Song of the Day 9/16: The Cars, “You Might Think”

Ric Ocasek, who died in New York at age 75 over the weekend, is a good example of never giving up. The Cars weren’t his first band, or his second, or his third. He and Benjamin Orr had bands in Columbus, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Mich., before moving to Boston and hooking up with local musicians to form The Cars.

The obits call Ocasek the band’s lead singer, but he shared those duties with bassist Benjamin Orr. He was, however, the band’s songwriter, and his quirky style fit nicely into a niche between modern rock and new wave, resulting in 13 Top 40 hits during their active years, 1976 to 1986. They weren’t years of uninterrupted success. After a big splash with their first album, which contained the hits “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Let the Good Times Roll,” they hit a lull until the launch of MTV. The video for “You Might Think” won MTV’s first Video of the Year award in 1984.

The band’s videos tended to employ gorgeous young models, one of whom, Paulina Porizkova, ended up marrying Ocasek. The couple broke up last year, but were still betrothed when Ocasek died.

One of the bands Ocasek and Orr had before the Cars was Milkwood, a CSN-style folk-rock outfit. They sounded nothing like they would later, and Ocasek — that’s him on the right — didn’t look like he did with the Cars, either.

Their last band before they became the Cars was called Cap’n Swing, and while it shared personnel and songs with the Cars, they didn’t sound the same. Here’s their version of “Bye Bye Love,” which became a hit once Greg Hawkes replaced the electric piano with a synthesizer.

In a rare case of good timing for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cars were finally inducted last year, so at least Ocasek lived to experience it.