One of my fave songs, very pop and upbeat and great harmony on the chorus! ❤❤❤❤ I saw them do this live on this tour, Oct. 30, 1987 at the Meadowlands in NJ.
Well, he's not playing a whole lot live in this song so he is free to move around a bit. Much of the keys and backing vocals on this were backing tracks. You can see on the various live videos of this. I'm not sure why he's not playing the main part live. It's pretty simple.
+Render767 - Ha, ha! It does look like Benjamin and Ric are about to face off at 00:21-00:22, and then Ben does his sexy little thing with his bass guitar as if to say, "Come and get me!" but then Ric backs down. After that, Ric looks at his guitar like it's not even tuned properly. Later on, Ben has his back to Ric while he's singing. Definitely some interesting dynamics! It would have been kind of entertaining to see the two of them get into it on stage!
Cherr D. You're right, it does look like they're about to fight unless that was part of the act. Love Benjamin but he looks pissed a lot during this 1987 tour. Perhaps because they didn't play some of his solo songs.
Yeah, Ben is certainly showing off his muscles in this one! I honestly don't know what the hell they're doing at the beginning of this song. The two of them look angry about something, and Ric seems somewhat disoriented.
Yes, something does look a bit off during this performance. I saw The Cars in concert during this 1987 tour, and they just didn't have the same energy as in the previous live shows, but then again, they were breaking up. However, I still love Benjamin's "pumped up," leather look!! Very sexy, as usual!
The tension between the front most band members here is palpable. Each of them stand entirely separate (and rigid), never interacting with (or even acknowledging) one another. I've seen many concerts where band members mix it up and "hang out" on the same microphone. Even friendly smiles and glances are usually enough to show camaraderie. It doesn't happen here. It seems that the wild success of _Heartbeat City_ followed by the lackluster _Door to Door_ were exceptionally difficult on this band, not only musically, but both releases seem to have strained their relationships. This concert was 3 years after _Heartbeat City_ ('84) and the same year as _Door to Door_ ('87)... and 1 year before the band's formal breakup. _Door to Door_ certainly wasn't a highlight for The Cars, and probably couldn't have been considering the runaway hit that was _Heartbeat City._ It's good that they mended ways and released _Move Like This_ in 2011, but it took them 23 years and the death of Benjamin Orr (2000) to get back together.
Ric has said that he hated touring and performing. It could be that nothing would have kept him going with The Cars once he felt he had enough other options. I sure wish they had managed to do a lot more, or at least re-united while Ben was alive, but we can be grateful for all the great music they did leave us.
+Kitty Lan What are you referring to when you say, "hope Ben wasn't harmed after the show"? The fact that Ben and Ric look like they're going to face off?
Yeah Kandee-O Since Ric couldn't got Ben on stage while he had to start sang Magic. Maybe after they got to backstage he sure could taught Ben a lesson or two!! But don't worry even thought Ric is much bigger, but Ben got more muscle so he could handle him easily.
hi kit & kandee! ric wouldn't be so brave as to take a punch or land one in the traditional way men fight. He attacks with reputation damaging words; insults to hurt Benjamin. Jumping into Ben's stage and mic space, being aggressive on-stage. You see it on TV appearances like Touch and Go, Fridays. And Ric claimed Benjamin was jealous of him?
moodylicious - I agree, Ric acts all calm like Ben is the problem and then insults him after he's dead and he cant even defend himself. Ric hits below the belt for sure!
His boss?????? They started that band together. It wasnt Ric Ocasek and the Cars, it was the Cars. They all brought their own gift to the table , and if anyone of them werent there , then they werent The Cars anymore.
Ric thinks he's the best cos he bagged the supermodel ! Lol I like Ric but he was a snoot. Benjamin dated Diane Grey Page who was a stunner as well..so yeah..
Sorry she couldn’t hold a candle to Paulina when it came to looks. DGPwas average attractive, and compared to Farrah Fawcett, Debbie Harry, or OliviaNewton John all of them were the same age as her around the same time and they looked younger than her.
The set list from Philadelphia says it was “Hello Again”…had to look it up after I read your comment. I would have bet money it was a Ben song by the petty way Ric was behaving 🤭
I really wish Ric would have remembered his own lyrics when he sang live. I mean I get that mistakes are made in isolated incidents but it happened all the time with him. It ruins the performance for me.
