Pop Genius: Ric Ocasek

The first in my “Pop Genius” segments features an examination of singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Ric Ocasek, known for his work in The Cars, as a solo artist, and as producer for bands like Weezer, Bad Brains, and No Doubt. From The Cars’ first album in 1978 to today, Ocasek has displayed the maturity, craft, quality-control, and instincts necessary to marry both art and commerce; creating music that is equally innovative and popular.

Millions of sales are one thing (and quite an awesome one thing) but, in addition to worldwide acceptance by mass markets, to have influenced dozens of successful bands from Smashing Pumpkins to Weezer speaks a lot to how varied and multi-faceted The Cars’ music (penned entirely by Ocasek) is/was. By marrying the vanguard of instrumental (synthesizers, drum samples, etc) and production techniques with relatively simple, Buddy Holly-esque chord progressions, Ocasek’s songs were catchy and singable yet still pleasing and fresh to the ears.

In addition to writing monster songs, Ocasek had the maturity to often delegate vocal duties to the incredible Benjamin Orr, himself a talent of immeasurable importance to the success of The Cars. Despite being more than capable of singing lead (“Magic” and “You Might Think” were monster hits), Ocasek had no problem handing Orr material ranging in feel from the sensitive “Drive” to the energetic “Let’s Go,” the results of which were indisputably pop gold. Often times an artist’s ego can get in the way of their continued success, whereby they position themselves in the spotlight to the detriment of their band, but such was not the case with Ocasek in The Cars. He clearly did not mind letting Ben Orr front the band at times, as is reflected on Cars records, where Orr sings on at least half of the tunes.

As a producer/arranger, Ocasek was adept at creating catchy intros (“Since You’re Gone” and “Magic” come to mind) that hooked the listener in, with propulsive verses giving way to classic, harmony laden choruses, with room left for Cars guitarist Elliot Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes to soar (get it?) with solos and instrumental hooks that displayed both musicians’ technical ability and ears for hooks. As evidenced in the demos I’ve heard, Ocasek often had most of the elements of the Cars’ hits in place before entering the studio, showing a keen eye to detail even in the most initial of stages of a song’s development.

As producer of outside bands, Ocasek showed the ability to keep the groups sounding edgy and modern while retaining a timeless feel that allowed each band to shine in their respective filed, be it the dub-to-hardcore-and-back-again Bad Brains, the future-pop of No Doubt, or the grungy punch of Weezer.

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