 at the time), who can remember? It was a different world. Likewise, I had no idea he was 75.
Saw Cars, Eddie Money, Henry Paul Band (Outlaws) and Beach Boys at Yale Bowl in ‘79. Quite an eclectic lineup! We lost Rick and Eddie in the same week.
My friend, who looked like Ric, and I were in Trash and Vaudville on Saint Marks st in the Village. In walks Paulina (then gf of Ric's) and my friend saw her and was staring at her, i was across the way in store. In walks Ric O and he see's my friend looking at Paulina and he see's Ric ..it was like looking at a mirror..looking like each other. They stared for a few and went about their way. It was funny as hell..to be there and seen that
It was late winter and we were both looking for something in the garden center. He was wearing a dark leather jacket, had the thick framed tinted glasses and the black hair. Was tall and thin. I thought he looked old, but was sure it was him. Since there was no one else around, he asked me if I worked there. I smiled and said no, but then added “but you’re Ric Ocasek!” (Couldn’t think of anything clever). He smiled a bit, then turned and walked away.
Thanks for the music Ric.
I had the good fortune to work with both Ric and Eddie: booking and Â
promoting their acts for clubs that I was running and then working with them as their stature grew and the venues they played got bigger and the gigs were more prestigious.
Eddie was about as down to earth as it gets. He was a pro.
He put together good bands, had terrific presence onstage and gave all that he had every night.
Not an ounce of diva did Eddie Money possess.
He was thrilled that he was able to make a career in the rock biz.
Ric - the Cars were definitely more difficult to work with.
Not divas but when they were on the ascent, and when they were in the upper echelon of rock acts, with singles at the top of the charts, with albums spending time in the top 5, when their every movement, fashion statement - when the paparazzi took and sold their pix... it's a place way high in the clouds, where the air is ether, the drugs are pure and easy and you lived life 24 hours a day.
Ric got that rarest of rare chances to live THE LIFE for about a decade, and then he was intelligent enough to know how to segue into a very comfortable existence.
He lived THE DREAM. Had the HOTTEST of the HOT wives (held onto her for longer than most rock marraiges last,) and seemed to genuinely enjoy the fruits of his labors.
He was too successful to be as down to Earth as Eddie - but he was a pretty decent guy.
Promoters and artists, especially if they work together with some degree of mutual respect and consistancy, can view their relationship as sorta being on the same team.
Each player in the act and the functionaries of the promotors play a specific position - have a specific responsibility. I found with Ric and the Cars that if I did my job well, I was treated with a professional friendship that I found rewarding.
In that regard, working with Ric and his teammates on the Cars, be they members of the group or members of the groups of people responsible for all of the things that have to work to present the Cars as professionally as is possible --- the Cars organization were smart. Very good people.
Work with them enough for a decade - starting when they were what we called "a baby band" and then working with them as they exprerience real growth and real success - and you're friends with a long history together.
It was rough losing Ben Orr at the beginning of the century.
Losing Ric is really going to be a huge blow to the mind and heart and body. He was the central figure in the band.
The guy we tried to please the most. It started when we were all much younger in 1977, 1978 and then - POW!
Eventually they worked with people much more higher up than I would ever dream to be - and they earned it.
But what goes up must come down, and so it was for the Cars, with the size of the venues getting smaller and less prestigious - the reverse of how it was when they were on their way up.
You work with people for a long time and you get to know their families. Ric's sons - he had 4, 2 with Paulina and 2 with Suzanne who he was with for maybe 15 years or more when Paulina suddenly entered the scene.
Suzanne was a beautiful woman - he had gone to school very close to one another in Boston back in the day - and we were there and had to navigate the emotional ups and downs that are part of the swingy, swirly show biz world of rock stars.
Of course there was the spin-off New Cars with Greg and Elliot and Todd Rundgren and a few of his Uptopia players.
That was more or less simply business.
Ric was a good guy. After the original Cars broke up he was more interested in production of younger bands and we had very little to do with that.
My friends and business associated (the people on my team) had a genuine fondness for Ric - some of us got to be very close, others, like me, thought of him as a friend as well as a business associate - since our association lasted a long time and began what feels like a long time ago, the loss is hard-felt and heart-felt - it's sad and it also reminds us of our own mortality.
And so it's "Bye Bye Love," and Ric, "Since You're Gone," I'm going to miss you.
Good guy. Very bright. A good dad. Terrific sense of dry humor.
I never had the pleasure of meeting his first wife but I had the great good fortune to get to know both Suzanne and Paulina rather well, and I can say that the man had superb taste in women.
That's really all that I can say here in a place like this.
I was really bummed by the game earlier today but something like losing Ric puts everything into proper perspective.
* made that WE (meaning Suzanne and I) not "he".."had gone to school Â
Waldo I hope you know your a god-damned legend round these parts. This place aint the same without you.
I'm sure the powers that be would consider your parole for time served and past community service. Don't be a stranger around here.....we could use some of your stories during these dark days now more than ever!
I don't know if you would remember, but I recall that we had a few interesting conversations back in the day. I wish I remembered now what they were about! Something controversial, I'm betting. I do remember thinking that you were a guy that I'd like to meet someday. Nice to see you post. I hope to read more from you here.
