Wow. He was 75. Hard to fathom.

I remember the first time I ever heard The Cars. I was in high school and visiting my brother who was in college in Portland. We went to a party on campus. Some kid (who clearly had more money than we did) set up the stereo for the party which included a pair of Magnepan electrostatic speakers. He played a couple tracks from The Cars, their first album which had just come out. I was blown away. This is what music is supposed to be, how it is supposed to sound.

Later, when I was a DJ, I recorded all of the songs off the album onto individual tape cartridges because, for some reason, Roy Thomas Baker decided that there would be NO gaps between the songs, making it a major pain in the butt to cue.

I recorded it onto cassette. On the other side of the tape, I recorded Dire Straits (also, the eponymous first album). Totally different genre, but it came out the same year and touched me big time.

I don't think I bought any of the albums after Panorama. When their Greatest Hits came out it seemed that half the songs were off The Cars which was a testament to how great that first album was. I did buy the Greatest Hits album to get Drive and Magic. [edit] I just looked... three tracks from The Cars made it onto the Greatest Hits album -- the first three tracks from the first album. According to the Wikipedia article on the album, Elliot Esaton said they used to joke that the first album should have been called "The Cars Greatest Hits".

I still play The Cars on road trips and when I need a pick-me-up. High school was a hard time for me, but that music brings back the good stuff from my wasted youth.

Farewell, Ric. Keep moving in stereo.