So much Ric hate in here, what the hell. Every cars video people are hating on Ric for no reason at all. He didn’t like touring and had young kids at the time, that’s why they broke up. Maybe him and Ben weren’t getting along then either, but they did make up before Ben died and Ric has always had kind things to say about Ben since he passed. I love Ric, he’s my all time favorite musician and he’s a legendary song writer. Damn shame to see him getting insulted, he’s a wonderful man.
It's always easy to change your comments about someone after they are gone. It is an effort to make yourself look good and hope people will forget the negative remarks you said during the dark period of their relationship. The problem with that is the person you should be apologizing to is gone. Sadly.
Agree, great songwriter, some of his vocal inflexions work well. But by this stage, he'd insulted most of the band members' musicianship in interviews, had hired a one-man producer, and was by his own admission a control freak. His words. He passed away after your commentm but speaks volumes he cut his own children out of his will! The first two, from his first marriage. Pretty ruthless, you have to admit. He really had pushed all the musicians to the limits by this stage.
Yea this whole gig is a farce indictment of ricky ocasek he could have backed off and allow Ben to renew their style but no. . you can totally see it I. body language these two hated each other during 'magic ' ! I'm actually glad I've never seen it live
+Render767 - Yeah, they do look pissed at each other at this concert. The other song videos that they perform in Philly show it as well. You're right - Ric should have backed off and let Benjamin always be the lead singer. But Ben still looks hot even if he was annoyed...
They wouldn't be the first duo of friends to have strains in their relationship though. Especially after a decade or two of knowing each other. I'm sure if I had parts of my life filmed too, people would be overanalyzing certain aspects of it too. But I'm not sure if this is really too indicative of anything beyond what we already know (or Ric somehow wanting to be the alpha dog, even though he already wrote 98% of the songs anyway and had a hit off his solo album right before this). Ben was already riding in a different bus from the other guys at this point of touring anyway, so I'm sure the strains and tiredness were all around as opposed to just one guy's thinking.
Benjamin did not look pissed , he was trying to cut the tension by being playful and ric wasnt having it. Did you notice that ben hardly got any camera time, and that was no accident.
Ric was such a jerk! Ben was being all cute and fun and Ric abruptly just turns around. oh no Ric dont have any fun or smile your face might crack open. Ben should have danced around Ric and got right into his camera shot, I would have.
That was NOT a "cute" moment. Watch the body language on both sides. It was tense as all hell. The whole concert was tense and joyless. If you compare it the earlier performances (even 1984) this is pretty sad. Some good individual performances, but not a cohesive group performance. I hate this sad, pre-breakup period.
@@rebeccastevens1876 at least Ben looked like he was trying to lighten the mood but pole up his butt Ric was having none of it. he was for the most part a pretty miserable person imo. i think he had a very controlling personality, and should maybe have gotten some psychiatric help as well. many of the Cars videos and concert footage iv'e seen Ric mostly looked like he was never having a good time at all.
I really felt for Ben, how humiliating in front of a huge audience. Everyone seems to love Ric but he was a control freak. He was pissed off because Ben always outshone him, he was a real shitty friend in the end. Poor Ben deserved better.... 😢
I used to cover this song on bass in the early 90s, according to the record the bass doesn't start playing in the verse until after the "it's like a merry go round" line, but you're right Ben does seem to be playing earlier in this performance at least.
Wasn't this the year Ric decided to pull out, and it was over. There does seems to be a problem with their relationship . Sorry to say this but neither of them ever met the success they had as a group in the Cars. Too sad.
I see Ben already sick at this point skin tone especially and apparently he and Ric weren't exactly 'feeling the love' does anybody know why they had discord ? ric and Ben I mean
+Render767 - They weren't getting along mainly because of Ric's massive ego and wanting to take attention away from everyone else in the band. Even after Ben's solo album charted higher than Ric's (oh, what was it called?), Ric still couldn't stand to involve him or any of the other band members in the writing of the songs. They probably thought that it would be different now that they had demonstrated they could do it alone without Ric, but then everything was the same as "Heartbeat City."
I read he started drinking "a bit much" during this time. I believe his smoking and drinking alcohol may have contributed to his pancreatic cancer. RIP Benjamin Orr
hm, that must have come from the numerous print and audio poison Ric blitzed to the press. Jealousy and petty attempts to disparage and sully Ben's reputation like that are beneath a man of moral character. drinking "a bit much" were Ric's words. A true, genuine friend would think twice before doing such a thing. and so we also question Ric's moral character. And to think these insults came later when Ben was dead and unable to defend himself. pathetic.
