Remember When: The Cars Broke Up After a Listless Final Album

The Cars reached their commercial peak with their 1984 album Heartbeat City, then did a victory lap with a well-regarded performance at Live Aid a year later. By 1988, they were kaput, a stunning turn of events for fans who didn’t see their breakup coming.

In the interim between those two extremes, The Cars released an album (Door to Door) that lacked the power and inspiration of the rest of the catalog, so in retrospect, the signs were there. Here’s the story behind the sudden farewell of a legendary band.

The Rise

No American band epitomized the musical new wave movement of the late ’70s like The Cars. With their precise arrangements, effortlessly catchy melodies, and the detached cool of vocalists Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr, they struck a unique pose among rock bands of the era, one that earned them critical acclaim and a smattering of crossover pop success.

That smattering turned into a gusher with Heartbeat City. That’s when Ocasek, the band’s songwriter and main force for their artistic direction, connected with Mutt Lange, the world’s biggest producer at this time. Lange supercharged the band’s sound and accentuated the hooks to keep up with other top radio acts.

The Cars also (reluctantly) embraced videos, and found out they were natural at it. Hit after hit emerged from the record, peaking with the touching ballad “Drive.” For a minute there, this somewhat publicity-shy quintet were arguably the world’s biggest band. What happened to make it all crumble so soon after?

The Fall

The seeds of dissent within The Cars were sown during the making of Heartbeat City. Some members of the group found their contributions mitigated due to the control Lange exerted over the recording. In addition, Ocasek always viewed the band as a vehicle for his musical ideas and that started to rub the others, particularly Orr, the wrong way.

The fact that both Orr and Ocasek scored Top-40 hits as solo acts during the band’s hiatus probably didn’t help matters. When they reconvened for their follow-up to Heartbeat City, they tried to go back to basics with a more organic instrumental approach. But that didn’t help Door to Door, released in 1987, as the album seemed a hollow recapitulation of past glories.

The friendship between Ocasek and Orr became seriously strained around this time as well. A big part of the squabble came down to Orr’s wish to write material for the band, which Ocasek wasn’t having. With little fanfare, the band announced its breakup in 1988.

The Aftermath

Following the breakup, the members of The Cars moved onto various solo projects and session work, while Ocasek also became an in-demand producer. Ben Orr died in 2000 (by which time he and Ocasek had set aside their differences). In 2005, The New Cars, featuring erstwhile Cars members Greg Hawkes and Elliot Easton joining with Todd Rundgren, formed. But they lasted just a single album before falling apart.

After years of denying any reunion was in the cards, Ocasek shocked the music world by contacting his three living bandmates (Easton, Hawkes, and David Robinson) for a new album (Move Like This, released in 2011) and tour. In 2018, the band performed at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. However, Ocasek passed away a year later.

Looking back at The Cars’ breakup, it makes a little more sense knowing what we know now. At the time, it was a head-scratcher for those wondering how it all dissipated so quickly. In any case, the acrimonious breakup doesn’t in any way diminish the musical brilliance this quintet produced in happier days.

Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images