They were a good band, one of my favorites. Kind of quirky but fun.
i still get a few listens on my 'everything' playlist. and learned to play a few too
still love when Just What I Needed comes up
Got some cools songs
Used to come in a restaurant I worked in millbrook late 90’s
Ocasek. Joel definitely scored big time, but he was just an average looking guy. Ocasek gave Tom Petty a run for his ugly money.
Fast Times (pool scene) - ( New Window )
Rip ric
It was late winter and we were both looking for something in the garden center. He was wearing a dark leather jacket, had the thick framed tinted glasses and the black hair. Was tall and thin. I thought he looked old, but was sure it was him. Since there was no one else around, he asked me if I worked there. I smiled and said no, but then added “but you’re Ric Ocasek!” (Couldn’t think of anything clever). He smiled a bit, then turned and walked away.
Thanks for the music Ric.
Eddie was about as down to earth as it gets. He was a pro.
He put together good bands, had terrific presence onstage and gave all that he had every night.
Not an ounce of diva did Eddie Money possess.
He was thrilled that he was able to make a career in the rock biz.
Ric - the Cars were definitely more difficult to work with.
Not divas but when they were on the ascent, and when they were in the upper echelon of rock acts, with singles at the top of the charts, with albums spending time in the top 5, when their every movement, fashion statement - when the paparazzi took and sold their pix... it's a place way high in the clouds, where the air is ether, the drugs are pure and easy and you lived life 24 hours a day.
Ric got that rarest of rare chances to live THE LIFE for about a decade, and then he was intelligent enough to know how to segue into a very comfortable existence.
He lived THE DREAM. Had the HOTTEST of the HOT wives (held onto her for longer than most rock marraiges last,) and seemed to genuinely enjoy the fruits of his labors.
He was too successful to be as down to Earth as Eddie - but he was a pretty decent guy.
Promoters and artists, especially if they work together with some degree of mutual respect and consistancy, can view their relationship as sorta being on the same team.
Each player in the act and the functionaries of the promotors play a specific position - have a specific responsibility. I found with Ric and the Cars that if I did my job well, I was treated with a professional friendship that I found rewarding.
In that regard, working with Ric and his teammates on the Cars, be they members of the group or members of the groups of people responsible for all of the things that have to work to present the Cars as professionally as is possible --- the Cars organization were smart. Very good people.
Work with them enough for a decade - starting when they were what we called "a baby band" and then working with them as they exprerience real growth and real success - and you're friends with a long history together.
It was rough losing Ben Orr at the beginning of the century.
Losing Ric is really going to be a huge blow to the mind and heart and body. He was the central figure in the band.
The guy we tried to please the most. It started when we were all much younger in 1977, 1978 and then - POW!
Eventually they worked with people much more higher up than I would ever dream to be - and they earned it.
But what goes up must come down, and so it was for the Cars, with the size of the venues getting smaller and less prestigious - the reverse of how it was when they were on their way up.
You work with people for a long time and you get to know their families. Ric's sons - he had 4, 2 with Paulina and 2 with Suzanne who he was with for maybe 15 years or more when Paulina suddenly entered the scene.
Suzanne was a beautiful woman - he had gone to school very close to one another in Boston back in the day - and we were there and had to navigate the emotional ups and downs that are part of the swingy, swirly show biz world of rock stars.
Of course there was the spin-off New Cars with Greg and Elliot and Todd Rundgren and a few of his Uptopia players.
That was more or less simply business.
Ric was a good guy. After the original Cars broke up he was more interested in production of younger bands and we had very little to do with that.
My friends and business associated (the people on my team) had a genuine fondness for Ric - some of us got to be very close, others, like me, thought of him as a friend as well as a business associate - since our association lasted a long time and began what feels like a long time ago, the loss is hard-felt and heart-felt - it's sad and it also reminds us of our own mortality.
And so it's "Bye Bye Love," and Ric, "Since You're Gone," I'm going to miss you.
Good guy. Very bright. A good dad. Terrific sense of dry humor.
I never had the pleasure of meeting his first wife but I had the great good fortune to get to know both Suzanne and Paulina rather well, and I can say that the man had superb taste in women.
That's really all that I can say here in a place like this.
I was really bummed by the game earlier today but something like losing Ric puts everything into proper perspective.
Sorry, been a long day
If so, nice reading you again - if not, great post - nice to meet you!
The Cars added a LOT of color to the 80's, Ocasek was original, iconic - a great. RIP.
That was quite rare and most welcome.
Glad to see you're still here. Okay, back under my rock.
Later.
pabange@yahoo.com
pabange@yahoo.com
Agree, don't go under a rock. Your posts are interesting. Highly entertaining. FUCK DON HENLEY!
I'm sure the powers that be would consider your parole for time served and past community service. Don't be a stranger around here.....we could use some of your stories during these dark days now more than ever!
It's been an eternity since I've posted, which once was something I very much enjoyed.
Since then I had the good fortune to put several radio stations on the air, did some more teaching, but mostly I've been writing.
Much of it has been about music. Very little has been available online - sorry, but almost nothing would be kosher to share here at BBI.
Again, thanks for your kindness.
I sure hope you are well and stay well
I sure hope you are well and stay well