The Cars

Prehistory: Before they became world wide hit-makers, Cars were known as Cap’n Swing, and before that again Rick Ocasek and Benjamin Orr had a group called Richard and the Rabbits.

With rhythm guitarist/vocalist Ocasek writing the bulk of the songs, the Cars swung into action in 1977 producing catchy tunes with great hooks and choruses. They released twenty-six singles and seven studio albums between 1978 and 2011, with the self-titled debut album and follow-up Candy-O being the most successful.

Having elements of new wave and a strong power pop sensibility, the well-crafted singles found huge popularity on radio stations across the globe. One of their biggest hits, however, was the wistful balled "Drive", lifted from 1984’s Heartbeat City.

A final fun factoid: Ric Ocasek had a cameo in John Waters’ Hairspray playing a beatnik painter shacked up with Pia Zadora. His character amusingly anticipated Banksy's self-destructive art.