Ric Ocasek is probably the most recognizable member of legendary rock group The Cars thanks in part to MTV giving him a lot of exposure during the early 80s and the fact that he’s also married to a super model. Most rock fans know that the guy who really gave the band substance was Benjamin Orr. Originally born as Benjamin Orzechowski (which is as good a reason as any to change his last name), he was the bassist who also happened to share lead vocal duties and write many of the hits. If you listened to the tunes without knowing the band’s history, you would think that all songs were sung by one guy. When I was young and learning about rock & roll, I always assumed Ric Ocasek sang lead on every song. It wasn’t until years later that I realized Benjamin Orr actually sang lead vocals on many of the songs I assumed were sung by Ocasek. Many of the Cars biggest hits including Let’s Go, All That You Needed, and their biggest hit Drive (peaked at #3 in 1985 on the Billboard Top 100 chat) were sung by Orr.   He was the band member that brought the ladies to the shows. With his moppy blonde hair, dimpled chin and baby face rock star image, he was the best looking guy in the band. It was a shock that most of the videos that showed on MTV featured Ric Ocasek instead of Orr.
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Out There!- “Stay The Night” by Benjamin Orr
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Infatueighties: #76: Super Freak
Rick James’ autobiography, “Memoirs of a Superfreak”, isn’t exactly an award-winning piece of writing. However, it gives you an idea of how much the title of “super freak” actually fit Rick. Somewhat shamefully, those freaky antics (immortalized in the legendary Dave Chappelle skit) have obscured the fact that Rick made some pretty good music.
“Super Freak” is one of those near perfect fusions of rock and funk. While Rick (if he was still here) would say that Prince got much of his style from Rick (the two toured together in 1980), the fact is a) how the hell could Prince have followed Rick when their debuts came out the same year? (1978) and b) doesn’t “Super Freak” sound somewhat reminiscent of Prince’s “When You Were Mine”, which came out a year before “Super Freak” (and would have placed pretty high on this chart if I included tracks that were never commercially released as single A-sides)? Then again, Prince never had The Temptations sing background on his biggest hit. Either way, this song’s hard to knock. If the B-52’s met Parliament/Funkadelic, the result would have been “Super Freak”.
I love the way Yahoo! Music follows “Super Freak” with “Trapped in the Closet”. Ladies & gentlemen, it’s the Sick Fucks of R&B playlist!!
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Win A Copy Of The New James (Not Jim) Morrison CD!!
With all the attention being paid to the female Brit soul artists like Duffy, Estelle, Adele and Amy Winehouse, we’ve forgotten that the folks across the pond have a rich history of male blue-eyed soul singers. From Boy George and George Michael to Paul Young and Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, there’s a long list of English guys who’ve got tons of soul.Add James Morrison to that list. He’s huge in his homeland, but barely made a ripple with his debut album “Undiscovered”. He’s aiming to correct that with his sophomore effort, “Songs for You, Truths for Me”. With self-penned songs and only one guest appearance (courtesy of Nelly Furtado), Morrison is aiming for critical as well as commercial success. And he’s tons better than James Blunt.
Anyhow, we’ve got a copy of “Songs for You…” to give away so you can check Mr. Morrison out for yourself. All you have to do is answer this relatively simple question:
Earlier this year, James appeared as a guest artist on the latest album by another successful singer-songwriter who shares his initials, J.M. Who is that singer? Send responses to musicpublisher@consumerhelpweb.com by Sunday 10/27 and a winner will be chosen at random. Of course, MHW and CHW employees and their immediate families are not eligible.
