70's Pick of the Week
“Just What I Needed”, The Cars (1978)
From the minute the needle hit the record on the Cars first album, aptly titled “The Cars” I was awestruck by this band. It starts with ”Good Times Roll”, followed by “My Best Friends’ Girl” and then “Just What I Needed”. The 1-2-3 punch, man I was down - it was intoxicating.
The sort of lumbering funkiness and rhythmic charge was unique and refreshing. The use of synthesizer did not seem to be the focal point but rather embellishment, which was a contrast to many of the new wave bands who indulged in synthesizer gluttony. The Cars were a sort of garage rockabilly but they dropped in some new weird pop secret ingredient The vocals by Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr were sung in a sort of low-brow, robo- style. The lyrics spun yarns and visual imagery with a rock and roll flavour, mostly about their relationships with various girls/woman.
