Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |
Ric Ocasek , leader of the Boston-based rock band The Cars, died Sunday in New York. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, the band wove offbeat, New Wave elements into its sound with widespread appeal. The Cars first found Top 40 success with its eponymous debut and won the inaugural Video of the Year award at the first ever MTV VMAs for "You Might Think."
An influential producer in his own right, Ocasek’s reach extended beyond the Cars' apex. Matthew Caws of Nada Surf penned a tribute to Ocasek for NPR Music. As he tells it, his band had no immediate prospects when Caws passed Ric Ocasek a demo tape at a show; before he knew it, they were in the studio together, recording his band's debut.
That kind of care was characteristic of Ocasek, who produced for Bad Brains, No Doubt, Romeo Void, Weezer and many more. "Ric showed us so much kindness and generosity, as he apparently did to everyone he worked with," Caws writes.
You might think I’m foolish,
Lyndsey McKenna |
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| Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist |
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