Ric Ocasek Interview with Lisa Robinson, Part 1 

@Lisa Surlie have you ever listened to interviews with athletes? same thing

He really did have a relaxing speaking voice. :) He had a soft heart so it's not too surprising.

@@intotheblue96 awww. poor thing.

You bet! I think I've got a part three... need to find that and post it, too.

I was intrigued by it, too. I've been zeroing in on that topic lately, on the morphing of the description of the creative process across interviews. In the early years, all five of the guys talked about how they would get the rough demos from Ric and then collaborate on the final arrangement of the songs. Later, Ric sort of closes the door on that and starts to put forward that he is the one responsible for all of it, and then gets around to expressing that only the songwriter deserves the money for the songs, and that arrangements don't count. It's easy for me to buy into the speculation that this sort of close-fisted attitude contributed to the band falling apart.

@@donnasweetpurplejune6335 ...Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins has often stated that if he could change anything about the early days of that band, it was his insistence on being named sole song writer, against the advice of legal and record execs. The disparity in monies, caused much tension within the band, that ultimately self-imploded. Billy's admission always reminded me of Ric's own need to openly let everyone know that HE, and only he, was the writer of ALL the songs (with the exception of 1 or 2 here and there where he "graciously" shares co-writer title). In the Beatles new documentary "Get Back", there is also some focus on the tension surrounding the song choices and song writing within the band. Namely, that Paul and John were mostly rejecting George and Ringo's contributions, and that this probably sped up the disintegration of the Fab Four. A very similar creative situation existed within the early Rolling Stones that led to the band firing the original founding member Brian Jones, that some say led to his tragic and early demise. Although some bands have learned these hard lessons, and form a 3 Musketeers "All for one, and one for all" pact attitude, life sometimes creates drama where there should be none. I'm just thankful that The Cars were able to play and release the music they did considering all the challenges. ✌❤🎶🎵

@@donnasweetpurplejune6335 Yeah, generally that's the biggest problem with any band: dividing the royalties/money. And of course whoever is the songwriter doesn't ever want to take input from other band members, especially once the band gets big. Reminds me of Sting/The Police and a million other bands.

@@diamonddavemusic Money and ego destroys most bands. Whoever writes the songs gives them power over the others.

@@MrOctober44 ...So true. I was rather naive to this aspect as a youth. I'm getting all the dirty laundry these days with the internet and RU-vid. Lou Gramm, lead singer of Foreigner, has recently been dishing all the dirt on his struggle and feud with co-founding member, Mick Jones regarding song writing/arrangement credits. I had no idea in the early days that there was so much trouble in paradise within the group. They were all such a creative force, it's just too bad that ego killed the golden goose.