Top 10 Alert!
Song#: 2521 Date: 11/02/1985
Debut: 59
Peak: 7
Weeks: 17
Genre: Rock
Pop Bits: The Cars were at an all-time peak. Their album Heartbeat City was a quadruple-platinum seller that boasted five Top 40 entries including two Top 10's. It was their fifth album and by this point it seemed like an opportune time to issue out a hits compilation. Greatest Hits was assembled and it included their main hits plus a couple of extras which included this brand new track. It was issued out as a single to promote the album and it made a beeline to the top of the Rock chart. It crossed over to Pop and easily found its way to #7. It would be the band's final single to reach the Pop Top 10. The Greatest Hits album would end up selling over 6 million copies making it their best-selling album alongside their 1978 self-titled debut, which was also certified 6x platinum.
ReduxReview: I didn't pay a lot of attention to this song when it came out. I think I was just kind of done with The Cars after Heartbeat City ran its course. However, now I find it to be one of their better songs and an overlooked single in their catalog. It is unmistakably a Cars track. The percolating rhythm, concise and hooky pop writing, and Ric Ocasek's droll voice were all trademarks of the band. When they got the formula right, as they did with the tune, they made ear-resisible candy-coated pop/rock confections. This one may not be as tasty as some of their classics, but it's still pretty good.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: All the songs on the band's Greatest Hits album ended up on the US Pop chart (all reached #41 or better) except for one. The title track to their LP Heartbeat City, which was not issued as a single in the US, was included instead of their #20 "Hello Again" or key rock radio tracks like "You're All I Got Tonight." It was an odd inclusion since all the other songs on the albums were considered hits. One potential reason for its inclusion could be that it was released as a single in some countries including the UK where it got to #78. Because of that, it might have included as a possible single candidate for the Greatest Hits album. Whatever the reason, it was still an odd choice since the band had amassed 13 Pop chart entries along with 3 addition Rock radio airplay tracks, which was plenty to choose from for a hits compilation.
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