Bye Bye Love was sung by Ben Orr, not Ric.
The Associated Press story on Ric's passing starts out, "Ric Ocasek, the Cars frontman whose deadpan vocal delivery and lanky, sun-glassed look defined a rock era with chart-topping hits like “Just What I Needed,”...." but that was also sung by Ben Orr. The AP article also implies that the Cars were punk rockers and said, "While in the Cars, he had produced albums for punk pioneers he admired: Bad Brains and Weezer." Huh? Weezer (formed after the Cars broke up) are punk rock pioneers? Makes you wonder if the writers had ever heard of Ric before he passed.
I really dug The Cars but in pre-vid days it took me ages to realize that Orr sang some songs and Ocasek some others. I remember Band Aid and The Cars performing "Just What I needed" and I was perplexed that Orr sang it rather than Ocasek, I initially thought Ocasek had tired of singing it and left it to Orr. I found their voices very similar, Ocasek's being like a nerdy parody of Orr's. But even when I heard Orr sing, my mind always pictured Ocasek and Orr's vocal lines sounded like he was following Ocasek's guide vocals, but with the more commercial voice.
The Cars were Punk in only the same way that any New Wave band (and they were New Wave, albeit for mass appeal) is Punk, strong chugging rhythm guitar, no bluesish riffs, observant rather than escapist lyrics, robotic drums. There was a Punkish-nerdish-intellectual attitude to them that, say, a band like Foghat totally lacked. Bit Talking Heads for people who like Beach Boys melodies.
Elliot Easton was the real instrumental gem among The Cars, I think the man is an astounding and underrated lead guitarist. He elevated a lot of their songs, the guitar solos in Touch & Go are majestic. I also always liked Orr's bass playing, but admittedly his style was not so dissimilar to mine, so maybe I just liked what I knew and could relate to!
